Joe Crowley

Citizens Against Government Waste published its annual list of congressional earmarks (they actually call it the Congressional Pig Book list).

Of course, what one person calls wasteful spending, another person calls bringing home the bacon, and now that Democrats are in the majority, New York was supposed to be getting more federal money.

The state made out with a good portion, particularly in the Catskills, where Maurice Hinchey brought in $43.7 million.

Here is a list of what some members from New York, and a few from elsewhere, brought their districts, according to the list. (It's in numbers of millions):  read more »

Helen Foster, who is contemplating a run for Bronx Borough President, said the last two people who have held that job have divided the borough’s black and Puerto Rican communities.

A story in the Riverdale Review (still not online!) this week quoted Foster’s father, the former Councilman in the area, at a February 7 meeting saying, “The last two borough presidents we've had were not and are not sympathetic to the black community.”  read more »

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel are special guests at a fund-raiser at the Yale Club this afternoon for six Democratic congressional challengers, including two from New York: Dan Maffei and Eric Massa.  read more »

I just got off the phone with one of Hillary Clinton’s newly deputized "rapid responders," Assemblyman Joe Morelle. In the spirit of rapid responding, I named a few elected officials and asked him to say the first thing that popped into his head:

Hillary Clinton: “Extraordinary”
Bill Clinton: “Smartest man in any room he‘s in.”
Barack Obama: “Very talented and has a lot of promise.”  read more »

Jackson Heights City Council candidate Danny Dromm hosted a number of influential local politicians at a fund-raiser this weekend, most notably city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who will be a special guest at a fund-raiser for Dromm’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Alfonso Quiroz [time clarified]. Quiroz's boyfriend and treasurer is Thompson's director of communications.

More after the jump.  read more »

It's worth noting that Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one trying to get squared away with Eliot Spitzer’s new license policy.

The governor’s (original) plan would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, but now it's being linked to federal guidelines that will be outlined in the Real ID Act. Although Spitzer backed Real ID this week, a number of Democratic congress members from New York opposed it during a 2005 vote (which may explain why it hasn't been easy getting most of them to say anything about Spitzer's new plan).

One congressional aide was kind enough to refer me to the results of the 2005 vote on the Real ID Act.

Democrats Gary Ackerman (Queens/Nassau), Tim Bishop (Suffolk), Joe Crowley (Queens/Bronx), Eliot Engel (Bronx/Westchester), Carolyn Maloney (Manhattan/Queens), Greg Meeks (Queens), Jerry Nadler (Manhattan/Brooklyn), Charlie Rangel (Manhattan), Jose Serrano (Bronx), Ed Towns (Brooklyn), Nydia Velazquez (Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens) and Anthony Weiner (Queens/Brooklyn) all voted against it.

UPDATE: Another congressional staffer, putting this story in context, noted that every Democratic congress member in the state voted against Real ID, except for Mike McNulty, who voted for it, and Maurice Hinchey who was absent.

The key message being pushed today at the state Democratic Party meeting in Garden City--onetime home of Rudy Giuliani and home to the last Republican state convention--is party unity.

Here, above, is State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who organized a lunch for convention goers, sharing a moment up on the podium with Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

DiNapoli lost a primary to Suozzi in the 2001 county executive’s race, but he said that the two have since mended fences, going so far as to reveal to the crowd that he had kissed his former opponent at a dinner the night before.

The crowd laughed. To prove that the story wasn't a joke, Suozzi stepped up and planted one on DiNapoli’s forehead.

Afterwards, I asked Suozzi what political significance that kiss might have for Eliot Spitzer. All he would say was, "I'm going to give him a kiss too, later."

In other news: Chuck Schumer said he still hasn't studied Eliot Spitzer's plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, while Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Joe Crowley said they support the effort.

A reader in DC called in to remind me that a number of City Council members were there last night for a dinner hosted by Rep. Joe Crowley, and to attend a breakfast there this morning hosted by Rep. Charlie Rangel.

They’re there to deliver the City Council’s federal agenda to Congressional lawmakers (and check out some new office space).

Does anyone know if anything interesting happened? Or, while we're at it, whether the affected Council lawmakers are going to get back in time to vote in the local elections taking place today?

UPDATE: A reader called to inform me that Quinn met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss 9/11 health issues, the Council's number one
legislative priority. 

Hillary Clinton is having a fund-raiser in D.C. today, hosted by Reps. Joe Crowley, Anthony Weiner and Steve Israel.

And don't miss the Observer's gripping profile of Hillary's aide Huma Abedin and her special powers.

Ben plays the expectation game with the 2008 fund-raising numbers.

Lobbyist and blogger Richard Lipsky says, "Wal-Mart will continue to exhibit a Freddy Krueger-like quality and reports of its demise in this town must be treated with a grain of salt."

The Brennan Center thinks Albany's three-men-in-a-room style of governing is still in operation, despite a change in the line-up.

The MTA Executive Director will talk with the MTA Inspector General about charitable contributions and possible connections with some contracts the agency awarded.

Cooper notes that Charles Gargano has an method of economic development that includes travelling to Rome and eating very expensive meals.

The special elections on Staten Island were sleepers. Literally.

Fred Thompson is officially a top-tier candidate, now that his Christianity is being questioned.

Room 8 is old.

And pictured above is Mike Bloomberg leaving City Hall as critics of his education plan protested.

-- Azi Paybarah

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just approved a waiver that will allow Joe Crowley to sit on the Foreign Relations Committee in addition to the the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, something he might otherwise have had to give up.

Normally, Ways and Means is one of the committee assignments that requires the assignee to give up seats on all other committees. (The others include Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Appropriations and Rules.)

"I am grateful to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Steering Chair Rosa L. DeLauro for this opportunity to serve on the Committee on Foreign Affairs," Crowley said in a public statement.

Seems like whatever lingering resentment Pelosi may have had about Crowley opposing her unsuccessful candidate for House Majority Leader are over with.

-- Azi Paybarah

Since we're bringing you gavel updates...

Congressman and Queens Democratic leader Joe Crowley will preside in the House tomorrow from 2 to 4 p.m., when discussion of the Iraq War resolution will likely continue.

-- Azi Paybarah

Tomorrow, expect a minor earthquake in Queens. Around noonish.

That's when longtime Democratic insurgent Hiram Monserrate and Democratic County Leader Joe Crowley will attend what I think is their first public event together, announcing funding for local organizations serving immigrants.

Monserrate ran and supported numerous candidates against the county organizations in the past and has reveled in his independence from the machine. Crowley took over the organization earlier this year and has been dogged by speculation that he'd one day have to defend his seat against a candidate who appeals to his district's "changing demographic."

But all that's in the past now, apparently. The advisory for the event is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

It was only after the midterm elections that the real campaigning began.

Below is a letter, dated November 15, from Charlie Rangel and Nita Lowey asking Nancy Pelosi to put Joe Crowley on the influential House Ways and Means Committee.

It's a position that provides access to business-minded constituents with lots of campaign cash to dole out to committee members. That's something, to judge by this recommendation, that's not lost on Rangel and Lowey.

"Joe has hosted events for candidates and Frontline Members in New York and contributed directly $275,000 to the DCCC and raised over $6.75 million in his role as Business Council Chair. Joe will continue to work in the 110th to support our Freshman and continue turning red seats blue."

The rest of the letter is over here [pdf].

-- Azi Paybarah

Even on a victorious team, there are still winners and losers.  read more »

Hillary Clinton's speech last night at the Queens County Democratic Organization's dinner at Antun's got two thumbs up from new-ish county leader Joe Crowley.

Other quick highlights:

Assemblywoman Vivian Cook said she'll raise money so John Spencer can get a face lift.

Ousted state Senator Ada Smith got a shout-out from the dais.

And Hillary told the crowd that Washington needs to get back to "Clinton economics." (Insert 2008-centric interpretation here.)  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Okay, one more before we go back to reporting, you know, news:

Anna Schneider-Mayerson and John Koblin write about the surface unity of the New York delegation on the Middle East, while noting the real differences between, say, Charlie Rangel and Anthony Weiner on Israel's use of force, or between Joe Crowley and Pete King on how the politics of the whole thing are going to play out.

(Ben, as our hyper-informed audience probably knows, had an excellent, not-unrelated item on the subject.)

We've got a dispatch from Tel Aviv about the perception there that the international community is being more supportive of Israel than anytime in recent years. And another from Damascus about how the locals are welcoming the arrival of a war they think could be the "final battle".

Grim.

-- Josh Benson

In the morning, Joe Crowley meets with local immigration advocates and service providers in Jackson Heights, just before New York University's Center on Law & Security hosts a conference on presidential powers at the NYU School of Law, with keynote speaker John Dean.

In the evening, Libertarians meet up in Brooklyn, but Bill Weld will be out in the Rockaways speaking to area Republicans.

—Nicole Brydson

Matt Schuerman and I argue that the transit strike is less about dollars and cents and more about the character of the two men at its center, Roger Toussaint and Peter Kalikow.

Jess Bruder profiles sack-racing champion Joe Crowley.  read more »

And Jason Horowitz finds turmoil at the city ballet.

We can see why the Working Families Party is displeased with Joe Crowley after reading this piece in The Hill about his work in the House on behalf of the bankruptcy bill: "Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) summoned Democratic lobbyists to the Capitol for a meeting last week and then dispatched them to solidify pro-business Democratic support for the bankruptcy reform bill, adopting a practice regularly used by the Republican majority and its business allies on K Street."  read more »