Tom Suozzi

David Paterson spoke with Barack Obama around 2 p.m., he told reporters in Midtown during the New York State Democratic Party’s meeting.

“He asked me how the first two and a half months were going," Paterson said. "And I told him it might have even been more difficult than your campaign.”  read more »

Here’s a ticket that intern Em Whitney and I scored as a souvenir from last night’s State Democratic Party fund-raiser at 41 Broad Street. Since the event was closed to the press, we didn’t actually make it inside, but we did get to chat with a few people outside about Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign and other topics of interest.  read more »

Eliot Spitzer spoke about his his efforts to control rising property taxes, a major issue affecting local governments, at the Association of Towns annual meeting at the Hilton in Midtown this morning.

From the podium the governor said, "This year, we will continue with Medicaid cuts. We will continue to control our own spending, but property taxes must be addressed.

"And let me tell you something. We have tried many different ways to address the problem.  read more »

Andrew Cuomo announced he’s conducting a major investigation of the healthcare industry that could explain why healthcare costs are so expensive.

According to Cuomo’s office, insurers have low-balled the cost of medical treatment, pushing off a majority of the expenses to customers. The companies being investigated include UnitedHealth Group, Ingenix and others.

Here’s an example of how the scheme worked, according to a public statement from Cuomo’s office:

United insurers knew most simple doctor visits cost $200, but claimed to  read more »

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Eliot Spitzer has given his New York State Property Tax Commission the power of subpoena, but commission chairman Tom Suozzi told me today, “I can’t imagine any circumstances that we would use the subpoena powers."

Suozzi--who joined the governor in announcing commission members today in Albany, and was arriving in Rochester to be part of Spitzer's "Bringing the Budget Home" tour when I spoke to him--went on,"[I]f we try to get information from some entity, we’ll use [subpoenas] if we have to. But I can’t imagine what the circumstance would be.”

“The most important entity is going to be the school districts,” he said, when I asked what groups the commission may want information from.

When I then asked if they will look at groups like the teachers' union--which opposes limiting property tax because it is a major source of funds--Suozzi said, “I can’t imagine what we would need from them...[there is] no instance that I can think of where we would look at a union specifically.”

But he did add, “Of course we would look at salaries and benefits and pension” and “other costs” related to education professionals.

I just ran into Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who ran for governor on a platform of changing Albany's status quo (before Eliot Spitzer took on that fight).

He’s in high spirits right now, in the moments before Spitzer's state of the state speech here in the Capitol.

Suozzi is expected to sit in the Assembly Chambers right next to V.I.P. guests Chuck Schumer to his right, and Michael Bloomberg two seats away.

I asked if he felt vindicated that his message of cutting property taxes and changing the status quo had basically been adopted as Spitzer's platform.  read more »

Here are excerpts of Eliot Spitzer's State of the State speech, which he will deliver in Albany this afternoon.

In it, Spitzer says lawmakers have to "get real" about the property tax burden facing New Yorkers, co-opting a point raised by Tom Suozzi during the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary, and by Republican legislators.

The excerpts are after the jump.  read more »

I just caught Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi here at the Clinton headquarters at the Hotel Fort Des Moines and asked him for his reaction to the seven-point margin she’s trailing Barack Obama by at the moment.

Here’s what he said: “I don’t think it’s that surprising. After months of intense scrutiny, she is still the best candidate out there.”

Then he said, “If Obama gets this win tonight, he’ll get some of the scrutiny she has been getting over these last 11 months. We’ll see if he can withstand that.  read more »

OK, this will be the last video from the state Democratic Party's conference yesterday.

In it Tom Suozzi puts up with my questions about kissing one-time rival Tom DiNapoli, on the forehead. And watch what he says he'll do to Eliot Spitzer, another one-time rival.

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.