Free Republic

ALBANY — While the protesters who packed the stone stairwell of the state Capitol chanted "Ban Fracking Now," the political types in suits down the hall spoke of a different reality. Those protesters at Tuesday's anti-fracking rally in Albany carried signs saying "Governor Cuomo In 2014 We'll Remember" — a warning to Andrew Cuomo they won't vote for him if he doesn't ban the natural-gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The buzz among the men and women outside the state Senate chamber said Cuomo's presumed political aspirations are the exact reason why there's so much pressure on him...

When the New York press corps wants to know what Gov. Andrew Cuomo has to say, on the record, it looks to Fred Dicker -- morning radio show host, New York Post columnist, and so-called "dean" of the Albany press corps. With few exceptions, Dicker, a Cuomo friendly, gets exclusive on-the-record access to the Governor's thoughts. Now, Dicker has signed a deal to write a Cuomo biography. Dicker is believed to have made a six-figure deal with HarperCollins, according to a report by the Post's Keith Kelly, putting him in direct competition with Vanity Fair's Michael Shnayerson, who signed his...

Governor Cuomo caved. Our lawmakers lied. After more than a year of fresh air in Albany — led by a governor who passed gay marriage, reformed ethics laws and capped property taxes — the state capitol again stinks. After midnight on Thursday, and behind closed doors, the proverbial three men in a room — Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos — cut a deal carving legislative election districts that virtually assures the lawmakers who approved it will be running things for years. Instead of forming an independent panel to create districts that actually represent the...

An employee with the New York Archdiocese warned of an “impending persecution” after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called same-sex “marriage” opponents discriminatory and “anti-American” last week.

Former President Bill Clinton and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recorded robo-calls to run today and tomorrow to express support for Democrat David Weprin in Weprin’s race against Republican Bob Turner to replace disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner in New York’s 9th Congressional district. The Daily Caller reports the content of the calls: “I’ve known David for many years, and I’ve known him to be a leader who stands up for what’s right. In Congress he’ll stand up for middle class families and he’ll fight to preserve Social Security and Medicare. David will bring jobs to New York and get...

President Barack Obama collected some big bucks Thursday night at a star-studded fund-raiser in the New York home of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Among the guests: actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin; comedian Jimmy Fallon, designer Vera Wang, singer Alicia Keys, and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who co-hosted the event. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also there as the guests packed around five tables in a basement room. Hundreds of people awaited the president's arrival on the streets of the West Village near the Weinstein residence, a multi-story brick row house. Weinstein said he had...

There's some chatter among some Democrats these days about Joe Biden's future.  Biden, the Obama's administration's comic relief, may not bring enough to the Democrat ticket in 2012 to help Mr. Obama avoid defeat.  The idea that vice presidential candidates drive tickets is amusing.  Yet the idea persists, so freshman New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's name is being floated as Biden's possible replacement. The buzz about Cuomo emanates chiefly from his signing a gay marriage measure into law in the Empire State.  Cuomo's championing gay marriage is, of course, why liberals consider Cuomo vice presidential material -- or even presidential...

Could President Obama be growing tired of Vice President Joe Biden’s seemingly endless gaffes, or of what some perceive is Biden’s increasing irrelevance? So tired he would actually choose another running mate to lead him into 2012? If prominent political strategists including William Powers — the GOP power broker responsible for electing Rudy Giuliani mayor – are correct, Obama might consider replacing his current Vice President with freshman New York governor Andrew Cuomo. In turn, strategists predict Biden might then fill Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s shoes. Seriously? Cuomo, who found his way into the spotlight recently with his strong...

A Prominent Republican is joining a prominent Democrat in predicting that Gov. Cuomo will become President Obama's running mate for vice president next year. Former New York GOP boss William Powers, credited with playing a key role in electing Rudy Giuliani mayor and George Pataki governor, was effusive in his praise of Cuomo's successes in the just-ended legislative session, and in his prediction of the freshman governor's political future. "Andrew had a fabulous session. It was fabulous. A property-tax cap, ethics reform and, for Democrats, gay marriage," said Powers.

I used to work for the Republican Party. I was a member of the Fairfax County Republican Committee for several years and a precinct chairman. When I moved to Woodstock I joined the Republican Women of Shenandoah Country and was Secretary. I quit when the executive board decided we had to support a woman who supported liberal positions spending initiative because she was a Republican woman. Apparently, what you stand for means nothing as long as you call yourself Republican. So when I read the American Thinker article, The Need For A Militant Conservative Movement, it struck a chord. Read it and, if...

NJ Governor Chris Christie sat down with NBC News' ‘Morning Joe' panel to discuss how he plans to lower taxes and decrease NJ's debt. Christie explained that the Pension Reform bill that he is poised to sign will effectively save NJ tax payers $132 billion and make health insurance affordable to public workers without increasing the tax burden on NJ residences. When asked why tax hikes aren't on the table, Christie says that the top 1% of NJ residents pay 41% of the income tax and face the highest taxes in America, they've ‘already paid their fair share'.

The race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination "just began" with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's successful shepherding of a law to legalize gay marriage through the New York state legislature this weekend, Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere and Maggie Haberman report. Cuomo's support for marriage equality puts him at the sweet spot in the arc of history, Democratic strategist Jim Jordan told Politico. His work on gay marriage could be as crucial to his political future as opposing the Iraq war was to then-state Sen. Barack Obama. Cuomo is the first national figure enthusiastically to push same-sex marriage at the exact...

Of the early potential Democratic contenders, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley says he supports gay marriage but stopped short of making a major push for the legislation earlier in the year, while Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is opposed. Hillary Clinton, if she runs, would still have her commitment to civil unions but not gay marriage from the 2008 race hanging over her — and at least until the end of next year, when she’s said she’ll be done at the State Department, she won’t be able to make any new comments on the issue. “It gives him an authenticity and a...

ALBANY, NY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has ordered an expanded environmental review of proposed "hydrofracking" for natural gas in New York after a well in Pennsylvania spilled chemical-laced water for two days. An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press directs the state Department of Environmental Conservation to review and learn any lessons from the April accident in Pennsylvania's Bradford County. A creek was polluted and homes were evacuated. The review will include an on-site inspection by New York officials.

New York’s budget-cutting Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have found himself in hot water with the Catholic Church. Dr. Edward Peters, a consultant to the Vatican’s highest court of canon law, told CNS News that Cuomo committed an “objectively sacrilegious” act that “produces grave scandal” when he received communion on New Year’s Day. Cuomo, a Democrat, is pro-choice and supports gay marriage, two positions the church vocally opposes. Of serious concern to Peters, however, is that Cuomo, who divorced Robert Kennedy’s daughter Kerry eight years ago, is currently living with Food Network host Sandra Lee. “Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York,...

In receiving communion at a Mass offered by the Roman Catholic bishop of Albany, NY, that state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who supports abortion, gay marriage, and lives with his girlfriend, committed an “objectively sacrilegious” act that “produces grave scandal,” according to Dr. Edward Peters, a top expert in Catholic Church law and a consultant to the highest court at the Vatican. Peters specifically cited Cuomo's cohabiting with Food Network hostess Sandra Lee as "publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the Church," and that "as long as he persists in such conduct, he should refrain from taking...

WASHINGTON - One of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's top recent fund-raisers is a key figure in the Goldman Sachs fraud case, a review of federal campaign records reveals. John Paulson, leader of the $33 billion hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co., helped Democrat Schumer collect nearly $100,000 in the first three months of this year. Schumer is running for a third term in November. The Securities and Exchange Commission says Paulson's company helped assemble a bunch of bad mortgage securities for Goldman Sachs and bet they would tank, while Goldman found buyers who got soaked for $1 billion. The SEC...

Cuomo the ConservativeBelieve it. Looking for a tax-cutting, budget-slashing, fiscally conservative governor? How about Andrew Cuomo? Yes, that Andrew Cuomo. With the possible exceptions of California and Illinois, no state is facing as big an economic mess as New York. Years of profligate spending and crushing taxes have left the state with a $10 billion budget shortfall. The conventional wisdom said that despite having the nation’s highest tax burden, and what Cuomo has called the “worst business climate in the country,� New York would have no choice but to hike taxes yet again. That is, after all, the path that...

It might be cold outside, but Andrew Cuomo's affair with voters is heating up. The second Cuomo to lead New York currently boasts a mammoth 70 percent approval rating (the highest he's scored since he was Attorney General and hit 71% in June 2009). Even better for the frugal gov, more than half of voters consider him a moderate. Which has some wondering if Cuomo is going to use his honeymoon with voters to try and bring weddings to gay New Yorkers. Cuomo has spoken out for gay marriage previously (and gave it a one line nod in his State...

Accounting firm Ernst & Young was sued by New York state prosecutors Tuesday, accused of helping to hide financial risks at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc before the Wall Street firm's 2008 collapse. The civil fraud case seeks $150 million in fees that the accounting firm collected, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. The lawsuit also seeks investor damages and other relief in what is one of the biggest government cases involving an accounting firm since Arthur Andersen was criminally indicted in 2002 over the Enron scandal. Ernst & Young was Lehman's outside auditor from 2001 until...

This early word from inside the campaign Voter turnout is high everywhere but Manhattan area.. Sufflok county 3 to 1 Repub over Dem.. Great for us.. Things look good but I am cautiously optimistic

There he goes again. Carl P. Paladino, the Republican candidate for governor, promised he would be politically incorrect. He wasn’t kidding. On Thursday, during a rally in Hicksville, N.Y., he called the state’s junior United States senator, Kirsten E. Gillibrand, “Schumer’s little girl.” It was an apparent reference to Ms. Gillibrand’s close relationship with Senator Charles E. Schumer, but Mr. Paladino’s dismissive description of the only woman to hold statewide elected office in New York jolted the political world. His comments were reported on the Web site of Newsday and by NY1. Mr. Paladino, a businessman from Buffalo, has previously...

It's Carl again w/update from the road. I'm in NYC, Greg Edwards is in Buffalo. Event after event - lots of momentum! I just found out: Cuomo refuses to say if he gave former comptroller Alan Hevesi jail time for taking a million$$ in bribes. Law Journal wrote he cut the deal with Hevesi to get a plea last week. But Andy won't tell. Now the Law Journal changed their story online - strange. Lucky we scanned the original article: http://paladinoforthepeople.com/hevesi_lawjournal.php What's the deal, Andy? Voters want to know did you and Hevesi cut a another deal for no jail...

Benjamin Franklin is credited with defining insanity as the action of constantly doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.  Well with that understanding, it is my opinion that both California and New York voters are suffering from an extreme case of insanity.  In California, Democrat Jerry Brown is holding a slight edge over Republican Meg Whitman 48% to 42%.  Now I do believe that both Whitman and Paladino can win, if Republicans vote with the same enthusiasm they had during the primaries. However, if these numbers hold then it looks as if Jerry Brown will...

Hofstra University will host the first gubernatorial debate between GOP candidate Carl Paladino, Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo and five third-party candidates on Monday, Oct. 18. All seven candidates said they plan to attend, including Anti-Prohibition Party candidate Kristin Davis, Freedom Party candidate Charles Barron, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, Libertarian Party candidate Warren Redlich and Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is too Damn High Party. The debate comes after Paladino accused Cuomo of avoiding a debate. It also comes two years after the university hosted the third and final Presidential debate in 2008. “This election is a critical one for...

(WBEN) - While he takes his pit bull around from campaign event to campaign event, Carl Paladino's dog Duke is attracting attention-- so much so that the campaign is featuring him in an open letter advising the media to engage in more original reporting. From the Paladino campaign, here's the text of a statement released by and attributed to campaign manager Michael Caputo Thursday. Media Colleagues: The Office of Vital Statistics for the City of Buffalo alerted the Paladino family that the New York Times visited City Hall asking to see Duke's dog license. I want to alert the media...

he New York Post has endorsed Democrat Andrew Cuomo for governor, saying it believes he has the "vision to blaze a path to reform.'' The endorsement comes hours before a seven-way debate in the contentious race to replace Gov. David Paterson in Albany. The newspaper on Monday said it based its endorsement for Cuomo "in the hope, if not necessarily the full expectation'' that Cuomo would become the strong leader that New York state needs. But the Post said it isn't clear whether anyone currently running for the state's highest office "is fully up to the task.'' It called Cuomo's...

President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo answered questions in 1998 at a press conference regarding HUD policy that would ensure that banks could not discriminate against low-income minorities when considering individuals from this group for housing loans. In this video (h/t Eyeblast) he says: "To take a greater risk on these mortgages...yes. To give families mortgages they who they would not have given otherwise?...yes." Mr. Cuomo is then asked if this people in this group could have gotten the loans at all in the first place. In a telling response, he answers: "They would not...

CUOMO: To take a greater risk on these mortgages, yes. To give families mortgages that they would not have given otherwise, yes. Q: [unintellible] … that they would not have given the loans at all? CUOMO: They would not have qualified but for this affirmative action on the part of the bank, yes. Q: Are minorities represented in that low and moderate income group? CUOMO: It is by income, and is it also by minorities? Yes. CUOMO: With the 2.1 billion, lending that amount in mortgages — which will be a higher risk, and I’m sure there will be a...

Over the summer, from May until September, members of the RWDSU (an affiliate of the United Food & Commercial Workers) in Williamson, New York were out on strike for 112 days against their employer Mott’s, which is owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple. Andrew Cuomo* (son of Mario) is running to fill his father’s shoes as governor in New York against Carl Paladino. In so doing, Cuomo is relying on the union vote in order to win. When Andrew Cuomo took a campaign contribution from Mott’s during the strike, his campaign said it would go to the union to aide the...

Carl Paladino is a Republican in a heavily Democratic state, and he trails political scion Andrew Cuomo in polls. But his bluster and ferocity have gotten attention — and cut into Cuomo's lead. Reporting from New York Carl Paladino, a self-made multimillionaire who wants to be governor of New York, has set up shop in the lobby of a low-budget hotel in midtown Manhattan. This real estate developer from downtown Buffalo has been giving media interviews back to back since he trounced an establishment Republican last month to become the party's nominee. He is visibly exhausted, shirt rumpled, dark circles...

We’re late to this one, but oh well. The editor in question is Fred Dicker, who’s covered Albany for the Post since forever and whom Paladino accuses of being in the tank for Andrew Cuomo (maybe with some justification). Last weekend, the Post ran a story about the child Paladino had with a former mistress 10 years ago and reportedly sent a photographer to the house where Paladino’s daughter lives to get a shot of her. Here’s their campaign statement about it; that invasion of privacy is what spurred Paladino to tell Dicker he’d take him out. Paladino also wants...

Andrew CUOMO rolled out his campaign with "shock and awe" boldness, promising to be a fiscal hawk and take on the unions and Albany's culture of corruption. He insisted he shared the frustration of Tea Party voters. And on the 13th day of the race, he blinked. My, that was fast. Ever since Carl Paladino pulled an upset in the GOP primary on Sept. 14, Cuomo has been the deer caught in the headlights. Paladino charged at him with guns blazing, and Cuomo couldn't decide whether to keep running as a centrist Democrat or make a left turn into the...

Andrew Cuomo, betting that he's still running in a very blue state, offers a bit of a challenge to the Republican base: "There are no places in New York today for Tea Party politics," he said today, per NY1's Josh Robin.

Remember when liberals brushed aside any criticism of candidate Barack Obama being unqualified to become president because of his lack of executive experience? Well, that was then and this is now because Susan Estrich has suddenly developed "concern" over the qualifications of the Tea Party backed Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York, Carl Paladino. A skeptic might rightly believe this recent Estrich infatuation with qualifications could be inspired by the fact that Paladino is closing the gap in the polls with the Democrat candidate, Andrew Cuomo. Here is Estrich with her newly developed qualifications concern: The Republican nominee for governor...

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he will back Democrat Andrew Cuomo come November, but it sure didn’t sound like much of an endorsement. “Everybody knows that behind the scenes that he’s the dirtiest, nastiest political player out there,” Spitzer said of Cuomo Thursday.

Flying Pigs Alert!The gubernatorial campaign of Andrew Cuomo has such a poor credibility problem that even the local New York City CBS affiliate is asking: "Cuomo Caught Lying About Voting for Bloomberg?" And what caused such an aspersion to be cast upon Cuomo's veracity? Check out this video in which Cuomo asserted that he voted for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. However, as the CBS affiliate pointed out, it didn't happen: But for all his actions as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, Cuomo did have a little problem with telling the truth about his election box support for Mayor...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo is set to receive a big endorsement at City Hall today, as a new poll out shows him facing stiff competition in November. The latest Quinnipiac University survey released today finds likely voters are almost ready to start calling Carl Paladino governor. A few days ago, many New Yorkers didn't even know him. But now the Quinnipiac poll finds the Republican nominee is within six points of Cuomo. The Democrat leads the Republican 49-43 percent, with seven undecided. The margin of error is 3.6 percentage points. According to the poll, voters want change in Albany...

BUFFALO — Fresh from having romped to a lopsided victory in the Republican primary for governor, Carl P. Paladino vowed Wednesday to attack Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo “like General Patton,” saying he would exploit Mr. Cuomo’s “immaturity” and his “ego.” “We’re going to charge, charge, charge,” Mr. Paladino said in a wide-ranging 40-minute interview with The New York Times on Wednesday morning. “General Patton, when they told him to get up there to the bulge and bring his Third Army and help those soldiers up there — it didn’t matter who was in his way. He charged, charged, charged.”...

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said the following in response to yesterday's press conference conducted by Rick Lazio, his potential opposition in the coming election for governor in New York state: “If there is a criminal case, then there is a criminal case. But, if this is: I don’t like this religion, and I don’t like this religion on this block. Or: I don’t like this religion in this city. Then I agree with Mayor Bloomberg. Then I agree with the community board that approved the mosque. What are we about, if not religious freedom? What is the country...

07/26/2010 3:14 PM By: Beth Wurtmann GLENVILLE - Tenants of the Shady Lane Apartments stood in support of their management company and a rental agent who are being sued for racial discrimination. This came after state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Socha Management and agent Deana Tope on July 6, accusing both of discriminating against minorities and families at the complex. Over 100 tenants gathered at a rally Monday morning organized by Socha Management. The business says it has a diverse population of tenants, but most appeared to be senior citizens. In an undercover investigation, Cuomo said black testers applying...

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio is calling out his Dem opponent Andrew Cuomo about the Ground Zero mosque proposal … Lazio demanded that state Attorney General Cuomo check the legality of the funding sources for the $100 million Cordoba House Islamic center planned near the site of the 9/11 terror attacks. “New Yorkers have a right to feel safe and be safe,” Lazio told reporters in Lower Manhattan. “There are serious security questions about the appropriateness of this mosque.” In a letter he sent to Cuomo, Lazio cited press accounts that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who’s spearheading the mosque’s construction,...

Andrew Cuomo promised to "transform the lives of millions of families across our country" when as HUD secretary he announced his historic plan to increase home ownership. Eleven years later, many experts think that much-heralded transformation played a role in the devastating subprime mortgage meltdown and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. "They should have known the risks were large," said Edward J. Pinto, former chief credit officer at Fannie Mae. "Cuomo was pushing mortgage bankers to make loans and basically saying you have to offer a loan to everybody." Pinto argues that Cuomo, now running for governor...

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, declaring his candidacy for governor of New York, could not have been clearer. “The influence of lobbyists and their special interests must be drastically reduced with new contribution limits,” Mr. Cuomo said last month. “We will be taking on very powerful special interests which have much to lose. We must change systems and cultures long in the making.” But as he delivered his announcement, Mr. Cuomo was sitting on millions in campaign cash from the very special interests whose influence he said he wanted to limit. An analysis by The New York Times shows that...

On the eve of the state Republican convention, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio yesterday glossed over inter-party squabbling and came out swinging against Democratic nominee Andrew Cuomo. "People -- I don't care if they're Democrats or Independents or Republicans -- look at Andrew Cuomo trying to run against the establishment and they laugh. Andrew Cuomo is the establishment," Lazio said during a Memorial Day parade in Queens yesterday. The former Republican congressman from Long Island went on to criticize Cuomo -- the state's popular attorney general who is considered difficult to beat in the race to replace departing Gov. Paterson...

Lack of insightful media coverage of political dirty tricks leads to “Stop D’Amato” Facebook campaign Published on May 27, 2010 by Official Wire (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C. You’ve seen Facebook sites that try to find a million fans of something. Now, thanks to inadequate media coverage in New York, a Facebook fan site is being used to educate the voting public. Created by America Outraged Political Action Committee, the recently launched “1,000+ People to STOP the D’Amato Machine!” (http://www.facebook.com/stopdamato) seeks to find over a thousand people by May 28 to “like” the page and voice their disapproval of political power broker...

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo finally went public with Albany's worst-kept secret yesterday -- throwing himself into the gubernatorial race with an ambitious strategy to shake up the "dysfunctional" Capitol and save the state. "I have a plan to rebuild New York from the ground up," Cuomo declared in front of the Tweed Courthouse in lower Manhattan, where he discussed his candidacy in front of hundreds of supporters. "We stand today next to one of the historic monuments to government corruption," he said. "Well, unfortunately, Albany's antics today could make Boss Tweed blush." Cuomo detailed his strategy for putting an end...

<p>Democrat Andrew Cuomo made it official Saturday after months of playing coy: He will seek the New York governor's job once held by his father. Cuomo, who as state attorney general has built a national reputation with his campaigns against public corruption, posted a video and statement online announcing his candidacy, promising to continue his crusade and change the notoriously shady culture of Albany.</p>

..... hedge-fund firm Ivy Asset Management is accused of hiding "disturbing facts" about Madoff from clients on fears the truth would crimp their revenue.....a civil lawsuit claims former CEO Lawrence Simon and ex-CIO Howard Wohl, were aware for some 10 years that Madoff's operation was suspect, but they "kept clients in the dark," pocketing $40M in advisory and due-diligence fees between 1998-2008 that led hundreds of investors, and dozens of NY union pensions and welfare plans, to lose a combined $227M.

The New York attorney general has started an investigation of eight banks to determine whether they provided misleading information to rating agencies in order to inflate the grades of certain mortgage securities, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. The investigation parallels federal inquiries into the business practices of a broad range of financial companies in the years before the collapse of the housing market. Where those investigations have focused on interactions between the banks and their clients who bought mortgage securities, this one expands the scope of scrutiny to the interplay between banks and the agencies that...