Free Republic

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...

The New York governor secures a breakthrough agreement on teacher evaluation.In a landmark victory, New York governor Andrew Cuomo and the state’s teachers’ unions have reached agreement on the structure of a new evaluation policy for public school teachers. In the new system, 40 percent of each teacher’s evaluation will be quantitative—based on his students’ performance on standardized tests—while the remaining 60 percent will be qualitative, deriving from subjective measures of his effectiveness, including at least one unannounced observation by the principal. The new evaluations will be hard to buck. Only 13 percent of teachers receiving a bad rating on...

Malaysian firm pledges $4 billion to build country's largest convention center in Queens. On Tuesday, the Cuomo administration quietly inked a letter of agreement for the project with the operator of the Aqueduct racino... the Malaysia-based casino operator pledged to invest $4 billion to build the 3.8 million-square-foot facility

We here at SBSB wish to take the time and congratulate Governor Cuomo on his call in tomorrow's state of the state address tomorrow night in calling for an education committee to look at education across the state. This is an idea we here at SBSB have mulled over in the past.

Full Title: Government Pamphlet Taught Banks How To Finance A $70,000 Home With A $500 Downpayment A government publication offering banks guidance on "community development" urged banks to offering low-income borrowers loans with many of the features now deplored as irresponsible and lax lending. The two-volume set uncovered by Clusterstock was titled EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCE/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE GUIDE.

...Brown was unable to pass the largest state tax increase in U.S. history earlier this year because legislative Republicans, whose votes were needed due to California's 2/3rds vote requirement to raise taxes, kept their pledge to constituents to oppose any and all efforts to raise taxes. So Brown is now going out to collect signatures, with financial backing of government sector unions and Hollywood, to put an income and sales tax hike on the ballot. (Side note: Brown should hire ATR to consult him, because as we told him back in January, his tax hikes wouldn’t get through the legislature...

A scant 11 months into his incumbency, Gov. Cuomo this weekend surrendered to New York’s culture of corrupt profligacy — abandoning the no-tax-hike pledge that was a core campaign principle and laying to rest the notion that he’s a Democrat of a different sort. How high will taxes go now? Who knows? Right now, “negotiations” are under way — apparently intended to get the tax-hike heavy lifting out of the way before the Legislature convenes in a month. Time enough then to divvy up the spoils; just rest assured that every penny raised by the hikes will be spent in...

Gov. Cuomo, under enormous pressure from public-employee unions and Democrats in the Legislature to extend New York’s “millionaires’ tax,” is considering at least some higher taxes on higher incomes. The big irony here is that much of the money raised from any “millionaire” tax hikes would go to fund the growing phenomenon of public-sector millionaires. How’s that? Well, most dictionaries define a millionaire as someone with wealth (i.e., assets) of $1 million. By that definition, many New York teachers and the vast majority of police and firefighters are millionaires, because the “net present value” of their retirement benefits is well...

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- It’s time to head to the polls Tuesday morning. We’ve been telling you about the heated contest for Ledyard Town Clerk, where the current clerk has refused to sign gay marriage licenses and a write-in candidate is hoping to take her spot. There are also some referendums to consider. In the town of Salina for example, the board wants to buy the Burdick Chevrolet property and convert it into a town hall and highway garage. Plus, the issue of possibly dissolving the village of Camillus is on the table. Stay tuned to NewsChannel 9 for all...

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.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered state agencies today to translate documents and provide interpreters in six languages for immigrants seeking public services. The $1.5 million effort covered by state and federal funds will also provide the translations to illegal immigrants, depending on what services they seek, Cuomo said. Immigrants won't be asked about their federal immigration status.

A state panel advising Gov. Cuomo wants taxpayers to foot the bill for transgender residents to get “sexual-reassignment surgery,” allowing them to change their physical characteristics from a man to a woman or woman to man, The Post has learned. New York’s costliest-in-the-nation Medicaid program would cover the tab. “Provide Medicaid coverage for transgender surgery/hormone replace-ment therapy and treatment,” read the proposal submitted by the state “health disparities work group.’’ The panel is submitting recommendations to Cuomo’s Medicaid Redesign Team for possible inclusion in the governor’s budget plan.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday supported President Barack Obama's proposal to tax millionaires and corporations at a higher rate to pay for a jobs program. Cuomo initially declined to comment during a Monday press conference on Obama's proposal until he received "specifics." Hours later, Cuomo urged Congress to support the Democratic president's proposal. Cuomo killed a state proposal by his fellow Democrats in the Assembly earlier this year that would have increased the income tax on wealthier New Yorkers. He said it would hurt the economy and chase wealthier New Yorkers and employers to neighboring states.

Former President Bill Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are throwing their weight behind Democrat David Weprin in New York’s 9th Congressional district, recording robo-calls that will run Monday and Tuesday. Both calls emphasize the New York Times’ Weprin endorsement, his support of the middle class and Medicare, and say that he will create jobs. “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...

There is nothing wrong — and much that is right — with building a national monument to memorialize the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 attacks a decade ago. The awful events of that day traumatized the country — and changed it. The dead deserve to be remembered. Far be it from me to suggest otherwise. What I do want to suggest, though, is that what’s being built in the name of 9/11 — a staggering $11 billion worth of government-sponsored construction on the 16 acres we now call ground zero — is an example of just about everything...

Gov. Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have signed off on $1.50 toll hikes for all Port Authority crossings that’ll go into effect next month, sources said. The final fare hikes are far lower than the ones the Port Authority rolled out last month, which called for a $4 increase on most crossings and were met with widespread disgust by politicians and the public. Christie and Cuomo are also calling for an audit of the agency. The new $1.50 hikes will apply to cash and EZ-Pass customers on all the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels. Cash payers will also...

         Release Detail August 10, 2011 - Cuomo Is 'good,' 'competent,' 'trying,' New York State Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Gov Is Better Leader Than Obama, Bloomberg Word format "Good," "competent," "trying," "honest" and "OK" top the list when 1,640 New York State voters use one word to describe Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. For example 76 voters say "good," followed by 51 who say "competent" and another 51 who say "trying" as in attempting. These are actual voter counts, not percentages. Except for "arrogant" at number nine on the list, "liberal,"...

National security mascot Rudy Giuliani is back in the headlines this week for his latest project with private consulting firm Giuliani Partners. America's mayor is considering taking a spokesman job with the Entergy Corporation, which operates two reactors at the Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan, New York, just 35 miles outside New York City. Giuliani Partners has done some P.R. work for Entergy in the past -- during safety controversies in early 2003 and again in 2006 -- but this is an entirely different situation. Though it generates 25 to 30 percent of the city's energy and pumps $126...

Dear Governor Cuomo: I am writing to express my deep disappointment with your recent decision to push for an expansion of the definition of marriage – one that allows for marriage between a man and a man or between a woman and a woman. Most of your recent critics are writing because they think your crusade on this issue has gone too far. I’m writing because I don’t think it goes far enough. In fact, I think your approach to this issue reflects a fundamental narrow-mindedness that is almost as distasteful as your Pharisaic moral posturing and your constant media...

Gov. Cuomo is hailing a new Pennsylvania study showing that the huge Marcellus Shale natural-gas field on the New York border could supply 25 percent of the nation's gas needs and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.  Cuomo -- who's weighing a late-June report by the state Department of Environmental Conservation concluding that controversial "hydrofracking" gas drilling could be done safely in most parts of the Southern Tier -- said the Pennsylvania report showed the enormous potential for job creation and economic development that the drilling offered New York. (Investment and production on Pennsylvania’s side of the Marcellus Shale natural-gas...

CALLICOON, New York (AFP) – After a lifetime struggling to make money from the land, New York farmer Bill Graby has discovered he's sitting on treasure -- possibly the biggest natural gas deposit in America. "It's like winning the lottery," says the 6.6-foot (two-meter) dairy farmer from the picturesque town of Callicoon in the Catskills hills. The deposit, called the Marcellus shale, stretches all the way from New York to Tennessee, containing 168 to 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation. That dwarfs the previous big daddy, the Barnett shale in...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is streamlining the application process for state economic development funds and released a blueprint for regional councils that will compete for cash and tax breaks. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced that he has redesigned the process for the state to distribute $1 billion in economic development money, enabling applicants to fill out just one form when seeking to tap funds from nine separate state agencies. The procedural streamlining is part of the governor's effort to get more bang for the state's economic development dollars by having regions compete for funding. The governor also released a “blueprint”...

Could President Obama dump Joe Biden from the Democratic ticket in 2012? New York Post columnist Fred Dicker says yes, quoting prominent Democrat and Republicans speculating that the president would replace Biden with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “I don’t think there’s any doubt Obama is going to pick him as his running mate,” Republican William Powers told Dicker. “The president is in trouble and Biden doesn’t bring anything to his ticket.” The report also said former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has speculated that Biden would replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Cuomo is said to be eyeing...

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.

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 don't think there's any doubt Obama is going to pick...

A senior adviser to the Vatican, who is a theology professor in Detroit, blasted the Catholic governor of New York for his strong backing of same-sex marriage, saying that he should be punished for his "brazen" violation of Catholicism by being denied Holy Communion — a key part of the Catholic faith. He's also calling for the Catholic Church to investigate Gov. Andrew Cuomo for violating church law, calling the politician's actions a "danger" to faithful Catholics. Professor Edward Peters of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, a consultant to the Vatican's highest court, hopes that punishing Cuomo would "serve...

Goldman Sachs (GS: 132.53, +3.27, +2.53%) may lay off as many as 230 employees, according to a filing with the New York State Department of Labor. The filing dated June 29 cites economic reasons for the potential layoffs, which could begin in late September and extend through March 31, 2012. State law requires that businesses with 50 or more employees notify the Labor Department when significant layoffs are planned.

Marriage was already in bad shape when New York’s governor rewrote its meaning in the state on Friday night with his signature on the “Marriage Equality Act.� Princeton politics professor Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, who has written and lectured extensively on marriage and conscience rights, the natural law, and public policy (and served on the President’s Council on Bioethics and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights), discusses the fallout and future with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez.   KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ:...

This is how deeply complicit the GOP leadership in NY was in passing gay marriage: they even changed the senate rules several times in a day, and silenced senators who wanted to speak -- in order to vote in time for the 11 p.m. news: Essentially the Senate rules were changed in a backroom agreement before session started and then changed again during the vote to make sure it would be concluded to make the 11 p.m. newscasts.Sen. Kevin Parker, a long time proponent of same-sex marriage was informed by Senate staff that he would not be able to explain...

<p>NY Dem Gov. Cuomo won a ringing endorsement from an unlikely corner, Republican Rudy Giuliani......for passage of the hotly contested gay-marriage bill....</p>

I’m going to be short and to the point in this post in order to simply register my opinion. Andrew Cuomo should be denied Communion. That’s the only conclusion I can come to after witnessing his brazen efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, directly ignoring and acting against the public pleas and warnings of the bishops of New York. Andrew Cuomo already is known to be living in sin with his girlfriend. He’s an unapologetic proponent of abortion, and he just signed gay marriage into law. If this sort of person should not be denied Communion in the...

Gay marriage decisions shows 'leadership,' Rudy Giuliani says of Andrew Cuomo Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the only potential 2012 candidate who would be legal to perform same-sex marriages under the New York law that passed last week, walked a delicate line today in his first public comments on the topic, per the Daily News politics blog: "My thoughts are that I'm glad that people who felt discriminated against have sort of had that burden of discrimination lifted. I signed the first civil-union, domestic partnership bill I think in the country. Maybe it was the second. And I...

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...

Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature have deconstructed the single most important institution in human history. Republicans and Democrats alike succumbed to powerful political elites and have passed legislation that will undermine our families and as a consequence, our society. With this vote, Governor Cuomo has opened a new front in the culture wars that are tearing at the fabric of our nation. At a time when so many New Yorkers are struggling to stay in their homes and find jobs, we should be working together to solve these problems. However, the politicians have curried favor with wealthy...

In the 35th-floor conference room of a Manhattan high-rise, two of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s most trusted advisers held a secret meeting a few weeks ago with a group of super-rich Republican donors. Over tuna and turkey sandwiches, the advisers explained that New York’s Democratic governor was determined to legalize same-sex marriage and would deliver every possible Senate vote from his own party. Would the donors win over the deciding Senate Republicans? It sounded improbable: top Republican moneymen helping a Democratic rival with one of his biggest legislative goals. But the donors in the room — the billionaire Paul Singer,...

"...The story of how same-sex marriage became legal in New York is about shifting public sentiment and individual lawmakers moved by emotional appeals from gay couples who wish to be wed. But, behind the scenes, it was really about a Republican Party reckoning with a profoundly changing power dynamic, where Wall Street donors and gay-rights advocates demonstrated more might and muscle than a Roman Catholic hierarchy and an ineffective opposition. And it was about a Democratic governor, himself a Catholic, who used the force of his personality and relentlessly strategic mind to persuade conflicted lawmakers to take a historic leap....

CNN Ticker Tag only NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Signs State's Marriage Equality Bill. Same-sex couples will now be able to marry within 30 days.

The New York gay marriage bill introduced by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs only one more yea vote from a Republican senator to pass. If that vote materializes, New York would become the sixth and most populous state to allow same-sex marriage. President Obama received mixed reviews after speaking Thursday night to supporters of the bill at a Democratic fundraiser in New York City. More than 600 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people paid $1,250 each to attend the gala. The president's critics argue that although he said he supports equal rights for gays and lesbians, he won't come...

THIS is how New Yorkers truly feel about marriage! Honk if you support traditional marriage! What New Yorkers Really Think about Same-Sex "Marriage" The United States was built on a foundation of christianity. An old man parks his car in the Bronx to be certain he is really experiencing so much support for traditional marriage. We've got to get New York back! One dissenter kicks a supporter. Another man calls gay marriage a curse.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Dozens of gay couples are planning to converge on Albany Thursday to witness what would be a historic vote to legalize gay marriage in New York, the sixth state to do so and a potential bellwether in the national gay rights movement. But for that to happen, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's considerable political skills will be tested as never before to engineer one of the biggest social changes in a generation. The Democrat has been using a kind of shuttle diplomacy to privately test proposals for additional religious exceptions within the Senate's Republican majority. He's talked to...

NEW YORK - A poll released Tuesday by the QEV Analytics, a public opinion research firm in Washington D.C., shows that 57 percent of New York voters oppose gay marriage.The results of the survey were released just as Senate Republicans are debating over whether to bring the gay marriage bill to a vote. The bill has 31 votes and needs 32 to pass. The New York State Assembly passed the measure last Wednesday.The poll of registered voters in New York found that 57 percent agree that "marriage should only be between a man and a woman," compared to 32 percent...

The New York State Senate debates legislation in the Senate chamber on June 16, 2011 in Albany, New York. Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images/Getty Images News Albany, N.Y., Jun 21, 2011 / 03:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- New York state senators did not reach a conclusion about homosexual "marriage" as the Senate met before its summer recess on June 20.“Every day that goes by and the bill does not pass is a good day, (but) we are realistic enough to know that this is a very serious danger,” said Denis Poust, New York Catholic Conference director of Communications, in a...

NEW YORK – Hundreds of protesters against the legalization of gay marriage in New York jammed the hallways of the Capitol building Monday as Republican senators privately discussed whether to bring the same-sex marriage issue to a floor vote. Demonstrators opposing gay marriage, including Christian ministers, African-American church members and Tea Party organizers, outnumbered those in support of the controversial bill, which has 31 votes and needs one more vote to pass the New York Senate. The measure was approved by the New York State Assembly last Wednesday, 80 to 63.Republicans have been mulling over same-sex marriage bill in private...

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan ended Sunday mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with a special prayer for marriage.Archbishop Dolan said he will continue to fight for what he calls a “well oiled and choreographed project” to redefine something he says already has an unchangeable definition.“Our strong convictions are not anti anybody, but simply pro marriage,” said Archbishop Dolan. “We would just as vigorously defend marriage from a demand by a heterosexual, or anybody else, to redefine the very nature of marriage to accommodate a relationship beyond that of one man and one woman.”Archbishop Dolan concluded his service by saying,...

The Canonical Defender, Prof. Ed Peters, has drawn the ire of the Id of the Washington Beltway, the atrabillious Maureen Dowd.My emphases and comments: Sunday, June 19, 2011Oh no! Maureen Dowd doesnÂ’t seem to like me!AmericaÂ’s 43rd most influential liberal doesnÂ’t seem to like me, and thatÂ’s a scary thought. Not.Maureen Dowd of the New York Times is well-known for her acerbic (sometimes snide) writing style, [That's a nice way to put it.] and for her frequent substitution of ad hominem attacks for sustained and reasonable argument. Such writing appeals, I guess, to those taxed by thinking but amused by...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was cautiously optimistic his gay marriage bill will soon become law as he held more one-on-one negotiations Friday with Senate Republicans. The Republicans who hold the critical votes say they worry Cuomo's bill doesn't adequately protect religious groups and churches that refuse to preside over same-sex weddings and other services. A third lengthy, closed-door meeting by the GOP majority brought the bill, widely viewed as key to national momentum on the issue, no closer to a floor vote. The Democrat-led Assembly passed the measure Wednesday as expected, and a vote in...

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Friday that he expected same-sex marriage legislation to be approved before the end of the legislative session next week, and indicated that to win passage of the measure he is prepared to yield to Republican concerns for greater protections of religious groups. “I am a proponent of marriage equality, and I’m working very hard to make that a reality in New York,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters on Friday as lawmakers prepared to go home for the weekend. “I am also a proponent of religious freedom, and separation of church and state, so these...

Governor Cuomo said yesterday he would deliver a marriage equality bill identical to 2009’s failed attempt, “no ifs, ands or buts” about it. Who is it that he is kidding? Mr. Cuomo’s bill vastly improves the ability of religious communities or agencies of religious organizations to avoid needless clashes over same-sex marriage. But, inexplicably, it fails to offer needed protections to ordinary individuals who also desire for religious reasons to step aside from facilitating same-sex marriages. The failed 2009 bill offered protections only for clergy, who simply don’t need insulation because of protections already provided by the First Amendment. Mr....

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is lobbying individual senators in a quest to secure what appears to be one more vote needed to legalize gay marriage in New York and deliver a major win for the national effort. The Democrat met with three Republican senators in his Capitol office Thursday and plans to meet with more on Friday, the day Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos predicted his house would bring the bill to a floor vote. The quietly-called meetings come as talks drag on, leading the Senate's Democratic leader to say Republicans are more concerned with protecting their majority. Some advocates thought...

"The stampede is on," Archibishop Timothy Dolan wrote in a blog post. "Our elected senators who have stood courageous in their refusal to capitulate on the state's presumption to redefine marriage are reporting unrelenting pressure to cave-in." He equated the move to allow same-sex marriage to life in China or North Korea, where "government presumes daily to 'redefine' rights, relationships, values and natural law." Meanwhile, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, an evangelical Christian group, warned that Republicans who support gay marriage will face primaries next year as the GOP seeks to keep control of the chamber.