New York Times May Have Paterson Expose In the Works, Resignation Possible
We try to avoid speculation here on the goMYD blog, but the news media rumor mill is going into overdrive about another possible scandal for the NY gov office – although details are non-existent or contradictory at this point. Gov Paterson’s office is denying any wrongdoing and is meeting with Dem party leaders to assure them that a rumor is just a rumor. If not, can NY survive another scandal?
To stay on top of the story, it seems worth it to reproduce a portion of the link filled article from the Huffington Post:
The Daily News‘ Elizabeth Benjamin says it’s “far worse than his acknowledged extramarital affair with a former state employee.”
New York Magazine, who just ran a lengthy profile on the governor, couldn’t get a peep out of the Times, but writes that they hear the paper is “coming up with something big about the Paterson administration.”
Many believe the scandal is linked to a story that appeared in the New York Post this past weekend that further detailed Paterson’s recent decision to ban state troopers from the Governor’s Mansion.
According to the Post, a trooper accidentally caught the governor in a somewhat-compromising position:
The trooper opened the door and the first thing he saw was the governor and a woman inside and the two of them snuggling together, embracing. There was nothing more than that, snuggling, and they had their clothes on.
The AP reported today that Paterson met privately with democratic leaders this weekend and
A Democrat close to the situation [] said the meetings included discussions about whether Paterson would resign or announce he will not run. The Democrat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The Business Insider added:
We spoke with a member of Governor Paterson’s communications team who denies that the governor is planning to resign. The official confirmed that a New York Times story is in the works but says it will not run Monday.
No matter what the the story is, I am certain it will be an interesting week in New York politics. We are going to post a short profile of Lt. Gov Ravitch soon, just in case he gets a promotion.
Is Higher Ed a H.M.O’s Biggest Fan ?
On the Times Economix blog, Uwe E. Reinhardt suggests that higher education and heath care might have similarities that inform the health care debate. Reinhardt was on a panel of policy experts during the 1980’s that made recommendations on how Congress should pay physicians who handled Medicare patients. He notes that doctors felt that the H.M.O model did not compensate physicians appropriately for their services.
He then moves on to dissect the doctors’ argument by looking at other goods the public deems vital, specifically education, and asks how those goods would look if they were provided in the same way as heath care.
He writes:
Correctly viewed, a modern university is a prepaid, staff-model, pedagogic group practice – the educational analogue of a staff-model health maintenance organization, or H.M.O., like the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan.
Like H.M.O.’s, which are prepaid an annual capitation for all of an insured person’s medically needed services, universities are prepaid one annual tuition fee for all the pedagogic services going into the education of the student.
But suppose universities operated instead on a piece-rate compensation basis, like the current health system. They would then be merely a pastiche of different pedagogic profit centers, each with its own fee schedules and ownership patterns.
What he describes is not a particular reassuring backdrop to figuring out how to pay for college and although his post does not solve the health care debate, I think that when we apply the same reasoning to higher education that is currently applied to heath care we see how unreasonable it is to argue that we should not reform the way doctors and hospitals currently do business.
Obama Sends Unambiguous Message Re: Healthcare — PASS IT NOW
“So just in case there’s any confusion out there, let me be clear. I am not going to walk away from health insurance reform. I’m not going to walk away from the American people. I’m not going to walk away from this challenge. I’m not going to walk away from any challenge. We’re moving forward.”
His voice rising, he added: “We are moving forward!” [snip]
“Yes, we could continue to ignore the growing burden of the runaway cost of healthcare,” said Obama, wearing a suit jacket but no tie. “The easiest thing to do right now would be to just say, ‘Ah, this is too hard. Let’s just regroup and lick our wounds and try to hang on.’
“We’ve had a long and difficult debate on healthcare and there are some, maybe even the majority in this town, who say, perhaps it’s time to walk away,” the president told his party. “But here’s the thing, Democrats. If we walk away we know what will happen. We know that premiums and out-of-pocket expenses will skyrocket this decade and the decade after that, and the decade after that.”
Xpostfactoid via Andrew Sullivan
Stewart sense
Jon Stewart visited The O’Reilly Factor this week and this is the unedited cut. It’s really a must-see. O’Reilly yells. Stewart holds. And the best (and cut from broadcast) quote (and analysis) includes a colorful New Jerseyan remark about one’s mother.
If you don’t have time to watch it all, go over to Gawker where they did a play-by-play of the uncut interview.
There’s an Election Next Tuesday. For Reals!
Last fall we had town, city and county elections, and a congressional special upstate. We won the Congressional special (yay!), but Jon Corzine lost the NJ governorship to this guy, we lost ground in Nassau County, and Democratic county executive Andy Spano got whupped in Westchester.
And then Massachusetts happened, and I’m still kind of shocked that a popular sitting Democratic attorney general in Massachusetts lost to this guy. Seriously, what happened?
BUT! We can turn over a new page next Tuesday, when voters in LI, Queens, and Westchester will be electing four new assemblymembers:
- Queens (AD24) – Weprins! Former Assemblyman Mark Weprin moved over to the City Council, so his brother David, who was on the council and ran unsuccessfully for NYC Comptroller last year, is now running to replace Mark in the assembly. By the way, Mark and David’s father served in the seat before them, so that assembly seat has been in the Weprin family’s hands since 1971…which is kind of amazing. Weprin, a Democrat, is running against Bob Friedrich, who’s registered as a Democrat but running as a Republican. It looks like Friedrich may also be a marriage-equality flip-flopper – several sources say he said he was for it when he was running for city council, but it seems he switched positions in order to get the backing of the Conservative party.
- Westchester County (AD89) – I think this is the one to watch. County Legislator Peter Harckham is running to replace Democratic former Assemblyman Adam Bradley, who is now the new mayor of White Plains. I’ve met Harckham – he’s great. Fiscally responsible, reform-minded, and he’s all about results and getting things done. But the 89th district in northern Westchester is not a lock for Democrats. Democrats took some punishment in the 2009 elections in Westchester, but Harckham’s independence ought to help him out. His commitment to dealing with local issues in a realistic and straightforward way instead of resorting to easy demagoguery has earned him the region’s key newspaper endorsement. Turnout is key here. If you have free time on Tuesday and you’re from Westchester, go home and help out!
- Suffolk County (AD3) – Assemblywoman Patricia Eddington resigned her seat to run for local office in Brookhaven, and Eddington staffer Lauren Thoden (warning – video and audio may automatically play when you open the page) is running to replace her. Republican Dean Murray is her opponent. David Singer calls this one a “jump-ball”.
- Nassau County (AD15) – takeover opportunity? – the Republican incumbent here resigned to take a job in the administration of new Nassau County Exec Ed Mangano, who shocked everybody by beating Tom Suozzi. Local civic activist and repair shop owner Matt Meng is the Democrat running here, but Republican Mike Montesano has an edge because of the GOP’s registration advantage in this district.
Next Tuesday may be seen as a test of Democratic strength ahead of the 2010 general election campaign. And given that whoever holds the state senate after the dust settles in the 2010 general will essentially control congressional redistricting…the 2010 elections are going to be huge.
Manhattan Pols Take on Human Rights Issue in Uganda
As the fight for marriage equality continues in New York State a battle for human rights and in fact, human lives, is building in Uganda. Manhattan’s own Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is a leading voice in the international outrage sparked by Uganda’s proposed “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”. An excerpt from Maloney’s letter to President Obama and the Human rights commission – in full HERE , explains the dire situation:
The recent developments in Uganda have sent shockwaves throughout the international community and for good reason.
The Uganda Parliament recently introduced a bill that would further criminalize homosexual behavior.
It would make “any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex” punishable by a minimum of seven years in prison and in cases of so-called “serial offenders” and HIV positive individuals, death.
Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner is also doing his part by trying to introduce a resolution in Albany decrying the situation in Uganda.
GET INVOLVED : Congresswoman Maloney is joining with human rights advocates to hold a protest and press conference outside the Uganda House (336 East 45th Street) on Monday, February 8th at 12:15 pm. MYD members are invited to participate.
FYI: It’s Now Illegal to “Lock and Load While Loaded”
A funny exchange recounted by Liz Benjamin:
Reporters covering Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference this morning on a new bill that would make it a crime to carry guns while drunk, were stunned when Sen. Jeff Klein, the bill’s sponsor, said it wouldn’t apply to firing ranges or hunting grounds, the DN’s Erin Einhorn reports.
The following exchange ensued:
(Josh Robin, NY1): “You can be drunk under this legislation in a firing range, with a gun?!
(Klein): “Yeah.”
(Bloomberg): “Don’t go to a firing range.”
I can only imagine the faces of the reporters after that exchange. Turns out that the Mayor’s joke aside, it was all just a misunderstanding, and it is illegal to lock and load when you’re loaded, even when hunting or at the shooting range. Bloomberg’s press spokesman later explained:
“Under the bill there is, however, one common-sense difference in the way the law is applied at these places. Because brandishing and firing guns are common activities on hunting grounds and at firing ranges, they are not by themselves cause for suspicion and does not empower a police officer to administer a breathalyzer. By contrast, in places other than hunting grounds and firing ranges, brandishing a gun is by itself suspicious and can be cause to administer a breathalyzer.”
Then Liz recounts:
[Bloomberg’s spokesman] responded to a follow up to say that if a police officer happened upon a group of hunters near a pile of discarded beer cans and determined the hunters had a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater, he or she could, indeed, arrest them.
The idea of an officer approaching drunk people with guns and attempting to place them under arrest seems like a BAD TERRIBLE IDEA.
Demon-Eyed Sheep II
Get 'em while supplies last.
Hat tip: Sean
Demon-Eyed Sheep
I’ve been having a really bad day, but this made it slightly better.
Swath of Bronx going hungry
A Daily New article from yesterday began:
A major swath of the Bronx has the highest hunger rate in the entire nation, according to the results of a bombshell new survey.
More than 36% of the people in the 16th Congressional District – stretching from south of Fordham Road and west of the Brown River – who participated in a Gallup survey responded in the affirmative when asked if there were times in the past year when they did not have enough money to buy the food they or their family needed.
Since the poll targets adults, that 36% figure likely means that the number of hungry people, when you include their children, is even higher in the 16th. This at the same time that Bloomberg said that the city would have to “end financing for 500 soup kitchens and food pantries” if the budget cuts proposed by Paterson are approved. Bloomberg’s comment seems like a classic tug-of-war that happens with the budget, so who knows what is true and what isn’t. One this is clear though: there are a bunch of hungry people in the Bronx and I see no evidence that anyone in our local or state government is going to be doing much about it with the budget crisis looming.
