The Tea Party often pays lip service to the benefits of giving back power to local communities.  But what happens when a community uses that power to do something the Tea Party doesn’t like?

Thanks to Senator Greg Ball, we now have an answer: they go nuts.

Instead of using his office to deal with the many grave issues facing New York State, Greg Ball has attacked his own constituents in the town of Phillipstown to demonstrate his fealty to the gun lobby and his tea party base.   Ball began his latest crusade after the town board modestly proposed banning concealed guns from town buildings.  The ban was proposed in response to an incident that took place less than a week after the Arizona shooting at a January town forum in Phillipstown where a man criticized the Town Board and added that he was “packing.”

Ball, in true Tea Party fashion joined with the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSRPA), an affiliate of the National Rifle Association (NRA), to intervene in a local matter and intimidate his constituents with a rally outside Town Hall on Thursday.  To make this spectacle all the more outrageous, Ball and his fellow travelers chose to rally for the “right” of gun-toting fanatics to deter public participation and bully their fellow citizens the same week that the state capitol was inundated with e-mails threatening to “pull a Gabby Giffords.”

The planned Astroturf Ball/Tea Party/NRA rally had been promoted aggressively to attract ideologues from around the state, many outside of Ball’s district (the Orange-Sullivan Tea Party openly recruited for the rally, as well as the responsible citizens at AR15.Com/AK47.Net) and outside of Phillipstown in an attempt to pressure the board.  Greg Ball, for his part, sent out the predictably inflammatory mailer above.

Carl Paladino was widely ridiculed for threatening to clean up Albany with a baseball bat.  Greg Ball, apparently, has decided that the thuggery of Paladino was too tame and has opted for weapons of a higher caliber.

Of course, the legislators blame the Governor for forcing them into his horrible position, and the Gov blames the legislators for refusing to reach a budget deal.  Regardless of blame, any New Yorker would expect their elected officials to lock themselves in a room together and negotiate until they figure out a way end this mess.   So what did our beloved State Assembly do last night?  They held their annual Pilots and Rudders party to pat each other on the back and celebrate the spoils of incumbency.

Not only were our reps. singing karaoke  instead of working on the budget (thank goodness there is no video), but as Elizabeth Benjamin explains in her State of Politics Blog, the whole point of the fete is to laude those members who have won at least five elections.

This is just further proof that the top priority for those in office is to get elected over and over again.  As long as our elected officials continue to write laws and govern by rules that protect incumbents, the average New Yorker will continue to be left out of political process and in some cases out of a full time job.

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Jose Peralta beat Monserratte in a landslide!

With 94 percent of the vote counted, unofficial returns from the overwhelmingly Democratic 13th State Senate District showed Mr. Peralta with 66 percent and Mr. Monserrate with 27 percent. The Republican candidate, Robert Beltrani, an administrative law judge, came in third with 7 percent.

“Tonight we put an end to dysfunction,” Mr. Peralta told a crowd at a restaurant in East Elmhurst. “Our nightmare is over.”

Thank you to everyone who made it out to Queens to canvass, thank you to those who phone banked, and a huge thank you to the amazing MYD Media team who put together some memorable moments for our enjoyment.

Check out Ben’s video of Monserratte campaigning HERE.

Check out Chas’ in depth analysis of a stolen logo HERE.

Check out Chris’ super-villain HERE.

I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish this election season. Email Alex V (political [at] gomyd . com) for info on how to play a role in the field this fall!

Avella said he will probably jump into the race by the end of the month and plans to focus on the same issues he championed on the Council, such as fighting overdevelopment and ethics reform, along the campaign trail.

Avella’s earned his reputation as a reformer and someone unafraid to tackle tough challenges.  He attempted an uphill primary against Bill Thompson for the Democratic nomination for mayor last year.  He opposed the extension of term limits for city officials that Mayor Bloomberg forced through, and didn’t take try to take advantage of the extension once the deed was done.  So Avella looks like he’s got the right resume to bring some change to Albany, and he definitely knows the score:

“The one thing I found surprising on the Council is how little power the city has and how much of the legislation I introduced was dependent on Albany,” he said. “I think I have the reputation for being a reformer. If there’s any place crying out for reform, it’s Albany. I want to make government more responsible and ethical.”

Word.

Keep your eyes on this one, and get psyched for it.  Frank Padavan is one of the 30 Republicans who voted no while polling indicated the majority of New Yorkers were ready to say yes to marriage equality as long ago as last summer.  Padavan is also one of the 30 Republicans without whose help the coup could not have happened and our state would not have been held hostage by two opportunistic senators, both one of whom is still in the senate.  So essentially Frank Padavan is:

• For turning Albany into even more of a mess than normal
• Against equal rights
• (A Republican)

Get psyched for this campaign – it’ll be one of (hopefully) several opportunities for NYCers to take our government back in 2010.

While it is kind of old-fashioned, blitzing the phone lines is a tried-and-true strategy for making sure legislative staffers know that you’re out there and you care on a given subject.

But it’s not just huge civil rights issues (*cough* New Yorkers for Marriage Equality *cough*) or (in the case of The Right) guns and abortion that get the phone line treatment.  Sometimes it’s something as simple as defending your local yogi from regulations, fees, and licensing requirements!  From Treehugger:

Yoga is soothing for the mind, body and soul–so too is it sustainable when it comes to low-carbon exercise. No high-tech gear, gadgets or electricity required.  Shouldn’t such a good, green thing be accessible to its students and teachers? I certainly think so. The state of New York seems to differ. They’re threatening to make being a yoga instructor or studio owner challenging with lengthy forms, tests and licensure procedures, in addition to expensive license renewals.

They go on to tell readers to phone in their support of bill S5701A to members of the state senate’s Higher Education committee, which will be dealing with the bill tomorrow.  From NYSenate.gov,’s Open Legislation site, here’s how the Senate summarizes the problem:

Recently the Board of Proprietary Schools released a letter instructing certain schools to cease student training requiring licensure as per S5001(1) of the Education Law. However, Sec. 5001(1) of the Education Law merely pertains to the licensure of trade, business, or computer training facilities. The letters were sent to yoga schools which do not fall under Sec. 5001(1) and are exempted from licensure under Section 5001(2)(f).  … The intent of the Board of Proprietary Schools was to mandate licensure for yoga schools who are teaching students to become instructors. … These amendments to the relevant sections of the Education Law clarify these pre-existing exemptions and permit yoga schools and other schools operating for the purpose of leisure, hobby, or personal enrichment to continue to function, protecting small businesses across NY State. (Emphasis added)

So what this looks like it’s really about is a state licensing board getting grabby and trying to force yoga studios and other small businesses into a licensing scheme that wasn’t supposed to apply to them in the first place.  The bill’s prime sponsor is the (awesome) Eric Schneiderman, who might be running for Attorney General this cycle.

“The decisions made that night by Senator Monserrate as to the treatment of someone he ostensibly loved and cared for, were not consistent with the obvious need to obtain swift medical care for an injury of the seriousness of Ms. Giraldo’s,” the report states. “Whether the senator was worried for his political future or not, the evidence demonstrates both recklessness and callousness.”

The nine-member committee, led by Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat from Manhattan, also found that Mr. Monserrate’s actions damaged the reputation of the Senate and demonstrated “a lack of fitness to serve in this body.”

“Accordingly,” the report states, “the Select Committee recommends that Senator Monserrate be sanctioned by the full Senate, and that the Senate vote to impose one of two punishments: expulsion, or in the alternative, censure with revocation of privileges. The Select Committee recommends that the full Senate convene to consider, debate and vote on both resolutions as soon as reasonably possible.”

Senator Brian Foley (D-Blue Point, Long Island) has announced his plans to introduce an expulsion resolution ASAP.  Hopefully we’ll be able to stick a fork in Monserrate pretty soon and end this particular episode of the bad reality show that is our state’s government.

As about eleventy million people consider running for Attorney General in 2010 – assuming, for the moment, that sitting AG Andrew Cuomo does run for governor like pretty much everyone and their mother thinks he will – about twice that many people are thinking of moving into the new vacancies the AG hopefuls would create.  And two times eleventy million people squared are looking at the vacancies that could be created in turn by those seeking to fill the AG hopefuls’ offices.  Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

And so the potential race for AG, with six potential candidates on the Democratic side ID’ed by the NYT, trickles down to Senate District 31, a strip of Manhattan and the Bronx running from the UWS up through Riverdale.  Via Manhattan Times, here’s a YouTube of Councilman Robert Jackson endorsing Mark Levine, founder of the Barack Obama Democratic Club, for (a) a seat that has not yet been vacated by (b) a senator who hasn’t even announced an intention to run for a higher office that (c) he pretty much definitely wouldn’t run for unless its current occupant runs for an even higher office. 

Is your head spinning yet?

(Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat is also said to be interested in the SD-31 seat.)

There is talk around the capitol that an ethics agreement could be announced this week.  It may be a long shot as most legislators have returned to their districts tonight but it is Albany and anything can happen. The official line as of this evening remained “talks are ongoing.”

AND LO! The sun rose this morning on a new ethics deal being promoted by Republicans in the Assembly and Democrats in both houses:

Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb today announced the introduction of sweeping ethics and campaign finance reform legislation. The legislation will include provisions agreed to by both the Senate and Assembly that would require greater disclosure from lobbyists and restore an independent lobbying commission, provide greater information regarding legislators’ outside sources of income and create a body within the New York State Board of Elections to enforce greater adherence to campaign finance laws.

Policy details in the senate’s press release.  It’s a start! 

Senate Republicans are complaining that they were left out of the negotiating process, but really, after the Senate GOP spent last summer trying out a new and more creative way of making Albany dysfunction even worse, and just following the recent conviction of their former leader on felony corruption charges…who would want to bring them in on ethics reform?  Seriously.

Re the New York Senate fight, you have to understand that all through American history, the New York state legislature – both houses – have been totally dysfunctional and often corrupt. It goes back go the delegation sent to the convention which resulted in the Declaration of Independence until today. It has always been a disgrace and will continue to be so until major changes are made in its rules and procedures.  There is important business to be done before the Senate breaks for its summer recess and it will not happen.  We would be better off with one house and with a more equitable distribution of seats passed on population.