THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And if we go back to Art. 2 of the NYS Executive Law, we notice in Sect. 6 that:

Examination and inspection by the governor. The governor is authorized at any time, either in person or by one or more persons appointed by him for the purpose, to examine and investigate the management and affairs of any department, board, bureau or commission of the state. The governor and the persons so appointed by him are empowered to subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath and to require the production of any books or papers deemed relevant or material.

end quotes

Where by OUR laws here in NYS, the governor of the state has been given this solemn duty in OUR name, to examine and investigate the
management and affairs of any department, board, bureau or commission of the state, and has been given the power, BY US, THROUGH OUR LAWS, to subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses and to administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath and to require the production of any books or papers deemed relevant or material, the governor should not at the same time be out there, all over town, soliciting funds from the highest bidders, as that gives a very strong appearance that the governor, in this case, Eliot Spitzer, is really not capable of fulfilling this solemn duty in OUR best interests ….

And so ….

Comment by John Galt — June 1, 2007 @ 6:24 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4747#comments

[Livyjr]

"Legislators urged to monitor subprime loans - As foreclosures rise, state banking superintendent calls for more oversight of mortgage industry"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, May 30, 2007

ALBANY -- Worried that predatory lenders are taking advantage of poor and minority borrowers, state officials are calling for expanded regulation of the industry and a loan-refinancing program that could help New Yorkers facing home foreclosure.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer earlier this month created a task force dubbed Halt Abusive Lending Transactions.

And on Tuesday, the group's chairman, state Banking Superintendent Richard Neiman, said a "legislative response" to risky home-financing products is needed.

Concern is focused on so-called subprime loans, typically given to homeowners with less-than-stellar credit histories or lower incomes.

It is believed many who received such loans are struggling to repay and could lose their homes.

"It is in everyone's best interest to help prevent existing borrowers from entering foreclosure," Neiman said Tuesday during a public hearing on subprime lending held by the state Assembly.

"Efforts to protect the most vulnerable are at the heart of the governor's mission."

Neiman and others said it appears some subprime lenders target minority neighborhoods and use deception to lure borrowers into loans that seem affordable but contain rising payments that take homeowners by surprise.

Neiman noted an irony: Decades ago, some financial institutions redlined minority neighborhoods and made them ineligible for home loans.

In 1977, federal law made the practice illegal.

But in recent years, he said, lenders have flooded those same neighborhoods with loans that seem too good to be true -- and often are.

Tuesday's hearing, held to help lawmakers determine legislative steps to address foreclosures, came as the subprime industry faces increased scrutiny nationally.

And many of the country's largest subprime lenders, such as California's New Century Finance Corp., have filed for bankruptcy in the face of borrower delinquencies.

But John Robbins, chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association, a national trade group, cautioned lawmakers not to overreact to what he said is an overstated problem.

Most subprime borrowers, Robbins said, are successfully repaying.

And the majority of defaults can be traced to factors that have nothing to do with loan quality: troubled local economies or family issues such as illness or divorce.

Robbins warned that if lawmakers crack down on subprime loans or set standards that make them difficult to obtain, the moves will harm poor and minority New Yorkers most and set the state "back 25 years in home-ownership opportunities."

Despite the publicity, the size of the foreclosure problem is difficult to measure.

And any discussion of home foreclosures is nearly guaranteed, it seems, to include statistics that seem contradictory or difficult to explain.

Many speakers Tuesday noted that foreclosure filings in New York rose 40 percent from 2005 to 2006, leading them to label the problem a crisis.

Yet industry tracker RealtyTrac recently said the state's foreclosure rate actually fell 3 percent during the first three months of 2007.

But RealtyTrac also said that the foreclosure rate in the Capital Region surged by 93 percent in the year's first quarter, even as the area's overall rate remained among the nation's lowest among larger metropolitan areas.

State officials, meanwhile, note that billions of dollars in subprime loans were made in New York in 2005 and 2006.

Such loans typically increase payment rates after two years, they say, suggesting a coming wave of defaults has yet to crest.

"The situation will likely get worse before it gets better," said Priscilla Almodovar, president of State of New York Mortgage Agency, dedicated to helping low-income residents buy and keep homes.

Almodovar said her agency is developing a mortgage product that will help New Yorkers facing foreclosure.

Neiman suggested that lawmakers also should consider the creation of such a program.

But John Hope Bryant, chairman of Operation Hope, a Los Angeles-based group devoted to strengthening minority neighborhoods, said financial literacy is the best long-term defense against bad loans.

Bryant called for a "massive statewide" fiscal-education campaign.

Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

And with respect to the on-going HYPOCRISY of this "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer, where the operative policy is "DON'T LOOK AT WHAT HE HIMSELF IS DOING", in the THE NEW YORK TIMES article "Opposites Who Attack Share Power in Albany" by DANNY HAKIM, published May 29, 2007, which EB linked us to a few days ago, it was stated:

"ALBANY, May 25 — Gov. Eliot Spitzer sees the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, as an old-school politician who treats the Senate like his personal kingdom."

end quotes

Then, this morning in the upstate Albany TU article "Funding bill in the works - Legislative leaders, Spitzer agree to craft spending plan for capital projects but argue over high-tech money" by JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, first published Thursday, May 31, 2007, it was stated:

"Silver and Paul Francis, director of the Division of the Budget, said Bruno should end the anxiety about the $300 million and DIRECT THE SENATE TO PASS the Sematech bill."

end quotes

SO!

Okay ....

Let me see if I have this right ....

"STEAMROLLER" Spitzer wants a lot of our state tax dollars for his own "pocket", so that the "STEAMROLLER" can then dole out those millions with absolutely no checks and balances on what he does with that money ...

BUT ....

To get that money, this "STEAMROLLER'S" crowd want Joe Bruno to treat the NYS Senate like it was his own personal kingdom, and DIRECT the Senate to pass the Sematech bill .....

Hhhhmmmm ...

Well, it just must be me, I guess ....

Eliot Spitzer is telling us that somehow, that all equates to good and open, transparent government here in NYS ....

And because he is saying it .....

It must be true .....

So it has to be me ....

Because all I can see is what looks like more rank HYPOCRISY on the part of this "STEAMROLLER" ....

Who is the biggest threat and open danger to real Constitutional government here in NYS that I can think of ...

Bar none!

And so ....

Posted by: John Galt | May 31, 2007 8:31 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...ng_part_iv.html

"Budget forged in back room - Spitzer assures on-time passage after marathon deal-making session"

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, March 30, 2007

ALBANY -- Legislative leaders and Gov. Eliot Spitzer cut a number of back-room deals in a marathon negotiating session Thursday as they stitched together a roughly $122 billion budget.

Spitzer said it would pass by the start of the fiscal year Sunday.

Ditching his pledge of greater transparency and openness, Spitzer met for more than six hours with top lawmakers behind closed doors.

The talks gave the group the chance to discuss $170 million in pork barrel spending for legislators.

A capital projects agreement also was not reached.

Spitzer seeks $300 million to fund an R&D computer chip center for Sematech, potentially in the Capital Region, two sources close to the talks said.

"Budget delay worries Sematech CEO - Michael Polcari believes $300M will come through, would pursue other options if deal falters"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, June 1, 2007

ALBANY -- Michael Polcari is confident state leaders will approve the $300 million needed to put a Sematech headquarters in Albany, but he's worried the process may be taking too long.

In an exclusive interview with the Times Union, the chief executive of the computer chip consortium said he believes Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and other politicians are committed to approving the project before the legislative session ends June 21.

However, Polcari said Austin, Texas-based Sematech would be forced to consider other plans if the money doesn't come through.

Polcari made the trip to Albany this week to talk with Bruno, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and get a first-hand look at the budget negotiations that hold the key to Sematech's future in the region.

Bruno has held up approval of the funding by the Senate as he seeks money for other projects.

"After (Wednesday's) discussions, we have commitments that it's going to happen," Polcari said.

"We feel very positive that it's going to happen."

"Obviously, if there is some inordinate delay, yeah, we'll have to look at backup plans and alternatives."

Considered one of the key institutions that led to the growth of Austin's technology-based economy over the past 20 years, Sematech does research and development for the world's largest computer chip companies, including IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Sematech established operations at the University at Albany four years ago in a $450 million deal with the state.

The new deal would expand Sematech's employment base from 250 people to 700 at UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and potentially add billions of dollars to the local and state economy.

Polcari, who stressed that he is "planning for success," would not specify what the alternative would be for Sematech if the $300 million is not delivered.

But Alain Kaloyeros, chief administrative officer of the NanoCollege, said Sematech could do its expansion elsewhere.

"Those plans could potentially be non-New York and might include a significant reduction of Sematech operations here," Kaloyeros said.

"That is our concern."

Kaloyeros said the Senate's delay in approving the money for Sematech has already cost the college between $35 million and $40 million that would have been attracted by the Sematech deal, including $10 million in federal funding.

Kaloyeros also suggested that Bruno, who has had a successful career in business, would know the importance of getting the program funded as soon as possible.

While the state is providing $300 million to the college, Sematech and its member companies are providing more than $400 million, and the federal government is providing an additional $50 million.

"For a leader who understands business, he also, I'm sure, understands why it's so important to get this done on time and not hold it hostage," Kaloyeros said.

"So I think it's important to urge him to pass the bill as soon as possible and not hurt New York and the Capital Region."

Bruno spokesman John McCardle brushed aside those comments and said Kaloyeros was not present at Bruno's meeting Wednesday with the Sematech chief.

"Senator Bruno had a very good meeting with Michael Polcari," McCardle said.

"At no time did any mention of the $40 million come up."

"Those kind of irresponsible comments can do nothing to help the project move along."

Polcari is no stranger to New York or Albany.

He worked for IBM, which is headquartered in Westchester County, for nearly 30 years before taking the Sematech job in 2003.

He is also a longtime New York Giants season ticket-holder, and his children have attended Giants training camp at UAlbany in summers past.

In his interview with the Times Union, Polcari said his meeting with Bruno on Wednesday went extremely well.

He would not say, however, whether Sematech has set a deadline for approval.

"He (Bruno) was positive that the bill would be passed by the end of the session," Polcari said.

"Of course two or three weeks is a concern."

"Our business is a very aggressive business, and any delay can really hurt you either from a technical standpoint or just other things happening."

"Any delay is always unsettling."

In the end, Polcari sounded like a man who believes the deal will get done by the end of the process.

He said he is looking forward to the expansion of Sematech at the NanoCollege, which would result in the consortium putting the headquarters for what will be known as International Sematech at the Albany NanoTech complex in a new $100 million building.

"Our experience here has been tremendous, and it's allowed us to move the technology forward at a tremendous pace," Polcari said.

"And that's really our comfort level going forward."

"We have had so much success here."

"And the fact that we are now embarking on a larger, grander scale, we believe that what we can accomplish here technologically over the next several years will be phenomenal."

Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"N.Y. ends ticket scalping caps"

Associated Press

Last updated: 1:02 p.m., Friday, June 1, 2007

ALBANY -- Open your wallets, Yankees fans.

New York scalpers can now legally sell tickets to the highest bidder without fear of getting pinched.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed a measure officially ending the limits on how much brokers add to the face price.

The previous law -- widely ignored even before it was replaced Friday -- limited markups to 45 percent for tickets to large venues such as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden, and 20 percent for facilities with fewer than 6,000 seats, including Broadway theaters.

A few of the old regulations remain, however, including the ban on scalpers selling tickets within 1,500 feet of the larger arenas and within 500 feet of smaller venues.

Large-volume brokers must also register with the state.

Critics said the new law will lead to higher prices in the secondary market, while supporters argued that it would make tickets more widely available.

[Livyjr]

"Probe centers on thoroughbreds - 'Good deal' on two mares from politically connected Manhattan millionaire at issue"

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, June 3, 2007

ALBANY -- Federal investigators are examining Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno's purchase of two thoroughbred horses from politically connected real estate operator Earle I. Mack as well as other horse deals involving Bruno's close circle of friends.

A federal grand jury subpoena, obtained by the Times Union, shows that in recent months FBI agents sought records and testimony about the horses from a thoroughbred appraiser.

In 2005, Bruno acquired two mares from Mack, a multimillionaire Manhattan landlord, for $50,000.

The purchase proved fortunate for Bruno as it propelled his breeding business and provided him three foals that yielded $425,000 at auction over the past two years.

Bruno's good deal is being probed by federal investigators who sought records from that transaction and others involving the Republican senator's friends and business associates, the subpoena shows.

The initial February 2005 horse deal involves Mack's private sale of two mares from his large stable.

Bruno runs a small breeding operation in Brunswick called Mountain View Farm.

Mack sold Bruno the two horses, including a foal from one of the mares, for $50,000, documents and Mack's lawyer said.

The senator turned that investment into $425,000 in sales of three foals, according to horse sales records.

But he also had to spend $74,000 in fees to breed the two mares with relatively popular studs, said the lawyer for Mack, one of two people associated with the deal.

Earlier this year, federal officials subpoenaed both Mack and Jack Werk, an independent appraiser and operator of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, in Fremont, Calif.

Mack hired Werk to write a letter confirming that the sale of the mares to Bruno was fair to the buyer.

Werk's subpoena shows the FBI is very interested in horse deals involving Bruno and his friends.

It sought documents from Jan. 1, 2001 to the present on 15 related people, business entities or horses, including Bruno and his breeding farm.

Those named include Bruno associate Jared Abbruzzese and his partner Wayne Barr, both of whom are Capital Region businessmen and thoroughbred owners.

Barr was a Bruno appointee on the New York Racing Association board until last year.

He had replaced Mack as an NYRA trustee.

Bruno had also appointed Mack.

Also on the subpoena list: Bazaguma, a limited liability corporation controlled by Abbruzzese and named after his four children; Weatherwatch Farm and Weatherwatch Equine Training Center, which are owned by Abbruzzese or his wife, Sherrie; Jerry Bilinski, Bruno's close friend and a veterinarian from Columbia County; Bilinski's Equine Medical Center in North Chatham; Barr's Willow Rock Stables; Mack and Mack's Rising Son Farm; and Ladies Night In and You're The Top, the two mares Bruno got from Mack.

In an interview, Werk said Mack hired him before the sale went through.

He wrote that the purchase of the two mares for $50,000 by Bruno was a fair deal "for the buyer."

He said it was a very good deal for the senator, whom he had never heard of, and would have been fair at $75,000, perhaps more.

The two mares -- Ladies Night In and You're The Top -- have produced yearlings that bidders purchased at auctions in 2005 and 2006 for $170,000, $105,000 and $150,000, according to records.

Bruno's mares have the potential to produce many more foals for sale into the multibillion-dollar thoroughbred market.

State lawmakers cannot own horses raced in New York, but are free to raise and sell them.

One of the three foals raised from the mares was later acquired at auction by Mack.

He bought the horse from Bruno two years after he transferred the mother to Bruno, Mack's lawyer, Greg Kehoe said.

Mack paid $105,000 for the filly, which he named Exonerated last week, Kehoe said.

The purchase by Mack, who left NYRA in 2004 to become ambassador to Finland, was venturesome because two previous foals from Ladies Night In were unattractive or unwanted.

The first, a gelding, sold for $7,000 at the September 2004 Keeneland auction while the second, Christys Night Out, was thrown in with the mares and given to Bruno.

That 2004 foal, now a three-year-old, has no racing record, suggesting it wasn't a good horse.

The filly purchased by Mack, now training in Maryland for a maiden race this spring, was sired by a better stud, Johannesburg.

It fetched $20,000 above the average for offspring of the stallion.

It is also eligible to run in New York-bred races, which enhances the potential for big purses.

Keho said his client sold the two mares to Bruno in a private deal.

Mack wanted to unload the horses, regarded as "drains" with undistinguished offspring and racing histories.

He later bought one of their fillies because his horse manager liked its looks, its stallion father and knew the mare was once part of Mack's holdings.

Mack agreed to pay up to $110,000 for the animal, and named it Exonerated because he hopes it will justify his investments in it and in Ladies Night In, Kehoe said.

Told of the transactions, some race horse appraisers, who know the lineage of the animals and data on their offspring, said the deal that brought the mares to Bruno does raise a red flag.

"It looks very suspicious," said Barry Berkleheimer, agent for Ronald Stengel, who paid $200,000 in 2006 for Sunday Whiskey.

The colt, with a sire called Forest Wildcat, is one of the colts from Bruno's farm the senator sold at auction a year earlier for $150,000 to a Midwest buyers group, records and Kehoe said.

"When somebody culls a mare from their breeding herd and then buys a foal at double the price, it's odd."

"It looks like he sold them way under value," Berkleheimer said.

Kehoe responded: "It turned out that Bruno got a good deal."

He said both he and Mack, a generous donor to statewide and national Republican campaigns, cooperated fully with federal authorities who sought details of the transactions.

Bruno's aides said the senator would have nothing to say about the breeding business.

One, Mark Hansen, said questions posed by the Times Union included information that is "completely false and inaccurate" but he would not clarify.

Lawyers for other individuals named in the subpoena have said they would not discuss matters involving the FBI probe.

The probe could complicate racing decisions for government leaders, including Bruno, who must elect the next holder of the state franchise to run racing in New York.

Abbruzzese, a Bruno friend and business associate, was a leader of Empire Racing Associates, one bidder for the franchise.

And Bilinski is a member of the Excelsior Racing Associates team.

Those two groups and one other, Capital Play LLC, are trying to win the franchise held since 1955 by NYRA, where Mack served for 13 years, several as Bruno's appointee as an unpaid trustee.

Barr also was on the NYRA board, but he quit because he was associated with Empire's Abbruzzese.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to announce this month which of the groups should be granted the franchise.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Statute key to inquiry - Investigation of Bruno built on law used in public corruption prosecutions"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS, Senior writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, June 3, 2007

ALBANY -- The FBI has assembled a potential case against Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno using a federal law that is the Justice Department's preferred weapon in public corruption cases, according to sources briefed on the investigation.

That law makes it a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to deprive the public of the "honest services" of its government.

The sources, who are involved in the case but spoke on the condition they not be identified, said agents in the FBI's white-collar crime unit in Albany believe they have compiled enough evidence to propose criminal charges to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The sources declined to provide details.

A federal grand jury in Albany has been reviewing the matter for more than a year.

A decision on whether the panel will consider an indictment of Bruno, the state's most powerful Republican, would ultimately be made by U.S. Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby, the top federal prosecutor in New York's Northern District and an appointee of President Bush.

If the grand jury decides there are no criminal violations, prosecutors have the option of providing Bruno or others with a letter indicating the panel took no action, a step that is akin to being exonerated.

Grand jury subpoenas have yielded a rich trove for FBI agents' review in recent months, according to defense attorneys and other sources familiar with the probe -- including the financial records of Bruno and many of his friends and business associates.

The investigation appears to focus on horse racing, an industry Bruno has staunchly supported and in which he has a deep personal interest.

It comes at a time when New York's storied racing industry has been mired in allegations of mismanagement by its longtime operator, the New York Racing Association.

NYRA's contract to run the state's three thoroughbred tracks expires at the end of the year and is imperiled by a heated takeover bid from several competing racing consortiums, including some whose investors have strong ties to Bruno and other elected officials.

In addition, the federal subpoenas have targeted records from the senator's private consulting business; a series of state grants awarded to a Troy nanotechnology company that is financially backed by Bruno's close friend; and people involved with the senator's private horse breeding efforts.

In response to the investigation, Bruno hired a former federal prosecutor, William Dreyer, and turned over all requested documents, Bruno has said.

The 78-year-old senator has talked sparingly about the issue except to declare that he is not a target, has done nothing wrong, and is fully cooperating.

After publicly confirming the investigation in December, Bruno faced a weak effort within the Senate to remove him as the majority leader, but retained the powerful post he has held for 14 years.

Last week, Bruno turned down a request for an interview about the investigation.

"Senator Bruno has said repeatedly that he has not been charged with anything and believes he has done nothing wrong," said John McArdle, the senator's spokesman.

"Senator Bruno will continue not to comment on matters that are not related to his role as senator or majority leader."

No matter where it leads, Bruno's future and his political survival may hinge on avoiding being caught up in a criminal case in federal court.

"The game here is they're trying to avoid any indictment," said Guy Singer, who was co-lead counsel in the Justice Department's influence-peddling case against disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Singer explained that's because a public official, once charged, is caught in a quandary: it's all but impossible to invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while also professing innocence.

"An indictment may well end his career long before any conviction," said Professor Peter J. Henning, a white-collar crime expert, who teaches at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit.

The Albany-based investigation is running parallel to a related probe by the state Lobbying Commission, which is examining -- among other things -- Bruno's trips aboard the private jets of his millionaire friend and fellow horse-racing afficianado, Jared E. Abbruzzese of Loudonville.

The commission is investigating whether Abbruzzese is an unregistered lobbyist.

The FBI has subpoenaed the Lobbying Commission's records, flight manifests related to that case, and the business records of Abbruzzese and his partner, Wayne Barr.

A source briefed on the investigation said the FBI is homing in on the so-called "honest-services" law, a one-sentence amendment Congress inserted into federal statutes 20 years ago to close a loophole in its laws defining mail fraud and wire fraud.

The broadly written law prohibits anyone from depriving the public of an inherent "right to honest services."

The law has given the Justice Department wider discretion in the prosecution of public corruption, experts said, and has led to numerous convictions even in cases where there was no clear-cut bribe or theft.

"You don't have to establish the clear quid pro quo that you need for a bribery conviction," said Henning, a former federal prosecutor.

In recent years, the honest services law was used to convict Abramoff, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland and former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California.

Locally, the honest services law was invoked against former Schenectady insurance executive Albert Lawrence, who was found guilty of stealing $38 million from policyholders and employees.

The law also was used in the case of Ronald H. Laberge, the founder of one of the region's largest engineering and development firms.

Laberge was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in 2004 to bribing a state official in order to obtain a multi-million dollar property lease from the state Health Department.

The Laberge investigation stretched to the office of Gov. George Pataki, but federal prosecutors ultimately charged and convicted only three people -- one, a low-level state leasing agent -- without ever substantiating allegations that the leasing scandal was fueled by orders from top state officials to reward key campaign contributors.

Bruno, like other state legislators, is considered a part-time public official.

In addition to raising horses on his Brunswick farm, he runs a private consulting business that has drawn intensive scrutiny from the FBI in the ongoing investigation, sources said.

Bruno has repeatedly declined to identify his private clients, to reveal his consulting income, or to discuss the types of consulting services he provides.

In December, the Times Union reported the federal grand jury was focusing on several hundred thousand dollars paid to Bruno's consulting firm by his friend, Abbruzzese.

E. Stewart Jones, an attorney for Abbruzzese and his wife, Sherrie, previously confirmed that Abbruzzese hired Bruno's consulting company, but he declined to provide any specifics about what Bruno did in return for the money.

"It was over a relatively limited period of time and consistent with the services provided and the standards in the business," Jones said in December.

"There was no quid pro quo here."

" ... Everything that was done here is fully defensible and legitimate and explainable."

Jones said Bruno and Abbruzzese are close friends and active entrepreneurs who are being smeared by an exploratory investigation that has yielded no allegations of criminal conduct.

Bruno has said his legislative duties are transparent but that his private-sector clients are entitled to privacy.

Abbruzzese, 52, a horse owner, has been involved in numerous business ventures, including at least one that received $500,000 in discretionary grants of state funds, called member items, at Bruno's direction.

The two men also have other ties, including land development, thoroughbred horses and golf.

Bruno has flown aboard Abbruzzese's private jets on multiple occasions, including to a political fundraiser in Kentucky and a lavish golf vacation in Palm Beach that included a dinner outing at a strip club.

Earlier this year, in response to questions about the January 2006 trip with Abbruzzese to Palm Beach, Bruno declared it was a private vacation and declined further comment.

While in Palm Beach, the men played rounds of golf at a private golf course and took a chartered helicopter flight to Gulf Stream horse track.

Also on the trip was Bruno's physician, who is a close friend of Abbruzzese's, and Joseph Torani, the Senate Republicans' appointee to the New York Racing Association's Oversight Committee.

When pressed by the Times Union about his use of campaign funds to pay for lodging at an exclusive Palm Beach resort, Bruno responded through a spokesman that the expenditure was legal because the vacation had involved some meetings with "potential campaign contributors."

The spokesman did not elaborate.

Abbruzzese was an investor and past director of Empire Racing Associates, which has bid on the state's racing franchise that Bruno and other lawmakers plan to award soon.

Abbruzzese led the effort to raise $3 million to help fund the organization.

In addition, Abbruzzese was co-chairman of Evident Technologies Inc. of Troy, the recipient of two $250,000 grants from Bruno's member items.

The grants, paid out in 2003 and 2004, were unusual because member items generally go to nonprofit organizations rather than for-profit businesses such as Evident.

Evident's business records also have been subpoenaed by the federal grand jury, according to the company's attorney, Daniel J. French, a former U.S. attorney in New York's Northern District.

"There just isn't any credible link between Evident's receiving support from the state and connections to Senator Bruno in an illicit way," French said.

"We've been assured that we remain a witness."

"... Evident has cooperated fully and will continue to do so as requested."

Singer, who specializes in white-collar criminal defense after leaving the Justice Department's fraud unit, said friendships are often raised as a defense in honest services prosecutions.

"It's amazing how often the friendship thing comes up," Singer said.

"No one has ever given me significant amounts of cash or trips."

"... It's not really the way the world operates."

However, sources close to Abbruzzese contend his friendship with Bruno is genuine, and that Abbruzzese often bankrolls golfing excursions for his friends.

If the FBI is keying in on any overlap between Bruno's private life and his legislative powers, the issue may boil down to one of intentions.

"As a public official doing a series of actions in exchange for a series of benefits, it's very hard to define what was for what," Singer said.

"You always run into: 'Well, maybe it's because they were friends.'"

" ... The basic facts in these cases are usually uncontroverted so all you have left is what's in the politician's mind."

"That's what trials and juries are for."

Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And if we go back to Art. 2 of the NYS Executive Law, we notice in Sect. 6 that:

Examination and inspection by the governor.

The governor is authorized at any time, either in person or by one or more persons appointed by him for the purpose, to examine and investigate the management and affairs of any department, board, bureau or commission of the state.

The governor and the persons so appointed by him are empowered to subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath and to require the production of any books or papers deemed relevant or material.

end quotes

Where by OUR laws here in NYS, the governor of the state has been given this solemn duty in OUR name, to examine and investigate the
management and affairs of any department, board, bureau or commission of the state, and has been given the power, BY US, THROUGH OUR LAWS, to subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses and to administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath and to require the production of any books or papers deemed relevant or material, the governor should not at the same time be out there, all over town, soliciting funds from the highest bidders, as that gives a very strong appearance that the governor, in this case, Eliot Spitzer, is really not capable of fulfilling this solemn duty in OUR best interests ….

And so ….

Comment by John Galt — June 1, 2007 @ 6:24 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4747#comments

And going back in time a bit, to get to some of the "roots" that underlie this particular thread on corrupt government in the State of New York, we have ....

"Canal memos reveal damage control efforts - Pataki aides directed campaign to limit fallout from $30,000 deal"

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, January 1, 2005

ALBANY -- As a scandal unfolded in the state Canal Corp. in 2003, the Pataki administration scrambled to control how the independent state authority handled the controversy, some 600 pages of internal documents released Friday reveal.

The documents offer a rare look inside the administration's press operation, which has often been accused of micromanaging information and requiring nearly all statements by public information officers at state agencies and authorities to be pre-approved.

The documents address fallout from a $30,000 deal for exclusive development rights along the state canal system to Richard Hutchens of Buffalo.

The deal was approved in 2001 by the Canal Corp. and in 2002 by the state comptroller's office.

The deal was rescinded after it became public in September 2003.

A series of electronic exchanges between members of Pataki's staff on Oct. 17, 2003, focused on state Comptroller Alan Hevesi's decision to end the contract.

Hevesi's move angered Pataki aides, who had been seeking a way to "blow up" the contract themselves, but did not believe there was a legal way to do so.

"DID WE KNOW HEVESI COULD BLOW IT UP?" Pataki's then-communications director, Lisa Dewald Stoll, demanded of Charles Fox, a deputy secretary to the governor, in a message sent from her BlackBerry.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS."

"NOW WE LOOK LIKE WE NEED HEVESI TO CLEAN UP OUR (expletive) WHEN THE GOV SHOULD HAVE DONE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE."

Told that day by then-Pataki spokesman Joseph Conway that Hevesi spokesman David Neustadt called to say Hevesi planned to tell the press he was ending Hutchens' contract, Dewald Stoll appeared to respond, also from her BlackBerry: "what an (expletive)."

Dewald Stoll left her job last month.

Her successor, David Catalfamo, said Stoll's expletive referred to another Pataki staffer, not Hevesi or Neustadt.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Westchester, whose Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee subpoenaed the documents in an investigation of the Hutchens deal, said the documents show Pataki and his staff control state authorities even though they are not legally part of the executive branch.

"The lawyers, the press people, the policy people, the document people, they can't jump until the governor's office tells them how high," said Brodsky, who was among those saying $30,000 seemed low for such development rights.

"They are not independent authorities."

"They are dependent appendages of the executive branch."

Authorities should communicate with the governor and Legislature, he said, "but they should be independent, making their own judgments."

Yet in an Oct. 17 e-mail, Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael Fleischer told a spokesman, Terry O'Brien:

"we will run all public statements by lisa stoll (sic)."

The authority oversees the Canal Corp.

The same day, Dewald Stoll e-mailed Fox:

"no public statements unless they are run by me."

"someone tell terri. (sic)."

Catalfamo defended the administration's actions.

"Independence does not mean isolation," he said.

"It is totally appropriate for the executive chamber to provide advice and input on important public policy matters."

"It is particularly important when an authority acts in an inappropriate and profoundly misguided manner."

Catalfamo insisted authorities "can and do act independently."

He noted that John Buono, whom Pataki appointed as Thruway chairman, publicly voiced his opposition this week to the administration's efforts to withhold documents Brodsky demanded.

The Pataki administration argued in court Thursday that the documents were protected by the same executive privilege employed by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Cannizzaro disagreed and ruled the documents should be made public.

Catalfamo said the documents merely show Pataki's staff trying to learn more about a project and becoming increasingly concerned about its soundness.

Ultimately, Pataki called for an investigation.

The probe by the attorney general and inspector general's offices found the contract was improperly steered to Hutchens by Canal employees who are no longer on the payroll and can't be disciplined.

Complaints of executive branch control of authorities are not new.

Governors regularly have been accused of using them for patronage jobs.

But, according to Brodsky, there has "never before" been such ample evidence illuminating just how far a governor's hand reaches into the authorities.

E-mails included in the documents show Pataki's aides wanted to paint Brodsky and Hevesi, both Democrats, as politically motivated -- a frequent characterization the Republican administration uses for critics.

But they also recognized, and were wary of, Hevesi's power to reject future contracts.

"not sure we want to go directly 'political' with hevesi though at this point," Tom Madison, an assistant secretary to Pataki, wrote Oct. 17 to Fox.

"he has too many other deals pending (Amtrak, etc) that he can mess with."

Three days later, Pataki spokeswoman Mollie Fullington wrote to Fleischer and O'Brien:

"could you send me something that also says directly that hevesi's actions are celaerly (sic) politically motivated?"

Brodsky said he will continue his investigation and is unconvinced he received all the information on the Hutchens project, even though state officials testified under oath that he did.

He did not rule out more subpoenas.

[Livyjr]

And going back in time a bit, to get to some of the "roots" that underlie this particular thread on corrupt government in the State of New York, we have ....

"Canal papers raise queries - Assemblyman investigating development rights scandal points to blacked-out names"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

First published: Tuesday, January 4, 2005

ALBANY -- Assemblyman Richard Brodsky on Monday demanded the state Thruway Authority clarify why some basic documents obtained under subpoena have been heavily redacted and why sworn testimony appears to differ from internal records released under subpoena.

Brodsky's committee is investigating the Thruway Authority's scandal in which the residential development rights to the 500-mile state canal system were steered to a single developer for $30,000.

The contract has since been canceled by the Thruway and rescinded by Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

The Westchester County Democrat questioned several documents among the 30,000 provided by the Thruway Authority.

In the minutes of a 1999 public meeting of the state Canal Recreationway Commission at a Lockport inn, the names of voting members, state agencies and 13 of 16 staff members were blacked out.

Another page appears to obliterate all but one of more than 50 publicly paid employees of the authority's state Canal Corp., according to copies of the documents provided by Brodsky.

Authority spokesman Dan Gilbert said a response was being prepared for Brodsky.

A 1999 request for approval of travel fees blacked out a congressman's name in requesting the payment of a $686 bill.

That request stated the meeting in Washington, D.C., was "per request from governor's office."

Brodsky has repeatedly questioned whether the authority operates independently of the governor's office, as required by law.

The 1999 meeting appears to indicate that the governor's office was involved in the project well before the developer was awarded the contract, Brodsky said.

[Livyjr]

And going back in time a bit, to get to some of the "roots" that underlie this particular thread on corrupt government in the State of New York, we have ....

"Thruway censored canal records - Assembly panel looking into scandal to get restored documents"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

First published: Wednesday, January 5, 2005

ALBANY -- Thruway Authority officials on Tuesday confirmed that they provided more heavily censored records to an Assembly committee investigating a state canal development scandal than the authority gave to criminal investigators.

But Thruway Authority spokesman Dan Gilbert said the redacted materials will mostly be restored in a new set of documents to be provided to the Assembly committee as soon as today.

Personal data including Social Security, credit card and home telephone numbers will still be withheld under what Gilbert called a "reasonable" confidentiality standard.

Gilbert said the authority believes that will protect personal data covered under a disclosure agreement struck with the committee's chairman, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.

Brodsky said that will be enough for him, if he can be sure only that the data are redacted.

Those records will reveal the names of political officials, authority officials and others who attended meetings leading to the state Canal Corp. awarding a Buffalo businessman residential development rights along the state canal system for $30,000.

Brodsky, a Democrat from Westchester County who heads the Assembly's corporations committee, contends that the contract was steered to the developer under an unfair process that precluded competitive bidding.

No residential units were ever developed under the contract, which has since been canceled.

[Livyjr]

"Health care fight could cost New Yorkers"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 1:42 p.m., Sunday, June 3, 2007

ALBANY -- A new lobbying effort pits hospitals and a consumer group against HMOs, with both sides warning of higher costs for New Yorkers.

"While health insurance companies continue to make record-breaking profits, small and large employers suffer from huge annual increases in their employees' premiums," said William Mooney Jr., president of the Westchester County Association.

"Our health care infrastructure is dissolving around us as greedy health insurance companies exploit employers with outrageous premiums and exploit health care providers by reduced reimbursements."

The Westchester-based group includes the Hospital Association of New York State, the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, and some business associations.

The group wants the Legislature to create a "Health Care Community Reinvestment Fund."

It would require insurers to put a high percentage of the premiums they receive into a state fund.

The money could be used to help hospitals and physicians improve information technology, to streamline and improve treatment, and to recruit doctors in hard-to-serve urban and rural areas.

The coalition also seeks to require insurers and HMOs to pay physicians and hospitals within 15 days for electronic claims and within 30 days for paper claims.

The proposal would increase fines for late payment to doctors and hospitals.

But insurers say the attack on what the Westchester group claims are "record-breaking profits" would only result in a "tax" that will hit small businesses hardest.

"We just think it's an attempt to further regulate a heavily regulated industry," said Leslie Moran of the New York Health Plan Association.

"We think it would create a more unlevel playing field in favor of doctors and hospitals."

She also contests the Westchester group's claim that insurers and HMOs are raking in exorbitant profits.

Much of the profits, she said, are the results of a state law that requires insurers to set aside greater reserves after past years of near insolvency by some insurers.

As for the fund, Moran disputed the assertion that insurance premiums paid by New Yorkers should go to help hospitals pay for equipment.

The Health Plan Association, however, would be interested in working to make payments faster.

But to do that, hospitals and physicians would have to improve their own record of late payments and processing, Moran said.

"When you get a bill six months after the service is provided, you have a short time to check it out," she said.

"Plans have a responsibility to make sure the services were provided and it was medically appropriate and necessary."

Arthur Levin, of the Center for Medical Consumers, supports the Westchester group's proposals.

"The HMO reform proposals are aimed at making health insurance companies more patient-centered and more responsible in how they reinvest surplus premium dollars to provide better access to health care for New Yorkers."

A year ago, a report by the Senate's Democratic minority reported that HMO profits increased 93 percent to $1.3 billion from 2001 to 2005, while premiums increased 20 percent.

Premiums collected by HMOs totaled more than $1 billion above the cost of medical payments, according to the report, and profits totaled more than $5 billion.

The Westchester group's proposals are being pushed in Senate and Assembly committees.

The scheduled end of the legislative session is June 21.

The 2007-08 state budget adopted April 1 cuts $1 billion in Medicaid spending, most of which went to large hospitals.

The funding is being used to expand outpatient and preventive care, which is less expensive and can result in better care under a plan pushed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

[Livyjr]

"U.S. tech jobs under assault"

By BOB KEEFE, Cox News

First published: Sunday, June 3, 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It was a lousy week to be a tech worker, and some say it may be getting worse.

High-tech companies Dell Inc., IBM Corp. and Motorola Inc. made or announced more than 14,000 job cuts in a mere 24-hour period beginning Wednesday.

That was more tech job cuts than were announced in the entire fourth quarter of 2006, and nearly half the number during this year's first quarter.

It's a sign, some say, that even more cutbacks may be coming.

"Cracks are beginning to show," said John Challenger, whose Chicago outplacement firm tracks job cut announcements.

"The job market has kind of hit its peak, and now it's starting to slow."

"Job security?"

"It's almost nonexistent," said Lee Conrad, national coordinator for AllianceIBM, an offshoot of the Communication Workers of America union that tries to organize IBM workers.

While IBM hasn't announced plans for new layoffs, Conrad's group predicts the company could cut 8,000 to 12,000 employees this year as it proceeds with its LEAN cost-cutting program, which includes automation of some jobs and overseas outsourcing of others.

Visits to AllianceIBM's Web site, where the company's workers worldwide can get information and swap stories about what's happening with their jobs, has soared from an average 40,000 a month to 101,000 in May.

IBM workers from Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; and other places where the company has major facilities have reported layoffs in their offices.

Amid an overall slowdown in the economy, it could just be the tech sector's turn, Challenger said.

"It certainly appears that weakness is starting to spread from the housing and automotive sectors to other areas," he said.

Bill Archey, president of the technology industry trade group AeA, said it's a leap to suggest the cutbacks at Dell, Motorola and IBM are indicative of more cutbacks to come in the tech industry.

Last year, Archey pointed out, the nation's high-tech industry grew at the fastest rate since the 1990s dot-com boom.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer takes budget to public; Albany girds for fight"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press
Last updated: 12:03 a.m., Monday, February 5, 2007

ALBANY -- Now state lawmakers know what it was like for Wall Street CEOs to have heard Eliot Spitzer was on line 1.

This week, the former crusading attorney general who whipped reforms into Wall Street will, as he assured lawmakers, take his $120.6 billion proposed budget on a statewide tour.

He will seek support from the public that gave him a historic share of the vote in November, armed with laminated palm cards of how his budget is "New York's Turning Point."

Purple bar graphs make it clear how much he would curb Albany's notorious overspending, while still providing property tax cuts and "fully funding" schools.

Now, lawmakers and lobbyists are trying to find a way to turn back, or at least veer, Spitzer and his aggressive administration.

Some lobbyists are calling it "the cult of Eliot."

He's taking on the Assembly's Democratic majority by trying to expand charter schools, create a private school tax break for parents, and freezing Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes.

"Despite decision, New Covenant is still a failed experiment"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, June 3, 2007

It was fish or cut bait time this weekend for Albany's New Covenant Charter School.

Close, or stay open.

An important deadline loomed.

Tomorrow would be too late.

At a special board meeting early Saturday that took 10 minutes with no discussion, the board reversed itself and decided to stay in business after all.

The board cited as reasons for its change of mind a last-minute financial break from bondholders, plus alleged improvements in enrollment prospects for the fall.

This is not the decision Albany taxpayers wanted to hear, or the Albany school district either.

But at least now we know, and the city's public school district has a solid idea of what to expect and what to plan for.

A week ago, New Covenant announced it was shutting its doors.

A long expected announcement.

Drastically reduced enrollment expectations for September were at the heart of it.

Albany's first charter school needs about 700 students to pay its bills and huge debt, and was expecting fewer than 450.

That means not enough per-pupil money could be anticipated from the school district -- read, Albany taxpayers -- to cover debt payment on the bonds issued for the $16.5 million facility.

For the entire eight years of its existence, New Covenant has been beset by one crippling problem after another, both financial and educational.

Year to year, it ran hand to mouth.

School test scores ranged from abysmal to merely below those of the regular public schools the charter was supposed to improve upon.

All the while, costing the taxpayers a fortune.

So, as understandably disappointed as many minority parents were about closing a school that once was touted as their great expectation, the reality was writ large for some time.

And still is.

Just because the board has decided to stay open does not mean the prospects are any better for New Covenant as a school than they were last week.

As a school it just hasn't made the grade, and should have been shut down years ago by the state's Charter Schools Institute.

But when the underwriters for the bondholders got wind of the school closing, they went ballistic and asserted that the school should stay open.

A representative flew into town to plead the case, and apparently he was quite persuasive.

With a closing, those bondholders get close to nothing.

Not that they were ever promised much if they read the prospectus.

Why anyone in their right mind would have bought these bonds to begin with redefines playing long shots.

What we learned Saturday is that the bondholders seem to have put successful pressure on the school to stay open.

And offered inducements as well.

Thirty-five percent of the year's debt will be deferred for the coming year, and 30 percent the year after.

Then its back to full payment, in theory.

Good luck.

On paper, that would make a reduced enrollment still profitable.

School officials Saturday indicated that all the publicity over the school closing has actually brought in more pupils for the fall, and now they expect somewhere around 550.

So they say in the heat of this battle.

I'm skeptical they will meet that number in September, but we'll see.

The larger issue that rankles is this: Education should never be driven by a profit and loss mentality, yet that's what New Covenant is all about.

The only reason it will stay in business is to satisfy pressures from bondholders.

It's about money.

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings is all for pulling the plug at this point and shutting the school down, and of course he's right.

Even if it isn't his call.

As much of a strain as that would put on the Albany school district, it makes the most sense.

He points out that missing from the arguments over whether to close or not to close, is what is ultimately best for the children involved.

If the Charter School Institute had an ounce of integrity, it would step in and terminate New Covenant's charter.

A mercy killing for a failed experiment.

However, the New Covenant debacle has shown the Charter School Institute for the politically motivated sham that it is.

So why was today a deadline for a final decision on whether to close, and tomorrow too late?

Because if Albany City School District Superintendent Eva Joseph did not know definitively by Monday morning, she would not have been able to prepare a new budget proposal for a district-wide revote on June 19.

The timeline mandated by the state Education Department is strict.

As it is, she will have about five hours to get a budget prepared.

Without a revote, the district would have to adopt a contingency budget.

That has all sorts of negative implications.

Which is why on Friday, the district sent an urgent plea to the governor, legislative leaders and state Education Commissioner Rick Mills, to intercede in getting a timely decision from New Covenant.

Apparently the message got through.

Finally, though, consider this: If New Covenant had closed and even if all the children who attended were absorbed into the city school district, the district would still have saved $3.8 million in a proposed revote budget, a saving of about 4 percent on the total amount of taxes to be raised.

Isn't that a more attractive revote proposal?

And also answers those who mistakingly insist that the taxpayer money that goes to charter schools or regular schools are a wash, and that charters are not an added burden.

Baloney.

Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Despite decision, New Covenant is still a failed experiment"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, June 3, 2007

For the entire eight years of its existence, New Covenant has been beset by one crippling problem after another, both financial and educational.

Year to year, it ran hand to mouth.

School test scores ranged from abysmal to merely below those of the regular public schools the charter was supposed to improve upon.

All the while, costing the taxpayers a fortune.

Finally, though, consider this: If New Covenant had closed and even if all the children who attended were absorbed into the city school district, the district would still have saved $3.8 million in a proposed revote budget, a saving of about 4 percent on the total amount of taxes to be raised.

Isn't that a more attractive revote proposal?

And also answers those who mistakingly insist that the taxpayer money that goes to charter schools or regular schools are a wash, and that charters are not an added burden.

Baloney.

"Better urban education can lure people to cities"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 31, 2007

As an assemblyman who has represented Buffalo for the last 15 years, I read with interest James Odato's May 20 story headlined "For weak upstate cities, hope," which talked about a report issued by the Brookings Institute about the economic status of upstate cities.

While the article was informative and offered hope for the future, a statement attributed to Rocco Ferraro, executive director of the Capital District Regional Planning Commission, was out of place and, I believe, inaccurate.

The reporter credited him with saying that "one negative mark on (Gov. Eliot) Spitzer's economic development agenda may be his push for charter schools."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Governor Spitzer should be applauded for his efforts to improve the quality of urban education because he believes -- as I do -- that the only way to attract middle income families back to our cities is by restoring their confidence in our public education system.

Governor Spitzer knows that a primary reason why tens of thousands of families fled our great upstate cities for the suburbs was a belief that doing so was the only way to receive a better public education for their children.

By supporting public charter schools as another option for urban parents, Governor Spitzer is spurring the traditional public schools to higher student achievement through competition, and offering parents a good reason to return.

Challenging our traditional public schools to improve, and offering a menu of public school options for parents, is a sound strategy for stimulating resurgence in our upstate cities.

SAM HOYT

Assemblyman

Buffalo

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...sdate=5/31/2007

[Livyjr]

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

We old folks out here in the countryside are in the process of preparing written testimony from ourselves to Joe Bruno for these up-coming hearings of his on the crying need for campaign reform in the State of New York that makes it so that it is against OUR laws here in NYS for the governor to be actively soliciting funds of any amount from anyone, while he is actually serving a four-year term as governor ….

You can raise funds while you campaign for governor, but once you take the oath of office, that is the end of it ….

For it is unseemly for the governor of the State of New York to be out there all the time as Eliot Spitzer is, strutting his stuff, and peddling his *** all over town, looking like he is for sale to the highest bidders and bundlers ….

Comment by John Galt — June 1, 2007 @ 5:34 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=4747#comments

NY 1 NEWS

"Governor Unveils Plans For Campaign Finance Reform"

Jun 3, 2007

Governor Eliot Spitzer unveiled his plans Friday to overhaul the state's campaign finance laws.

He spoke with about three dozen civic and legal leaders today at an event in Midtown sponsored by New York University's Brennan Center for Justice – the same group that recently blasted Albany as dysfunctional.

"It's important that there be a genuine mobilization of the opinion and the conscience of the state," said Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice.

With three weeks left in the legislative session in Albany, Spitzer finally released legislation he promised long ago to rein in the state's campaign finance laws, considered by many to be among the weakest in the nation.

“What we are here today to begin and to build upon is a process of building a universe of citizens who care about ensuring the integrity of our process, insuring the integrity of our campaign, the election system, campaign limits that are extraordinarily high,” said the governor.

The bill would lower maximum contribution limits, limit "housekeeping" contributions to political parties that donors often use to skirt the law, ban corporate contributions, and ensure donations are not spent on personal items.

"We think that we have written a reasonably tight structure,” said Spitzer of his proposal.

The question, though, is whether the governor is going to get what he wants.

Leaders of both parties are resistant.

Public talks with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on campaign finance broke down in April, leading Bruno to all but declare the issue dead – and the governor to blitz Republican-led districts.

"Come next November, the citizens of this state will know with great clarity how the senators have voted on this critical issue,” said Spitzer on April 24th.

Since then Spitzer's held his fire though Bruno continues to mock of the governor.

Bruno ridiculed the governor Friday, while breaking ground upstate on a water project.

“Some guy thinks he's got a steamroller that is very ineffective,” said the Senate majority leader.

“The steamroller wouldn't do diddley dick here, ok?"

"But this machine will."

Despite the governor's talk of making this a key issue, the event, which did not take place during a prime time, did not attract all that much star-power.

Spitzer's aides say it was the only time he had available.

–Josh Robin

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?s...1&aid=70304

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Appeals court sinks jail-me-not Norman"

Friday, June 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

Clarence Norman's get- out-of-jail-free card has expired.

An appeals court yesterday turned down Norman's pleas to set aside felony convictions for campaign corruption, forcing the disgraced former Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman to surrender and serve two to six years in prison.

"The Appellate Division confirmed the convictions," said Norman's lawyer, Richard Mischel.

"Obviously, we're disappointed."

Norman must report back to Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday, when Judge Marty Marcus will order his sentence carried out, Mischel said.

In January 2006, Marcus rejected Norman's pleas to consider his lifetime of public service before sentencing him to prison for soliciting more than $10,000 from a lobbyist and not reporting it, then pocketing a $5,000 check intended for his reelection committee.

Nancie L. Katz

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file...not_norman.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"SUING SILVER"

June 1, 2007 -- Talk about poetic justice.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Manhattan Democrat who in private life lends his name to one of the biggest trial-law firms in the state, was on the receiving end of a suit this week.

Silver is billed as "of counsel" to the tort-law sharks at Weitz & Luxenberg PC of Manhattan.

His precise duties and his remuneration are among Albany's most closely guarded secrets - though it's safe to assume that his legislative salary and stipends amount to pocket change in comparison.

Once upon a time, Silver had a trusted aide named Michael Boxley - a young man whose sense of entitlement far exceeded his common sense.

Boxley liked to hit on female legislative aides, of which there are many in Albany, and in 2003 he stood accused of rape.

He plea-bargained his way out of serious criminal trouble, whereupon he and Silver settled a civil suit with a $500,000 payment to the victim - a staggering $480,000 of which came from New York's beleaguered taxpayers.

That was a scandal in its own right.

But it was perfectly legal - after all, Albany lawmakers write the rules in the first place.

On Wednesday, however, one Joseph J. Santora - a self-described "citizen and taxpayer" - filed suit demanding that Silver and Boxley be required to repay the state the $480,000.

In the earlier civil suit, the woman ("Jane Doe" in court papers) charged that the Assembly tolerated a "hostile work environment," where previous assaults by Boxley had been ignored or hushed up by several lawmakers - including Silver.

She further alleged a "pattern of tolerance for sexual harassment, a climate which actually encouraged this kind of conduct."

Again, the suit was settled for $500,000 - with Boxley paying only $20,000, and the state absorbing the rest.

Silver paid not one cent.

And the taxpayers got the bill for the civil-suit legal fees, too.

Santora is claiming that the state's defense of Silver was "improperly provided" and the paying out of the settlement was an illegal state expenditure.

He certainly has a point.

Why should taxpayers be on the hook for nearly half a million dollars because the then-most-powerful Democrat in Albany kept a serial abuser on the payroll until he was taken away in handcuffs?

The settlement is a classic case of Albany business as usual.

All parties protect their own, and the taxpayers take it on the chin.

The legal issues are another matter.

Legislators are often protected from the consequences of their actions: They are legally immunized personally regarding statements and actions made in the course of their official duties.

Whether sexual harassment and abuse fall into the latter category seems dubious . . . but, hey, it's Albany - where anything goes.

So it will hardly surprise if Santora's case is deemed to be a "nuisance" suit - and thrown out of court.

That would be ironic, insofar as nuisance lawsuits aimed at deep-pocket defendants are the specialty of tort firms like Weitz & Luxenberg.

But we hope Santora wins.

What Boxley did was bad enough.

Silver's ex post facto connivance made it worse.

That the taxpayers were handed the bill was simply outrageous.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06012007/posto...editorials_.htm

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

June 4, 2007, 1:42 am

"All Power Plants Not Equal?"

By Danny Hakim

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and lawmakers have been negotiating for several weeks to revive a law that speeds approval of power plants by overriding local ordinances.

This week, the issue will be the subject of one of three rare public conference committees held by the Democrat-led Assembly and the Republican-controlled Senate.

Finding homes for new power plants, as one might imagine, is controversial.

Last week, both the Senate and the Assembly passed legislation that would bring back the law, known as Article X, which expired in January 2003.

Both the Assembly and the governor, below, want to allow only coal plants with low emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, though the specifics of their proposals differ.

Neither would permit fast approval for nuclear plants under Article X, and they argue that the length of the federal review process makes speedy approval impossible anyway.

The industry favors the Senate’s version and had a hand in writing it.

That bill would allow nuclear plants and a broader range of coal plants.

“There aren’t that many plants being built,” said Patrick J. Curran, executive director of the Energy Association of New York State, a consortium of power producers.

“If you’re looking at demand and what’s expected to come online, the numbers don’t add up.”

Senator Jim Wright, an upstate Republican who sponsored the Senate bill, said the other proposals would not encourage the industry to build enough new plants.

Further, he said, it would create too many emissions rules.

The other side of the aisle disagrees.

“If we pass our bill, we would expect thousands of megawatts, or about 20 percent of today’s capacity, will be approved through the process within the first few years,” said Christine Anderson, a spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer.

Jason K. Babbie, a policy analyst at the New York Public Interest Research Group, said, “The governor and the Assembly recognize this is an expedited process that overrides local law and is an incentive program, therefore we should be incentivizing those technologies that best serve New York residents and rate payers.”

The Senate bill, he said, allows for too many kinds of plants.

“If you can generate power using hamsters,” he said, “it can be included.”

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...ants-not-equal/

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Bruno Inquiry Scrutinizes Thoroughbred Transactions"

By DANNY HAKIM

Published: June 4, 2007

Federal authorities investigating the business dealings of Joseph L. Bruno, the majority leader of the State Senate, have been examining records related to his purchases and sales of thoroughbred horses.

One series of transactions being scrutinized was between Mr. Bruno, the state’s top Republican, and Earle I. Mack, a real estate developer and former ambassador to Finland.

Citing documents and an interview with Mr. Mack’s lawyer, The Times Union of Albany reported yesterday that Mr. Bruno bought two mares from Mr. Mack in 2005 for $50,000, and that after spending $74,000 to breed them with stud horses, he sold three of their foals at auction for $425,000.

Mr. Mack bought one of the foals for $105,000, the newspaper reported.

Mr. Mack once served on the board of the New York Racing Association as a Bruno appointee.

The association oversees thoroughbred racetracks at Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct and is bidding to keep the franchise, which expires at the end of the year.

Mr. Mack has been a prominent Republican donor for state and national campaigns.

In New York, he gained attention in 2003 after he flew Gov. George E. Pataki and his wife to a vacation on the Caribbean island of St. Barts on his private jet.

Mr. Mack’s lawyer, Gregory Kehoe, said yesterday that there was nothing improper about the transactions.

Regarding the sale of the two mares, he said: “The horse people working for Mr. Mack wanted to get rid of them for less than that."

"He ultimately saved money.”

He said that Mr. Mack had cooperated with the investigation and had not heard from federal officials about the matter for several months.

John McArdle, a spokesman for Mr. Bruno, said that the majority leader “has cooperated fully and believes he has done nothing wrong.”

He added that Mr. Bruno “has reported any and all information that he is required to under the law regarding his personal and business dealings.”

Federal authorities have been investigating Mr. Bruno’s outside business dealings for more than a year and have issued subpoenas to a range of businesses and other interests in the state and beyond.

Mr. Bruno runs a consulting business out of his home and also has a horse breeding business.

He has declined to provide a list of his consulting clients.

A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas for information on Mr. Bruno’s finances, including real estate investments, as well as his dealings with a veterinarian with whom he owned racehorses.

The grand jury has also sought information related to his consulting arrangement with an Albany investment firm and grants he directed to Evident Technologies, an Albany-area company in which Jared E. Abbruzzese, a businessman and longtime friend of Mr. Bruno’s, was an investor.

Officials have also sought records from the state lobbying commission related to their inquiry into Mr. Bruno’s use of airplanes provided by Mr. Abbruzzese.

It is unclear whether the United States attorney for the Northern District of New York, Glenn T. Suddaby, will seek an indictment from the grand jury that has been reviewing the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin

[Livyjr]

"NanoCollege head gets $141K pay raise"

By MARC PARRY, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 3:16 p.m., Monday, June 4, 2007

ALBANY - The official who already earned more than any other state employee, University at Albany NanoCollege chief Alain Kaloyeros, recently got a $141,995 raise.

The 27 percent hike brings Kaloyeros' salary to $666,995, up from $525,000, according to the state Comptroller's office.

Kaloyeros earns more than double the $276,040 salary of UAlbany's leader, Provost and Officer in Charge Susan Herbst, and more than triple Gov. Eliot Spitzer's salary of $179,000.

Kaloyeros is the vice president and chief administrative officer as well as professor of nanoscience at the college.

His raise was first reported in today's New York Post.

Speculation that Kaloyeros might leave UAlbany College of Nanoscience and Engineering surfaced in January, when the New York Times, citing an anonymous source, reported he could take a position "outside the state.''

Kaloyeros' raise took effect April 5.

NanoCollege spokesman Steve Janack attributed the raise to "a significant new university initiative.''

Janack wouldn't discuss the project beyond saying it would "`practically double professor Kaloyeros' duties and obligations and enable the university to use his talents, knowledge and network to attract major additional investments to the entire university community on top of the $4 billion that he has already brought to the NanoCollege.''

Kaloyeros has played a leading role in getting technology companies such as IBM Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to do research and invest in Albany NanoTech, a research and development facility on Fuller Road.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

"Shooting The Messenger"

Asked about the latest reports on the FBI investigation of his outside business interests, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said:

"That was in the Times Union."

"I am not going to comment on any story that gives credibility to the Times Union because they have no credibility in many people's minds ..."

"I have been accused of nothing."

"I am accused of nothing as we speak, and I expect to be accused of nothing contrary to the speculation of the Times Union and people who don't want to deal in facts."

Now, in defense of the TU (which, as you know, is my former employer), the story that ran Sunday on the FBI's interest in the sale of two thoroughbred horses at a potentially bargain basement price to Bruno by real estate developer Earle Mack was also picked up this morning by The Post and The New York Times.

Posted by Elizabeth Benjamin on June 4, 2007 12:07 PM

Comments

Posted by: upstate dem | June 4, 2007 8:10 PM: I caught the beginning of Fred Dicker's show this morning.

Even though his track record hasn't been the greatest lately, here's Dicker's explanation.

Dicker says his "sources" tell him that the FBI and the US DOJ are duking it out over what to do about the Bruno thing.

Supposedly the FBI thinks that they've put together a good case against Bruno, but the U.S. Attorney's office isn't so sure.

Hence things are still up in the air.

U.S. Attorney Suddaby is supposedly doing an interview with Paul Vandenburgh (local conservative radio host) on Friday.

At least I think that it was Sudderby and that it's Friday.

So perhaps things will soon come to a head.

While it's purely my own speculation, I note that the Albany FBI office got a new head about a year ago and he seems to be real gung-ho.

Perhaps he's trying to make a name for himself.

Not long after he came in, a local Pakeistani(?) pizza guy and his imam got arrested for terrorism.

I was surprised that these guys got convicted, but they did.

Even with excellent defense attorneys.

So I don't know about the Joe Bruno thing and FBI motivations.

That's not to say that I'm a Bruno backer, but I just like to note the "coincidences."

Posted by: John Galt | June 5, 2007 6:16 AM: The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of NY has the power to turn the FBI off like a light-bulb, and to quote Joe Bruno, there isn't diddly-dick the FBI can do about it ....

And we up here in Rensselaer County are possessed of several hundred pages of FBI records detailing just that exact thing happening in a Hobbs Act investigation in 1989 that included Joe Bruno ....

In 2001, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of NY gave aid and assistance, or facilitation, to an unlawful attempt by Joe Bruno's Rensselaer County crowd to incarcerate a licensed professional engineer up here as an alleged mental patient in the Stratton VA Hospital in Albany to destroy his professional reputation and credibility, and to intimidate him and the citizens of Rensselaer County, because he was investigating professional misconduct by another state licensed engineer from Joe Bruno's "stable" in Rensselaer County ...

That involved the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of NY covering up the commission of a series of criminal acts, including a felony, but the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of NY performed their part in the matter admirably, notwithstanding, for Joe .....

That is also a matter of public record ....

The FBI can make all the noise they want, like a dog howling at the moon .....

And it don't make a bit of difference ....

If the US Attorney decides not to prosecute, as they have in the past for Joe Bruno, then that is that ....

And so ....

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli..._messenger.html