“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it”-Ronald Reagan
While this article is a year old, it is still will worth the read. My personal favorite quote is the 6th one down beginning with “Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth…”
“Free speech and the competition of ideas — the lifeblood of democracy — are being brazenly and unlawfully threatened by Governor Andrew Cuomo and his handpicked state Democratic Party boss Jay Jacobs.
“This egregious assault on the Constitutional right to fusion voting in New York is bringing together Conservatives, the Working Families Party, Republicans, and brave Democrats because of its critical importance to free political discourse in New York.
“Today, State Senate Republicans are speaking out loudly and clearly about the sham commission created by Governor Cuomo and led by Democratic Party boss Jacobs — Jacobs was granted special dispensation to lead the commission through a surreptitious and almost universally unnoticed last-minute language insertion in the 2019-20 State Budget — and rightly claiming the exclusive right of the right of the State Legislature to make Election Law changes.
“It is the ardent and legally impregnable position of New York State Conservatives and Republicans that Governor Cuomo’s so-called ‘Public Financing Commission’ lacks any authority to amend or create state law. Only the State Legislature, duly elected by the People of New York State, have that right.
“Governor Cuomo has crossed a legal line in an effort to kneecap political competition and quiet dissent in New York from both the left and the right. It is encouraging, though, to see elected leaders from starkly different political persuasions stand together against such attempted tyranny. Our forerunners would be proud.”
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***Fusion voting was established more than a century ago in New York as a good government measure to challenge rampant Tammany Hall corruption. It has thrice been upheld as constitutional in New York’s highest courts.
The Tax Foundation released its 2020 state business climate index, and unfortunately, NYS is winning the race to the bottom again. Governor Cuomo, despite all the economic accolades from your press office about how great our economy is, this analysis shows that New York is not heading in the right direction.
Ken Girardin explains in his Empire Center column how Gov. Cuomo makes case against PLAs.
George J. Marlin opines on the need to keep fusion voting in New York.
The Ulster County District Attorney issued a press release on October 7, 2019 on the Bail Reform Bill. Please read it through to understand the problems New York is facing and will continue to face under total democrat control of the Executive and Legislative Branches of government. Is this what we want for New York State? Or is this the reason why New Yorkers are fleeing New York. Unfortunately, not everyone is in the position to move out of state, so those of us who are left must do all we can to regain control of our government.
As we tweeted (@cpnys) on Saturday: Gov Cuomo, now would be a good time to reconsider your bill that allows abortion through the 9th month that you signed with such fanfare last January. Cuomo huddles with Catholic leaders to honor Mother Cabrini.
Proposal # 1: This proposal seeks to eliminate the separate run-off primary elections for Mayor, Public Advocate, and Comptroller (by a convoluted system based on ranking your choice and eliminating the candidate with the lowest vote until a candidate has the majority); Extend the time period between the occurrence of a vacancy in an elected City office and when a special election must be held to fill that vacancy. Special elections would generally be held 80 days after the vacancy occurs, instead of 45 days (for Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough Presidents, and Council Members) or 60 days (for Mayor); and Adjust the timeline of the process for drawing City Council district boundaries so that it is completed before City Council candidates start gathering petition signatures to appear on the ballot for the next primary elections. This process occurs every ten years. The Conservative Party believes that each portion of this proposed amendment should be a separate proposal. It should be noted that in the past, the ranking system was used in NYC School Board elections which created confusion and lent itself to fraud, therefore a NO vote is strongly recommended.
The Conservative Party recommends a NO vote on Proposal # 1.
Proposal # 2: This proposal seeks to increase the size of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) from 13 to 15 members by adding one member appointed by the Public Advocate and adding one member jointly appointed by the Mayor and Speaker of the Council who would serve as chair, and to provide that the Council directly appoint its CCRB members rather than designate them for the Mayor’s consideration and appointment; Require that the CCRB’s annual personnel budget be high enough to fund a CCRB employee headcount equal to 0.65% of the Police Department’s uniformed officer headcount, unless the Mayor makes a written determination that fiscal necessity requires a lower budget amount; Require that the Police Commissioner provide the CCRB with a written explanation when the Police Commissioner intends to depart or has departed from discipline recommended by the CCRB or by the Police Department Deputy (or Assistant Deputy) Commissioner for Trials; Allow the CCRB to investigate the truthfulness of any material statement that is made within the course of the CCRB’s investigation or resolution of a complaint by a police officer who is the subject of that complaint, and recommend discipline against the police officer where appropriate; and Allow the CCRB members, by a majority vote, to delegate the board’s power to issue and seek enforcement of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of records for its investigations to the CCRB Executive Director. Increase the size of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) from 13 to 15 members by adding one member appointed by the Public Advocate and adding one member jointly appointed by the Mayor and Speaker of the Council who would serve as chair, and to provide that the Council directly appoint its CCRB members rather than designate them for the Mayor’s consideration and appointment; Require that the CCRB’s annual personnel budget be high enough to fund a CCRB employee headcount equal to 0.65% of the Police Department’s uniformed officer headcount, unless the Mayor makes a written determination that fiscal necessity requires a lower budget amount; Require that the Police Commissioner provide the CCRB with a written explanation when the Police Commissioner intends to depart or has departed from discipline recommended by the CCRB or by the Police Department Deputy (or Assistant Deputy) Commissioner for Trials; Allow the CCRB to investigate the truthfulness of any material statement that is made within the course of the CCRB’s investigation or resolution of a complaint by a police officer who is the subject of that complaint, and recommend discipline against the police officer where appropriate; and Allow the CCRB members, by a majority vote, to delegate the board’s power to issue and seek enforcement of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of records for its investigations to the CCRB Executive Director. The Conservative Party is opposed to the CCRB and believes that each of these proposed changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board only further empowers it, therefore a NO vote is recommended.
The Conservative Party recommends a NO vote on Proposal # 2.
Proposal # 3: This proposal would amend the City Charter to: Prohibit City elected officials and senior appointed officials from appearing before the agency (or, in certain cases, the branch of government) they served in for two years after they leave City service, instead of the current one year. The proposed change would be applicable to persons who leave elected office or City employment after January 1, 2022; Change the membership of the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) by replacing two of the members currently appointed by the Mayor with one member appointed by the Comptroller and one member appointed by the Public Advocate; Prohibit members of the COIB from participating in campaigns for local elected office, and reduce the maximum amount of money that members can contribute in each election cycle to the amounts that candidates can receive from those doing business with the City ($400 or less, depending on the office); Require that the citywide director of the Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) program report directly to the Mayor and require further that such director be supported by a mayoral office of M/WBEs; and Require that the City’s Corporation Counsel, currently appointed by the Mayor, also be approved by the City Council. The Conservative Party believes that some of these proposals have merit and should be adopted, however, it also includes that the citywide director of the Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise program report directly to the Mayor and be supported by a mayoral office of M/WBE’s and therefore we recommend a NO vote on this proposal.
The Conservative Party recommends a NO vote on Proposal # 3.
Proposal # 4: This proposal seeks to amend the City Charter to: Allow the City to use a revenue stabilization fund, or “rainy day fund,” to save money for use in future years, such as to address unexpected financial hardships. Changes to State law will also be needed for this rainy-day fund to be usable; Set minimum budgets for the Public Advocate and Borough Presidents. The budget for each office would be at least as high as its Fiscal Year 2020 budget adjusted annually by the lesser of the inflation rate or the percentage change in the City’s total expense budget (excluding certain components), unless the Mayor determines that a lower budget is fiscally necessary; Require the Mayor to submit a non-property tax revenue estimate to the City Council by April 26 (instead of June 5). The Mayor may submit an updated estimate after that date, but must explain why the updated estimate was fiscally necessary if the update is submitted after May 25; and Require that, when the Mayor makes changes to the City’s financial plan that would require a budget modification to implement, the proposed budget modification shall be submitted to the Council within 30 days. The Conservative Party supports the idea of a “rainy-day fund,” however, to establish a minimum budget for the office of Public Advocate and Borough President eliminates the need to find ways to streamline and cut expenses, we therefore recommend a NO vote on this proposal.
The Conservative Party recommends a NO vote on Proposal # 4.
Proposal # 5: This proposal seeks to amend the City Charter to: For projects subject to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), require the Department of City Planning (DCP) to transmit a detailed project summary to the affected Borough President, Borough Board, and Community Board at least 30 days before the application is certified for public review, and to post that summary on its website; and Provide Community Boards with additional time to review ULURP applications certified for public review by DCP between June 1 and July 15, from the current 60-day review period to 90 days for applications certified in June, and to 75 days for applications certified between July 1 and July 15. The Conservative Party supports government transparency and therefore recommends a YES vote on this proposal.
The Conservative Party recommends a YES vote on Proposal # 5.
SHENANIGANS EXPOSED IN CUOMO PLOT TO KNEECAP WORKING FAMILIES PARTYDemocrat Chairman Jacobs Knows Nothin’ About Nothin’
New York-Oct. 15…A longstanding prohibition against political party chairman serving on government policy-making commissions — common knowledge among New York party officials — was nullified by a one-sentence, last-minute language insertion deep inside the 2019-’20 State Budget that greenlighted New York Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs to serve as de facto chairman of a commission hellbent on kneecapping the rival Working Families Party (WFP), a story in The Albany Times Union has revealed.
Chairman Jacobs, an ardent opponent of fusion voting who has long-served as the Nassau County Democratic Party chairman as well, claims in the Times Union piece that a.) he noticed the language addition in the 2019-20 State Budget (virtually no one did) and b.) he was previously unaware that political party chairmen have been expressly banned from policy making roles for decades (an equally preposterous assertion.)
“It looks pretty obvious to me what’s going on here,” said New York State Conservative Party Chairman Jerry Kassar. “Governor Cuomo is furious at the Working Families Party for endorsing Cynthia Nixon instead of him for governor in 2018, so his legislative mechanics cooked up a way to let his handpicked Democratic Chairman put a shiv between the third and fourth ribs of the WFP. Thankfully, though, the plot is unravelling as members of the public and news media are catching onto what they’re up to.”
The last-minute budget language insertion expressly allowed party officials to serve on the New York State Public Financing Commission — by name. That commission was ostensibly created to look at establishing a taxpayer-funded matching fund program for state political candidates, but it quickly added to its purview a proposal to ban fusion voting in New York, a practice Jacobs has long and very publicly opposed. It then coupled the two issues, declaring that commission members would cast a single vote on all of its recommendations. Jacobs was even caught emailing Democratic Party subordinates to demand that they turn out at commission hearings as members of the public to support his positions on both issues. (The Conservative Party maintains that the commission has no authority to change New York State Law; only a duly-elected State Legislature can do that.)
Fusion voting permits candidates to run on more than one ballot line, allowing voters to cast nuanced votes by supporting chosen candidates on ballot lines with which they most ideologically agree. It was enacted in the early 20th Century by good-government organizations to help combat endemic corruption in Tammany Hall Democratic politics, and it has thrice been upheld as Constitutional by State courts.
“New York’s third parties, whether they be progressive or conservative, foster crucially important debate in New York and serve as incubators of ideas,” Chairman Kassar said. “We should be promoting as much free speech and political diversity in New York as possible, not working cynically to repress it. What Governor Cuomo and Chairman Jacobs are saying simply doesn’t pass the laugh test. They need to come clean about what they’re up to.”
The Conservative Party, Working Families Party, and Republican Party have each filed suit against the commission’s attempt to eliminate fusion voting in New York.
Chairman Kassar was a guest on WAUB 1590 AM/98.1 FM with Steve Penstone discussing the importance of the Conservative Party in New York State. You can listen to it here. (scroll to the bottom of the page, on the right-hand side {as you look at it} then go up three.)
Hillary Clinton: ‘Obviously’ I can beat Trump ‘again’ (Personally, I really think she is fantasizing that she is Elizabeth McCord [Téa Leoni] in Madam Secretary.)
For Immediate Release
October 8, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @Twitter
EMBOLDENED BY SOCIALIST CONGRESSWOMAN ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: NEW CROP OF CANDIDATES RUN ON ANTI-CAPITALISM PLATFORM
Brooklyn, NY – Affordable housing is a problem for many who want to live in the greatest city in the United States, one that has thrived on capitalism. To quote Frank Sinatra, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
The latest crop of candidates, emboldened by the press that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez receives, are embracing her socialism by calling for the purging of private ownership of apartment buildings as a way of alleviating the city’s affordable housing crisis, which will only get worse under the “Housing Stability and Tenant Protection act of 2019” passed by the democratic controlled Houses and signed by Governor Cuomo on June 14, 2019.
Does Boris Santos, who is running as a democratic socialist for the NYS Assembly in Brooklyn not read the papers? Does he not understand the awful conditions that those who live in government-controlled housing – NYCHA – are forced to endure? No heat in the dead of winter; elevators that do not work and rodents who invade their apartments to just mention a few of the problems faced by tenants in government run housing.
The only way to solve the affordable housing problem is to allow entrepreneurs to invest in housing and let the free market work.
Boris Santos is pushing this idea with his new “squad” and their motto seems to be “…this power is anti-capitalist baby!”
To which we say, should these radicals be elected, New York City will become Caracas and what was once the pinnacle of the US, will become a nadir of despair.
