“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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
Bill@NovemberTeam.comStatement from Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar onCuomo Public Finance Commission Report
December 2, 2019
Brooklyn, NY — “If you hate campaign robocalls now, wait till you’re paying for them yourself.
“And you will be, ring, ring — $100 million worth every four years — if Governor Cuomo’s boondoggle of a taxpayer matching fund plan is allowed to stand.
“Handing hard-earned money to politicians for political ads would do nothing to slow corruption. When governments grow as large as New York’s, there are always avenues for larceny. Mr. Cuomo’s backhanded commission proved that yet again.
“Of all the insults heaped upon New York taxpayers, this one may be the cruelest. Governor Cuomo is forcing New Yorkers to pay for other people’s careers, with money they need themselves. And he did it without the required consent of our duly-elected state legislature.
“The Conservative Party continues to question the constitutional authority of this commission to make law, and expects to be back in court on Thursday, December 12. Stay tuned.”
For Immediate Release
November 25, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
Statement by Chairman Gerard Kassar
Brooklyn, NY — “The Conservative Party could be the only surviving small party in New York under this proposed, two-percent threshold, but our principles get in the way of any celebrating. We continue to believe that Governor Cuomo’s commission lacks the constitutional authority to make law — only a duly elected legislature can do that — and we remain philosophically opposed to taxpayer funded political campaigns. This is a classic example of government engineering a crisis and then presenting an impossibly bureaucratic solution to it on the backs of taxpayers.” — Gerard Kassar
For Immediate Release
November 20, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882 www.cpnys.org @cpnys
GOVERNOR CUOMO SLAMS SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY; IS SILENT ON SUNY BINGHAMTON
Brooklyn, NY — Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized Chancellor Syverud’s handling of recent racist incidents at Syracuse University, a private university. All incidents of racism should be investigated and should be handled within the purview of any crime committed and it appears that Syracuse University is investigating the incident.
We have to question, why has Governor Cuomo been silent regarding the problems at SUNY Binghamton, a state-run university? While, the incidents are not in any way equal, the right to free speech and assembly is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Some students attending SUNY Binghamton obviously do not agree and took matters into their own hands.
Both incidents are wrong, yet Governor Cuomo criticized one and was silent on the other. Why, Governor?
For Immediate Release
November 16, 2016
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
Upstate Economy Is Dying; The Best Way to Change This is by Lifting the Ban on Hydrofracking. But Governor Cuomo Continues to Refuse to Provide a Life Line
Binghamton, NY – The Empire Center for Public Policy recently reported that “newly released federal data on personal income growth last year point to the continued economic weakness of upstate New York.” While there are many reasons for this lack of economic growth, one of the most predominate reasons for the lack of new jobs is due to the statewide ban on hydrofracking. The Conservative Party of New York State calls for an immediate lifting of the statewide ban on hydrofracking.
In December, 2017 Strata.Org issued a report on A Tale of Two States: The Economic impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing in New York and Pennsylvania. Under the Economic Impacts in New York, the report states “The Hastings paper found that ‘New York’s fracking moratorium is associated with a statistically significant increase in unemployment.’ ” They conclude that their findings are consistent with claims that fracking increases employment opportunities. New York residents are missing out on these opportunities because of the state’s ban on hydraulic fracturing.”
The report also notes “New York’s ban on fracking has done little to curb its appetite for natural gas, however. “Nearly two-thirds of all-natural gas imported to New York in 2016 came from Pennsylvania.” Despite the fact that the Southern Tier also sits on the Marcellus Shale. End the hydrofracking ban, now!
The report concludes with this “Much of that natural gas could have been produced within the state while providing jobs for New Yorkers. It also could have provided tax revenue for rural communities and the state government and spurred investment in those areas as well. Instead, those benefits have been outsourced to neighboring states.”
Long Island has a severe shortage of natural gas and Governor Cuomo recently told National Grid to provide gas or lose your license. Governor Cuomo’s instance on the hydrofracking ban is partially to blame for the severe shortage. And it is his ban on hydrofracking that is partially to blame for the dying economy in upstate New York.
Carolyn Price, Town Supervisor of Windsor and an activist for fracking and pipelines, had this to say, ““As the Town Supervisor of a town that’s across the border from Susquehanna County, I’ve seen the benefits that hydrofracking has brought to that County. The two pipelines that are in the Town of Windsor have brought great benefit to the town. the Town of Windsor currently ranks #8 out of 977 towns and cities in New York State for tax base growth, largely due to the natural gas infrastructure in the Town.”
Julie Lewis, the vice president of the Joint Landowner’s Coalition, noted that “The Cuomo administration has egregiously cost New York’s Southern Tier millions if not billions of dollars in lost opportunities by banning fracking, while our neighbors to the South have reaped multiple benefits. NY passed the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act with the goal of banning fossil fuels like natural gas in an effort to force its citizens to pay for more expensive renewable energy.”
Chairman Kassar concluded with these facts:
PA Landowners have been able to improve their properties and set aside money for the future;
Local PA governments have received millions of dollars in impact fees collected from drilling activity allowing them to improve infrastructure and other large projects;
Drilling companies in PA have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to local charities;
Businesses, particularly oil and gas and supportive industries, have been relocating or expanding in PA;
PA in contrast to NY, has authorized a PIPE Grant program that encourages natural gas expansion for the benefit of communities that have never had natural gas service.
It is incomprehensible that upstate New York’s economy is forced to slowly die because the progressive, left-wing movement has convinced Governor Cuomo that banning hydrofracking is in the best interest of New Yorkers. The best interest of all New Yorkers is to end the hydrofracking ban, Governor, and let upstate prosper.
STUNNING: STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BOSS CLAIMS TO BE ARBITER OF WHICH NEW YORK POLITICAL PARTIES ARE ‘CREDIBLE’ Conservative Party Champions Will of Voters, Political Freedom; Reiterates that State Commission is “a Sham”
New York-Nov. 15…New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jac0bs, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s handpicked leader of the constitutionally dubious New York State Public Finance Commission, declared on Thursday that his commission will determine which New York State political parties are “credible” and which are not. New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar called Mr. Jacobs’s statement, “stunning, self-serving, and wildly anti-democratic.”
“We have to make sure that people who run for offices on these party lines are running from party lines that are actual credible parties that have some demonstrated level of support,” Mr. Jacobs told The Capitol Pressroom.
New York State political parties are formed by achieving a 50,000-vote threshold in quadrennial New York gubernatorial elections, an established benchmark that goes back almost a century. Governor Cuomo’s commission, ostensibly created to establish a taxpayer-funded state campaign system, is now arbitrarily proposing that parties be required to attain as many as 250,000 votes in a gubernatorial year in order to exist. It has been suggested by good-government political observers and others that the Democratic-Party-boss-led commission has set its initial sights on The New York Working Families Party for revenge, a competing party on the political left that famously irritated Governor Cuomo by backing a competitor over Cuomo in the 2018 Democratic Party primary. With such arbitrary powers, the commission, or a subsequent commission, could then come after The Conservative Party, the third strongest party in New York, by establishing even higher thresholds, Chairman Kassar warned.
“Governor Cuomo and the New York Democratic Party boss are trying to kill off political competition in New York right before our eyes, and that’s a frightening scenario for everyone,” Chairman Kassar said. “They are using the guise of campaign finance to rationalize their ploy, but no one is buying it — a power grab is a power grab is a power grab. How can they possibly think that a state political party chairman should decide the fate of competing parties? It’s a preposterous attempt.”
The Public Finance Commission has proposed a wildly expensive matching fund program for state candidates — taxpayers matching political donations at a ratio of 20-1 under one suggestion — and then claimed that such a program would be too expensive with New York’s multiple party lines system. It’s convenient recommendation? Effectively abolish competing political parties, the Conservative Party noted.
“From day one, this Commission has been blatantly unconstitutional,” Chairman Kassar continued. “It has no authority to make law — only a duly-elected legislature can do that — and it has no right to end fusion voting in New York, a constitutionally protected practice going back more than 100 years. The work of the Commission is furthermore null and void because its members inexplicably failed to swear a required oath of office.”
A spokesman for Governor Cuomo angrily claimed two weeks ago that no oath of office for commission members was necessary. Those members quietly took oaths this week. Under clearly established State law, the Conservative Party maintains, all previous commission work must be nullified.
“This circus needs to end,” Chairman Kassar continued. “If Governor Cuomo wants to change the law to benefit himself, he should propose bill language to his allies in the State Legislature. This surreptitious end-around has blown up in his face.”
For Immediate Release
November 11, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882 www.cpnys.org @cpnys
Statement by Chairman Kassar on Congressman Peter King’s Decision
Brooklyn, NY – Congressman Peter King’s decision to not seek re-election in 2020 will be a loss to his constituents and especially to all Americans. His leadership and expertise in homeland security and counter terrorism has been instrumental in keeping New York and America safe since the horrific 9/11 unprecedent assault on our homeland.
His long and lustrous career in the House of Representatives, fighting for his constituents, will be sorely missed, but we are confident Congressman King will always be available to continue the fight for his constituents and all Americans.
The Conservative Party is proud to call him a friend.
For Immediate Release
November 8, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
HYPER-LEFT POLICIES JOLTING NEW YORK VOTERS: STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 8…High-tax, anti-business, and soft-on-crime policies coming out of Democratic-controlled Albany are jolting everyday New Yorkers, and Tuesday’s election results reflect it, New York State Conservative Chairman Gerard Kassar today said.
“Despite some misleading news reports about this week’s elections, Tuesday’s results show a growing backlash against unhinged policy positions being driven by Albany’s hard political left,” Chairman Kassar said. “Voters around the state rejected this unbridled ‘progressivism’ by supporting Conservatives and Republicans at the polls, and we are confident that this trend is only just beginning. Leftist, one-party rule will spell disaster for this state, and voters are already beginning to react to it.”
Chairman Gerard Kassar noted Conservative-backed victories on Tuesday, including:
Taking back the Town of Hempstead – the largest town in the United States with 800K people;
Winning a civil court seat in Richmond County on the predominantly Democratic North Shore;
Flipping the town of Yorktown in Westchester County with 33 year- old Matt Slater a true rising star;
A landslide victory for returning Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro against Governor Cuomo’s handpicked candidate;
A district attorney win in heavily Democratic Dutchess County;
Flipping the Clinton County Legislature together with many other gains in the North Country;
Taking back the City of Canandaigua;
Winning every non-judicial election in Wayne County;
George Scaringe holding a lead in the Town of Colonie;
Mike Kavanaugh leading in the count for Ulster County District Attorney;
All 4 candidates in the Fourth Judicial District winning, with the Conservative Party line providing the margin of victory to Michael R. Cuevas.
The Conservative Party provided the margin of victory in many races, including Hempstead, the Richmond Judicial race as well as several Livingston County Judicial races, the Yorktown race, the City of Canandaigua in Ontario County, and Michael P. Cuevas in the 4th Judicial District, Chairman Kassar noted.
The Conservative Party attributes many of this year’s victories to the implementation of dangerous and outrageous policies on crime, taxes, and government spending, and on the cultural battles that caught the attention of New Yorkers from all localities and all walks of life.
“Democrats in Albany are turning this state into a laboratory for off-the-wall ‘progressivism’ and everyday New Yorkers are noticing it,” Kassar continued. “This is not the New York that the average voter wants, and if Tuesday is an early indicator, there will be hell to pay for the government malpractice we are witnessing. Mark my words: The pendulum is swinging in New York.”
For Immediate Release
November 6, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
CONSERVATIVES TOUT WINS ACROSS NEW YORK STATE
Brooklyn, NY – State Chairman Gerard Kassar noted that the Conservative Party had a great election night due to the efforts of excellent local leaders of county organizations who put our candidates over the top. Just some of the highlights are below:
Taking back the Town of Hempstead – the largest town in the United States with 800K people.
Winning a civil court seat in Richmond County on the predominately Democratic North Shore.
Flipping the town of Yorktown in Westchester County with 33 year- old Matt Slater a true rising star
A landslide victory for returning Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro against Governor Cuomo’s handpicked candidate
Flipping the Clinton County Legislature together with many other gains in the North Country
Taking back the City of Canandaigua
In Wayne County every single non-Judicial election was won by a candidate supported by the Wayne County Conservative Party.
Our candidate George Scaringe is holding a lead in the Town of Colonie.
In the Fourth Judicial District all 4 of our candidates won with the Conservative Party providing the margin of victory to Michael R. Cuevas.
The Party provided the margin of victory in many races including Hempstead, the Richmond Judicial race as well as several Livingston County Judicial races, the Yorktown race, and the City of Canandaigua in Ontario County.
Despite the unfortunate loss of our outstanding Monroe County Executive candidate, Cheryl Dinolfo, Monroe County Conservatives had many victories. This can also be said of many of our county organizations who saw gains both small and large.
The Conservative Party attributes many of this year’s victories to the implementation by the New York State Legislature of outrageous polices, on crime, taxes, government spending and cultural battles that caught the attention of New Yorkers from all localities and all walks of life.
For Immediate Release
November 4, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @CPNYS
Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio Have No Compassion for The Victims The Victims of the Crime are Also Entitled to Justice
Brooklyn, NY – What were they thinking? The democratic controlled New York State Legislature passed and the Governor signed a bill to eliminate bail for defendants charged with an array of misdemeanor and felony crimes and made it retroactive!
Thus, the Governor is able to free them even before the law’s effective date. To add salt on the proverbial wound, Mayor de Blasio is offering incentives – that taxpayers are paying for – movie passes and gift cards to encourage them to return to court.
This is a complete miscarriage of true justice. The people truly harmed are ignored, while the perpetrator is rewarded. Taxpayers are forced to pay for this injustice.
Is it any wonder why people are fleeing New York in droves?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
Bill@NovemberTeam.com
CUOMO GROSSLY MISLEADING NEWS MEDIA ON PUBLIC FINANCE COMMISSION DISASTER: NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Brooklyn – October 30…“Governor Andrew Cuomo is blatantly misleading the news media and the public in his effort to conceal catastrophic flaws in his Public Campaign Finance Commission, the not-so-thinly-veiled body he created in the 2019 State Budget to exact revenge on political enemies,” New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar today charged.
“His spokesman cited incorrect statute yesterday in an attempt to deflect attention from Cuomo’s most critical Commission error to date: Its members failed to take the required Oath of Office. As a result — under clear State law — any actions the commissioners have taken thus far are nullified. They were not conducted lawfully,” Chairman Kassar said.
The Conservative Party cited clear and long-established State law requiring Public Campaign Finance commissioners to swear an Oath of Office before conducting official state business, which they did not do (below).
Article XIII, Section 1 of the New York State Constitution states that:
Members of the Legislature and all officers, executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of according to the best of my ability.
The Constitutional Article is codified in Public Officers Law Section 10 which states:
Every officer shall take and file the Oath of Office required by law, and every judicial officer of the Unified Court System, in addition, shall file a copy of said oath in the Office of the Court Administration before he shall be entitled to enter upon the discharge of any of his official duties.
Public Officers Law Section 2 defines the term ‘state officer’ which:
…includes every officer for whom all the electors of the State are entitled to vote,
members of the Legislature, Justices of the Supreme Court, Regents of the
University, and every officer appointed by one or more state officers, or by the Legislature, and authorized to exercise his official function throughout the entire state, or without limitation to any political subdivision of the State.
Attorney and Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo, who also serves as Conservative Party Vice Chairman elaborated: “Public Officers Law Section 30 provides that the office of a public officer becomes vacant when the public officer refuses or neglects to take and file his or her Oath of Office within 30 days of appointment,” he said.
“The Governor would have you believe that there is an exception codified in Public Officers Law Section 73 for public officers who receive no compensation or are compensated on a per diem basis. Clearly this is not the case. Section 73 only applies to the Ethics Law sections and Disclosure. That is clear when Section 73 starts with the words ‘As used in this Section’, Chairman Lorigo said.
“Governor Cuomo will be admitting his deception,” Mr. Lorigo continued, “if these nine commissioners do, in fact, file an Oath of Office at this late juncture. But even if they do, Section 30 clearly points out that work done previously, and unlawfully, is negated. Attempting to file an Oath of Office, in accordance with the statutes at this late date, would render the commission unable to complete its task within the statute time frame.
“Governor Cuomo should stop with the shenanigans and allow the duly-elected State Legislature to do its job. Only it can create or amend State Election Law,” Mr. Lorigo concluded.
For Immediate Release
October 26, 2019
Contact: Shaun Marie
518-356-7882
www.cpnys.org @cpnys
Conservative Party Releases Social Media Ad
Urging a NO vote on NYC Ballot Proposition Two
Brooklyn, NY — The Conservative Party has released a social media ad in opposition to the NYC ballot proposal regarding changes to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB).
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.
“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.
