Gov. Paterson's Wheelchair Skit

From the Daily Politics Blog....

Gov. David Paterson, who is legally blind, used his response to last night's LCA show to hit back at an 1199/GNYHA TV ad released during the budget battle that featured a blind man in a wheelchair slamming the governor's proposed healthcare spending cuts.

Three thoughts:

1) While the audio is bad and hard to hear in parts, it's clear that the skit is a 5 minute whinefest by an unpopular politician.

2) It's one thing to skewer critics using humor. It's quite another to do so in a way that's demeaning to yourself and others.

3) In a state in which Wall Street billionaires pay the same rate in state taxes as the very poor, is it really funny to mock the disabled worried about cuts in healthcare funding?

On the plus side, Paterson did a funny impersonation of Sheldon Silvers--and the folks in the jaded Capitol reporters in the room laughed throughout the monologue.

The question though is, were they laughing with the governor, or at him?

Gov. Paterson's Skit


Healthcare Cuts Ad

Immigrant Heritage Week - April 17-23

Close D20 Race Shows GOP Weakness

The national GOP is so desperate to recapture the 20th Congressional seat, that it has dumped $1,600,000 to shore up Jim Tedisco's flagging campaign.

In contrast, the DCCC has invested a more reasonable $574K in Scott Murphy's run. But remember, Republicans hold a huge 28 point registration advantage in the sprawling, rural and still conservative district.
Rightwing pundits are trying to make the race a referendum on the Obama administration and his economic policies, which Murphy supports and Tedisco opposes. But that's utter nonsense.

Objective observers can see that this race is really a test for the Republicans; after all, the fact that Tedisco is not trouncing Murphy in the very red 20th speaks volumes about the low level of confidence in the GOP by the district's Republican majority.

With a 64% to 36% advantage over the Democrats, it seems to me that Tedisco needs to win with over 60% of the vote in order for Republicans to brag about anything. A close victory by Tedisco or a defeat, which is possible, is not good news for the Republicans--no matter how they spin it.

North Country Public radio reporter Brian Mann agrees that the stakes are huge for the Republicans.

Links:
NY-20: Democrat Closes with Palin, Limbaugh
NY House special election seen as Obama's 1st test
NY-20: The War of Surrogates

Scott Murphy Upsets GOP Plan to Retake the 20th

New York's 20th Congressional District seat was supposed to be an easy pickup for the Republicans; after all, the voters in the majority Republican and rural district prefer their politicians to reflect their socially conservative values.

While Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand won in the 20th, she did so as a hometown girl from a prominent Republican family and as pol with social conservative views on issues such as guns, war, immigration and government spending -- a so-called 'blue dog' democrat.

So, the newly minted GOP Chair Michael Steele thought it smart to fly to Albany to declare that the GOP's rebirth starts with a win in the 20th. The GOP has poured resources in support of their standardbearer, 58 year old Jim Tedisco, a longtime Albany politician who's against the Obama stimulus bill. The GOP's enthusiasm further heightened when the Democrats picked Scott Murphy, a 39 year businessman and political novice with progressive views aligned with Obama's policies.

Needless to say, Steele's tenure as GOP Big Dog has not gone as planned, and neither has Tedisco's imagined stroll to Congress. With a recent Marist poll showing Murphy gaining a slight lead in the run-up to the March 31st Special election, Tedisco is sinking under the weight of the obstructionism of the Party of No.

It seems the more national Republicans such as Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Boehner and others support Tedisco, the weaker he grows.

Is there a message here?

On the issues concerning Latinos in the 20th and across the country--as well as Americans of all stripes, a smart, energetic, moderate progressive newcomer like Murphy representing New York's 20th is hugely preferable to an old-line Albany pol aligned with national reactionary forces like Tedisco.

Links:
For Republicans, 20th Race Will Be 'Battle Royale' Says Steele
Murphy Takes 4-Point Lead Over Tedisco in Final Week
President Obama Endorses Scott Murphy for Congress
Scott Murphy for Congress
NY-20: Libertarian Sundwall Endorses Murphy
D-20 Map
ACTBlue: Scott Murphy

Do You Pay the Same State Tax Rate As Donald Trump and Bernie Madoff? The Answer Will Shock You!

In New York State, how much money would you have to make in order to be in the very highest income tax bracket? That's the question posed by the WFF to a sampling of New Yorkers. The answer is truly shocking! Needless to say, not one of the individuals interviewed was even close.

Watch this video and then do something about this stunning injustice--even if it's only forwarding the video to friends and family members in New York.