No More Republican Bull - Volunteer!
By Mike Connery on 10/29/2010 @ 02:34 PM
For 44 years Republicans wrecked our state. Now they say they've changed. We're pretty sure we know what you call that . . . Watch our final TV ad and then volunteer to help a campaign near you.Your Volunteer Hours Can Make the Difference!
Only 4 more days until the election. Have you signed up to volunteer yet? Every hour you give will increase the votes for your favorite candidate, so sign up today.
Find out which candidates are near you using our Battleground Map.
New York City
Phone banks for many State Senate races
Email will.volunteer@gmail.com
Tony Avella SD-11
Campaign HQ: (718) 747-2137
Email tonyavellafornewyork@gmail.com.
Upstate, Hudson Valley, and Long Island
Cindy Appleton, 59th Senate District
Campaign HQ (585) 615-2986
Email cynthiaappleton2010@gmail.com
Didi Barrett, 41st Senate District
Hyde Park HQ (845) 233-5577
Email didi@didiforsenate.com
Francesca Carlow, 6th Senate District
Campaign HQ (516) 749-1850
Email vote4francesca@gmail.com
David Carlucci SD-38
Campaign HG: 845.634.0686
Email sandi@carlucci2010.com
Brian X. Foley, 3rd Senate District
Central Islip HQ (631) 234-3340
Email info@brianxfoley.com
Carol Gordon, 8th Senate District
Massapequa HQ (516) 777-0738
Email info@carolagordonforsenate.com
Kathleen Joy, 50th Senate District
Syracuse HQ (315) 476-2010
Email joyforsenate@gmail.com
Mike Kaplowitz SD-40
Campaign HQ: 845-228-9830
Click here to volunteer
Pam Mackesey, 53rd Senate District
Tompkins County HQ (607) 319-4596
Email gotv@pamforsenate.net
Jennifer Maertz, 1st Senate District
Middle Island HQ (631) 775-8560
Email jennifermaertzfornysenate@gmail.com
Susan Savage, 44th Senate District
Schenectady HQ (518) 382-9412
Email susansavageforsenate@gmail.com
Mary Wilmot, 55th Senate District
Rochester HQ (585) 340-6901
Email steve@marywilmot2010.com
Robin Wilt, 56th Senate District
Rochester HQ (585) 286-1289
Email campaign@wiltforsenate.com
Joanne Yepsen, 43rd Senate District
Saratoga Springs HQ (518) 587-9409
Email chandler@yepsenforsenate.com
New Campaign Video from Susan Savage
By Mike Connery on 10/04/2010 @ 10:11 AM
Susan Savage'scampaign released a new video today talking about her working bridging the partisan divide in Schenectady county and delivering tax cuts to her constituents.Valesky Weighs in on the Budget, Taxes and Local Job Creation
By Mike Connery on 09/24/2010 @ 03:45 PM
Senator Dave Valesky recently sat down for a lengthy interview with Eye on Albany. In part one of that interview, he discusses taxes, the budget, and creating local jobs in Auburn, Syracuse, Rome, Oswego and all of upstate New York. Watch Part 1 of the video below:
New York Senate Dems Hits Republicans on Taxes and Budget
By Mike Connery on 04/16/2010 @ 05:26 PM
Yesterday was tax day, and once again hard-working New Yorkers sent too much of their tax dollars to Albany.
While New Yorkers continue to pay more than their fair share, Republicans are sitting on the sidelines, running from decades-long record of taxing, spending and borrowing away the financial stability of our state. To add insult to injury, they are refusing to participate constructively in the current budget process, and trying to blame Democrats for their own mess.
New York Senate Dems are determined to hold Republicans accountable for these actions.
Today we launched a series of robocalls into the districts of 14 Republicans who are ducking and dodging their record on taxes while the people of New York foot the bill. Calls were placed into the districts of Dean Skelos, Steve Saland, Hugh Farley, Roy McDonald, Owen Johnson, Kemp Hannon, John DeFrancisco, Tom Libous, Joe Robach, Michael Ranzenhofer, Ken LaValle, James Alesi, Frank Padavan and Joe Griffo.
Voters in each of those districts received a call informing them of their Senator's record on the budget and taxes, and asking them to call and ask their Senator to work with Democrats to resolve our state's budget crisis.
You can listen to a few of those calls below:
Dean Skelos
Kemp Hannon
Owen Johnson
Senate Republicans bear the brunt of responsibility for landing us in our current fiscal straits. They owe it to their constituents, and to all New Yorkers, to engage in good faith negotiations to help fix their mess.
We're not going to let them run from their record any longer.
Ed Note - We're still in beta and working out the hiccups, and this post was accidentally deleted from our system on Monday April 19th. A new copy was uploaded on Tuesday April 20.
Calcaterra Takes Tax Fight to LaValle's Office
By Mike Connery on 04/15/2010 @ 08:26 PM
Earlier today, the Calcaterra campaign took the fight right to the doors of Ken LaValle's office, rallying supporters to highlight LaValle's record on taxes. Photo and statement from the Calcaterra campaign below.
Regina Calcaterra rallies supporters.
Calcaterra: LaValle's Pro-Tax Votes Make Every Day April 15 in New York SELDEN, NY - With more than two dozen supporters behind her, and in front of her opponent's district office, Regina Calcaterra, D-New Suffolk, today took aim at state Sen. Ken LaValle's more than 600 votes in Albany to raise or extend taxes and fees, adding $33.4 billion to New Yorkers' tax burden and helping to push the cost of living in Eastern Suffolk County to a near breaking point.
"For those in the First Senatorial District, many will be struggling and scrambling to pay their tax burden by midnight tonight," Calcaterra said. "And it's not just a personal income tax burden, it's a tax burden compounded by high sales tax, high government-mandated fees and high property taxes. And they can thank Sen. LaValle for voting on all of those taxes.
"For 32 of 34 years, he's been in the majority of the state Senate, and he's had the power to make change," Calcaterra said. "And, boy, has he made change for us here."
Calcaterra criticized not just the number of LaValle's pro-tax votes, but what LaValle specifically targeted for higher taxes in that legislation. From 1989 through 2010, LaValle voted in favor of levying or extending taxes on items including child car safety seats, bicycle helmets, beer, drivers' licenses, mortgage filings, hotel rooms and more. For New Yorkers, state government has "even taxed their safety, after Sen. LaValle voted to tax smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors."
She spoke in front of LaValle's district office which, it was revealed earlier this year, was a central cost to the $1 million in annual office expenses the incumbent rang up through the most recent fiscal period.
In addition, just weeks ago LaValle voted against a Senate proposal to provide $291 million in much-needed tax relief to senior citizens - which only compounded their plight of living in one of the most overtaxed states in the country. That's particularly difficult to accept, Calcaterra said, since Suffolk County property taxes have climbed by 550 percent since LaValle entered office.
Calcaterra is proposing sweeping changes to the way state agencies spend taxpayer dollars, including adoption of Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) for all state agencies and authorities, expansion of public-private partnerships to raise revenue and continue state programs without having to raise the state tax burden constantly, and cancellation of MTA taxes and fees that were approved beginning in 2005 after LaValle's vote to tax drivers licenses and mortgage filings.
###
Ed Cox Must Be Joking
By Mike Connery on 04/15/2010 @ 05:52 PM
It's hard to tell whether NY GOP chairman Ed Cox is living in a Republican fantasy world, or the NY GOP press shop is recruiting writers from The Onion. There's no other way to explain this press release, sent out late in the day, that attempts to pin 44 years of Republican tax increases on the Democrats:
Albany NY ... April 14, 2010 - Today, hardworking New Yorkers across the State do their civic duty and submit their taxes to Albany and Washington. Unfortunately, beyond the necessary services our taxes are intended to fund, they're paying more and more for government programs of dubious legality or value.
The taxes in New York are among the highest in the country. New York's taxpayers can no longer afford to be shackled with the debt that Democrats in control of government are accruing. Every day we see promises made by the current Democrat leadership in Albany and Washington to relieve the burden that hardworking families face, only to discover that such promises are hollow. Democrats have tried to disguise new taxes as fees for everyday activities such as using one's cell phone.
Our hard earned money has been squandered by these Democrat leaders on legislation and earmarks for their friends in special interest groups, in return for campaign help and contributions. Electing fiscally conservative Republicans, who understand the virtues of reducing spending and lowering taxes, is the only way we can reverse our trajectory and take control of our finances.
Lest we all forget, here are a just a few stats outlining Republicans' role in creating the enormous tax and debt burdens shouldered by our state:
- Under Republican rule during the Pataki-Bruno years from FY 1996 to 2008, the state budget grew nearly 100%.
- In 1996, the overall size was $62 billion; by 2008, it was $121 billion.
- Despite a strong economy, the state’s debt load grew dramatically under Republican control, nearly doubling between 1997 and 2008, from $31 to $54 billion.
- This debt stems largely from the Republicans’ refusal to hold public authorities and corporations accountable, which we now do as a result of the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009.
- Also during this period, the debt load attributable to each and every man, woman and child in New York soared from $1,774.56 in 1997 to $2,675.70.
- Not only did Republicans turn a blind eye to accruing debt, but they also committed the state to poor loans agreements, resulting in a doubling of the state’s annual debt service: from $3 billion annually in 1997 to $5.8 billion in 2009.
- Since 1977, New York has had the highest combined state/ local tax burden in the nation for every year but three.
- New Yorkers pay almost twice the national average for local taxes.
With a record like that, Cox must be crazy - or incredibly desperate and disingenuous - to think New Yorkers would believe a word of his statement.
Joe Bruno and his lackeys in the Senate Republican conference raised taxes hundreds of times and doubled state spending in just 14 years. That's why the Republicans have continually lost Senate seats for years, why even Republican voters want to throw Republican Senators out of office, why Democratic enrollment is surging, why Republican fundraising is lagging, and why fewer than 30% of New Yorkers want the Republicans in charge of the Senate.
There is a party dedicated to restoring fiscal responsibility in Albany, but it's not the Republicans.
Craig Johnson Announces Taxpayer Abuse Assessment Legislation
By Mike Connery on 04/13/2010 @ 07:07 PM
Craig Johnson announced new legislation today that would end one of the more glaring misappropriations of tax payer dollars. As it currently stands, the state and municipalities are paying millions of dollars in pensions to former employees who used their positions to embezzle money.
The proviso in New York’s public pension system that ensures even convicted embezzlers can continue to collect retirement benefits has long been a sore point with a lot of people, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Long Island community of Roslyn where the former school superintendent Frank Tassone fleeced taxpayers for more than $2 million and was sent to prison in 2006.
Now, a pair of Long Island Democrats, Sen. Craig Johnson and Assemblyman Charles Lavine, are offering a measure that could end this benefit — not by changing constitutionally protected pension laws — but by calling for an assessment or tax on the pensions of criminals who abused public monies. The “taxpayer abuse assessment” would be equal to the annual pension of the person in question.
At a time when the state and local municipalities are pinching pennies to get by, we can't afford to subsidize the retirements of criminals who stole from taxpayers.
Here's Johnson discussing the legislation:
Dirty Tricks From Senate Republicans
By Mike Connery on 04/06/2010 @ 11:01 AM
Republicans were just caught red-handed lying to Nassau residents in Craig Johnson's district.
Constituents in Johnson's Nassau County district reported receiving an email around midnight on the first night of Passover last week from "nysobserver@gmail.com" with the subject line: "Property Taxpayers Alert!"
The email purported to highlight "Albany's property tax double-cross," in which the Senate passed legislation sponsored by Johnson that "allows school districts to increase school district spending and property taxes against the will of local voters."
...
The email not originate from everyone's favorite salmon pink weekly, as it turns out.
The "opt-out" link at the bottom of the missive reveals it came from none other than the NYSSRCC. (For the uninitiated, that's short for "New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee).
Craig Johnson's spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, has it right:
"The Albany Republicans and their stooges know that they have no credibility with the residents of the 7th Senate District, so it's no surprise that they tried to hide their identity," said Johnson spokesman Rich Azzopardi.
"Fortunately, they couldn't mask their hypocrisy and classlessness, no matter how deep they try to hide in the shadows of the Internet."
It's no wonder Republicans would try to hide behind a dirty trick to hit Democrats on taxes. The Republican record on taxes is abysmal and nowhere is that more apparent than in Nassau County.
Between 1985-2009 property taxes rose by 320% in Nassau County. According to the Tax Foundation, Nassau has the 3rd highest property taxes in the nation, with a median property tax bill of $8,306. Voters won't soon forget that record, no matter how hard Republicans try to lie or hide from their history.
