Report: Arcuri to Vote Against Healthcare?

by: BingChester

Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 12:35:02 PM EDT

A key House Dem has begun informing party leaders he plans to vote against health care legislation both on the House floor and in the rules committee, on which he sits.

Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), a sophomore Dem who had a tougher-than-expected re-election bid in '08, has told the Dem caucus he will vote against the bill. source

Working Families, 1199, and other groups on the left have been heavily lobbying Arcuri and other centrist/conservative Dems in the state on this vote.  If it turns out that this is true and Arcuri votes against the final bill, it would be a blow to both the bill and Michael Arcuri himself.  Good luck getting elected without the support of the Working Families Party or the entire activist base, Mike.

Arcuri now a 'no' on Healthcare?

by: simonstl

Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 11:51:06 AM EST

Well, I guess Roatti won't likely be donating to Mike Arcuri (in addition to Eric Massa) this cycle either:

U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, said Tuesday he would vote against the Senate version of the health care bill that could soon go before the House of Representatives for approval.

Why? Arcuri doesn't like the "mega bill" approach, the prospect of reconciliation, and some differences in the Senate bill.

As his spokesman put it, "The congressman is very careful about evaluating each bill based on its own merits."

Outside of Tompkins County, that may possibly help his re-election bid this fall. Inside of Tompkins County, well, it won't.

(Via Talking Points Memo.)

Tea Party event-crashing comes to New York

by: simonstl

Tue Aug 04, 2009 at 16:34:52 PM EDT

I wasn't expecting the Tea Party Riots to come to New York, at least not so soon. They're here, though, interrupting a Utica high-speed rail event with shouts about "liars" and health care bills.

I've heckled before, at a campaign event for George H. W. Bush in 1988. I have my doubts that it was a good idea, though I was certainly fed up with the closed staged rallies that passed for a campaign that year, one of which we got tickets to. I've also certainly asked sharp questions of my elected representatives in public, and consider that a critical part of democracy.

This feels to me like something different. It's happening in various places, but it definitely feels choreographed.

Is it astroturfing? I'm not sure - these seem to be people who were waiting to be given a purpose, not hired hands flown from place to place. It's disturbing, though, as watching the events drives home that it's less about letting voices into the conversation and more about making sure that no one else can speak at all.

(And yes, I know that's a common accusation made against anyone who dares be impolite at a public event, but this seems to go further than most of what I've seen recently.)

I'm not sure how to respond to this without doing more damage to our political institutions than these folks are already inflicting, but we definitely need to find ways to make sure that loudness isn't the only factor determining who gets heard.

Cliche of Completion of Congressional Elections in NY, 2008

by: robinia

Fri Nov 21, 2008 at 14:07:11 PM EST

The NY blogosphere has been peppered with "fat lady warming up" posts for a while now.  Well, folks, here you go.

Congratulations to Congressman-elect Massa on it finally becoming official, and also to Congressman Arcuri, who squeaked through again officially just a few days ago.  Indeed, congratulations to the entire NYS delegation, and the people of NY, who will be well-represented by that delegation.

Election officially over, now, the new opera is set to begin: governing.  

NY-24: Hanna Finally Concedes; NY-29: Kuhl Still Not Conceding

by: robinia

Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 20:17:20 PM EST

Still no words of concession from Randy Kuhl, though, even though he could not possibly win the seat even if he were to get every single absentee and military ballot still left to count.

Update: Sean, in comments, sends the link to a more complete Oneida Observer-Dispatch (correction to newspaper name noted) article.

Two Unconceded Congressional Races-- NY-24 and NY-29

by: robinia

Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 08:52:00 AM EST

Arcuri's race is at the Utica Dispatch:

One-term incumbent Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, appeared late Tuesday to have a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Republican Richard Hanna - 118,137 to 112,308, according to unofficial election results from across the 11-county district.

Massa's race can be read about at The Corning Leader for the more conservative approach, or, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for the "he won already" approach. DKos has the final numbers as:

Massa- 131,646
Kuhl-  127,232

Meanwhile, Rottenchester has this excellent post over at The Fighting 29

In case you missed it last night, Sean Carroll of WHAM reported that Amo Houghton and Eric Massa met last night:

   Sean Carroll: Just got done talking Amo Houghton - and he just got here after visiting with Eric Massa!

   Evan Dawson: Sean -- WOW WOW WOW. And why was he with Massa?

   Sean Carroll: said he respects him - "stands for the right things" even though he's on the other side of the aisle. said he's still pulling for Randy, but after all "we're all Americans"

Amo Houghton would have racked up another 60/40 or 70/30 win last night against almost any Democrat, probably with my vote. If Republicans want to come back in New York State, they need to take a serious look at what Amo did right and what Randy Kuhl did wrong.

My Surprise of the Night: NY-24 (Arcuri) Is Only a Maybe

by: robinia

Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 01:23:01 AM EST

There is one House race that is too close to call in NYS, and it is my district.  What's more, I spent the whole afternoon and evening with the Congressman yesterday, and, I gotta say, nobody seemed the least bit anxious.  We were all going "huh?" at the party I was at, too.  If you have a clue what happened, please, explain it to us!

98% of precincts reporting, vote split 50-50:

Arcuri-  105,858
Hanna-   104,020

That means we won't really know until the absentee ballots are in, I think.

UPDATE: This is looking a little better.
Arcuri- 116,675
Hanna-  110,833

51-49 now.

Arcuri, Barber visit Dryden on last day of race

by: simonstl

Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 21:35:45 PM EST

Congressman Michael Arcuri and State Senate candidate Don Barber both swung through Dryden on this final day before voting. Barber supporters held a rally at Time Square at Dryden's Four Corners intersection, while Arcuri visited Tompkins-Cortland Community College and the Dryden Fire Station before going to a rally in Lansing (which I didn't, alas, get to.)

Barber Rally in Dryden.

Martha Ferger at Barber Rally in Dryden.

Mike Arcuri at Dryden Ambulance.

While it's sometimes frustrating to be in the southwest corner of creatively gerrymandered districts that stretch to our east, it was great to have these two great Democratic candidates bringing their campaigns to a strong conclusion here!

FISA, Democrats and Telecom PAC Money

by: chenangofreethinker

Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 10:10:18 AM EDT

We have to take a bit of this with a grain of salt, because by law, whenever I donate money, I have to write down that Im a telecommunications engineer. It is my understanding, this correlates to Telecom PAC money. Its a bit of horse manure, but alas. Im not att or verizon.

From Maplight.org

MAPLight.org's research department compiled PAC campaign contributions from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint and correlated them with the voting records of all House members who voted on last week's FISA bill. (The analysis used data from CRP; contributions were from January 2005 through March 2008). Here are the findings:

Comparing Democrats' Votes (March 14th and June 20th votes):

Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint gave PAC contributions averaging:

$8,359 to each Democrat who changed their position to support immunity for Telcos (94 Dems)
$4,987 to each Democrat who remained opposed to immunity for Telcos (116 Dems)

88 percent of the Dems who changed to supporting immunity (83 Dems of the 94) received PAC contributions from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint during the last three years (Jan. 2005-Mar. 2008). See below for list of these 94 Dems.

All House Members (June 20th vote:)
Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint gave PAC contributions averaging:

$9,659 to each member of the House voting "YES" (105-Dem, 188-Rep)
$4,810 to each member of the House voting "NO" (128-Dem, 1-Rep)

MAPLight.org's research department findings are based on the combination of contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) with voting data from THOMAS via GovTrack.us.

"Campaign contributions bias our legislative system," said Daniel Newman, Executive Director of MAPLight.org. "Simply put, candidates who take positions contrary to industry interests are unlikely to receive industry funds and thus have fewer resources for their election campaigns than those whose votes favor industry interests."

Hit http://www.maplight.org/FISA_J... - to find your rep, and how much he received. Arcuri got $2500

Upstate Economic Development-- Arcuri Gets It

by: robinia

Sat Sep 15, 2007 at 09:55:06 AM EDT

Congressman Arcuri is suggesting that we use a regional planning approach to designate another area, to the North of that, in a similar region-- the Northern Border Region.  Arcuri recently had a bill approved by the House Transportation Committee that would do just that. Details at:

  ARCURI ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BILL MOVES FORWARD

  Northern Border Regional Commission Approved By House Committee

http://www.arcuri.ho...

Arcuri gets it.  We need some serious, well-planned redevelopment here.

Projects would include transportation infrastructure, broadband development, alternative energy projects, agricultural development, health care facilities and other needs as determined by local communities.

Some of Arcuri's comments to the Committee are after the jump.