The 23rd wasn't include for obvious reasons. That race can serve as its own post, since three candidates are vying for it and there is no incumbent.
One of the things that stuck out to me was the great quarter Eric Massa had. His district - NY-29 - is a rural district that isn't really a wealthy district. So when he can bring in over $289,000 in a quarter where most upstate representatives only brought in half of that amount, it shows that he is a strong incumbent. The Republicans are gunning for him, but he's tough.
Dan Maffei had a very strong quarter - the best of any upstate representative and fourth-best of any member of Congress in the state.
If there is one thing you can say about Rangel, he is a great fundraiser. He was second to Steve Israel in this quarter, but not by much. His expenditures were high, but he still has a lot of money in the bank (not that he needs to worry about that).
For the most part, these are solid and typical numbers. As a resident of NY-26, it is interesting to see Lee's numbers. I wouldn't read too much into his mediocre quarter, but the list of donors who have contributed to his campaign makes for a "Best of Wall Street"-type list.
There's been much whining and gnashing of teeth from the House GOP in recent days about how they have been excluded from deliberating on a bill that they couldn't muster a single, solitary vote for. House Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter sets the record straight.
As Chair of the House Rules Committee, I must clear up untruths regarding the economic recovery package.
We've heard a lot of noise across the aisle about how partisan the development of the bill was --- that Republicans were blocked from being involved. This is entirely false. In fact, this was one of the most open processes a bill this large has had in over a decade.
They are being disingenuous, or worse. These are the facts:
The bill, as it came to the Rules Committee, the last stop before the floor vote, already incorporated 12 Republican amendments. The Rules Committee then added the 11 amendments: 6 Democratic and 5 Republican, in addition to a complete Republican substitute, and a motion to recommit. They were unable to muster the votes necessary and lost on bipartisan votes. House Republicans may have come together to vote against the final bill, but they split on their own amendments with 40 to 60 Republicans voting with Democrats. Some Republicans even voted against their party’s alternative bill, and it failed on the floor.
Things are moving fast on the stimulus bill, but a short window has opened where we can make a difference on rail and mass transit funding in the stimulus. Here is the situation:
As reported by WI Dem in Quick Hits, several House members are submitting amendments to increase rail funding to the stimulus package:
The amendment would distribute $1.5 billion for the Transit Capital Assistance Program and $1.5 billion for Capital Assistance Grants, known as the New Starts Program.
The bill is introduced by Representative Nadler, and can be read here. There are other amendments introduced by Representatives C. Brown and Hare, that would increase rail funding by $3.9 billion and $500 million respectively. Any and all amendments to increase rail funding would be great.
This gives us two hours to make our voice heard for more rail funding in the stimulus bill. To do so, please contact the Rules Committee. Politely state your support for the Nadler, Brown and Hare amendments for increased rail funding. Ask the committee to approve these amendments for a floor vote tomorrow.
Their phone number is 202-225-9091.
This is a very short window, as the situation is fluid and happening fast. However, this also means we can make a difference. Please call now, and let the Rules Committee hear your support for the Nadler, Brown and Hare amendments to increase rail and mass transit funding.
Here's the contact info for Reps Arcuri and Slaughter:
Chair Louise Slaughter, New York 28th
(202) 225-3615
Now that we know who won and who lost this year, it's easier to take a whack at 2012 redistricting. Redistricting NYC I'll leave to the people who understand the Racial barriers, but suffice to say we'll keep control of all of the seats.
Context: NY stands to lose 2 seats this year, and by pure population, one will almost inevitably have to come from the Albany area, while the other will have to come from NYC. It is nearly impossible to draw a map without Albany losing the upstate seat, and truly impossible to draw a map where upstate loses 2 seats; there are just too many people upstate.
I took a whack at it; this map is crude: the district lines are not precise; the districts don't all have exactly 770,000 714,000 people in them (the new target number), and Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany are all split in this map, it's kind of hard to tell. Also, I may have drawn congressmen outside of their seats, this was unintentional.
Most importantly, this map leaves Upstate with 1 Republican, as Chris Lee could not hold the seat I drew for him.
Earlier today 10 New York Democrats voted to eviscerate the 4th Amendment and to retroactively excuse the lawless warrantless surveillance of tens of millions of Americans by an out of control Executive as well as the telecom companies that that facilitated these crimes. Their votes were disgraceful and we should never forget them, but the majority of New York Democrats stood up for our Constitution today and we shouldn't forget their votes either. The following New York Democrats stood tall today:
Clarke (NY-11)
Hall (NY-19)
Hinchey (NY-22)
Israel (NY-2)
Maloney (NY-14)
McNulty (NY-21)
Nadler (NY-8)
Rangel (NY-15)
Serrano (NY-16)
Slaughter (NY-28)
Towns (NY-10)
Velazquez (NY-12) (My Congresswoman. Way to go, Nydia.)
Weiner (NY-9)
It should probably go without saying, but all New York House Republicans (with exception of Tom Reynolds, who was apparently napping) voted for this abomination.
Rep. Louise Slaughter has a great post up on Huffington Post discussing the recent action taken by the House of Representatives to find former White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress.
I wrote about this earlier this week. It passed 223-32 because most of the Republican minority boycotted the vote due to what they call inaction on the FISA battle.
Here's a few lines from Louise's post:
When witnesses under subpoena refuse even to appear before a congressional committee and when executive privilege is asserted despite compelling legal arguments to the contrary, Congress must act to preserve its constitutional powers.
Yesterday's New York Times Editorial board stated the case very clearly when they wrote, "If Congress fails to enforce its own subpoenas, it would effectively be ceding its subpoena power. It would also be giving its tacit consent to the dangerous idea of an imperial president -- above the law and beyond the reach of checks and balances. The founders did not want that when they wrote the Constitution, and the voters who elected this Congress do not want it today."
For far too long, certain high-level staff at the White House have blatantly ignored the law and refused to comply with the Judiciary Committee subpoenas. These same individuals have been given ample opportunity in which to cooperate with this legally binding process. And, frankly, the justifications for their refusal to testify before Congress are few and fleeting.
Rep. Louise Slaughter fired the first shot in the second battle over SCHIP on the floor of the US House today. She even called out the thugs who harassed the family of you Graeme Frost in an attempt to somehow discredit a program that has truly overwhelming support across the nation.
In spite of the unquestionable benefits, and in spite of the overwhelming popularity and accomplishments of this program, SCHIP is under attack.
We saw reprehensible smear attacks on families who were brought into the public eye to showcase the benefits of this program. In the face of the life saving chance that was bestowed on the family due to this program, the harshest rhetoric was not cast against the bill, but against this family, including the children.
We saw persons go to the home of one of the families and harass them in public, talk radio and blogs making wild and audacious accusations, and we even saw staffers on Capitol Hill who clearly intended to assist this fabricated, cold-hearted smear campaign.
It is simply beyond comprehension to me that many are willing to score political points by denigrating our nation's children - particularly those who owe their very lives to this program.
But the American people saw through their smear attacks. They understand that the health of our nation's children is simply not worth scoring a few political points.
There's more, including video of the entire speech, on the flip...
The man who is asking for another $200 BILLION dollars to sink into the bloody sands of Iraq today, as expected, vetoed the renewal of the SCHIP program and denied health insurance to millions of American children. Two New York Congresswomen respond.
Today, in a move that surprised no one, President Bush unceremoniously used his dusty veto pen on SCHIP. And while the president's veto may have been expected, it should not diminish the gravity of his decision to rip away health insurance from the 6 million American children already covered by SCHIP and to prevent another 4 million from being insured.
SCHIP currently provides health care coverage to six million children that otherwise would not. Nearly 400,000 children are enrolled in New York alone, the second highest number in the nation. The bill we passed last week with the support of more than 45 Republican Members of Congress adds coverage for more than four million children, to insure ten million.
SCHIP is a program both enormously popular with the public and already proven enormously successful. It is the reason why President Bush pledged on the campaign trail in 2004 that "America's children must also have a healthy start in life. ... we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need."
Now that the president has chosen to ignore the 10 million reasons to support SCHIP, the battle returns to Congress where I will be leading the fight to override the president's veto because the health of millions of children the president deems unimportant are literally on the line.
Yesterday, I posted about "the rule" that all but one the NY Dems shamefully voted for. That rule was largely the work of the Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, New York's own Louise Slaughter (NY-28). The whole episode simply defies comprehension. Why would the Dem majority agree to manipulate the rules to help Republicans pass significant legislation that was opposed by the majority of the majority caucus? Why would a progressive like Slaughter do this?
And now, to add insult to injury, Dems are bragging to anyone who will listen about what a brilliant maneuver this was. It's sick.
In case you believe the malarkey being spewed by the House Rules Committee about the rule vote yesterday not really being the vote to give President Bush a blank check, take a look at the Washington Post and the Associated Press today. I reported this at the beginning of the day yesterday and was then criticized by House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY). Now, though, it seems at least some major news organizations have caught on that I was exactly right. In the process, they are reporting what will be recorded in history as the final insult of it all: Democrats running to reporters bragging about their own brilliance in deceiving the public.
I certainly hope that you have been following the shameful story of neglect of our veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The treatment, or lack thereof, of some wounded soldiers there has been a national disgrace. Yesterday Maj. Gen. George Weightman, the commander of the facility, was fired, largely due to the revelations opf the past couple of weeks. He was replaced by Kevin Kiley, a man so indifferent to the wellbeing of soldiers that he once let an injured soldier sleep in his own urine. Really. Check this out from today's Washington Post:
In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. "When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable," said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.
Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, "I went flying down to Kevin Kiley's office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else."
Hell, even the staff at Walter Reed finds Kiley's appointment "demoralizing".
Rep Louise Slaughter (NY-28) has called for Kiley's IMMEDIATE removal. I heartily concur. Here is a portion of her statement:
"The Department of Defense needs to make a choice: does it care about our wounded veterans, or does it care about public relations?" Rep. Slaughter said today. "While I was glad to see that initial steps had been taken to change the leadership at Walter Reed, yesterday's news of Mr. Kiley's appointment was simply baffling. How can a man who stood by for years while American soldiers suffered needlessly be expected to enact real reforms?"
"The outrage of the American public over the conditions at Walter Reed will not be pacified by simply shuffling the deck," Rep. Slaughter said. "Secretary Gates must immediately remove from command anyone who allowed its facilities to fall into such a state of disrepair."
"Our wounded soldiers deserve nothing less than the best health care this country can provide and the best leadership to ensure they receive that care."
