City & State lists their top picks for lobbyists in the state.
Of note, #5 is Ostroff Associates which currently represents Everytown and #9 Park Strategies, which ostensibly represents the NSSF.
Author: admin
Biden names Becerra to HHS
NPR reports:
“President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced the team he would like to lead his response to the nation’s greatest public health crisis in a century once he takes office in January. Biden said in a statement that he will nominate Xavier Becerra to lead the sprawling Health and Human Services Department. Becerra is California’s attorney general …”
Becerra is an antigun ideologue:
“California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence led a coalition today in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration demanding the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) correct its interpretation of what qualifies as a firearm … The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to vacate these determinations and direct ATF to classify so-called “80 percent” frames and receivers as firearms subject to federal firearms statutes and regulations …”
West Side Democratic clubs host D.A. candidates
A couple of local Democrat committees in Manhattan hosted a candidate forum for those running for District Attorney next year.
Sifting through the Gotham Gazette’s story are these nuggets:
“… Diana Florence, who formerly ran the Manhattan DA’s construction fraud task force, said she was running “for people who never thought they’d win” and repeatedly mentioned her intention to focus on “crimes of power not crimes of poverty” if elected … She also criticized the current handling of gun violence more broadly, telling attendees that “we’re not attacking the problem at its source. She advocated an “interstate approach” to stop gun trafficking before it reaches the city and said “we have great laws but if we’re not enforcing them and stopping the source, we’re not doing anything.” …”
That’s a bit vague about going after the sources so I’m not sure what exactly she is talking about. I’m going to assume it is some sort of liability thing as that has been a hot topic in Albany in recent years.
“… Tali Farhadian Weinstein recounted her own personal experiences as an immigrant and said “that remains my framework for how I view the work.” She says that experience has led to her “to want to tear down barriers because I know what it’s like to stand on the other side.” She said she would bring the practices of the Brooklyn DA’s office, which she calls a “national model of progressive prosecution” across the East River to Manhattan … When asked about alternatives to incarceration, Farhadian Weinstein said she would import practices from the Brooklyn DA’s office, where she worked until recently, such as a diversion program for first-time gun offenses. Under such a program, participating in mental health counseling or job training could result in charges being dismissed. On gun violence, she said, “we have excellent gun safety laws yet gun violence is still going up.” She would work with state and federal partners to “stem the flow of gun trafficking” into the city, she said, as well as removing guns from domestic abusers and enforcing red flag laws …”
This is the second time she has addressed guns. She made mention of “ghost guns” back in September.
Newsbits
Thursday’s Newsbits:
Armed Citizen:
Elections:
- Officials: GOP flips Democratic state Senate seat held by Monica Martinez
- Here’s a look at the crowded field of candidates seeking to replace Cy Vance as Manhattan DA
- Mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley to unveil community-based gun violence prevention plan
Jurisprudence:
NRA:
Politics:
Super-duper majority
John Mannion has won the SD-50 seat giving Democrats a total of 43 seats in the State Senate for the upcoming 2021-22 session, a super-majority +1.
A bright spot
There wasn’t much good news for New Yorkers this past election, but there was one bright spot in AD-97 in Rockland where Mike Lawler defeated incumbent Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee:
“… This morning, the Rockland County Board of Elections counted 4,673 of the remaining 5,125 absentee ballots to be counted. After the votes were counted, our lead held at 3,067 votes. With only 452 ballots left to be counted (excluding special federal), our campaign can now declare victory with 100% certainty. In the coming days and weeks, the Board of Elections will finish counting all absentee ballots and certify the election results, so that I can be sworn in on January 1st …”
Even more remarkable, Lawler won a district that has just over a 2-1 Democrat enrollment advantage.
Jaffee is a hardcore gun control advocate so it’s a blessing she’s going.
Newsbits
Saturday’s Newsbits:
Elections:
Jurisprudence:
Legislation:
NRA:
Politics:
NRA took themselves out of the 2020 election
An excerpt from last night’s Tucker Carlson:
“… They used the courts to neutralize the Republican Party’s single most effective get out the vote operation, which for generations had been the National Rifle Association. Not enough has been written about this, but anyone on the ground saw it. Thanks to legal harassment from the left, the NRA played a vastly reduced role in this election, and that made a huge difference in swing states like Pennsylvania and others …”
Anyone paying attention knows the NRA has brought the majority of their problems upon themselves, first through the lack of proper oversight by the Board of Directors of NRA’s executive staff and the questionable ethics of some of the Board members, and second by turning the Second Amendment and gun rights into a partisan Republican issue.
The first issue can easily be addressed if the Board took corrective actions, removed Wayne and cleaned house. I predict they won’t do that. However, one way or another that is going to happen:
“… Nonprofit law experts told The Trace that LaPierre’s removal is assured if James can prove even a fraction of her charges. While dissolution is unlikely, they said James won’t be satisfied with the ouster of LaPierre alone and expect fines, overhaul of governance procedures, and removal of complicit board members …”
The second issue also has an easy fix: NRA needs to stop blowing off Democrats, their own members, constituents and politicians, tell gun activists to be involved with Democrat party politics especially their primary elections, and stop pretending large urban areas and states with Democrat majorities like New York do not exist. It’s not about money, although they have plenty of that. It is about spending resources wisely which NRA does not have a history of doing.
Democrat super-majority in Albany
Andrea Stewart-Cousins announced Democrats will have a super-majority in the State Senate for the 2021-22 session in Albany.