Author: admin

Democrat discontent with Cuomo

On: By: admin

I have been saying for a long time that Democrats do not like Gov. Cuomo and that at some point they will start taking shots at him.

It begins:

“… after once again coming up short in last year’s elections, Democrats in the mainline conference are making a public show of independence from a governor who, despite sharing their political affiliation, has shown little desire of seeing the conference take the lead in the state Senate … To be fair, the mainline Democrats aren’t the only legislative conference giving Cuomo grief as he begins his second term on decidedly rocky terrain … But the flashes of independence from the Senate Democratic conference these last 10 weeks underscore a broader problem for Cuomo that began last year with an insurgent pushback on his left flank …”

Whether or not this discontent with Cuomo will translate into a legislative opportunity to remove bits of the SAFE Act remains to be seen. Republicans, especially in the upper chamber, ought to listen to this advice:

Why the Daily News is losing money

On: By: admin

The Daily News is upset with the NRA:

“Hitting a new low in its bullying barrage against gun laws, the National Rifle Association on Thursday targeted Gabrielle Giffords in an attack mocking her 2011 shooting …”

What exactly did they say?

The DN is upset because it’s true.

“… The NRA has previously treaded carefully in public references to Giffords. Thursday’s tweet marked the most direct attack by the gun group and the first to reference her shooting, sources said …”

About time too. Far too often NRA spokesmen act like they’ve got a stick up their butt. They need to lighten up and do a lot more things like this.

“… Giffords declined through a spokesman to respond to attack. But other lawmakers blasted the NRA …”

Like anyone cares, especially readers of the paper. How is all this hard-left hate reporting going over with the public?

“Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman appears ready to toss in the towel on his money-losing tabloid. In a memo to a stunned staff on Thursday, Zuckerman announced he had hired investment bank Lazard to explore a sale … While the The Daily News does not report its financial results, industry sources estimate it loses $20 million to $30 million a year on revenues thought to be around $170 million …”

The DN isn’t going to continue doing business following this model for long.

NYC not SAFE

On: By: admin

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence says the SAFE Act is making New York safer.

NYPD statistics do not support that.

I point out the discrepancy.

Legislative Report #4

On: By: admin

Legislative Report #4 is now online.

Journal News publisher resigns

On: By: admin

Journal News publisher Janet Hasson is resigning.  She is responsible for publishing the map of pistol license holders home addresses in Westchester and Rockland, a move which I understand cost the paper 30% of it’s subscribers and who knows how much money.

Where’s Cuomo?

On: By: admin

Another early poll on potential 2016 presidential candidates:

“… [Hillary] Clinton also remains dominant in the Democratic primary field.  54% of the party’s voters want her to be their candidate to 16% for Joe Biden, 12% for Elizabeth Warren, 5% for Bernie Sanders, 2% for Jim Webb, and 1% for Martin O’Malley.  If Biden and Warren don’t end up making the race Sanders appears to have a little bit of separation from the bottom tier that could make him Clinton’s leading rival …”

Where’s Gov. Cuomo?  Nowhere to be seen.

 

It’s very perverse

On: By: admin

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence mouthpiece Leah Gunn Barrett’s reaction to this phony “exclusive” from the Daily News on increased donation to NRA is priceless:

“… Contributions and grants to the NRA in 2013 totaled $96.4 million, up 11.5% from the $86.4 million raised the previous year, according to the latest financial disclosure form filed by the gun group with the IRS … “It’s very perverse,” said Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “Most Americans would have a visceral reaction toward those numbers following a tragedy where 20 (kids) were slaughtered.”  The donations grew even as the NRA, headed by Wayne LaPierre, actually spent less on professional fund-raising fees …”

Her astroturf can’t match it, even with Bloomberg’s broken pledge of spending $50 million to challenge NRA.

“… Tom King, one of three NRA board members from New York, shot back that anti-gun advocates are the ones who tried to capitalize on the Newtown massacre by attempting to roll back gun rights.  King, who is also president of the NRA-affiliated New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said it’s not surprising gun owners dug deep into their pockets to counter the effort.  “Contrary to what some believe, there are a lot of people out there who believe in the Second Amendment and believe that there are political forces out there trying to take away those rights,” King said …”

The Daily News will never acknowledge this because they are part of it.  It has to drive the editors nuts that for all the effort they put into promoting the antis, their agenda has all but collapsed in Congress and most of the states.

Henderson v. U.S.

On: By: admin

SCOTUS will be taking up a gun case, Henderson v. U.S.:

“The Supreme Court is considering a tricky dilemma faced by people who legally own guns, but are then convicted of a serious crime and have to get rid of them.  Since federal law bars convicted felons from possessing firearms, how can those guns be sold or transferred without running afoul of the law?  The quandary, which has divided lower courts, came up Tuesday as the justices weighed the unusual case of Tony Henderson, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent from Florida who was arrested and charged with distributing marijuana.  Henderson had turned over 19 firearms valued at more than $3,500 to the FBI as a condition of his release. After pleading guilty, Henderson wanted to transfer the weapons to his wife, sell them to a friend or otherwise get some value for them.  But lower courts sided with the government, which argued that letting Henderson transfer ownership of the weapons technically would give him possession in violation of law …”

NYSRPA has filed a supporting amicus brief in the case.

They found Larry

On: By: admin

Surprise, surprise:

“Gov. Cuomo’s former chief of staff, Lawrence Schwartz — who is under scrutiny in Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s explosive public-corruption probe and supposedly off the state payroll — is, in fact, still being paid an astronomical sum, The Post has learned …”

So, someone does know where Larry has been hiding.

The reaction from the Cuomo camp reinforces my belief this is a payoff to keep him quiet.  His new office is the Albany man-cave.

#1 Astroturfers

On: By: admin

Sharyl Attkisson has an excellent article on astroturf.  #1 on her list is Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Everytown, both of which are bought and paid for by Mike Bloomberg.

Here is a talk she gave recently on the subject: