Month: May 2017

Influencing policy by buying D.A.’s

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The Daily Caller has an interesting article on how George Soros has been getting involved with district attorney’s races in order to influence law enforcement policies:

“… The outcome of the Philadelphia district attorney’s race followed a now-familiar playbook. A candidate aligned with Soros’ left-wing politics emerged victorious thanks to the billionaire’s willingness to flood local races with the kind of capital typically reserved for important national political campaigns. Soros, a funder of Black Lives Matter, is a staunch advocate for reforming policing methods and softening drug laws. Installing like-minded district attorneys allows Soros the opportunity to influence law enforcement policies around the country …”

He did this back in ’14 with David Soares’s campaign for Albany D.A.:

“… Soares’ money included large-scale contributions from financier George Soros and his son …”

I believe one son lives in the Rhinebeck area, but I don’t know if that’s the one who made the donation.  The old man is a big supporter of gun control as is son Alexander.

Moms Demand in Albany

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Moms Demand Action had their lobby day in Albany today:

From the pictures I’ve seen they look to have had roughly the same number of people that New Yorkers Against Gun Violence brought up a couple of weeks ago. One noticeable difference, aside from the shirts, is I have not seen any solicitation for funds from MDA. NYAGV asked for donations to bus their children to Albany.

I do not understand why MDA and NYAGV did not work together to have a single lobby day. Having two events which are essentially the same scheduled so close together does not make much sense to me. I wonder if Mike Bloomberg is trying to push aside the competition. The Brady Campaign used to get much more attention until he came along. Is he trying to do the same to NYAGV?

Cash is King

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Ken Lovett has uncovered what is keeping the Senate Republicans and IDC together: Money.

“State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s decision to dole out questionable stipends to seven state senators was the result of various competing interests, insiders say … an attempt to keep eight breakaway Democrats aligned with the GOP in a leadership coalition happy and Flanagan’s desire to appease a number of his own upstate Republican members who feel the Independent Democratic Conference, or IDC, were given too much influence and too many perks, all played a part in the unusual payouts. “It’s a combination of all of it,” said one GOP senator …”

Shit like this is why New York leads the nation in corrupt politicians.  Flanagan has the balls to make funny money payouts even after both Shelly and Dean went down for corruption.

Latimer scores Democratic nomination

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Senator George Latimer received the endorsement of the Westchester Democrats to run against Rob Astorino this fall.

It could be both a good and bad thing, but it isn’t what I was hoping for.

The good is that Democrats are not united around one candidate as Legislator Ken Jenkins intends to run in a primary.  Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in the county and party disunity benefits Astorino.

The bad is if Jenkins got the nod he would have had to give up his seat on the county board to run for county executive where if he lost he’d be out.  I do not think he has to do that for a primary where if he loses he can still run for his old legislative seat in the general election.  If Latimer loses either the primary or general election he stays in the Senate.  I would have preferred to have had the opportunity to be rid of one antigunner but that is less likely to happen now.

Boyle makes bid for Sheriff

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Update to the Suffolk Sheriff’s race: Senator Phil Boyle has filed paperwork to run.

Boyle is a lying piece of garbage. Unfortunately he does not have to give up his Senate seat to run so there’s no opportunity to get rid of him.  Nevertheless, if he’s in a GOP primary election vote for his opponent.  If he’s in the general election vote for whomever his Democrat opponent is.

Saratoga Springs Democratic platform statement

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According to the Saratogian, the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee updated their platform statement in preparation for elections this fall:

“… Preserve and enhance public health and safety: … We support the role of police in protecting civil rights, shielding people targeted by hate and reducing violence. We favor common-sense gun safety provisions …”

They have been trying to ban gun shows at the City Center:

“… In the wake of the Orlando, Florida shooting this month, the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee is calling for the Saratoga Springs City Council to put an end to gun shows. The committee passed the resolution on Saturday, which asks for the City Council to pass an ordinance that would ban gun shows and the sale of firearms in the City Center …”

Spike in pistol licenses

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Repackaging the same old, same old

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The Legislative Gazette has a breakdown of the package of gun control bills advocates pushed for at last Wednesday’s press conference.  It’s all just a rehash of old state bills that have been around for years plus some new bills based upon old ideas such as funding gun control “research.”

The press conference was held in conjunction with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence annual lobby day.  Moms Demand Action is having their own lobby day on the 17th.  Why these two aren’t working together is unclear.

It never ends

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Legislators and advocates held a dog-and-pony show in Albany yesterday calling for more gun control:

“… “Even most gun owners recognize there ought to be sensible gun laws in place, that owning a gun is a responsibility, that handling it safely and having sensible restrictions to keep guns out of the wrong hands are the responsible thing for us to do,” said Asm. Brian Kavanagh …”

What exactly he is talking about remains to be seen.

Here are some pictures: