SAFE funding in state budget

On: By: admin

This, plus the minimum wage hike, is what the Senate Republicans gave up in exchange for Governor Cuomo largely staying out of the SD-9 special election.

It probably won’t help them. Latest poll shows Democrat Todd Kaminsky leading Republican Christopher McGrath.

Good move by Trump

On: By: admin

The Donald has rescinded his pledge to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee:

“… When asked if he would keep the pledge he signed last September, Trump responded “No, I won’t.” The real estate mogul explained that he was taking back the pledge because, “I have been treated very unfairly,” and listed the Republican National Committee and party establishment among those he believes have wronged him …”

Trump is crying foul because the ~35-40% plurality he’s won in the states is nowhere close to what he would need to win the general election. Worse, his popularity continues to decline:

This means he is only slightly more popular than standing downwind from a burning tire.

The possibility of the Republicans losing control of the House has even come up. We are not there yet, but if the campaign keeps stuff like this up it could go up for grabs. I would not have thought that possible last summer.

Hopefully breaking his pledge will encourage more people to abandon his campaign.

Difference between Democrats and Republicans

On: By: admin

Liz Krueger’s attempt to move her mandatory firearms storage bill S-2491 out of Senate Codes Committee failed yesterday.

Nothing unusual about this.  A couple Democrat Senators do this just about every year with the same results, the Notice of Committee Consideration is rejected on a party line vote.  Krueger knows this is going to happen but she does it anyway to promote the antigun agenda.

The Republicans never do this in the Assembly with pro-gun bills (or any of their agenda items).  They would fail the exact same way, but it would show people that they at least care about the issue and give voters a reason to support them, not to mention it being great fundraising material.  Instead, the Republicans make excuses about NYC being in control for not making any symbolic effort.  This is why they will remain a tiny minority in the lower chamber and will probably soon become a permanent minority in the upper chamber as well.

No leniency

On: By: admin

Convicted crook Dean Skelos on why he does not deserve a jail sentence:

“… As part of his bid for leniency, Gage pointed to Skelos’ “most notable legislative achievements” — including the SAFE Act, the politically contentious series of gun-control laws passed in 2013 … Gage’s sentencing memo included a quote from a letter written by Paul Weidenbaum, an attorney and Skelos ally who said the lawmaker was “instrumental” in passing the SAFE Act.” …”

I’m thinking an extended stay in federal prison is in order based on that statement alone.

Possible Orange Co. bill

On: By: admin

It has been brought to my attention that someone in the Orange County Legislature plans to introduce a local bill requiring premesis-only pistol licenses be issued by the county, no carry.

That would not be legal as the county does not have home-rule authority.  We’ll have to wait and see if any such bill is introduced at the next meeting of the county legislature set for April 8.

Who is registering?

On: By: admin

There has been a spike in voter registration in New York:

“… Between March 10 and March 20, MyDMV, the state’s online voter registration system, processed more than 40,883 voter registration applications, including 20,889 from first-time voters. MyDMV also set an all-time record on Friday, March 18 with 13,961 voter registration applications received, including 7,128 from first-time voters …”

Interesting, but it does not break the information down according to party affiliation or location.  I am not aware of any recent large scale effort by the parties to sign up new people.  I assume if either the Democrats or Republicans suddenly received a new block of registrations they would be crowing about it.

NYC Council’s gun control agenda

On: By: admin

The New York City Council is calling for the state legislature to enact one-gun-a-month A-7026/S-2243 and microstamping A-6192A/S-1113A legislation as part of their 2016 NYS Legislative Agenda package.

Here is a link to their full list (PDF) of items they would like Albany to pass.

2A covers stun guns

On: By: admin

The Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in the case of Caetano V. Massachusetts suggesting that the 2nd Amendment does not just include firearms available at the time of its writing.

This sounds like a good thing, although I do not know just how good as the case involved a stun gun, not modern AR-type firearms.  New York, like Massachusetts, prohibits stun gun possession except by police officers.  I assume someone will bring a stun gun lawsuit here which references the Caetano decision at which point we’ll get a better idea of the importance of the ruling.

That is not how it works

On: By: admin

According to The Donald:

“Donald Trump took his outsider presidential campaign to the nation’s capital Monday, urging the Republican Party to accept him as the nominee even if he falls short of the required amount of delegates. “If people want to be smart, they should embrace this movement,” he said at a news conference … “If they don’t want to be smart, they should do what they’re doing now.” …”

That is not how it works.

Candidates who try to intimidate the party apparatus should be widely popular and leading in the polls.  That is not what Trump is bringing to the table:

” … Trump is on the verge of two things once thought to be impossible: winning the Republican presidential nomination, and putting Republicans’ historically large House majority in danger … Trump’s remarkable rise in the GOP presidential race, and the backlash he has already provoked among the broader electorate, has suddenly raised the prospect of a large November wave against Trump and the Republicans who would share the ballot with him …”

Marvelous.

How can the New York Republicans not be aware of this?