SAFE Act and ethics reform

Due to the non-stop parade of state legislators behaving badly, ethics “reform” is being discussed in Albany.  Not only because of the sleaze and corruption, but with the secretive legislative process that hides how bills are written and prevents public discussion.  Dick Dadey of Citizens Union mentioned how the SAFE Act was passed as an example of this:

“… Dadey said Cuomo’s SAFE Act gun law was an example of the typically rushed law-making on important issues. “The public not just benefits knowing what’s happening, but laws are written in a way that they can enforce and make sense,” he said. The SAFE Act, which was pushed through by Cuomo with no advance notice in 2013, was found to have numerous problems, including an inadvertent ban on police weapons and illegal requirements that healthcare providers report mentally ill people to the police …”

There is no way to know if we could have stopped SAFE from becoming law had the legislature allowed time for public comment, but at least we would have had a chance.

SCOTUS fight brewing

A fight is brewing over a replacement for Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

President Obama is reportedly working on a list of candidates.  Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has joined with Democrat AGs from other states in an attempt to pressure the Republican-controlled Senate to hold confirmation hearings on potential candidates.

This needs to be a total non-starter for the GOP.  Any candidate Obama puts up would likely be as bad if not worse than Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.  There is no requirement the Senate hold hearings and the Republicans need to stick to that line.

Trump’s unfavorability ratings

Despite claims to the contrary, The Donald has been constantly hovering around 1/3 of the GOP primary vote. He is not gaining. Worse, his unfavorability ratings are sky high:

This cannot continue.

Watch this stuff

There are rumblings of discontent on Long Island.  See:

The Long Island RINOs are the ones responsible for the Pataki/Cuomo gun control schemes.  If they’re getting pressure back home over their Leftward tilt, hopefully it will keep them from cutting any more backroom deals.

Mandatory storage push begins

Liz Krueger has made a Motion for Committee Consideration on her mandatory firearms storage bill S-2491.

Don’t be surprised if there are one or two other similar actions on Senate bills.  This is an annual event in the legislature.

What passes for serious policy discussion

You can’t make this stuff up:

“… Chris McGrath, the GOP candidate for the Republican ex-Majority Leader’s Long Island seat, is drawing heat from women’s rights groups and others for bankrolling two R-rated sex comedies that include gratuitous nude scenes — “Surf School” and “Death to the Supermodels.” …”

So? McGrath likes boobs. Even Vladimir Putin likes boobs.

“… Feminists were not amused …”

They never are.

Trump’s dick

Donald Trump’s dick is now a serious topic of discussion among the candidates.

Owned by Cuomo

It is no secret that Republican State Senators screwed over Rob Astorino back in ’14 when he ran against Governor Cuomo.

Looks like they’re still in bed with him:

Millennial Strategies

Here is an article on Millennial Strategies, a company which does political work for among others, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence:

“… Millennial Strategies has also worked closely with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, producing the organization’s annual NYC gala in November, which was headlined by comic and social critic Lewis Black …”

Plenty of blame for Trump to go around

Up until now I had been willing to place all the blame for the rise of The Donald on the idiocy and incompetence of the Republican Party.  This is not unreasonable given their much deserved reputation as the stupid party.

The Daily Beast offers an alternative theory, Democrats and the Left made Trump:

“… the pestilence that is the Trump campaign is the result of a conglomeration of political, academic, media, and cultural elites who for decades have tried to act as the arbiters of acceptable public debate and shut down any political expression from Americans with whom they disagree … To understand Trump’s seemingly effortless seizure of the public spotlight, forget about programs, and instead zero in on the one complaint that seems to unite all of the disparate angry factions gravitating to him: political correctness … this is happening not because of an overly rightist GOP, but because American liberals, complacently turning away from the excesses of the left and eviscerating their own moderate wing, have damaged the two-party system to the point that an unhinged billionaire demagogue is raking in support from people who are now more afraid of leftists controlling the Justice Department than they are of Putin or ISIS.”

I like this, however, it does not absolve the Republicans of their sins.  There is plenty of blame to go around.

Bonus: Trump is now making blowjob jokes at Mitt Romney.

H/T: Sebastain.