Free Republic

Updated: 06/30/09 01:48 PM State Senate Democrats use bizarre maneuver to start passing bills ALBANY — In a bizarre twist, Senate Democrats claimed this afternoon they have established a quorum when a Republican senator — on his way to a lounge adjacent to the chamber — was counted as present for the purposes of holding a legal session. The Democrats quickly gaveled in and started passing a long list of stalled bills submitted by Gov. David A. Paterson. "I think it's fraud," said Sen. Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, who the Democrats counted as present for the noon-time session. Padavan...

See the video Democrats refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance! In this case, though, the context actually improves the story. This takes place in Albany, where the New York state Senate remains locked in a power struggle in an evenly divided chamber. Rather than an insult to American patriotism, the Democrats here engaged in an insult to the intelligence of New Yorkers:

New York's annual Gay Pride parade was a colorful celebration of 40 years of progress toward civil rights for gays, but once the dust settled, gay couples who wish to marry in New York state remain thwarted. A bill to legalize gay marriage in the state that saw the dawn of the gay rights movement is mired in political stalemate in the state capital Albany, where Democrats and Republicans are battling over control of the state Senate. "I had hoped today's march would have been a bit of a wedding march. It's not," Christine Quinn, the gay speaker of the...

ALBANY (CBS) ― The battle for control of the New York State Senate got even more bizarre Tuesday. After talks of a power-sharing arrangement broke down, Democrats locked themselves in the Senate chamber, Republicans tried to conduct business on their own and none of the "people's business" got done. As incredible as it may seem, pictures obtained by CBS 2 HD are of the Democratic senators who locked themselves inside their chamber so they could be "first in" for Gov. David Paterson's special session. The pictures, shot through the window of a Senate door, seem to show that it was...

Dems Refuse To Recognize Espada As President Pro Tem, Don't Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance During Special Session Republicans Fail To Take Podium, Pass Bills By Acclamation

ALBANY — Senate Democrats entered the Senate chamber through a back hallway on Tuesday afternoon and locked themselves in, pulling off a sneak attack of sorts in the ongoing battle for control of the State Senate. The move took the Capitol by surprise, and left Republicans scrambling to plan their next procedural move. Republicans had planned to enter the chamber at 2 p.m. — an hour before the special session called by Gov. David A. Paterson was scheduled to begin. Who would be in the chamber first became a key question on Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats failed again to...

Calling all NY Freepers!! Liberty Starts Here Again! Much of the significant fighting early on in the Revolutionary War occurred in New York – Fort Ontario, Fort Ticonderoga, The Battle of Saratoga, The Battle of Long Island, Fort Stanwix, Manhattan, White Plains, and many more. With Liberty so imperiled today, our hope is that Liberty starts here again in New York. Our message to our representatives is simple: We're Voting the Ins Out! Tuesday, June 16th at high noon (12 – 3 pm) in East Capitol Park

By the time the dysfunctional body that passes for a Legislature in New York State gets through the 2009 session, calling someone an Albany reformer will be an insult. In a display of chutzpah that startled even old political hands, the Senate Republicans and two of the least-reputable Democrats in a deeply disreputable place brazenly declared themselves to be a reform coalition and staged a palace coup against the Democratic majority. We’re still puzzling out how these defections came about and what tawdry promises were made. But make no mistake: Reform and bipartisanship had nothing to do with it. Two...

ALBANY -- Confusion gripped the Capitol and the Senate chamber remained dark yesterday, as Democrats feverishly scrambled to regain control after a Republican coup knocked them out of the box. Deposed Senate leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) accused the Democratic mutineers of rank extortion and influence peddling. The fast-paced, never-before-seen developments at the Capitol yesterday included: * Senate business -- usually at a fever pitch in June -- ground to a halt yesterday while Democrats mulled legal action to delay a session scheduled for 3 p.m. today. * Rumors swirled that a handful of other Democratic lawmakers were preparing to defect...

The State of Shame has descended into a state of shambles.Yesterday's coup d'etat revealed Albany for the madhouse it has become, with the lunatics firmly in charge of the asylum.All you need to know to size up the execrable events is that control of New York's Senate hinged on power-playing by one man who is under indictment for allegedly slashing his girlfriend's face and by a second man who supposedly represents the Bronx but lives in Westchester and is a recidivist ethics violator.Meanwhile, Republican boss Dean Skelos is only too happy to welcome turncoat Democrats Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada...

Updated, 4:15 p.m. | ALBANY – Democrats appeared to have lost their majority in the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for a party that has controlled the chamber for barely five months.

On Wednesday, April 15, a rally will be held in Albany’s Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve. From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. citizens from throughout the capitol region will gather to peacefully but forcefully express their disgust with elected officials and where they are taking our country.

ALBANY — Cities across the greater Capital Region will bear the brunt of a massive plan to close 33 worship sites throughout the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, Bishop Howard Hubbard announced Saturday. Troy will be ground zero in an unprecedented consolidation the 14-county diocese is undertaking to cope with shifting demographics and a shortage of priests. Hubbard, despite lobbying to change the outcome, decided to close six of the Collar City's dozen Catholic churches. That is more than any other city. And the list of soon-to-be-shuttered Troy churches includes St. Peter's, the state's third-oldest Catholic parish.Elsewhere, St. Teresa of...

COHOES — Al Rigney knows the pain of closing a church. A decade ago, Rigney performed the grim ritual of boarding up the windows of St. Agnes, the big-steepled Cohoes landmark where he was confirmed and married. He gave up after a few. "I can't do any more," Rigney told a fellow window-boarder. "It hurts too much."The bundled-up 80-year-old spoke before the 12:10 p.m. Mass on Friday in a light wood pew at St. Bernard's, another historic treasure of this river city. It, too, may close in a new round of Albany Catholic Diocese parish consolidations that will be announced...

COLONIE-- Roughly 20 percent of worship sites in the 164-parish Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany will close or merge in an unprecedented restructuring plan expected to be released this month, Bishop Howard Hubbard said Wednesday. But Hubbard said his decisions will largely hew to the recommendations of 38 local planning groups from across the 14-county diocese. Those panels of lay Catholics and priests analyzed parish resources and made suggestions to Hubbard in June as to which churches should merge or close."There will be some surprises," Hubbard said. "There will be some places that were recommended for closure that won't close....

Albert P. Carey, President and CEO Frito-Lay North America 7701 Legacy Drive Plano, Texas 75024 Dear Mr. Carey, I would like to make a proposal for Frito Lay to consider. Please bear with me as I 'Lays' the ground work. If your not aware, New York State is offering 1.2 Billion dollar subsidy for a chip fabrication plant to be located in Saratoga New York. We the citizens of New York, are led to believe this is an effort to bring new jobs to the State –roughly 1,400 jobs. The State has been in lengthy discussions with Advanced Micro Devices...

Farmers Panic About a ‘Cow Tax’ By Kate Galbraith Should their greenhouse gases be taxed? (Photo: Steve Ruark for The New York Times) The comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s exploration of greenhouse gas regulation ended last Friday, with farmers lobbying furiously against the notion of a “cow tax” on methane, a potent greenhouse gas emitted by livestock. The New York Farm Bureau issued a statement last week (PDF) saying it feared that a tax could reach $175 per cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and upward of $20 for each hog. Such a tax would represent a...

NY officials want older trucks fitted with emission-reducing equipment; cost put at $195M ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York is taking steps to reduce diesel emissions in its construction fleet. The Department of Environmental Conservation is floating proposed regulations requiring trucks made before 2007 to be fitted with emissions-reducing equipment and to use ultra-low-sulfur fuel by 2011. The new regulations would apply only to state-owned trucks or trucks used for state contract work. The DEC estimates it will cost $195 million to retrofit about 30,000 state trucks. The New York State

Hey, Cuomo, stand up and fight. I’m talking to Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York. Stand up and fight. For the last two weeks, as the Caroline Kennedy coronation has been going on, the man whose career she is destroying has been silent. It’s as if he fell off the face of the earth. The story is that Caroline Kennedy has announced that she wants to be a U.S. senator from New York. She has no experience, no preparation, no training. She has never stood before the voters. She has never even visited vast stretches of the state...

There’s no “change” when it comes to politics as usual in The Empire State, in fact the Emperor’s latest edict is not being well-received. Gov. Paterson’s proposed $121 billion budget hits New Yorkers in their iPods - and nickels-and-dimes them in lots of other places, too. Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an “iPod tax” that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other “digitally delivered entertainment services.” “We’re going to have to take some extreme measures,” Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget....