Free Republic

The New York city comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., is staking his mayoral campaign on his skills as a financial manager, which he says are exemplified by his supervision of the nation’s largest municipal pension system. But a review of how the $80 billion system has performed since he took office shows it has consistently lagged behind many of its public pension peers even as the city tripled the number of money managers it uses and the fees that it pays those firms. Over the last seven years, four of the five city pension funds performed below the median for...

ALBANY, Feb. 7 — The Democratic-led State Assembly dealt a setback today to Gov. Eliot Spitzer by agreeing to elect Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli as the next state comptroller, reneging on a deal it made with the governor to choose only from candidates deemed qualified by an outside screening panel. The full Legislature voted to make Mr. DiNapoli comptroller this afternoon. The Legislature was in the unusual position of choosing a comptroller for a nearly full four-year term because the popularly elected comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi, resigned in disgrace after he pleaded guilty to a felony late last year. Instead...

There was a big political defeat on Wednesday for Governor Eliot Spitzer. The New York Assembly chose one of their own, Thomas DiNapoli, as the next controller to replace Alan Hevesi. The vote came despite strong opposition from Mr. Spitzer. The vote wrapped up late Wednesday, and it was 151 for DiNapoli and 54 for the other finalist, one of three backed by the governor. The state legislature basically told Spitzer to butt out, and the governor is livid saying today's vote is further evidence of all that's wrong with Albany. For Spitzer, it's been a rollercoaster these last 24...

THE heat on embattled State Comptroller Alan Hevesi is bringing unwanted attention to his relationship with Queens City Councilwoman Melinda Katz, who has long been his political protégé. "It's an open secret in Queens political circles," one lawmaker told Page Six. "She kisses him on the lips in public, and he went to war with the county organization to get her elected." "It's common knowledge," said another politico. "I've seen them making out." One pol said he spotted them canoodling years ago one night at Terrace on the Park, the catering facility near La Guardia Airport. Although Katz is single,...

Pataki appoints special prosecutor Albany — Gov. George Pataki appointed a special prosecutor yesterday to kick off an extraordinary process that could lead to embattled state Comptroller Alan Hevesi being forced from office for using a state worker as his wife's private driver. Pataki asked David Kelley, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to help him decide within a week whether to make the unprecedented request of the Republican-controlled state Senate to vote for Hevesi's removal. "It is an extraordinary act for officials to overturn an election of a statewide elected official after a vote by...

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on Tuesday called for embattled state Comptroller Alan Hevesi to resign, saying his failure to reimburse the state for the use of a staffer as his wife's driver represents "a serious breach of the public trust." In a scathing report Monday, the state Ethics Commission said Hevesi, a Queens Democrat, broke the law by failing to pay for the driver despite a 2003 advisory opinion from the commission that he should. The commission faulted him for not tracking the employee's time and noted that Hevesi had assigned another state driver for his wife even before...

The state Ethics Commission concluded Monday that state Comptroller Alan Hevesi "knowingly and intentionally" violated the public trust by using public employees to chauffeur his wife. more at url

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. - Comptroller Alan Hevesi offered his first public apology yesterday for failing to reimburse the state for using one of his employees to chauffeur his wife since 2003. "It was irresponsible of me," Hevesi said at a meeting of the New York State Association of Counties. "For the comptroller of the state of New York, it was really inappropriate." Hevesi, who is seeking a second four-year term as the state's chief financial officer, acknowledged last week he had not reimbursed the state for the cost of having his wife driven around by a state employee since 2003....

(English-language translation) Comptroller Manuel Díaz Saldaña yesterday presented to a legislative committee his principal findings of audits of the Municipality of San Juan when former Governor Sila M. Calderón was mayor, among these “extravagant and unnecessary expenses” towards supporting the Navy’s withdrawal from Vieques and promoting her image. The official published 18 reports between June 1999 and March 2005 on fiscal operations in City Hall and in the Communications Central Office during Calderón’s incumbency as mayor and governor. “The principal findings published in the March 14, 2005 audit report (reveal) extravagant and unnecessary expenses and the use of public funds...

The Comptroller General of the United States warns the nation will go broke within a generation - unless it takes radical steps now to rein in out-of-control federal spending. In an exclusive interview with NewsMax, Comptroller David M. Walker, explained his mission: Save America from the brink of financial disaster. Walker has revealed America's collision course in computer simulations that show balancing the budget in 2040 (under the status quo of spending like there's no tomorrow) could require cutting total federal spending by an incredible 60 percent - or raising federal taxes 200 percent over today's level. Serving a 15-year...

The Nation's Accountant Tells It Like It Is Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006 WASHINGTON -- NewsMax caught up with U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, who, at age 54, is a bona fide baby boomer. The energetic CPA was direct about what most motivates him: "The baby boomers are on the path to be the first generation in the history of this country not to leave the country better positioned for the future. "That is unacceptable to me, and I will continue to fight as long as I can to try to make sure that that doesn't become...

Controller race draws a crowd They’re all competing for the key job described by one as ‘the CFO for the sixth-largest economy in the world’ By Bob Cuddy The four candidates running for state controller. What a controller does (PDF) Ask the average Californian what the state controller does, and you’ll likely hear, "What’s that?" says state Sen. Joe Dunn, who wants the job. But Dunn and his opponents know better. "You’re the CFO for the sixth-largest economy in the world," says John Chiang, also a candidate for state controller on the June 6 ballot. Chiang and Dunn are opposing...

Deadline day filing ends mystery Quote from the announcement: "I am a Republican, but I know we must set partisan politics aside and do what's right for Texas. That is why I am running for governor as a Texas Independent. We can't wait any longer. It's time to shake Austin up."

This week, as Texas Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn turned up the heat on Governor Rick Perry, it would appear that she has found herself in some hot water as well. Following a scathing swath of Strayhorn radio commercials about Governor Perry, the Texas State Auditor’s Office released a rather scathing report of its own about Strayhorn. Despite the agency’s perfunctory statement that they “are not implying any wrongdoing on the part of any individual or group associated with the information in this report,” political hounds from Beaumont to El Paso admit it smells like a scandal—and Strayhorn’s...

Strayhorn declines raise after Perry criticism ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN (AP) - Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said she will not accept a $33,000 pay raise authorized by the Legislature even though her campaign indicated last week that she would accept it. "Although Governor Rick Perry sanctioned pay increases for statewide elected officials when he approved the state budget, I do not believe it is appropriate for me to accept a penny more for the work I was elected to do," Strayhorn said Tuesday. Strayhorn, a Republican, is challenging Perry in next year's gubernatorial race. The Legislature had authorized seven statewide elected...

Political Pulse: 01.23.05 The morning after the Texas State Society's Black Tie and Boots inaugural ball in Washington, which drew Texas politicians in droves, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs was hoarse, which she attributed to talking over the band. Though she has not made a formal announcement, Combs said she would run for Carole Keeton Strayhorn's job as state comptroller, when Strayhorn tries to fill bigger boots, widely rumored to be Gov. Rick Perry's. Strayhorn already has told Combs she is not running for comptroller again, so Combs' fund-raising efforts are directed at the job, she said. "I will probably...

Texas' Republican comptroller tough, ticked off and proud of it AUSTIN (AP) — A needlepoint decoration hanging in the office of state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn hints at her tough reputation — "One Ticked Off Grandma." That line from a title of a magazine article on Strayhorn plays off the political slogan "one tough grandma" that she uses to describe her efforts to improve the health and education of Texas children. The large ax hanging on another wall, a gift from timber growers, and the plentiful family photographs show the contrasts of a woman who's gone from Austin's first female...

School fight may wound Perry in '06 Thursday, May 20, 2004 In the recent 28-day special session called by Gov. Rick Perry, the only consensus was that no one liked the governor's plan — long on sin taxes and short on new money for schools. Even several Republican legislators marvel at how Perry has angered people and groups across the state. Some think the special session was just for show, and to set legislators up to take the blame for failure to revamp school finance and lower property taxes. The public is apparently cooling on the governor as well. In...

Combs to seek state comptroller job in 2006 election Associated Press AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs confirmed Friday she's planning to run for state comptroller in 2006, a job now held by fellow Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Combs wouldn't divulge any conversations she's had with Strayhorn, but said she doesn't expect Strayhorn to run for the office in the next election. "I think it'll be an open primary," Combs said in a telephone interview. Strayhorn is considered a potential candidate for governor in 2006, although she won't say whether she's seeking the state's top job. "I love...

Commentary: Dave McNeely Comptrollers count office as rung up Thursday, April 22, 2004 The three Texas comptrollers since 1975 have wanted to be governor. Carole Keeton Strayhorn is no exception. The first two — the late Bob Bullock and John Sharp, both Democrats — eventually settled for a run at lieutenant governor. Bullock won; Sharp didn't. Strayhorn, one loud grandma, has yet to announce her plans. Though she's a Republican like Gov. Rick Perry, Strayhorn has been slapping Perry every time he turns around. She says he: is an ineffective leader, should put more money into the Children's Health Insurance...