Free Republic

According to the most recent information available, Steve Rattner's net worth is at least $188 million. So perhaps it's not surprising that the hedge fund partner and former Obama car czar, who flies his own private jet, doesn't deem $100G+ per year to be a "full-time" salary. On today's Morning Joe, commenting on the arrest of Dem NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on bribery charges, Rattner claimed that "they don't pay these guys full-time salaries. They pay them, I think, $112,000 a year." In fact, as Speaker, Silver was pulling down $121,000. The median annual income in the US during...

De Blasio: Sheldon Silver is a ‘man of integrity’ By Michael Gartland Mayor de Blasio said Thursday that he knows Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to be a “man of integrity” and rejected calls for him to step down from his leadership post while facing corruption charges. “Although the charges announced today certainly are very serious I want to note that I’ve always known Shelly Silver to be a man of integrity and he certainly has due process rights and I think it’s important that we let the judicial process play out,” the mayor said at City Hall.

Silver, who has been one of the most powerful lawmakers in Albany for more than two decades, surrendered to authorities Thursday morning. A five-count federal complaint accuses him of accepting millions from firms seeking him to wield influence in Albany on their behalf.

I will apologize in advance to our readers if this looks like coverage of a “local story” but it actually may be a harbinger for the kind of state and local level change which is required for real progress in America. The New York Times is reporting that today an arrest will be made in Albany, the state’s capital. The suspect is question is none other than the Speaker of the state Assembly, Sheldon Silver. Federal authorities are expected to arrest Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, on corruption charges on Thursday, people with...