Free Republic

Is Abortion Allowed In Monaghan’s Ave Maria? By MARIELENA MONTESINO de STUART“Now a lie is directly opposed to truth. Therefore dissimulation or hypocrisy is also” — St. Thomas Aquinas.Appearances Are DeceivingAppearances are deceiving — and such is the case in the Town of Ave Maria — a town named after the moment of conception of Our Lord and after the Blessed Virgin Mary.On November 5, 2009, during a press conference at Ave Maria University, the administration, various faculty members, and selected students proudly honored and gave a standing ovation to Tom Golisano, a billionaire with a long history of supporting...

The state Board of Elections has called for a criminal investigation into allegations that billionaire Tom Golisano, the architect of last week's coup in Albany, broke the law with campaign contributions to at least one state Legislature candidate last year. The board's Democratic commissioner, Douglas Kellner, revealed at a meeting Monday that the agency's lawyers had conferred with the Albany County District Attorney's Office over the past month about three complaints -- at least one of them against Golisano, his political group Responsible New York, and his top aide, Steve Pigeon, according to Jeremy Toth, a lawyer who filed the...

Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's reign was on brink, but spokesman said nothing happens in Senate till Smith says so. ALBANY - Blame it on the BlackBerry. Upstate billionaire Thomas Golisano said he began plotting to overthrow Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith after the Democrat spent a whole meeting in late April reading e-mails. "Of course I was upset, I thought that was very rude," he said of the meeting in Smith's office. "When I travel 250 miles to make a case on how to save the state a lot of money ... and the guy comes into his office and...

BY ELIZABETH MOORE | elizabeth.moore@newsday.com 10:20 PM EDT, June 9, 2009 ALBANY - In the end, it was Malcolm Smith's BlackBerry that did him in. Businessman Thomas Golisano, upset over tax and spending increases in the state budget, had journeyed to the Capitol in April to share with the Senate majority leader what he says were $1 billion worth of ideas for trimming costs. But Smith's attention quickly strayed to his e-mail, where it stayed for the rest of the meeting, Golisano said. "We felt we were talking to the wall," the Paychex Inc. chairman and three-time Independence Party gubernatorial...

Malcolm Smith Ousted As Senate Majority Leader; Dems Turn Off Lights, Cut Internet Power In Attempt To Stop Coup Paterson Goes Ballistic: I'm Here To Stand Up For Democracy That was the big question Monday night following a political standoff in Albany. The Republicans said they pulled off a coup, snatching power away from the Senate majority, but the Democrats said it was illegal and that they're still in control of the Legislature. And the whole thing has Gov. David Paterson lashing out at lawmakers. It was a carefully crafted coup -- five weeks in the making, with independent Tom...

Golisano leaving New York to escape income taxes Says he’s paying $13,000 a day ALBANY — Ending any speculation about another possible run for governor, Rochester businessman and Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano said Thursday he will be moving his legal residence to Florida to escape New York state taxes. Golisano told a gathering of Rochester business executives that he will remain as owner of the Buffalo hockey team, but he is fleeing the Empire State to avoid paying $13,000 a day in state income taxes. While Golisano said his move will not end his role as outspoken critic of...

ALBANY — Tom Golisano, the unpredictable Rochester businessman with deep pockets and never-ending political ambition, brought fresh drama to a chaotic election year on Tuesday with his announcement that he would pour at least $5 million into the state’s legislative races. That is about 10 times what the average Senate candidate spends in an election, and slightly more than all the money held in the Republican Party’s statewide campaign accounts. His aim, Mr. Golisano said at a news conference, was to throw a scare into — and maybe even replace — Albany’s political elite. He certainly drew their attention. “Those...

The Capitol reports that billionaire, state Independence Party founder and three-time failed gubernatorial candidate B. Thomas Golisano is preparing to inject himself into New York politics again by spending $1 million via a new PAC to support state Senate candidates. Democratic state Senate candidates, that is. This is a big switch for Golisano, who changed his enrollment to the GOP while considering a fourth gubernatorial run in 2006 (largely fueled by his intense dislike for Eliot Spitzer). After he opted not to challenge Spitzer, Golisano started hanging out with then-Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and talking about the importance of...

The intriguing politics of the New York governor's race, which still has nine months to go, took on much sharper definition yesterday when the Republican billionaire Tom Golisano announced that he would not run. The absence of Mr. Golisano and his huge personal fortune, with which he could have swamped the race with commercials, was seen as giving a boost to the candidacy of former Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld, who faces three others seeking the Republican nomination. Mr. Golisano, 63, a Rochester entrepreneur and the owner of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team, had a reputation as the most feisty...

Rochester billionaire and Paychex founder Tom Golisano will not run for Governor. He released this statement: "Today, I am announcing my decision not to seek the Republican, Conservative and Independence Party nominations for governor of New York State. I have made my decision based upon personal and professional reasons. I am involved in many business interests, and will continue to remain active in Paychex and other entrepreneurial ventures. I will also continue my philanthropic activity. I am committed to the economic development of New York, as well as promoting responsible government. I thank all of the people who supported me...

Ground Zero bigshot John Whitehead, who has charged that he was threatened by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, broke a week of silence last night and angrily denounced Spitzer as a liar. Interviewed by The Post outside his Manhattan offices, Whitehead ripped Spitzer after learning the attorney general and Democratic candidate for governor had publicly insisted earlier in the day that he never made any such threats. "He said every word of it," Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., firmly told The Post last night. "I'm angry that he is denying that he said it, because he knows...

Former President Bill Clinton returned to Buffalo Wednesday with a message to Democrats: Grab onto the many opportunities Republicans are handing you, and focus your message. "President Nixon looks like a Communist compared to these guys," he said, referring to Republicans in Washington. Clinton told some 300 local Democrats that Americans are rejecting public policy based on ideology, whether conservative or liberal, and instead want to return to results-based politics. "America is yearning for a sense of purpose and unity," he said at the Buffalo Convention Center. Among his other points: Afghanistan, not Iraq, is the most important military front...

Former President Bill Clinton poses with a fan in a suite in HSBC Arena Wednesday night. More photos of Clinton's visit on the Picture Page, C10. Former President Bill Clinton lamented a new political climate stressing ideology over performance while in Buffalo Wednesday, lambasting the Republican Party on almost every front before joining next year's potential GOP candidate for governor for hockey in HSBC Arena. In a day that provided all kinds of strange political mixes, he wowed an audience of about 600 hand-picked Democrats in the Buffalo Convention Center as part of a swing through Rochester and Buffalo. His...

The controversy over the meeting of the county chairmen of the state Republican Party next week is just another sign of a party that is divided and dysfunctional - with five important statewide races at stake less than a year away. Next year may be the clearest shot that the state's Democrats will have at a clean sweep of state offices in decades. It also should have the GOP members concerned about what hits they may take in both the Assembly and state Senate. The county chairmen are meeting in hopes of finding a consensus on candidates who are viable...

Republicans fearful the party will field a statewide slate that will go down in flames hope to persuade upstate gazillionaire Tom Golisano to abandon his quest for governor and run for the U.S. Senate instead. The move would clear the field for William Weld to take on presumative Democratic gubernatorial nominee Eliot Spitzer, and would end Jeanine Pirro's stumbling campaign to take on Sen. Hillary Clinton.

While the Republicans celebrate their victory in the New York City mayoral race, the state Republican Party is beset by ideological divisions, personal rivalries and individual agendas that are undermining any semblance of party unity as the 2006 elections approach, many party officials say. Leading Republicans across the state are alarmed and say the problems stem largely from the power vacuum resulting from Gov. George E. Pataki's decision not to seek re-election in 2006 after three terms in office. One consequence is that Republicans are deeply at odds about their political lineup for the coming year.

The Republican Party will announce a candidate for governor by the first of the year. Republican Chair Steven Minarik is supporting former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano is considering a fourth run for governor. Golisano recently switched from the Independence Party to the Republican Party drawing speculation that he would seek the nomination. Minarik questions whether Golisano is the right candidate for the party. “There are things that stand in the way. We have to get by the past with regard to races. I just don't know how that's going to happen. We have to have a...

WASHINGTON - A billionaire businessman who failed to beat Governor Pataki three times on the Independence Party line, Thomas Golisano, will switch his party affiliation to Republican today in an effort to gain major party support in another run for governor next year, a top New York State Republican official said yesterday. The source, who asked not to be identified because of the delicacy of discussions surrounding next year's race, said that top state Republicans have warmed to Mr. Golisano out of concerns about a Democratic romp in the 2006 elections. In three straight gubernatorial runs, Mr. Golisano has launched...

August 25, 2005--New York's Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has a huge lead over two potential Republican challengers in the race to become Governor of the Empire State.Spitzer leads William Weld 55% to 20%. Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts, moved back to New York five years ago and recently announced his intention to enter the race.Spitzer leads Tom Golisano by nearly as big a margin, 52% to 23%. Golisano is a billionaire who has previously run as an Independent candidate. He is  considering a bid for the GOP nomination.Spitzer is viewed favorably by 69% of New York voters and unfavorably...

<p>October 21, 2003 -- Tom Golisano, the Rochester gazillionaire who runs for governor every four years, spending oodles of cash in the process, and then goes back into political hibernation, is making a rare between-elections appearance.</p> <p>Though he swears it's just a "coincidence," his former campaign manager, Charles Halloran, has just grabbed hold of the reins of Al Sharpton's presidential effort after two top aides resigned.</p>