Free Republic

ALBANY — The State Senate on Tuesday expelled a senator convicted of domestic assault, the first time in nearly a century that the Legislature has forced a member from office. The Senate voted 53-to-8 to immediately oust the senator, Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat convicted last fall of a misdemeanor for dragging his companion down the hallway of his apartment building. The expulsion leaves the fragile balance of power in the Senate divided between 31 Democrats and 30 Republicans. Because legislation requires 32 votes to pass, Democrats will be unable to approve bills with just the support of their own...

ALBANY -- Eleven of the state Senate's highest-paid staffers received raises of up to $32,000 when it appeared likely Democrats would lose control of the chamber during the five-week leadership fight. The combined increases will cost taxpayers $200,000 annually. Since the June 8 Senate coup, dozens of staff members from both sides of the aisle have received raises, but the elite group received raises ranging from $10,000 to $32,000 annually, state Comptroller's office records show. The beneficiaries include top aides to Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn. Because many of the...

Yesterday afternoon, the Democrats in the New York State Senate got poleaxed. For half a moment they stood like deer in the headlights, not quite realizing their fate. By the time they caught on, and literally ran out the door, trying to shut off the lights in the Senate chamber, it was over. Somebody called a vote, the hands went up and the heads rolled. The Democrats lost control of the Senate. More correctly, a little knot of Democrat bigwigs lost control of the Senate. Out in the hallway, the Democrat leader Malcolm Smith stood dumbfounded. After just five months...

Completely unpredictable, unfathomable, and unprecedented, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, will seek the open junior New York U.S. Senate seat. She immediately becomes the front runner, edging out fellow Democrat and philanderer William Jefferson Clinton (a former U.S. president, some time ago, when life was more innocent and...ahem...pure) and a host of no names among as many as 12 candidates to fill the vacated senate seat of Hilary Clinton. Republican (in name only) Mayor of New York Ron Bloomberg immediately declared her the winner. “There’s no need for debate here. Caroline’s our man. Really, she is...

Sorry, Caroline. New York isn’t your payoff. And a New York seat in the United States Senate is not a perq to be passed out by the Democratic Party to its royalty. Have you heard the news? Caroline Kennedy has announced that she wants to be appointed to fill the New York Senate seat currently filled by Hillary Clinton. Hillary got it because she was the wife of a president and Caroline claims it because she was the daughter of a president. Must be we’ve brought back the divine right of kings.Or princesses, as the case may be. The one...

Tasini Says Hillary's "Above the Law" Character is NOT an Issue! RE: [Contact Jonathan] Hillary Clinton's Campaign Finance Frauds and Obstruction of Justice Re: Hillary Clinton's Campaign Finance Frauds and Obstruction of Justice Hi Peter, If you'd like to discuss give me a call here at the office. We are an issues-based campaign so we're not really addressing these sorts of questions, but I'd be happy to speak with you if you like. best, Stef (Stephanie Cannon, Tasini Campaign Official) Amazingly enough, the articulate adversary of Hillary Clinton's lock on the Democratic nomination for reelection to the Senate, doesnt believe...

August 26, 2005--Senator Hillary Clinton holds a 24-point edge in her bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Clinton first won her Senate seat by a 9-point margin in Election 2000.The latest Rasmussen Reports survey found that the former First Lady is the choice of 57% of New York voters while Jeanine Pirro currently earns 33% of the vote. Clinton leads by 18-points among men and 29-points among women.Related survey data shows that Democrat Eliot Spitzer holds an even larger lead in the race to become New York's next Governor.Hillary Clinton is viewed favorably by 63% of the state's voters,...