Political Donations Pour Through Gap in New York Laws (party-paid Pataki maid in-depth)

ALBANY, Feb. 16 - The federal government may have cracked down on the use of soft money by national political parties, but the tradition is alive and well in New York State. Local parties can still accept unlimited corporate donations to their so-called housekeeping committees, which have few restrictions on how they can spend the money.

The increasing use of party housekeeping committees was highlighted this year by the disclosure that the state Republican Party's housekeeping committee pays the salary of a full-time assistant for the state's first lady, Libby Pataki.

Critics say the accounts are used to skirt the state's weak campaign finance laws. Bond underwriters, for instance, barred from making large political donations, have instead given tens of thousands of dollars to party housekeeping accounts.

Corporations prohibited from giving more than $5,000 to state campaigns can make unlimited donations to housekeeping committees. State records show that over the last five years the committees have accepted 18 checks for $100,000 each from corporations, including some that lobby the state or do business with it.

State law requires housekeeping money to be used for the overhead costs of political parties and "ordinary activities which are not for the express purpose of promoting the candidacy of specific candidates." But an analysis of campaign filings by The New York Times found that one committee had funneled housekeeping money directly to the campaigns of individual candidates, and that another had transferred money to a second political organization that then gave money to a candidate.

Advocates for stronger campaign finance laws - and, privately, some politicians - have long maintained that the parties find artful ways to spend the money to help specific candidates, using it for polling, ads that indirectly help candidates, get-out-the-vote efforts, and other purposes.

Pataki's wife Libby was begging politcoes to buy her new kid's book claiming "The Pataki's need the money"....

It's been reported elsewhere that Mrs. Pataki was paid more than $339,000 in 2003.....for her work "as a vaguely defined consultant to businesses and charities."

Most of her "clients" are linked to friends and political supporters of Gov Pataki, and some of those friends also have interests before the state.

The Village Voice and The New York Times have reported extensively on the Patakis’ main source of wealth, the good will of an old college friend, Richard Hayden. Hayden arranged a consulting job for Mrs. Pataki with a family medical-devices business and has involved her as a partner in lucrative land deals. As if the word does not getaround that the governor's wife is involved in land deals.....All those hard-to-get EPA and county and municipal planning board approvals better come through....or else.

Republican donors never figured their bucks would also subsidize a maid for the gov's wife. One FReeper posted that the Patakis managed to build a huge house in Garrison when he was a lowly local legislator making a nothing salary.

And let's please not forget that Libby Patatki---the one with the maid----is also doing the insider deals for the gov. Libby's lobbying and being in on land deals as a token partner when she knows nothing about the business, is a little nauseating.

She's obviously included b/c her husband is governor. Pataki's got his wife hustling for the day when he leaves office and becomes a nobody. At least the Pataki's can live in the lap of luxury while Pataki ponders how being a pro-abortion RINO short-circuited his political ambitions to be president.

Sounds like Pataki has his own "friends and family" plan.

IF the Republicans like Pataki and Giambra don't shape up, and end the corruption and nepotism in state and county government, the voters will embrace those who will be fiscally responsible.

If I were a Democrat in Erie County right now, I would embrace fiscal restraint, because the utter anger in the community right now is astounding. Now's not the time to be an incumbant.

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