Chuck Schumer

Democracy for New York City, the progressive group related to Howard Dean's Democracy for America, is holding a forum on Sunday, May 18 for the candidates in two upcoming elections: the one for Sheldon Silver's Assembly seat, and the challenge to State Senator Marty Connor.
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David Paterson is headlining his first fund-raiser for the New York State Democratic Party on May 22. [NY Dems]

Chuck Schumer is headlining a June 9 fund-raiser for his former aide, Dan Squadron, who is running against fellow Democrat State Senator Marty Connor. [Dan Squadron]

Michael Gianaris is raising money for his New York City campaign account. [Liz]  read more »

At a press conference earlier today, Michael Bloomberg pushed back against Chuck Schumer’s suggestion that building Moynihan Station should take precedence over developing the West Side rail yards.
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Mayor Bloomberg pushed back against a pet initiative of Senator Schumer's today, saying the city “would never agree” to the Port Authority taking over the troubled Moynihan Station project.

Since March, Senator Schumer has been an outspoken proponent of moving the project under the purview of the Port Authority, saying the bi-state agency has the experience and the capability to complete the long-stalled project. Governor Paterson has supported the idea and said the move is likely, though some legislators are against it.

This morning Mr. Schumer tried to push the idea further, saying at a Crain’s New York breakfast that the state’s development agency, which currently has authority over the project, “is not capable of being a major development agency here.”

Shortly after, responding to questions from reporters, Mayor Bloomberg said, effectively, thanks but no thanks.  read more »

Eliot Brown passes on a couple of Chuck Schumer quotes from a Crain's breakfast today at the Grand Hyatt in Midtown:

On the viability of an Obama/Clinton ticket: “At first I thought it wasn’t but I do think it could be.”

On voters: “They’re worried, and they want somebody to come in and say I can help a little bit you with healthcare, and paying for college, and all these things, and a Democratic candidate is more likely to do it. Hillary and Barack have both run very strong and great races, and I think they’d be a strong ticket together.”

A couple of weeks after becoming one of the earliest and loudest critics of Council Speaker Christine Quinn over her proposed member-item reform, John Liu is publicly tweaking another one of his colleagues, this time over a more routine legislative matter.

Here’s a brief clip of Liu during a City Council hearing about biological, chemical and radiological detectors this morning, where he openly questioned the need for the legislation the committee was considering. The bill was introduced by fellow Queens Democrat Peter Vallone, Jr., whose committee meeting Liu was attending.

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With Schumer-esque intensity, Dan Squadron, who is running to unseat State Senator Marty Connor, just released a “helpful note” to his opponent, incumbent state Senator Marty Connor just now, reminding him to pay his taxes today.

The election is in September.

The release, which is clearly intended to be more of a reminder for the likes of me than for Connor, refers to a 2004 tax lien filed against Connor which he explained at the time was due to his reporting error related to the Alternative Minimum Tax. “I screwed up figuring out how to deal with the AMT,” he said at the time.

When I asked Squardon’s campaign manager Mary Cooley why they were dredging up an issue from 2004, she said, “Obviously taxes are something that’s important, and we just thought it would be important to remind him.”

When asked if Squadron would make his own tax information public, Cooley said she unsure and will get to me with an answer.

A spokesman for Connor did not immediately have a response.

UPDATE: Squardon's campaign manager emailed to say, "Daniel will release his taxes, as soon as Senator Connor gets around to doing and releasing his."

Squadron’s campaign memo follows.  read more »

Here’s Chuck Schumer endorsing Dan Squadron yesterday in lower Manhattan. Squadron, a former Schumer aide, is trying to unseat State Senator Marty Connor.
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Dan Squadron is trying to unseat fellow Democrat Marty Connor for state Senate, in the district that represents lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

But more interesting than the people on the ballot are how Demoratic power brokers are lining up in that fight. Schumer is supporting Squardon, his former aide, against Connor, who didn’t support Schumer in his 1998 primary for Senate.

But as the invitation for Connor’s May 8th fund-raiser at the Ritz Carlton shows, he's got a good chunk of the rest of the party establishment.  read more »

Charles Schumer made his endorsement of insurgent Democratic state senate candidate Dan Squadron official today, siding with his former aide over the incumbent Democrat, Marty Connor.

In statement released by his spokesman's private email account, Schumer said Squadron “is a true blue Democrat; I am proud to endorse him and look forward to working with him as he builds to victory."  read more »

The "final" federal deadline of April 7 is approaching for the federal subsidy of $354 million to set up a congestion-pricing system for Manhattan’s Central Business District.

In these tough budget times the plan would produce an estimated $4.5 billion over the next five years for improved mass transit. It is the only source of funds available to reduce the M.T.A.’s dependence on fares and debt to improve transit. Even if the amount of funding ends up lower, it is still critical, found money.  read more »

Chatting with a few reporters in the hallway on the third floor of the Capitol in Albany this morning, Chuck Schumer said of David Paterson, "It’s not fair to say ‘Oh, he’s going to hit the ground running on day one.’

"He was--we all were--totally shocked and unprepared for this. But he is a great, he learns in every way,” Schumer went on. “I think he’s going to be really good.”

Schumer downplayed the notion that Spitzer's sex scandal will affect a wider swath of Democrats.  read more »

Here's Chuck Schumer chatting with Fred Dicker during his radio show in the Capitol building in Albany.

Schumer told Dicker he became closer to Spitzer after he became governor, but has not spoken to him since the scandal broke because he wants to wait until "the dust settles."

When Dicker pressed him on how exactly that dust will settle (with criminal charges? with jail time?), Schumer said he was unsure.

Chuck Schumer's office issued this statement from the senator:

"I feel bad for him and his family but until he makes a more complete statement, I have nothing more to say."

“This is a serious election,” said Chuck Schumer on a conference call about Hillary Clinton’s campaign this morning. He added that voters choose Clinton when they “get close to decision-making time, when they know this is for real."

Schumer spoke after Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, who said that Hillary had started to win now that “people have gotten through the initial job interviews.”  read more »

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development has rejected developer Mark Karasick’s bid for the Mitchell Lama housing development in the western Bronx that many consider to be the birthplace of hip-hop, after an investigation determined that the sale price is not supportable under current rent restrictions.

The decision allows for the current owner to negotiate with tenants on a sale. The New York Times reported that the asking price was $14 million, more than the double its $5 to $6 million value estimated by housing advocates based on future rents.  read more »

Senator Chuck Schumer is in the middle of the biggest political process story in recent memory.

This is O.K. with him.  read more »

I interviewed Chuck Schumer for a story in this week’s paper about the state of the Clinton campaign, and he told me a couple of things that may turn out to be important as her aides reportedly weigh some potentially “incendiary” end-game strategies.

When I asked if he would definitely stay committed to Clinton, Schumer said, "Definitely. She won my state. I know how good she is.  read more »

Dan Squadron is 28 years old, has never held a public office, and has already raised $205,153.33 in his bid to challenge 30-year incumbent Marty Connor for a state Senate seat, according to the most recent campaign filings.

Connor's numbers haven't been posted online yet, but I'm told he's raised less than $5,000.

When I asked his consultant Evan Stavisky, he told me Connor “hasn’t started fund-raising. He’ll raise and spend whatever it takes to successfully defend his seat."

Connor's campaign closed their July 2007 filing $38,217.60 in debt (although Connor says it was an accounting error).

More after the jump.

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I'm in the back of the Assembly chambers of the Capitol building in Albany and a little while ago I heard Michael Bloomberg say to Chuck Schumer, during the introduction of honored guests, "I stand up for Democrats and Republicans."

He also said, "You know Angus King? He's a good guy," referring to one of the members of the bipartisan panel in Oklahoma.

Over the course of a conference call with Howard Wolfson, Terry McAuliffe and a number of high-profile Hillary Clinton supporters, some variation of the phrase "found her voice in New Hampshire" was used at least six times.

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez said it first, but it was repeated by McAuliffe, Wolfson and Washington State Senator Maria Cantwell. From Chuck Schumer we heard that Hillary is "in touch with what people need and want," from Cantwell that in the last two days before New Hampshire she saw the "passion" in Hillary, and that the candidate is "connecting and connecting with women."

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas noted that voters were "passionate, they were connected to the Clintons...they see her as having ideas and as being an inspiration." California Senator Dianne Feinstein added that "there is a great emotional connection between woman and Hillary."  read more »

As Azi reported yesterday, Mike Bloomberg doesn’t seem to be a fan of the sweeping Energy Bill that President Bush signed yesterday – in particular, its mandate for an massive increase in ethanol production.

Bloomberg called the ethanol provision “an outrage” and said it would drive up food costs and “have worldwide implications on the food supply.” Ethanol, of course, is a sacred product in Iowa, the key caucus that the presidential candidates dare not offend.

So did New York’s Congressional delegation agree with the mayor? Apparently not: 28 of 29 New Yorkers in the House voted for the bill when it came up for its final vote last week (it cleared the chamber on a 314-100 vote). The lone exception was Staten Island’s Vito Fossella, who didn’t show up to vote. The bill cleared the Senate on an 86-8 vote, with Chuck Schumer voting yes and Hillary Clinton, perhaps too busy campaigning in Iowa, not voting.

In fairness, earlier versions of the bill produced slightly less unanimity. The initial version passed by the House (on a 264-143 vote) was supported by all of New York’s Democrats but only three Republicans: Randy Kuhl, John McHugh and Jim Walsh. Tom Reynolds, Peter King, and Fossella votes against it.

Over the weekend, the Rudy Giuliani billing scandal that has been dubbed both the "Shag Fund" and Judygate played on, with both national and local press seizing on angles to further the story.

The New York Post reported that, in addition to the mayor himself, one of Giuliani's top aides also spent at least one summer night in the Hamptons on the city's dime, while the Daily News added that, in addition to chauffeuring Judith Nathan around, the N.Y.P.D. apparently took her to visit her parents in Pennsylvania, and occasionally even walked her dog. According to CBS, her family got to ride around with the N.Y.P.D. as well.

ABC News reported that Ray Kelly doesn't think Giuliani's story adds up and Michael Bloomberg's girlfriend says she has never had her own security detail. David Seifman calculated that the breakup of Rudy's marriage to Donna Hanover also cost the city a whole bunch of money.

In commentary, Michael Goodwin wrote that Giuliani's personal life is his last hurdle to the presidency, Josh Marshall explained why, contrary to intuition, Giuliani isn't guilty like Alan Hevesi, and Gail Collins just thinks, "Rudy is one of those people who doesn’t handle power well."

More after the jump.  read more »

‘They are maneuvering,’ says Hank Sheinkopf of Democratic suspects.  read more »

Looking over the statement Chuck Schumer just put out explaining his support for Michael Mukasey's nomination for Attorney General, it seems to me the key graph is this one, which seems to put the onus for outlawing waterboarding torture on Congress.

"This afternoon, I met with Judge Michael Mukasey one more time. I requested the meeting to address, in person, some of my concerns.  The Judge made clear to me that, were Congress to pass a law banning certain interrogation techniques, we would clearly be acting within our constitutional authority.  And he flatly told me that the President would have absolutely no legal authority to ignore such a law, not even under some theory of inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution.  He also pledged to enforce such a law and repeated his willingness to leave office rather than participate in a violation of law."

This is the part that will allow Schumer to argue that his support for Mukasey, in the face of growing Democratic opposition, is consistent with his initial rationale: that the most important thing for the next attorney general is that he be politically independent from the Bush administration. (It should also allow him, in his capacity as DSCC chairman, to argue that it's that much more crucial that the Democrats expand their majority in the Senate in 2008.)

Chuck Schumer just released the following statement reasserting his support for Michael Mukasey's nomination for attorney general.

I will support Judge Michael Mukasey for Attorney General.

I have spent the last nine months doing everything I can to get new leadership at the Department of Justice and I believe the job will not be finished until we get a strong and independent Attorney General. I believe Judge Mukasey is that type of person. Should we reject him, it is almost certain that an acting, caretaker Attorney General will take office without the advice and consent of the Senate. Inevitably, that would enable those in this administration, who do not believe in the rule of law, and have done things that caused even former Attorney General Ashcroft to threaten resignation, to have the complete upper hand.

The rest of the statement is after the jump.  read more »

John Edwards thinks that Democratic candidates will suffer in 2008 if Hillary Clinton is at the top of the ticket. He said as much during a private Chicago fund-raiser in July. 

For today's story about the Senate Democrats chances in 08, I went back and looked up what Edwards said at the time, and found in my notebook a fuller version of Edwards' thinking on the matter. It seems especially topical now that Edwards is stepping up his attacks on Hillary.

Here is what Edwards told donors in July about the pitch he was making out on the trail.

“I say ‘you are a candidate for Congress, running in the swing district in Montana and Georgia and Missouri, any of these places, you have a choice at who you want at the top of the ticket; Edwards, Obama or Hillary. Who do you want?’ And they start nodding immediately.”

Edwards still hasn't gone quite that far in his public comments, but given his sharpening attacks in last night's debate, it's probably just a matter of time.

For today's paper, I spoke with Chuck Schumer about his efforts to expand the Democratic majority in the Senate and how he thinks his party's candidates are strong enough to withstand any Republican rallying around the flag in the event of an attack on Iran.

While the piece deals more with Schumer's take on the political consequences of an attack on Iran, the New York Senator also explained why he thinks any bombing would substantively be a bad idea in terms of its impact on American foreign policy and national security.

"The Iranian people do not like the Mullahs," said Schumer. "They are a more secular people. Persian culture has always been a more mild culture. It's not a fundamentalist culture. The Iranians are more Middle Class. The average income is eight thousand dollars as opposed to three thousand in Iraq, very important. And they have information."

As a result, he said that the Iranian leadership, "is very fragile."  read more »

Plus, Chuck says Clinton would help at top Of Democratic ticket.  read more »