A.M. Roundup: Gubernatorial blackmail, deer carcasses

















Al Franken for Sean Coffey. (NYO)

Rep. Brian Higgins for Kathleen Rice. (BN)




And here are some national headlines…






  1. mcdonald says:

    ocfs is rethinking the way it handles juvenile detention facilities? do you think? is it a coincidence that this new legislation comes out as the legislature, advocates, unions and editorial boards are all calling for the head of gladys carrion? her failed experiments have proven to be costly, dangerous, immoral, threatening to staff and youth and after 3 1/2 years paterson submits legislation to change the system? too little too late. she can barely hang on long enough for the legislative hearings and the numerous Inspector General investigations and the US Dept of Justice investigation to reveal the sordid truth. she’s incapable of leadership, inept at management, willing to endanger staff and youth,and too arrogant to resign.

  2. “Gubernatorisl blackmail” is what I hear it’s called
    When the governor forces folks to vote ’cause everything has stalled.
    There’s compensation for those who must this bitter drink imbibe.
    It’s in the form of pork that you might call a “Speaker’s bribe.”

  3. Mike says:

    Finally! The worthless dirt bags of the NYS legislature pass a law requring prior approval when greedy HMOs and Insurance Frauds, err companies want to jack the already stratospheric rates for their shrinking benefits.

    According to the story, rates went up 81% from 2000 to 2007. At the same time, how much have the actul benefits dropped, co-pays doubled and tripled, services cut or limited?

    And during the same period, what has happened to the salaries of healthcare execs? I’ll bet they didn’t drop…..

  4. maverick100 says:

    Re: Duffy being a double-dipper

    Typical politician. Do as I say, not as I do…

  5. Laurie L says:

    The simple answer to avoiding the Governor’s “blackmail” would be for the legislature to pass the budget. That is what thye get paid to do. Perhaps it is time for another coup.

  6. Igor Scorniak says:

    Clever, O’Neill!

  7. nowizardry says:

    OCFS Reform?

    I understand the sound criticism of Commissioner Carrion. I do not understand limiting the blame to her. Department of Justice, Legal Aid, Children’s Commission, Governor’s Task Force, Victim Litigation, and now Sex Parties after all of the above is indicative of culture and issues existent way before the Carrion appointment. Immoral? It’s immoral to have children abused and neglected under state supervision and on the taxpayers dime. Do some youth have problems making decisions you bet!

    You can’t change juvenile justice without completely digesting their organizational cultures and creating clear accountability measures. Dumping changes into organizations without dealing with issues is like trying to trying to have Indiana Jones find the grail with snakes everywhere. You don’t clear the snakes your mission fails. It is at the point now where this is recognized and leadership needs complete overhaul. That means leadership prior to Carrion where all this went down without being addressed. Blaming Carrion for everything is like blaming the oil spill on the BP guy who wants his life back. Yes she went with suggested plans to make change, yes she put her trust in people that could not pull it off, and many things for which the public will pay in settlements occurred before Carrion set foot in Rensselaer.

    Reform begins with the charisma to address the players you are going to put your faith in to work with children. Until such time that there is substantial ironing out of staff issues, tools provided in lieu of physical intervention (inclusive of constructive activities for youth), and the physical environment is conducive to trauma and treatment you will reap what you sow. Are there youth that are violence prone and dangerous? Yes. Are their communities of origin places that intill survival skills including violence? Yes. Was anything being done at any youth progam to provide services to give youth a shot in their communities? Recedevism is high. Do you think the street has enough to offer, the communities pose sufficient alternatives to crime and violence, in order for youth to not see incarceration as a viable means to get everything taken care of and presumably safe? You can restrain and injure a youth in a facility 20 times in a month and you won’t come near the apprehension or fear of walking to school in communities that regularly place any child at risk and have support systems in parents and schools that offer very little in many, not all, cases. The youth should do the placement or incarceration in thei home envioronment with substantial family work done to instill change. That, again without a plan or capable people, is doomed to innocent victims.

    You don’t need Gandalf or Harry Potter to read the writing on the wall which is far from encrypted. We, as in Attorney General, Inspector General, and any auditing body come down like a “house of fire” on fraudulent expenditure of cash and their are resultant scammers sitting in cells. You have more than three auditing bodies, you have victims in staff and children in terms of unemployment, physical injury, and trauma, and no substantial and visible accountability.

    I guess there is an internal battle about resources, funding, and commodities. When you are discussing children I guess you have to weigh the supply and demand and act accordingly? Heart beats, pulses, and lives that sustain the market. Give or take a few injuries, fatalities, and damaged goods you have to rotate your stock and keep the coffers full. Does this sound like a way to manage any children or cattle?

    Advocacy sounds good as does a governing body. That implies accountability to a working system. How can you reform a system that has the very same players at the helm that allowed this all to go down. That’s like asking Madoff to rework the stock portfolios of the fools he bilked and giving him a get out of jail free card. Oh that’s right he will die in prison for scamming cash from people. I guess children are just not that valuable….

  8. sawitcoming says:

    $385 million – talk to me when you get to the billions folks. this means nothing.

  9. Different view says:

    Everyone in State government say that we all must share in getting the state back on track. I didn’t know that the definition of everyone was only those in health care.

  10. retiredman says:

    Why bether with a budget, Dave seems to be handeling things just fine week to week. Only problem I have is he hasen’t stopped paying these bums for not doing their jobs. How many other workers out there can not do their job for 68 days in a row and still get paid?

  11. Brian says:

    Oh please… the legislature loves the gubernatorial “blackmail.” It means they can blame him for the tough decisions that they’re too cowardly to make. If they really objected, they’d just pass a budget and make the “blackmail” moot.

  12. Darwin says:

    So the elected egg-heads in Albany, finally figured out what New Yorkers had known for years – health insurance premiums were going up too fast and too high. Well, guess who is the biggest payer of health insurance premiums in New York? Think New York State Government. DUH!

    New York voters now need to exercise their prior approval on Albany! Thrown the bums out! They are too expensive.

  13. Cfoote says:

    Today is the one-year anniversary of the Senate coup: has the chamber actually reformed its ways?. Jimmy you should go on Last Comic Standing. You actaully used the words Senate and reformed in the same sentence. Ha ha

  14. Burning in Central NY says:

    I saw an article yesterday on the WSYR website about a Batavia woman who was charged with adultury, which is a misdemeanor. What is the fine, maybe $100 or so? New tax idea, catch all the adulturers, I bet it would erase the deficit! Sounds like NY logic!

  15. gecannonphd says:

    It is faster and thinner than the iPhone3.
    It has 16 or 32 gigabytes.
    It has a camera of 3-5 megapixels.
    It is ultra thin, 9.33 millimeters.


  16. joe says:

    Would someone please explain to me why Espada is not in jail.

  17. Tim B says:

    Kudos to Biran and Laura L fir their short yet on-target comments.

    Blackmail my you-know-what.

  18. Albany Rep says:

    Democratic Senator Joseph Addabbo is going to lose this Fall.

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