Republicans Jim Coughlan and Rob Astroino have No Place in New York Government

It seems like New York State Republicans feel they can just do what they want when it comes to African Americans. It has been reported that New York State Republican Jim Coughlan took his racist rants to twitter by calling MSNBC Melissa Harris-Perry in response to remarks she made about child-rearing that upset many conservatives. “Keep your stinking paws off my kid, you damned dirty ape.” Coughlan tweeted. A hateful association between Blacks and monkeys or apes was yet another way that the antebellum South justified slavery. Blacks were considered by some Whites to be more simian than human, and therefore had no self-evident rights, including freedom Jim Coughlan is currently the Dutchess County controller and a candidate for state Senate. What kind of New York Government will we have with Coughlan in the Senate and Astorino as Governor? We have reported earlier that Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has his own ways of using racial "code words" in his campaign for Governor.  Mr. Astorino is using the "local zoning laws", his "overreaching of government stance", labeling an organization "social justice"  with a dash of anti- Obama by using "cronies in DC" to scare a certain type of voter that believes in his separatist mindset to the poles.  read here   Republicans Coughlan and Astorino are using Race in different ways  to activate voters and motivate them to the polls. To believe otherwise—is absurd.

Rob Astorino's latest Campaign Email Uses Local Zoning Laws as a Cover to his Separatist Campaign

In Rob Astorino's recent campaign email he continues his Separatist ways by labeling an organization that brought a desegregation lawsuit in Nassau County as a "Social Justice" organization. What does Astorino mean when he says "Social Justice"? Is that something you believe in?   What the Astorino campaign is doing is using what Ian Haney López, author of Dog Whistle Politics calls "racial code words"    "This sort of coded speech operates on two levels," he says. "It triggers racial anxiety and it allows plausible deniability by crafting language that lets the speaker deny that he's even thinking about race." Mr. Astorino is using the "local zoning laws", his "overreaching of government stance", labeling an organization "social justice"  with a dash of anti- Obama by using "cronies in DC" to scare a certain type of voter that believes in his separatist mindset to the poles. In our last email we clearly explained the history of how local zoning laws prohibited African Americans and Latinos from buying and renting homes in Westchester and Nassau Counties.    The Journal of Land and Public Utility  reported that by 1947, the majority of houses in Westchester, Queens and Nassau counties had covenants prohibiting sales to African Americans.    Andrew Beveridge, a demographer at Queens College in New York who was a expert witness in the Westchester County suit stated "The segregation patterns were laid down early in Westchester County, were certainly set by the 1950s,and they continue today.    How can Rob Astorino defend local zoning laws when these same laws were created to keep African Americans and Latinos out of these same communities?    The Astorino campaign has completely ignored experts,has been defiant to a settlement and has remained constant in keeping laws that over decades have adversely kept African Americans out of specific communities.  Astorino's  position in keeping African Americans and Latinos out of communities that historically kept them out through their zoning laws is no different than LA Clippers owner Ron Sterling attitude when he said, "he does not want blacks in his stadium".     Blaming the Federal Government for overreaching when they try to correct local zoning laws that adversely affect African Americans and Latinos of lower economic lifestyle from buying or renting homes is like blaming NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for overreaching when he penalized the LA Clippers owner  Ron Sterling for not wanting blacks in his stadium.  Mr. Astorino, this is not about the Taxpayer!  First you supported a Segregated Westchester now You are running for Governor on a Segregated New York!

Republicans Block the New York State Dream Act- Another Dream Differed!

Many felt it wasn’t the right time, but New York state Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein thought it was.

He was wrong.

Last Monday night, the state Senate rejected a bill that would have provided tuition assistance to undocumented college students. Falling two votes short of the 32 needed for passage, the Dream Act could’ve made a significant impact on the 8,000 college-age immigrants who were brought to this country by their parents as kids.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed his disappointment with the results in a statement, but he said he’d continue to advocate for the passage of the Dream Act.

“I will continue to work with supporters, stakeholders and members of the Legislature to achieve this dream and build the support to pass this legislation and preserve New York’s legacy as a progressive leader,” said Cuomo.

Other elected officials weren’t as diplomatic in their reaction.

“Today, as the New York state Dream Act was brought to the Senate floor, not a single Republican voted in favor of this critical legislation,” Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement after the bill failed. “Senate Co-Leader Klein was incapable of achieving the bipartisan support that was essential for the Dream Act to pass due to the current composition of the state Senate.”

State Sen. Bill Perkins said that a dream was deferred “despite the fact that a majority of senators present voted for the Dream Act; the final vote was 30 for the measure and 29 against. A majority generally rules—in the schoolyard, in the boardroom and at the ballot box—just not in the New York state Senate, where a coalition rules.”

Klein’s Independent Democratic Conference allies with Senate Republicans, forming the chamber’s governing coalition. Klein has all but said that the Senate majority isn’t interested in revisiting the Dream Act.

“Few of us can imagine the heartbreak that the nearly 4,000 dreamers who graduate from high school in our state each year are experiencing,” said state Sen. Adriano Espaillat in a statement. “Few of us can imagine the frustration and anger that bright young New Yorkers who have lived in this country virtually their entire lives feel every day they are denied the chance to succeed through hard work. Few of us can imagine how much good would be accomplished through the modest investment required by the Dream Act.”

But activists aren’t taking the defeat lying down. With the desire to have the government meet their needs, more than 400 people took to Albany on Wednesday, protesting at the state Capitol and demanding fair funding for public education, the eventual passage of the Dream Act, a ban on hydrofracking and the prevention of billions of dollars in tax breaks for wealthy New Yorkers.

Fifty-nine people were arrested.

Westchester Independence Party wins appeal to kick out nearly 4,000 of its members

Westchester Independence Party wins appeal to kick out nearly 4,000 of its members

lohud.com

The party endorsed his Democratic rival but pursued a purge of the membership of nearly all the voters who registered with it after the beginning of 2012.

The purge of 4,000 members cuts the party down by about 17 percent.

Supreme Court Judge Robert DiBella at the end of February allowed the party to kick out 31 members after he was presented with evidence that they were not in sympathy with the principles of the party, the standard in state law for removing members. The law is designed to prevent raids on minor parties that would turn them into adjuncts of the major parties.

The party appealed DiBella's ruling on the other 3,000-plus members who didn't show up to party hearings or send letters contesting their removal. In a ruling Wednesday, the Appellate Division said failing to appear or respond was sufficient evidence under state law.

Peter Tilem, the lawyer for the Independence Party, said it gives the loyal members their vote back.

"When you have 4,000 people that are enrolled in your party that are doing it to subvert the principles of the party it damages the party," he said.

The voters will still be able to cast ballots but will be moved to the unaffiliated column.

The Failed Republican Party Raid of the Independence Party

As part of its continuing effort to thwart what its leaders said was a Republican raid of the party, the Independence Party of Westchester succeeded in persuading a state judge to allow it to kick out 31 party members at the end of February.

But in the same decision, state Supreme Court Judge Robert DiBella refused to accede to the party’s request to remove nearly 4,000 other members, saying the party didn’t present enough evidence that each individual was not in sympathy with the party’s principles as required by state law. But the party has appealed the decision and will be back in court on Friday at the Appellate Division in Brooklyn.

“We’re seeking to get the judge overturned on the rest of them,” said Peter Tilem, the lawyer for the party.

Independence Party leaders have said the large number of new members of the Independence Party in 2012 and 2013 were the result of a deliberate plan by the Republican Party to take control of the party, remove the leadership and get the ballot line for Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino in his reelection last year. Some of the new members had clear ties to the county executive and his top lieutenants while others said they enrolled to try out an alternative to the major parties.

Astorino, a Republican now running for governor, lost the chance to get the party line in August when his primary election write-in bid was invalidated by Judge DiBella. DiBella ruled that the petitions were filed late and also agreed to disenroll six members of the Independence Party who filed the petitions, rendering them invalid. Astorino lost again on appeal.

In his gubernatorial campaign, Astorino has said he will not accept the Independence Party line because the party stands for only its own self-interest. He is calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to do the same.

Emboldened by the earlier win, the Independence Party leadership last fall brought both the state case to disenroll nearly 4,000 members and a federal case alleging an illegal raid on the party to control the outcome of the primary election. A pre-motion conference in the federal case is set for April 2.

Most of the 31 people removed from the party (who kept their registrations as unaffiliated voters) in the latest case said they had enrolled by mistake or agreed to being disenrolled.

Astorino's Hypocracy known all over New York State

Despite  Astorino's criticizing the Independence Party as corrupt today, Rob Astorino has made a combined $14,750 in political contributions to the political party since 2007, including a personal check for $3,000 in 2008, all in an attempt to secure their endorsement in his various races over the years. In fact, Rob Astorino sought and received the Independence Party endorsement in 2003 and 2009 when he ran against incumbent Westchester County Executive Andy Spano.
 
Just last year as he was gearing up for his reelection, Astorino made a contribution of$6,000 in May in the hopes of persuading the Independence Party to endorse him once again. When the party went with his challenger, he then tried to hijack the Independence Party nominating process by having his friends, family, and staff register as Independents to carry nominating petitions for him. In the end, a judge invalidated his petitions and called him out on the shady practice.