Harrison on eliminating tolls on the Verrazano

via the Staten Island Advance;

Staten Island's two congressional candidates presented dueling proposals yesterday for the best use of toll revenue generated by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge "cash cow."

SNIP

Meanwhile, Stephen Harrison, the Democratic challenger for the congressional seat, took a different approach to providing relief for local bridge users. Harrison called for eliminating the toll entirely for all Staten Island and Brooklyn residents who live within the 13th Congressional District. Such a move would provide more cohesion for district constituents, he said.

State law requires congressional districts to be "compact, contiguous, and convenient," Harrison said, adding "those three things do not exist when you have a $9 toll separating this district."

Fossella's camp dismissed Harrison's idea as unlikely, but Harrison said he thinks it could work, and would rather be known for his willingness to dream big rather than continue to saddle Staten Island and Brooklyn commuters with one of the nation's highest bridge tolls.

The $9 toll incurred by Staten Islanders brought in a $267 million surplus is 2005. For his part Rep. Vito Fossella suggested using half of the surplus for transportation initatives in the district.

Fossella said he plans to introduce a bill to amend the National Highway System Designation Act to require 50 percent of the Verrazano surplus to be earmarked for the two boroughs.

It is great to know the Fossella knows how to introduce bills in Congress because there are a handful of things his constituents could use his help on;

Better paying jobs: 15% of Staten Island makes less than $25,000 per household
Eliminating poverty; 9% of Staten Island lives in poverty
Healthcare support for our troops; 20% of reservists do not have basic health insurance

Fossella (R) scared to debate Harrison (D): day 35

Stephen Harrison Really Gets It

A great post by mole333 a fellow NYC blogger who is also following the Harrison v. Rep. Vito Fossella race. Add Daily Gotham to your RSS feeds if it isn't already on your radar.

I recently met Steve Harrison, the Democratic candidate running against corrupt Halliburton Republican Vito Fossella. Before meeting him, I mainly supported Harrison because I wanted to see Cheney buddy Fossella get the boot. But now I find I can really get behind Harrison because he is a great candidate.

One of the things I like about him is he understands what is at stake and how to stand up to the Republicans in Congress who have failed us on defense. For example, Steve Harrison put the Iraq war into almost perfect perspective. He gave credit for this perspective to one of his staff members, but it really says it all. Suppose for a moment Bush had not lied about Iraq. Let's suppose that Bush does bring stability and democracy to Iraq and the civil war calms down and we can pull out our troops. Would you, after that, feel safer than you did just after 9/11? No! Why? Because Iraq had nothing to do with the attack on America and whether we win or lose in Iraq has nothing to do with making us safer. Iraq was nothing but a DISTRACTION from the war against those who attacked us.

He went on to point out how we could secure our ports by installing scanners for cargo for a fraction of the cost of the Iraq war and it would have made us FAR safer. As it is less than 5% of what comes into port is checked. 95% of what comes into any American port could be anything including a dirty bomb. It is our main vulnerability and Harrison thinks we need to address that.

Fossella opposed securing our ports because "inspections would be too hard and too expensive." Of course the call is NOT for inspections but for scanners, not so different from the scanners at the airport. Fossella even claimed that the technology didn't exist! Well, the technology does exist (Harrison points out it is a glorified Geiger-Mueller counter) and even if it didn't, funny how that didn't stop Americans from FINDING the technology to defend themselves during other wars. Fossella did a typical Republican tactic of arguing against something that wasn't even proposed.

Another thing that struck me about Steve is that he recognizes this need to avoid using Republican terms for things and instead framing the dialogue to meet our Democratic values. Boy do we need that! Sadly, too many Congressional Democrats, and even aspiring Congressmen like David Yassky, fail to recognize how desperately we need to use our own terminology and take control of the dialogue. Steve gets this!

Fossella (R) scared to debate Harrison (D)

Democratic tidal wave heading for NY

via The Buffalo News

Clinton and Spitzer could get spreads of 30 percentage points or more over no-name brands dusted off by the ragged Pataki organization.

SNIP

Polls last week suggest that Clinton and Spitzer could win by more than two and a quarter million votes each on Nov. 7 even in a moderate turnout.

Not only is a Democratic tidal wave heading for New York, but the protective dike that a popular president could provide has washed out. Bush's favorability ranking in New York is now running 10 points behind his national score - which is in the mid-30s.

Today's Census Poverty Numbers

The new Census numbers today show that poverty levels in New York state are up 14.8% (2004-2005) compared to 14.6% (2003-2004), this compared to the national average of 12.7 (04-05) and 12.6% (03-04).

Today the NY Times covers the food stamp usage increases in the state which directly related to these increased poverty numbers;

In contrast, the number of people using food stamps also peaked in March 1995, at 1,458,300, and then fell to a low of 798,396 in January 2002, the same month Mr. Bloomberg took office. Since then, with the exception of a few months, the number has risen rather consistently. The current number, just shy of 1.1 million, is about the same as it was in 1998.

In a city of just over 8 million residents, it is an absolute failure of our government that 1.1 million (13.6%) of those residents use food stamps, a number far short of those struggling to make ends meet.

We have covered Rep. Vito Fossella's failure on the issue on Staten Island here and here.

WFP on Poverty numbers

via WFPBlog

New Census Data: Poverty Up in NY
WFP Urges Candidates (including Our Own) to Focus on Issue

NEW YORK, NY -- Reacting to the release of new census data that shows poverty up in New York State in 2004-2005, the Working Families Party called on candidates for state office, including those that it has endorsed, to address the issue of poverty in New York.

According to the Census Bureau, the poverty rate increased again in New York State, rising from 14.6% in 2003-2004 to 14.8% in 2004-2005.
"It's a stinging reminder of the class divide here at home, on the first anniversary of Hurrican Katrina, to learn that poverty is rising here in New York. More than 2.5 million New Yorkers living at or under the official poverty level, and millions more struggle to make ends meet. Voters should be hearing more from the candidates, including those we've been endorsed, about their plans to ensure that every New Yorker has access to a living wage job," said Dan Cantor, executive director of the WFP.

Working Families Party has endorsed Stephen Harrison

Fossella (R) scared to debate Harrison (D)

Sunlight Links

Sunlight Labs a part of the Sunlight Foundation has created a great new little (big) tool I am going to start implementing. You will start to notice little suns next to Congress members's names like this:

Vito Fossella

Give it some roll over love and you can get more info on that Congress member.

"The Sunlight Foundation was founded in January 2006 with the goal of using the revolutionary power of the Internet and new information technology to enable citizens to learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing, and thus help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency and accountability by government, and foster public trust in the vital institutions of democracy."

NY13 added to Room Eight

Room Eight New York added NY13 to their congressional blogroll. Room Eight is "a place for insiders and informed outsiders to have a running conversation about New York politics ... as well as in-depth coverage of the New York Congressional delegation". For a comprehensive look at everything NYC Government swing by r8ny and return the traffic favor.

Fossella (R) scared to debate Harrison (D)

Democratic message

This is what the Democratic message sounds like via Kirsten Gilibrand's website. Kirsten is the Democratic challenger to a Republican held seat in upstate NY, and another great example of what the Democratic alternative looks like.

AP Ipsos polling

via Donkey Rising

...fewer than 100 days before the Nov. 7 election, the AP-Ipsos poll suggested the midterms are clearly turning into a national referendum on Bush.

The number of voters who say their congressional vote this fall will be in part to express opposition to the president jumped from 20 percent last month to 29 percent, driven by double-digit increases among males, minorities, moderate and conservative Democrats and Northeasterners.

And the kicker:

On the generic question of whether voters would back the Democrat or Republican, 55 percent of registered voters chose the Democrat and 37 percent chose the Republican, a slight increase for Democrats from last month.

"The signs now point to the most likely outcome of Democrats gaining control of the House," said Robert Erikson, a Columbia University political science professor.

Republicans agree with Harrison on withdraw

Rep. Chris Shays, a Republican from Connecticut's 4th Congressional district is today calling for a troop withdrawal date from Iraq, similar to what Stephen Harrison (D) called for in his National Security speech on Tuesday.

Shays, long a supporter of the war and previously an opponent of withdrawal timetables, said he hopes to offer a specific time frame after he holds congressional hearings on Iraq next month. Few other congressional Republicans have supported setting a timeline.

"Our troops cannot be there indefinitely."

via MSNBC, Rep. Chris Shays (R) CT-04

I guess Rep. Vito Fossella believes his fellow Republicans are cutting and running just as he accused Stephen Harrison of after they both called for a troop withdraw. Of course we will never hear that from Fossella, after all he is a supporter of President Bush, he flies on planes with him, and advocates 'staying the course' indefinitely. Who exactly is acting in the best interests of our troops?

Fossella doesn't support our troops

Rep. Fossella opposed expanding access to the military's TRICARE health insurance program to thousands of Reservist and National Guard members, even though 20 percent of all Reservists do not have health insurance, and 40 percent of Reservists aged 19 to 35 lack health coverage.

HR 1815 , Vote #221, 5/25/2005


Rep. Fossella voted against granting a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and Reserve forces.

HR 3289, Vote #554, 10/17/2003

“Despite their claim to be strong on national defense, Vito Fossella and the Republicans continue to pursue policies that dramatically and demonstrably weaken us in the eyes of the world. They talk a good game but they do not produce when it counts.” from Stephen Harrison's policy page.

Fossella (R) scared to debate Harrison (D)

It has now been 29 days since Harrison (D) asked Rep. Vito Fossella to participate in a series of debates, and it is also the 28th day that Rep. Fossella has done anything he can to avoid the debates. Congress has been on recess for the month of August so Fossella had plenty of time to arrange a debate schedule but instead he and his campaign manager used their time to criticize Harrison for wanting debates. What are you scared of Vito? Besides being a Republican...

Harrison Fliering at the Public Library Manhattan

On Friday, the 25th, at 5:30pm, the Harrison campaign will be doing outreach at the express bus stops in front of the Public Library in Manhattan. They will
spend an hour or so meeting voters and distributing literature to people
waiting to go home to Staten Island. If you are around stop by and help out and meet the campaign and other volunteers.

3,000 Visitors

Today we surpassed 3,000 visitors in just 8 months. Mind you February, May and June were extremely slow in news and postings. August is already the highest trafficked month with a week still left. Expect these numbers to keep increasing as we get closer to November and this race starts getting a little more attention after the September 12th NY primaries. The take away from these numbers is that interest in this race is growing.

You can always follow the traffic patterns of this blog by clicking on the site meter button on the right side.

Harrison vs. Fossella on National Security

Reminder: Meet and greet with Stephen Harrison tonight, details here

Sadly it wasn't at an actual debate as Rep. Vito Fossella is still doing his best to avoid those. Instead it was through seperate interviews in regards to Stephen Harrison's National Security speech. The Staten Island Advance briefly covers the speech and reaction here.

It is not hard to guess where this back and forth was heading, even Steve could foresee enough to predict it in his own speech on Tuesday;

"Now I am sure that as soon as this speech hits the news, Vito Fossella and a gaggle of Republicans, following the advice of Karl Rove, will say Steve Harrison, like all the Democrats, wants to cut and run. He will be wrong. I am not here to cut and run."

As expected Fossella comes out with this brilliant piece on Wednesday, which leads me to guess he had not actually heard Steve's speech:

"It's clear that Steve is advocating a cut-and-run policy," Fossella said. "Despite what he calls it, it is cut and run."

Steve's closing remarks from his Tuesday speech;

"The truth is that it is George Bush and the Republicans who are cutting and running from the American people. They cutting and running from his responsibility to the American people to protect them, to give them hope, to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence to allow Americans to pursue happiness in its simplest form, freedom from fear, normalcy."

Rep. Fossella had a chance to use his time to arrange debates with his Democratic challenger, but instead he ignored that and the people and came out with his brilliant 'cut and run' that is soo Republicaneese that I can hear President Bush saying that when Fossella speaks.

It is Rep. Fossella who has failed to stand up and introduce legistlation for more body armor for our troops.

It is Rep. Fossella who has failed to hold the President accountable for his failed policies the keep our resources in the Middle East instead of at home in our communities.

It is Rep. Fossella who is underfunding Veterans benefits and the medical needs [and this story, this story, and this one] of our troops returning home. The Department of Defense lists 19,323 US soldiers Injured in Action in Iraq alone.

Rep. Vito Fossella and our Republican Congress are the ones cutting and running from our own armed forces members, not candidates who want to bring them home to their families.

Excerpts from Harrison's National Security Speech, Part III

Reminder: Meet and greet with Stephen Harrison tonight, details here

The conclusion. Part III of Stephen Harrison's speech on National Security. In this section Stephen outlines a three step solution that clearly offers an alternative to Rep. Vito Fossella and this 'do nothing' Congress and President.

"I and my fellow democrats reject that fear, and today I want to turn the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn to light and to hope. There is a route and a plan that, if taken, can restore our sense of security, our sense of peace and our sense of normalcy by freeing us from the bleak picture of our future painted by George Bush, Vito Fossella and company. It is a renewed sense of purpose that, through common sense, we can take back that, which was taken from us.

How do we do this?

First, we must restore our military capability and be prepared to defend America from rogue sovereign states and stateless terrorists. The mere existence of this military gives America the necessary upper hand in negotiations with rogue states. We must have the strongest military in the world and we can again. But to do this we must reverse the Bush tax giveaways to the oil corporations and the rich. Then we must use that money to build the military to the levels necessary and to properly equip the troops to do their jobs. And when we get that military we must only use it for just actions with clearly defined objectives so that we know we can win. With that restored military we can rein in the likes of Iran and North Korea rather than empower them.

Second, we must have an energy policy that eliminates America’s dependence on foreign oil within a decade – just like that good Democrat John F. Kennedy asked for when he wanted to put a man on the moon. He succeeded, and so can we with the same kind of focused program. Now I know that the usual goal of alternative energy sources is for environmental reasons, to stop global warning and clean our planet. It is also becoming an economic must. As oil disappears, its price will forever climb. The price of energy will only come down when we switch to alternative fuels. But rarely is this cited as a national security or national defense issue. It is. Indeed, we fund both sides of the war on terrorism right now as we buy the oil to fuel our tanks and jeeps from the same countries that use the petro dollars to buy the arms they use against us. Fifty years ago we had no problems in the Middle East because we were not dependent on their oil. Fifty years from now the dependence will disappear as oil disappears. But the next fifty years will be brutal as we fight more oil wars in the Middle East – make no mistake that Iraq was an oil war – so that we can heat our homes in the winter. In the Middle East we are unwanted guests who have taken their wealth and diminished their rich culture. When we finally complete our withdrawal from oil the terrorist attacks will disappear because our interest in the Middle East will fade away. Arabia and America will be free to pursue their separate destinies This is not cut and run, it is common sense. It is not worth the life of a single American or Arab to argue over a diminishing resource. We must invest in alternative technology, create good American jobs and end terrorism to boot. It’s quite a return on our investment and we need better leadership to make this happen.

Third, we must have secure borders and effective homeland security and a good, well funded, nationwide, second responder system like CERT to spring into action when disasters do occur. I started this speech with the success of the British in cracking the London plot. Now I will mention a failure. Last week a cloud of gas covered Staten Island. It took days before our responders knew anything about it, and important questions still remain. What if this had been a chemical or biological attack? It is unconscionable that five years after 9/11 we’re still so poorly prepared to defend our homeland. George Bush and the Congress Members who supported him, must be held accountable for this.

We can solve this problem, but it will take money, many billions that would be available had George Bush not squandered hundreds of millions in the sands of Iraq. If we end that war and reverse the Bush tax giveaways to the rich, we can swiftly implement the necessary scans to detect radiation in 100% of the containers coming into our ports and to Staten Island rather than the current 5% as supported by the Republicans who generally don’t live anywhere near our district and also by Congressman Fossella."

"The truth is that it is George Bush and the Republicans who are cutting and running from the American people. They cutting and running from his responsibility to the American people to protect them, to give them hope, to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence to allow Americans to pursue happiness in its simplest form, freedom from fear, normalcy."

UPDATE
Part I
Part II

Meet Steve Thursday night

Meet and Greet for Steve Harrison, tonight Thursday August 24th at 7:00pm. Wine and cheese will be served.



7:00
Ozzie's 249 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, at Garfield
Easy access by the R to Union, or 2,3 to Bergen or Grand Army Plaza.

GOOGLE MAPS

Excerpts from Harrison's National Security Speech, Part II

I am traveling today, and had my bags lost, so posting is obviously light. If only Philly International's free wifi actually worked...

This is part II of yesterday's National Security speech by Stephen Harrison. In this section he outlines the faults of this President, administration and Congress in their lack of oversight and accountability.

Stephen Harrison (D) vs. President Bush and his administration;

"And we must get the truth from George Bush. In Congress I will call for congressional hearings to assess blame for this abomination. We must restore congressional oversight of military matters. And we must lay the blame where it belongs, at the feet of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rice and Wolfowitz."

"But within no time we lost that good will as George Bush and company set out on an adventurist trek into Iraq. We condoned torture and stripped our own citizens of freedoms in the name of patriotism. We profiled and marginalized Arab Americans as terrorists rather than embracing them as good Americans who could help us in our time of need with intelligence, local knowledge and language skills clearly missing in the inventory of our intelligence community. We shunned the reasonable requests of the UN to wait for the results of weapons inspections and we went to war with what we called the “coalition of the willing”, a term designed to insult those people who, it later turned out were right in asking us to wait."

"While we were at it, the President decimated our military and made our nation more vulnerable than ever before. While we fought an enormously expensive war on the backs of the poor, with the lives of the children of the poor, the Bush administration gave unprecedented tax breaks to the oil companies and the wealthy, resulting in a six trillion-dollar deficit."

"This president loves to praise the troops and thank the troops and encourage the troops and he says he supports the troops. But he has underequipped the troops, understaffed the troops, underpaid the troops and overworked the troops. His actions do not match his words."

"He ordered our freedoms cut and he questioned the patriotism of those who questioned him. He made us look with fear at our fellow citizens on the subway, on the ferry or on the bus. In the world of George Bush, olive skinned people with backpacks became terrorists with bomb packs. Fear became the watchword. I fear that my children and theirs will be fighting this war of fear for generations to come. Fear, war, suspicions, violence, isolation. This is the world that George Bush has planned for us. A dark and bleak world that he says we must live in for generations."

Rep. Vito Fossella, through his lack of desire for accountability has enabled all of these blunders on the part of the President. Only Congress has the ability to investigate and hold the President accountable. If Rep. Fossella wants to spend his time attacking his opponent and screaming "Fear! Terror!" then so be it, because meanwhile Stephen Harrison will be out campaigning and promoting a vision for the people of the thirteenth Congressional district.

UPDATE
Part I
Part III

Excerpts from Harrison's National Security Speech

In what probably will be viewed as Stephen Harrison's best and most comprehensive policy speech of his campaign to date, today's speech on National Security really drives home to true price of what it means to the district to have Rep. Vito Fossella in office, and what it can look like with Stephen Harrison representing us instead. The speech is too detailed to repost in full, so I will post excerpts in segments. Without further ado, Stephen Harrison, the next Congressman from the thirteenth Congressional district of New York State;

"Our nation is threatened by an enemy as cruel as any we have ever faced. Nearly five years ago, our city was scarred by the worst attack ever to fall on American soil. Only two weeks ago the British cracked a terrorist plot to bomb multiple planes over the Atlantic. Looking back on the years between these two attacks, I must ask, what has our leadership done to make us safer? Three and one-half years after Pearl Harbor, Japan was defeated and the threat to our nation removed. So why is it, that almost five years after 9/11, we are still facing new attacks?
The only answer can be that our nation’s leaders have made tremendous mistakes in the war on terror. Throughout the last five years, armchair warriors in the White House and in Congress have wrapped themselves in an obsession with Iraq that has left all of us less safe. They refuse to listen to our allies, or even to their own generals. They push aside brave, experienced men, like Colin Powell, who questioned the wisdom of their course. Most unforgivably, they have chosen to set aside facts, and live in a fantasy world of their own making for political advantage."

"Despite years of war in Iraq, at a cost of tens of thousands of mostly innocent lives and hundreds of billions of dollars, at the price of our moral leadership of the world and the shattering of our close alliances we are no closer to defeating terrorism. We are no safer because of Iraq. Indeed we are less secure. There is no evidence that terrorists operated from Iraq before the war but there is much to suggest that terrorist organizations now do."

"Al Qaeda used Afghanistan as a training ground for terrorist operations on American shores and the Taliban protected them. I supported that war and I still do. We left Afghanistan too early to enter Iraq. As a result, the Bush administration left UBL free to this day and we see a reemergence of the Taliban. That’s unconscionable. Osama bin laden caused 9/11. For the sake of our nation, for the children and mothers and spouses of those who died that day, we, as a nation, must hunt down and capture or kill him. It is that simple. It must never be said that an attack on our land stood unavenged. Had a competent president been in charge, he would have listened to his generals on Afghanistan. We would have gone in with overwhelming force and we would have won and captured UBL."

"Iraq, regardless of whether you initially supported it or opposed it has been a colossal failure of leadership."

UPDATE
Part II
Part III

Op-ed piece in the Staten Island Advance

I hope to get the text of Stephen's speech up soon, or at least excerpts of it. In the mean time, take a look at a great piece from Sunday's Staten Island Advance by Brian Kaszuba about Rep. Vito Fossella (R) trying to duck debates with Stephen (D);

I could correct all his [referring to Fossella's campaign manager] errors here, but the voters don't want to hear from Mr. Mika or me; they want to hear from the candidates. And they deserve to.

If Mr. Fossella is as confident on port security as Mr. Mika would have us believe, then fine. Let him debate it, one-on-one with his opponent.

Great framing. We have heard enough from everyone else on Rep. Fossella's campaign, except the candidate himself. While the Fossella campaign hopes November will come before they have to debate Stephen Harrison, the constituents are starting to question Rep. Fossella.

Harrison to deliver National Security Speech TODAY

bumped - will be top of the page until 1pm today



On Tuesday the 22nd at 1:00, Stephen Harrison will be making a speech on national security at the Gold Star Post of the American Legion, 17 Cannon Ave, Travis. In this speech, he will lay out his policy on the war in Iraq,the larger fight against terrorism, and how we can get beyond living in
fear. All are invited!

Fossella not working nor debating

As a follow up to our ongoing 'why is Vito scared to debate' series, I just wanted to point out this interesting schedule for Rep. Fossella. As the House calendar shows us, Rep. Vito Fossella has not had any work in Washington D.C. since July 31st as Congress is on break. Furthermore he doesn't have to return until after Labor Day. So it is perplexing why Fossella refuses to debate. Stephen Harrison has been asking him to debate for the past 25 days, 21 of those Fossella has been in the district campaigning. It isn't ski season on Staten Island is it?

Fossella (R) scared to debate Harrison (D)

It has now been five days since Stephen Harrison's (D) campaign had to go to Rep. Vito Fossella's campaign headquarters and hold a press conference to force him to agree to a debate.

This week, we took matters into our own hands, and went to Fossella’s campaign office to personally deliver the challenge. Trapped in front of news cameras, Fossella’s campaign manager had no choice but to agree to debate. Of course, Fossella has already started to make excuses about scheduling problems, and you can be sure he’ll do everything he can to avoid appearing before the people of our district.

Rep. Fossella doesn't think the residents of the thirteenth congressional district deserve to hear why he thinks they should send him back to D.C. for another failure of a term. No wonder when he supported the President in attacking Iraq, when he supported the reckless spending and fiscal policy of this President and when he supported the failed energy policy's of Dick Cheney that have gas prices at their highlest levels in recent history. I guess I would avoid talking to my constituents too if I was Rep. Vito Fossella.

AFL-CIO

The AFL-CIO assesses legislators based on voting patterns on a list of key issues, including health care, pensions, and public support for higher education, Costello said.

“The average American worker today earns about $35,000 per year, and goes largely unrepresented in Congress. We think it’s time to clean house.”

- AFL-CIO representative Peggy Costella, via Eric Massa's website



31% of Staten Island makes less than $35,000; source 2000 Census and Stephen Harrison (D) who was recently endorsed by the AFL-CIO is here to help us clean house.

Harrison to deliver National Security Speech TOMORROW

On Tuesday the 22nd at 1:00, Steve will be making a speech on national
security at the Gold Star Post of the American Legion, 17 Cannon Ave,
Travis. In this speech, he will lay out his policy on the war in Iraq,
the larger fight against terrorism, and how we can get beyond living in
fear. All are invited!

Challenger Strategy, Part II

MyDD in conjnction with the Courage Campaign released some interesting poll results and strategy for Democratic Congressional challengers last week. I coverd suggestions 1 and 2 already and now present the third and fourth of six suggestions;

3. Republicans cannot run against Bush and Iraq. Voters do not think that Republicans are willing to hold Bush or other administration figures accountable for those mistakes, so Republican Congressional dissent on the war is unlikely to help Republicans. But dissent will, in fact, work to Democratic candidates' advantage. It shows strength and, most importantly, principle and personal values.

4. `Terrorism' scares only work in the absence of strong accountability messaging, since Republicans are no longer trustworthy on issues of war and peace. Voters know Republicans will let mistakes slide and they want accountability in the face of that.

“Despite their claim to be strong on national defense, Vito Fossella and the Republicans continue to pursue policies that dramatically and demonstrably weaken us in the eyes of the world. They talk a good game but they do not produce when it counts.” Stephen Harrison (D).

Steve Harrison opposes the Bush tax cuts, as clear and present threats to our national security and our international standing.

The Bush administration’s irresponsible fiscal policy, supported by Congressman Fossella, has left us with huge debt and no funds to increase America’s defense forces to the size needed for multiple theatre combat. via Stephen Harrion's Military Forces issue page.

Fossella ducking debates with Harrison

It has now been four days since Stephen Harrison's (D) campaign had to go to Rep. Vito Fossella's campaign headquarters and hold a press conference to force him to agree to a debate. This after Fossella didn't respond to his original request for 20 days. But for an incumbent who stalls for 20 days by saying he never recieved the letter asking for the debates clearly he won't be making this easy. Fossella's campaign is now in the third day of agreeing in theory to debate but turning down most if not all of the 8 potential dates offered by Harrison.

This week, we took matters into our own hands, and went to Fossella’s campaign office to personally deliver the challenge. Trapped in front of news cameras, Fossella’s campaign manager had no choice but to agree to debate. Of course, Fossella has already started to make excuses about scheduling problems, and you can be sure he’ll do everything he can to avoid appearing before the people of our district.

Rep. Fossella why don't you think the residents of the thirteenth district deserve a debate? Summer isn't good skiing weather, so why not stop making excuses and stand up for your record by debating Stephen Harrison (D)?

AFL-CIO endorses Harrison

Stephen Harrison picked up the AFL-CIO endorsement. In a signal of the strength of Democratic challengers and a true sign that Democrats are the party of the working class AFL-CIO has bucked some recent trends and has endorseed opponents of incumbents they typically backed in the past. Noteably they have endorsed David Mejias (D) over Rep. King (R) and Eric Massa (D) over Rep. Kuhl. This shift is rather indiciative of what we will see in November, and that is a Democratic Congress who supports an increase in the minimum wage not tied to an Estate Tax and supports the American workers and not trade agreements like CAFTA.

union endorsements for Harrison:
AFL-CIO
SEIU 1199
United Federation of Teachers
UFCW local 1500

Janele Hyer-Spencer also picked up the AFL-CIO endorsement in her race for the 60th Assembly seat.

Staten Island Little League

On ESPN now, Staten Island NY vs. Columbus, GA

3-2 Georgia, final
2-2 end of regulation
2-2 top of the sixth
1-1 bottom of the 3rd
rain delay
0-0 bottom of the 1st inning

Harrison to deliver National Security Speech

On Tuesday the 22nd at 1:00, Steve will be making a speech on national
security at the Gold Star Post of the American Legion, 17 Cannon Ave,
Travis. In this speech, he will lay out his policy on the war in Iraq,
the larger fight against terrorism, and how we can get beyond living in
fear. All are invited!

3+20, Vito still ducking debates

It has now been three days since Stephen Harrison's (D) campaign had to go to Rep. Vito Fossella's campaign headquarters and hold a press conference to force him to agree to a debate. This after Fossella didn't respond to his original request for 20 days. But for an incumbent who stalls for 20 days by saying he never recieved the letter asking for the debates clearly he won't be making this easy. Fossella's campaign is now in the third day of agreeing in theory to debate but turning down most if not all of the 8 potential dates offered by Harrison.

This week, we took matters into our own hands, and went to Fossella’s campaign office to personally deliver the challenge. Trapped in front of news cameras, Fossella’s campaign manager had no choice but to agree to debate. Of course, Fossella has already started to make excuses about scheduling problems, and you can be sure he’ll do everything he can to avoid appearing before the people of our district.

Rep. Fossella why don't you think the residents of the thirteenth district deserve a debate? Summer isn't good skiing weather, so why not stand up for your record?

The Democratic Bench, Matthew Titone

With the retirement of State Senator Marachi in the 24th Senate district comes an opportunity for Democrats to pick up another seat in Staten Island and deepening their bench.

City Councilman Andrew Lanza (R) appears to be the Republican favorite, picking up endorsements from basically every elected Republican official short of Marachi.



On the Democratic side Matthew Titone appears to be the party's best shot at the nomination. He is the son of Hon. Vito Titone, Staten Island's Court of Appeals Judge. Matthew practices law in a private firm on Staten Island.

Via Titone's issue page;

As our State Senator, Matt Titone will continue to fight for the people of Staten Island. He will tackle Staten Island's TRAFFIC, TRANSPORTATION and OVER-DEVELOPMENT crises, fighting for our fair share of EDUCATION FUNDING, improving HEALTH CARE services on Staten Island, and fighting for meaningful TAX RELIEF for our seniors, veterans and middle income families.

"The call to public service should be answered with dedicated service to the community, and not to one's own self interest."

Should Lanza win the seat, his City Council seat would open up for Dems to take, but I would much rather him stay in City Council as one of the rare Republicans and send Matthew Titone to Albany.

Challenger Strategy

MyDD in conjnction with the Courage Campaign released some interesting poll results and strategy for Democratic Congressional challengers today. The first two of six suggestions follow;

1. Iraq must be central in your campaign and you must blame Republicans for it Ignoring Iraq, downplaying its significance, or accepting Bush's framework by not blaming leaders is a sign to voters that you are weak, unlikely to bring change, and not addressing the main issue of the day. Regardless of how you approach the policy going forward in Iraq, the key trait that voters seek is a willingness to hold failed leaders accountable for the debacle. Be willing to uncover the truth, place blame, and demand consequences.

2. The debate on whether Bush is a competent, trustworthy President is over. He is considered among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents a leader who makes mistakes and then won't tell the truth about those mistakes. This is not about competence. This is about massive failure of leadership with no end in sight.

From Harrison's Policy page; “The Bush administration has not articulated a rationale for the continuation of this war. The current objective is not clear and the original reasons given by the Bush administration for the war were proven false. Why they were false – lies or incompetence – is beside the point. They were false nonetheless. There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Iraq was not responsible for 9/11. So there is no basis to continue.”

“This war represents the Bush administrations policy of national offense unrelated to a policy of national defense. The purpose of a strong national defense is to avoid wars, not start them.”


As for Rep. Vito Fossella (R) well we know Iraq is not an issue he cares to discuss. Check out his Issues page if you don't believe me, and then check out a Google search of his website for the word Iraq.

Fossella ducking debates with Harrison

Frustrated that he hadn't received a response to his challenge to a series of debates, Democratic congressional candidate Stephen Harrison yesterday went to the source -- the Grant City campaign headquarters of his opponent, Rep. Vito Fossella -- to make his request in person.

"He has a responsibility to the people of the district and the people of America to engage in these debates," Harrison said before going into the Republican congressman's headquarters on Hylan Boulevard to hand-deliver a letter challenging Fossella to at least four debates.

via Staten Island Advance

While Rep. Vito Fossella (R) wasn't there (skiing?) his campaign manager was and accepted the letter from Harrison (D). While there Harrison held a press conference in the parking lot explaining why it has been so difficult to get Fossella to agree to a debate. Conveniently Fossella's campaign agreed to debate(s) yet idicated they probably would not be available for most of the 8 potential dates Harrison offered. While this is slightly better than the refusal to acknowledge the debate request for the past 20 days, Fossella is still playing games at a cost to his constiuents who benefit from public debates.

The Democratic Bench, Janele Hyer-Spencer

In between covering Rep. Fossella's ski trips and lack of understanding the needs of the working class I am going to start trying to cover the state and city offices, that essentially is the Democratic bench in the 13th Congressional District.

Today we will focus on Janele Hyer-Spencer who is running for the State Assembly seat being vacated by Mirones, and is a key Democratic pick-up opportunity. She is running for the seat in the 60th Assembly district on the east shore of Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn.

She has an upcoming fund raiser if you are interested in supporting her campaign and/or learning more about her:

SATURDAY AUGUST 19, 2006
The Staten Island Winery
106 Wakefield Avenue
12-3 P.M.

The Staten Island Advance does a nice write up on the race for this seat.

UPDATE Janele's campaign link corrected and photo added

Fossella ducking debates with Harrison

On July 28th Stephen Harrison (D) invited Rep. Vito Fossella (R) to four debates in various areas of the 13th congressional district.

20 days later and Rep. Vito Fossella has yet to respond.

WFP covers Fossella's fear of being Republican

The Working Families Party Blog is running with a story we covered here earlier that Rep. Vito Fossella and other Republicans throughout the state are trying as hard as they can to disassociate themselves from their own party.

It's not just Republican voters anymore, now Republican candidates are turning away from their party. Step 1 is to disown the Republican Party. Here are a few of the Republican incumbents in New York who are trying to recast themselves:

* Vito Fossella in CD13
* Sue Kelly in CD19
* James Walsh in CD25
* Tom Reynolds in CD26

In honor of the WFP mention, we repost the article below in full

Rep. Fossella wants another term in office but he is doing all he can to disassociate himself from the Republican Party. Apparently he is now running as an independent as the banner on his own website shows. Hey look they underlined it too just in case you didn't notice.



A simple google search shows only seven times the word 'Republican' appears on Fossella's campaign site, and six of those are news articles someone else wrote mentioning the R-word. Fossella's only use is this criticism of his own party:

Stood up to the Republican leadership and helped pass legislation to expand public funding of embryonic stem cell research to help find a cure for diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

It is probably not a bad thing to try to distance yourself from the corruption that is bringing down your own party. What I am looking forward to seeing is how he distances himself from his own corruption in his party. How do you run away from yourself? Again a question for his constituents to consider. If he is already useless bringing home money, and he is now running scared from his party, what use is he going to be when he suddenly is in the minority party after November?

Living on food stamps in Staten Island

The number of families receiving food stamps in Central New York has climbed by more than 50 percent since 2001.

That's a faster rise than the statewide increase of 41 percent.

Social services officials attribute the rise to a lagging economy, soaring gas prices, stronger efforts to enroll people who qualify, and changes in state and federal policies that have made more people eligible for food stamps.

Post Standard, Syracuse NY

The 2000 Census shows that in Staten Island family household income was struggling to make ends meet. 15.2% of the borough made less than $25,000. Of course this was back when we had a surplus under President Clinton and families were not burdened with today's economy and gas prices.

5.3% made less than $10,000
3.3% made $10,000 to $14,999
6.6% made $15,000 to $24,999

What has Rep. Vito Fossella done about this? [via his Issues page]

• He helped eliminate the Estate Tax which covers fewer than 2% of estates. In 2006, the tax is applicable to estates valued over $2,000,000.


• He helped provide tax credits for families who can afford to send their children to private schools.


• He defeated the proposal to eliminate mortgage deductions on taxes.


• Protected residents from the Alternative Minimum Tax which he notes effects families with incomes well over $50,000.

Of course if your family's household combined income is less than $25,000 none of this applies to you. I challenge anyone to find a policy or program he has supported that benefits families in this lowest income bracket.

"There is no social program in the country as important as a good job that pays well." - Sen. Bryan Dorgan

Steve Harrison favors using some of the revenue from repealing the Bush tax cuts for job creation from public and private sources, education, training and increasing the safety net available to those who cannot find work. He also believes in developing public policy that will discourage the outsourcing of blue and white-collar jobs overseas.

Recapturing the Northeast

A Washington-Post ABC News poll this month found Bush's approval rating at 28 percent in the Northeast -- 12 points below his national average. The Republican Congress fared no better.

Republican losses in the region could echo well beyond the 2006 campaign. Because much of the region is tilting Democratic, history suggests Republicans would find it hard to recapture seats once lost.

via Raw Story (via the Washington Post)

Fossella is ducking debates with Harrison

On July 28th Stephen Harrison invited Rep. Vito Fossella to four debates in various areas of the 13th congressional district.

19 days later and Rep. Vito Fossella has yet to respond.

Fossella + DeLay + Ney

Rep. Tom Reynolds head of the NRCC spoke on Sunday about his outlook on the New York state Congressional races. When asked about issues of corruption plaguing his party nation-wide he commented to the Post-Standard;

Reynolds also said he didn't expect that scandals that led Republican members Tom DeLay, of Texas, and Robert Ney, of Ohio, to decline re-election bids would hurt the GOP's chances of holding on to its slim House majority. House elections are basically local affairs that focus on local issues, he said.

DeLay's and Ney's troubles will have "no impact on other members' districts," Reynolds said.

If House elections are local affiars as Rep. Reynolds claims, why then did Tom DeLay (currently under indictment) and Rep. Bob Ney (giving up his Congressional seat due to possible indictments) decide to get involved with the district and Rep. Fossella? Tom DeLay's PAC contributed $10,000 to Rep. Vito Fossella which has yet to be returned, even though the PAC has been forced to shut down. And why did Rep. Bob Ney continually invite Rep. Vito Fossella (one of only four other members of Congress) on those skiing trips to Vail with campaign lobbyists? I agree DeLay and Ney may not sink every Republican campaign, but it can easily bring down a campaign like Rep. Fossella's when his constituents find out he has been taking favors from both of them. Fossella made Tom DeLay and Bob Ney a campaign issue.

Vito in favor of privatizing Social Security

via the Staten Island Advance;

Democratic congressional hopeful Stephen Harrison yesterday accused Republican Rep. Vito Fossella of trying to have it both ways regarding the White House's controversial plan to privatize Social Security.

SNIP

Asked then if he opposed privatization, Fossella responded: "No, I happen to think the president is on the right side of history here." [CNN August 2002]

Then, in a constituent letter mailed in February, Fossella wrote, "Let me be clear: I do not support the privatization of Social Security. I never have and I never will."

While Rep. Vito Fossella skis his campaign says he doesn't support skiing.

Steve Harrison opposes privatization and income indexes as solutions to revenue shortfalls. To prevent future insolvency, Steve advocates ending the regressive cap on income that is subject to the payroll tax, which amounted to $94,200 in 2006. According to a Harvard University/Washington Post poll, this policy is supported by 81 percent of the American public.

Vito Fossella and Bush are Best Friends

"More sobering for the GOP are the number of voters who backed Bush in 2004 who are ready to vote Democratic in the fall's congressional elections 19 percent. These
one-time Bush voters are more likely to be female, self-described moderates, low- to middle-income and from the NORTHEAST and Midwest.

SNIP

The number of voters who say their congressional vote this fall will be in part to express opposition to the president jumped from 20 percent last month to 29 percent, driven by double-digit increases among males, minorities, moderate and conservative Democrats and NORTHEASTERNERS." [emphasis mine]

via ABC News

Maybe this is why Rep. Vito Fossella is scared to even admit he is a Republican.

Vito and Abramoff, part II

So just who are these people who don't mind parting with $1,000 to schmooze with the likes of Rep. Vito Fossella, Jack Abramoff and Tony Rudy and influence legislation?

$2,000
Murphy, Robert M. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Powers, Francis H. Mr.
Weiss Peck & Green/Executive

$1,000
Aprilante, Anthony J. Mr.
Aprilante & Bomba Inc./Stock Broker

Benfante, Joy H. Mrs.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Bruzza, James J. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Clarke, Seldon T. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Dippell, G. Joseph Mr. Jr.
Dippell & Company/Stock Broker

Dresch, James F. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Farina, Vincent Mr. Jr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Gelormino, Edward Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Guidone, Ronald J. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Murphy, Robert M. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Polcari, Kenneth J. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Seip, John N. Mr.
John N. Seip & Co. Inc./Stock Broker

Tamberella, Bernard Mr. Jr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Tandy, Daniel W. Mr.
Daniel W. Tandy & Nina Brill/Stock

Wray, Catherine M. Mrs.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

$500
Apuzzi, Edward L. Mr.
IESI Corp./Executive

Bomba, Steven Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Brown, Ruben S. Mr.
The E Cubed Company LLC/President

Corpina, Jonathan D. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Della Pietra, Christopher Mr.
IESI/Executive

Devine, James J. Mr.
Howland Hook Container Termina/Pres

Flood, Charles Mickey Mr.
IESI/President/CEO

Gershowitz, Allan Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Lograno, Lawrence Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

McCarthy, Antoinette H. Ms.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

McCarthy, Brian D. Mr.
Glenwood SEC/Floor Broker NYSE

Moss, Andrew E. Mr.
IESI/Executive

Nelson Hackett, Karen Ms.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

Russo, Gregg P. Mr.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

$300
Raymond, Debra B. Mrs.
Self-employed/Stock Broker

$250
Means, James G. Mr.
Alpine Group/Govt Relations Consult

Vito and Abramoff

Just how much money did Rep. Fossella raise during his outing to a Baltimore Orioles games attended by Tony Rudy and which was suppose to be hosted by Jack Abramoff?

Tray.com brings us Fossella's 2002 campaign records, most notably his top ten contributions by date. Number 1 in 2002 was June 28, the same day as his Rudy/Abramoff fund raiser. On that day alone he pulled in $26,550.

Vito and George BFF

thanks to Daily Gotham,

The Democratic Difference

This is what the Democratic option would look like for Staten Island:

Key Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have united to call on President Bush to begin pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of the year, citing an overtaxed military, billions of dollars spent and ongoing sectarian violence.

SNIP

"U.S. forces in Iraq should transition to a more limited mission focused on counterterrorism, training and logistical support of Iraqi security forces and force protection of U.S. personnel," the Democrats wrote.

SNIP

The recent letter is dated July 30 and signed by every top Democrat on committees with oversight of military, intelligence and international affairs. It is significant because it solidifies the Democrats' position and presents a unified front as members head into election season.

This is what Rep. Fossella has to say about Iraq. Don't get your hopes up.