All Over Albany

Top Senator rolls on

On the latest episode of Top Senator: David Paterson refrains from getting his gut involved, Maureen Dowd says "thank God," and candidates answer questions about their kids' Facebook accounts.

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All hail the great State of Long Island

The action at the capitol Wednesday included not just David Paterson's State of the State speech, but also the start of the new legislative session.

And that means a bunch of new bills. Among them: A01189, sponsored by Assemblyman Fred Thiele. Here's the description (emphasis added):

Establishes a bi-county commission in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk to study the feasibility of establishing the state of Long Island.

Our only question about this: can they take Staten Island with them?

Hey, this is a time for courage, action and hope.

(Thanks, Peter!)

A quick read of Paterson's State of the State

The state of our state: perilous.

Sure, David Paterson spent 60 hours memorizing today's State of the State speech. But who else has that kind of time? Here's a quick paraphrase/recap of Paterson's speech...

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Spreading the news on "the iTax"

We're not excited about the prospect of a tax on digital music sales, either -- but Jimmy, why you gotta go and do that to Frank?!?

That is, of course, Jim Tedisco. He's put up a site to campaign against David Paterson's proposal to tax sales of music downloads in New York State.

Maybe we need a tax on karaoke instead.

Eliot Spitzer is highly ranked

The end of 2008 is almost here. And, of course, that means year-end top 10 lists. As it happens, our one-time governor made it onto a few of those this year.

OK, it was actually more than a few.

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Where Caroline stands

One of the criticisms about Caroline Kennedy's bid for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat has been that she doesn't have a record of votes or public statements on a number of issues for people to examine.

Well, that changed a bit over the weekend. In a weird arrangement, Kennedy's staff answered written questions from Politico and NYT. Her -- or their -- answers were relatively short -- and we've boiled them down even more.

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Top Senator

All the buzz and speculation about who will get Hillary Clinton's Senate seat seems to be getting to David Paterson. The Gov said yesterday, "[F]rankly, this is a serious issue, which I think is starting to be treated as some sort of reality TV show. No, this is reality of life."

Hey, wait a minute. Turning this into a reality TV show might not be such a bad idea...

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Sweet Senator Caroline?

Caroline Kennedy earlier this year with Barack Obama, to whom she was an advisor

The big buzz right now is that Caroline Kennedy could be in line to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.

David Paterson says the daughter of JFK has talked to him about the seat, but he called the conversation "informational" and said Kennedy didn't outright express an interest in the job -- though he did indicate she's "thinking about it." (He also used the situation for some humor at a dinner this past weekend.)

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Eliot Spitzer's best policy

The former Gov has a new job -- as a columnist. Really.

Alas, it's not a how-to column. Slate has hired Spitzer to write twice a month -- in a column called "The Best Policy" -- about government, regulation and finance.

Said the online mag's editor-in-chief of Spitzer to NYT: "He's such a fluent talker, and intelligent and interesting on these issues. He also has a natural instinct to try to be provocative, whereas most former politicians have a tendency not to want to annoy anybody." It seems Slate didn't have try to very hard to convince Spitzer to do it.

The first column was posted last night. It kind of reads like a wonkier version of Tom Friedman.

And the tag at the end: "Eliot Spitzer is the former governor of the state of New York."

Joe Bruno is all about sunshine now

No, really, it's true. He says so in today's New York Times.

OK, what he actually said was:

"I feel like technology is a place that governments at all levels are going to have to look at for relief, to create efficiencies that they want and need, to create the service that people demand these days, to be responsive and to do it in a cost-effective way."

"[The press] can have some fun with that, but I've always really been kind of on the leading edge of being open."

Of course, this is the guy who fought to keep member items (you know, pork) secret. Now that he's pitching computer systems for Latham-based CMA Consulting -- hey, open databases for everyone!

A few other tidbits about what else Bruno's up to these days, after the jump.

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We watched the Ashley Dupre interview so you don't have to

Ashley Dupre -- of Eliot Spitzer "Kristen" infamy -- was on 20/20 Friday night. She talked with Diane Sawyer about a bunch of stuff: her life growing up, how she got into the business, her dog.

But we're guessing you're interested in the bits about the former governor (we were). Here they are:

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Scenes from a breakdown

New York Now has put together a highlight reel from yesterday's bizarre leaders meeting at the Capitol (though "lowlight" might actually be the better word).

Watch as David Paterson talks about auditory hallucinations, Sheldon Silver steams as Jimmy Tedisco tries to lecture him, and Malcolm Smith gives Dean Skelos the hand.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll wonder how our state government became an episode of the Jerry Spring Show.

The folks at New York Now promise more clips and analysis on this week's show, which airs Friday at 7:30 pm on WMHT (it also repeats Sunday 11 am and 11 pm).

(Thanks, Matt!)

A quick read of the Paterson budget plan

David Paterson unveiled his plan for cutting $2 billion from the current state budget today. He says this plan will cut $2 billion from this year's budget and $3.2 billion from next year's (in which a $12.5 billion gap has already been projected).

We've put together a quick rundown of the cuts/savings. It includes some possibly bad news for Saratoga.

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It was just too easy

Welcome to the rest of your life.

When the feds announced they wouldn't be prosecuting Eliot Spitzer for his involvement with prostitutes, headline writers in newsrooms all over the world probably couldn't contain themselves. Can't. Not. Make. Cheesy. Pun.

"Spitzer Gets Off, Prosecutorially Speaking" -- Gawker

"Spitzer Gets Off! No Charges for Fallen Gov" -- Village Voice

"WHAT A RELIEF! SPITZ GETS OFF" -- New York Post

"Eliot Spitzer gets off too easily" -- Kansas City Star

"Luv Gov Gets Off" -- NBC Bay Area

"Eliot Spitzer gets off free" -- Daylife

"Spitz' Criminal Charges Get Swallowed" -- TMZ

David Paterson is aiming, not shooting

Next week's NY Mag has a long article about David Paterson (that's him, really close up, on the cover.) There are a lots of juicy tidbits in the piece: about his favorite Albany hangout, his dance moves, his dating life and why, as a kid, he hit another kid in the face with a lunchbox.

Here are some of the highlights:

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Joe Bruno's next job?

In making his "I'm outta here" announcement, Joe Bruno reportedly said he's not looking to kick back and "play with horses." So what's his plan? According to the TU, Bruno is considering a job with CMA Consulting Services, a firm based in Latham.

So, what do they do? We poked around a bit to find out.

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Speed reading more coverage of Joe Bruno

We've sifted, sorted and relentlessly refreshed Google News so you don't have to. It's like knowing what's up with the Joe Bruno story without even trying. Another round of bite-sized facts, bits of analysis, and quotes after the jump.

(Earlier on AOA: Speed reading the coverage of Joe Bruno)

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Speed reading the coverage of Joe Bruno

updated 3:21 pm

We've read the Joe Bruno coverage, so you don't you have to. Many bite-sized facts, bits of analysis, and quotes after the jump.

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Who's in charge around here?

If something happens to him, then what?

So, when David Paterson had to go to the hospital earlier this week, we thought "Oh wow, if something happens to him, that means Joe Bruno is governor." But then we thought, "Wait, what if something then happens to Joe Bruno? Then what?"

So we asked Bennett Liebman, the Executive Director of Albany Law School's Center for Government and Law to set us straight. Here's how it works...

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Dopp kicked

NY Mag has a story this week about how Eliot Spitzer let Darren Dopp, one of his former top aides, get thrown under the bus -- and then watch as the bus stopped, backed up, and ran over Dopp a few more times. Among the juicy details:

+ After agreeing to take the fall for "Troopergate" -- the plan to "get" Joe Bruno by leaking records of his state aircraft use -- Dopp learned about his suspension not from Spitzer or adminstration officials, but from blogs.

+ When Dopp told Spitzer that Bruno would be "torqued" if the records of his aircraft use were released, Spitzered reportedly told Dopp to "Shove it up [Bruno's] ass with a red-hot poker."

+ During his investigation of Troopergate, Albany County DA David Soares reportedly told Dopp that he'd met murderers with more honor than some of the people on Spitzer's staff.

+ Spitzer, who apparently is famously anti-therapy, is now seeing a therapist.

photo: ny.gov

Kindergarten lessons for legislators

It's actually a very large playground.

After watching our esteemed state legislature squabble and whine itself toward another year's budget, we couldn't help thinking that perhaps our leaders had forgotten some fundamental life lessons. You know, nothing especially profound -- just the kind of stuff that any five-year-old would know.

So, here are a few kindergarten lessons that legislators and other elected officials might want to review before their next ride on the budget merry-go-round:

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Governor Hillary?

Can you imagine her sparring with Joe Bruno over the budget?

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter reports that there's some talk within the Democrat Party that Hillary Clinton could drop out of the presidential race to become... Governor of New York:

In the event that Paterson had to resign, the New York State Constitution calls for a gubernatorial election this November. Clinton would be the favorite in that contest if she were interested. Were a politically wounded Paterson to serve out Spitzer's term, which ends in 2010, Clinton would no doubt be a strong potential candidate to succeed him.

Earlier on AOA:
+ Governor Hillary?

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Paterson's swearing-in speech: the quick scan

Sure, you could actually take the time to read -- or listen to (video link) -- David Paterson's speech from yesterday. But why read when you can scan? Here's the text of the speech broken down into the 75 words that appeared with the greatest frequency. Think of it a little like that refrigerator magnet poetry -- just arrange the words into some sort of plausible order to make it sound like you actually know what's going on. For example:

Co-worker: Hey, how about Paterson's speech?

You: Yeah. Wow. He really focused on working to serve people going forward... and, um, New York.

So, yes, there are limits. Use with care...

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Speed reading coverage of David Paterson

Starting today, David Paterson will be in the foreground.

We're Spitzered out, so... on to the next guy! We've sifted through the growing mountain of David Paterson coverage to pick out the essential and the interesting. Among the details this time around: the unusual past of Paterson's top adviser, questions about conflicts of interest, lobbying by the Obama campaign, and hugs for Jimmy Tedisco.

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It's a tragedy, sure, but Shakespearean or Greek?

Shakespeare, Spitzer, Aeschylus

Sure, the story of Eliot Spitzer spitzering himself is tragic, but no self-respecting journalist would just leave it at that. Simple "tragedy" is never enough... it has to be some kind of tragedy. And, of course, the two go-to categories for tragedy are Shakespearean and Greek.

Both have gotten a fair share of use this week. Maureen Dowd can always be counted on for a Shakespeare reference, but she wasn't alone. As for the Greek treatment, USA Today has helpfully compiled examples.

OK, but which is it? If you're going to take the time to sound like a cultural elite, you might as well be right. So we checked with an expert.

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Speed reading even more of the Spitzer coverage

Yep, according to the Times, that's her.

OK, here we go again. We've picked through piles of the coverage of Spitzer spitzering himself to pull out facts and details so you don't have to.

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Seven things to know about David Paterson

David Paterson and Eliot Spitzer in 2007.

+ Yes, he really is legally blind. He lost his vision due to an infection in his childhood. One eye is totally blind and the other has 20/400 vision. He can see enough to read for short periods of time, though.

+ He comes from a politically-connected family in Harlem (though he grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island). His dad, Basile Paterson, was in the state senate and later became NY's Secretary of State. David held the same senate seat as his dad before becoming lieutenant governor.

+ He went to Columbia, and then Hofstra law -- but he never passed the bar. He ran out of time in his first and only attempt with someone reading the questions to him and then writing down his answers. (He later worked to change the rules to make the test more accommodating of people with visual impairments.) Paterson apparently intended to re-take the test, but he won a special election for state senate before it ever happened.

Four more after the jump, including where he picked up tips on how to deal with Joe Bruno...

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Speed reading more coverage of Eliot Spitzer and his spitzering

Hey, look, the media circus is in town.

Updated Wednesday at 11:59 AM

So, he's done. We've read through the piles of coverage about it so you don't have to... many new bite-sized facts and details from Wednesday's coverage after the jump.

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Speed reading the coverage of Eliot Spitzer spitzering himself

Wrecked steamroller.

Updated Tuesday at 4:04 PM

We've read through the piles of coverage so you don't have to... many bite-sized facts and details after the jump.

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A new definition for screwing up

spitz · er

v.tr.

1. To unexpectedly -- and spectacularly -- destroy your career in a single act so obviously wrong that having someone tell you "you should know better" would be blatantly redundant: Bob was on track to make regional manager until he spitzered himself

n.

1. An act as described in the logs of a federal investigation in which [REDACTED BECAUSE THIS IS A FAMILY WEBSITE]

Budgetspeak

The governor released his budget proposal today and the conversation around this kind of stuff tends to be a little, um, dense. Thankfully, Susan Arbetter has a "Budget to English" guide. Here's a clip:

"We will be cutting expected growth in health care spending"

ACTUALLY MEANS

"healthcare spending will increase, I just wanted to use the most circuitous way of saying it to confuse people who are only sort of paying attention".

State of the State: the super quick scan

Sure, you could actually read Eliot Spitzer's State of the State speech. But why read when you can scan? Here's the text of the speech broken down into the 75 words that appeared with the greatest frequency. Think of it a little like that refrigerator magnet poetry -- just arrange the words into some sort of plausible order to make it sound like you actually know what's going on. For example:

Co-worker: Hey, how about that State of the State?

You: Oh, yeah, Spitzer really talked a lot about health and education... and, um, New York.

OK, so there are limits. Use with care: