NORTHVILLE, N.Y., July 22 (UPI) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo left state lawmakers in his wake at the Adirondack Challenge whitewater race and said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is next. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at UPI Odd News
Tag Archives: Andrew Cuomo
6 months after Sandy, thousands homeless in NY, NJ
Six months after Superstorm Sandy, tens of thousands of people in New York and New Jersey remain homeless and communities are still struggling to recover.
But progress has been made as well. New boardwalks will be ready for summer, and homes are being elevated even as ruined ones are bulldozed.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says some people are doing just fine while others are facing “horrendous” obstacles to recovery.
The federal government has paid billions in flood insurance claims and housing assistance in the two states, with more to come.
Lynda Fricchione (frik-ee-OHN’), whose Toms River, N.J., home was ruined, says a trip to New Orleans showed her people and communities can recover from terrible storms.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
New York Revolution: Stopping The Cuomo Gun Grab
By Tim Powers
In January of 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he would push for the most comprehensive firearms ban in the United States. His objectives or reasoning were unclear at the time other then the fact that he is a progressive; and we all know that progressives hate firearms, always have, and always will.
Because of the fact that the majority of our elected officials have been complacent and apathetic, the majority of the citizens of New York State have been as well. The New York SAFE Act was an easy slam dunk for Cuomo. The legislation was hastily written and forced onto the state Senate and Assembly on the first day of the new term. Not only was there not any time granted for review of the bill; no time was allowed for debate. The bill was forced to a vote in the dead of night. This was clearly a three-man backroom deal between Cuomo and the majority leaders, the type of deal that the corrupt New York State government is so accustomed to.
After seeing how fast this piece of draconian legislation was forced upon the residents of New York, a man named George Curbelo decided to try and make a difference; and so New York Revolution was born. New York Revolution is by no means one man’s attempt at starting a militia group; as we all know, such groups are illegal in New York State. Instead, this group was started with the goal of educating citizens and to get them to re-engage in the day-to-day affairs of state government (starting with the direct assault on our Second Amendment rights.)
New York State residents can no longer sit on the fence and rely on the elected officials of the state to take care of things. We have seen how well that worked out. New York Revolution has been designed so people can interact via social networking and community organizing. County leaders have been chosen in at least 31 counties to date, including New York City. Countywide rallies are being held as often as possible in order to get people to stand up for their rights and become informed. Five such rallies were held across New York on April 13th; and many were attended by US Congressman Chris Gibson and one by NYS Assemblyman Peter Lopez, as well as county and town leaders and Sheriffs.
New York Revolution has realized that if our Second Amendment falls, the rest will soon follow. So if New York residents want to continue to have a voice, find your voice and get involved. Rights are already being taken away at an alarming rate in New York City by a progressive mayor, and the disease is creeping north. Take your stand today and become part of the solution. Educate yourself, and “We the People” together can stop the trampling of our Constitutional rights. As always, stay safe and be aware of your surroundings.
Photo credit: Patja (Creative Commons)
NY DA: Don't dismiss Kennedy drugged-driving case
New York prosecutors are asking a judge to deny a motion to dismiss a drugged-driving case against Kerry Kennedy, the ex-wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
In court documents made available Tuesday, prosecutors argue that Kennedy’s case should move forward as it would for other first-time offenders.
Lawyers for Kennedy had argued in a motion filed in North Castle Town Court last month that she had accidently taken a sleeping pill on July 13, 2012, before she swerved into a tractor-trailer on a highway and was arrested.
But prosecutors argue that a trial should be held to determine whether Kennedy accidentally took the pill.
A lawyer for Kennedy says he’ll respond to the motion this month.
Kennedy is the seventh of 11 children of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
New York offers $500 reward for reporting illegal gun owners
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that the state is not rolling back the nation’s most stringent gun control measure by keeping 10-bullet magazines legal, even though they would have been outlawed in a bill that passed this year.
Hillary Clinton Announces Support For Gay Marriage
WASHINGTON— Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her support for gay marriage Monday, putting her in line with other potential Democratic presidential candidates on a social issue that is rapidly gaining public approval.
Clinton made the announcement in an online video released Monday morning by the gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign. She says in the six-minute video that gays and lesbians are “full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship.”
“That includes marriage,” she says, adding that she backs gay marriage both “personally and as a matter of policy and law.”
Clinton’s announcement is certain to further fuel the already rampant speculation that she is considering another run for president in 2016. Other possible Democratic contenders — including Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — all back the right of same-sex couples to marry.
Polls show that public opinion on gay marriage has shifted perhaps more rapidly than on any other major issue in recent times. In Gallup polling last November, 53 percent of adult Americans said same-sex marriages should be granted the same status as traditional marriages, while 46 percent felt they should not be valid.
Read More at OfficialWire . By Julie Pace.
Photo Credit: US Embassy New Zealand Creative Commons
SWAT teams in standoff with gunman sought in four deaths in upstate New York
As a standoff with a suspected gunman stretched into another day, hundreds of police surrounded an abandoned building, where he’s believed to be holed up.
Police say 64-year-old Kurt Myers abruptly opened fire with a shotgun Wednesday, killing two men in the opening salvo of a rampage that left four dead, and two wounded in the village of Mohawk and nearby Herkimer. They have no motive for the shootings.
Early Thursday, two loud booms were heard outside the building in downtown Herkimer, and police periodically blared sirens in an apparent attempt to encourage Myers to surrender, if alive. A police robot has been at the scene since Wednesday, and a witness says it went into the building early Thursday and came back out again.
Police officers were fired on from the building, which used to house a bar, on Wednesday afternoon while looking for Myers, state police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said. At least one officer returned fire, and later it was unknown if Myers was still alive, D’Amico said.
“We’re in no rush to bring this to a conclusion,” D’Amico said, adding that the main objective was to make sure no one else was hurt.
Later, police spokesman Jack Keller said the troopers and local police would watch the building all night under the assumption that Myers was still alive.
Police said Myers’ rampage started with a fire in his apartment in the nearby village of Mohawk at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. D’Amico said Myers then drove to John’s Barber Shop around the corner and used a shotgun to kill two customers, whom he identified as Harry Montgomery, 68, and Michael Ransear, 57, a retired corrections officer. The shop’s owner, John Seymour, and another customer, Dan Haslauer, were listed in critical condition at a Utica hospital.
D’Amico said the gunman then drove to Gaffy’s Fast Lube in nearby Herkimer and used the shotgun to kill Thomas Stefka, an employee, and Michael Renshaw, a customer who was a 23-year veteran of the state Department of Corrections.
John Seymour told his sister, Mary Hornett, the barbershop attack came out of nowhere.
“He just said that the guys were in the barbershop and this guy comes in and he says, `Hi John, do you remember me?’ and my brother said, `Yes, Kurt, how are you?’ and then he just started shooting,” Hornett said.
Hornett said her brother, who was hospitalized in critical condition, was doing well after being shot in the left hand and right hip.
“My brother couldn’t think of any reason why he would do such a thing,” she said of Myers, a former customer who hadn’t been in the shop for a couple of years.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a press conference in Herkimer, called it “truly an inexplicable situation.”
“There’s no apparent motive to the best of our knowledge at this time to provoke these attacks,” he said.
D’Amico said police had not had any communication with Myers, whose only known police record was a 1973 drunken-driving arrest.
Police positioned in front of a block of small businesses topped with apartments in the village …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Researchers map out an alternative energy future for New York
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will soon decide whether to approve hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the state. To date, no alternative to expanded gas drilling has been proposed. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
VA says it won't follow New York gun law
The federal Department of Veterans Affairs says its mental health professionals won’t comply with a new gun law in New York that requires them to report the names of patients they believe likely to hurt themselves or others.
The reporting provision is set to take effect Saturday.
Several veterans and their advocates say it would deter many from seeking counseling and medications to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder or other psychological issues. Veterans fear their rights would be taken away.
Under the law pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the information would be used to determine whether someone should give up a gun license or weapon.
VA spokesman Mark Ballesteros says federal laws protecting veterans’ treatment records take precedence.
New York Fracking Study Results Likely Years Off
By The Huffington Post News Editors
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A health study cited by leading environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as pivotal in helping persuade Gov. Andrew Cuomo to hold off on plans for limited gas drilling is likely years away from conclusions about whether the technology involved is safe, according to the project’s leaders.
With New York entering the fifth year of review of the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, growing calls to wait for the Geisinger Health System study to be finished could push a final decision back several more years, frustrating landowners and the industry that had hoped to begin tapping the gas reserve that lies below parts of the state.
Preliminary results could be released within a year.
Kerry Kennedy fights NY drugged-driving charge
Kerry Kennedy argued Friday that the drugged-driving case against her should be dismissed because she accidentally took a sleeping pill and because the only damage done was to her pride and her famous name.
In a 99-page motion filed in North Castle Town Court, Kennedy and her lawyer also recount her work for social justice and include a large file of glowing letters from friends and relatives.
Kennedy is the ex-wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the daughter of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the niece of President John Kennedy.
She was arrested July 13 after police said her Lexus swerved into a tractor-trailer on Interstate 684 in North Castle, near her Bedford home. Police found her on an exit ramp and reported she failed sobriety tests and was slurring her speech.
Tests found a small amount of the sleeping drug zolpidem in Kennedy’s blood. She said she believes she accidentally took a sleeping pill instead of her daily thyroid medication.
In the motion, she said the two bottles were side by side and “are virtually identical in size, shape and appearance.”
“I have too much regard for the lives of others, as well as my own, to place them at risk by driving while under the influence of zolpidem,” she wrote in an affidavit.
Kennedy also discussed her work as president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, for Amnesty International and for human rights groups involving Tibet and Northern Ireland.
Her lawyer’s affidavit and many letters to the prosecutor praise her as a champion of justice and a good mother to her three daughters.
“Human rights defenders in need from the tomato fields of Florida to the slums of Port au Prince, the desert of Western Sahara and the still homeless of New Orleans have come to rely on her compassion, keen insight, judgment and support,” wrote Kennedy’s mother, Ethel Kennedy.
Other letters came from her brothers, sisters and in-laws, several priests and an assistant secretary of state.
Defense lawyer Gerald Lefcourt said a defendant’s character can be taken into consideration and added, “By any objective standard, Kerry Kennedy is a uniquely …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Video: Hilarious Parody Of Gov. Cuomo
By Avg Joe
New York State Dictator Andrew Cuomo is exposed for what he is in this parody. Hilarious!
New York Fracking Held As Andrew Cuomo, RFK Jr. Reportedly Talk Health
By The Huffington Post News Editors
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo came as close as he ever has to approving fracking last month, laying out a limited drilling plan for as many as 40 gas wells before changing course to await the findings of a new study after discussions with environmentalist and former brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr., several people familiar with his thinking told The Associated Press.
The turning point, which could delay a decision for up to a year or longer, came in a series of phone calls with Kennedy. The two discussed a new health study on the hydraulic fracturing drilling method that could be thorough enough to trump all others in a debate that has split New York for five years.
“I think the issue suddenly got simple for him,” Kennedy told the AP, then went on to paraphrase Cuomo in their discussions: “‘If it’s causing health problems, I really don’t want it in New York state. And if it’s not causing health problems, we should figure out a way we can do it.'”
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo- A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
By Tim Powers
Being a resident of New York state all of my life, I have seen my share of corrupt, liberal governors from Rockefeller (who died while in the company of a prostitute) to Elliot Spitzer and his client number nine moment to the abject failure of David Patterson. But, this time around, we now have the smooth and crass Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo, when asked to run for Governor by the Democrat party, seemed very reluctant to give up his post as New York State attorney general. But in the end, he decided to run against Tea Party candidate Carl Palidino. It was a grueling campaign; and as usual, the Democrats pulled out all of the stops right down to going after Carl’s family. The tide turned on the election when Carl was nearly engaged in a physical altercation with journalist Fred Dicker over his children being exploited. Ultimately, Carl was then framed as a hothead for doing what any father would do to protect his children. Well, we ended up with Cuomo.
Upon Cuomo’s arrival in Albany, he came across as very fiscally conservative (for a liberal, that is), engaging in a fight with the public sector unions in order to reduce their impact on the New York economy. He also pushed for a two percent tax cap on all local budgets. These things made him look more like a moderate, and people were starting to warm up to him. Up until his draconian New York Safe Act gun law, he enjoyed an approval rating of 73 percent. Since that time, he still enjoys a 59 percent approval rating.
Now, he is saying that amendments will be made to the Safe Act. Such as, removing the restrictions on police officers as to magazine sizes and bullet quantities. I believe that while these amendments are done, he may try to sneak a version of AO 3908, the assembly bill requiring that firearms owners purchase 1 million dollars of liability insurance, into law.
Now, a history lesson on Cuomo. Before he was the attorney general for New York, he served as the Housing and Urban Development secretary under Bill Clinton. As HUD secretary, he was responsible for pushing the banks to give mortgages out to low income people, whom they knew could not afford to pay them back. I hold Cuomo partially responsible for not only the banking, but also the housing crises that put America into her downward spiral. Now why would he have done this, you ask? Because Andrew Cuomo has been instrumental in implementing the UN’s Agenda 21, right after Clinton signed the executive order on “sustainable development”. Cuomo is a key player in this.
Agenda 21 is the UN plan to turn ALL private property over to the government sector, thus creating a loss of US sovereignty. What better way to do this than to sell private homes to people who can’t afford them and to have the mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, 2 government insurers who refuse to be audited? …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism
NY Gov. Aims to Allow More Late-Term Abortions
By Neal Colgrass 
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
NY attorney general looks at ratings agencies
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has begun examining the nation’s biggest credit rating agencies’ compliance with agreements reached by his predecessor, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, that ended an investigation into mortgage-backed securities.
The mid-2008 agreements, imposing no financial penalties, required Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Inc. to publicly disclose due diligence and evaluation criteria. They also required partial upfront payments to prevent banks from simply buying the better ratings for those securities.
With that market already collapsed, the agencies say they weren’t rating new mortgage-backed securities. The 42-month agreements have expired.
An official with knowledge of the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said a subpoena this week went to S&P and information requests to Moody’s and Fitch. Under the agreement, then-Attorney General Cuomo agreed to “terminate all current investigation” and “not institute any action” against the agencies. They admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to cooperate with the attorney general’s ongoing probe into the mortgage industry and adopt reforms.
The official noted there appeared to be little effort to monitor compliance and they are looking into whether violations would enable the office now to take another look at alleged misconduct in securities ratings that contributed to the collapse of financial markets.
S&P spokesman Edward Sweeney and Fitch’s Daniel Noonan declined comment Friday.
At an earnings conference call Friday, when asked about the New York probe, Moody’s chief executive Raymond McDaniel said that the company from time to time gets requests for information from parties that include state attorneys general and that they cooperate with them.
Fitch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Justice Department this week filed civil charges against S&P, accusing the rating agency of refusing to warn investors that the housing market was collapsing in 2006 because it would be bad for business. The department is seeking $5 billion in penalties.
S&P, a unit of New York-based McGraw-Hill Cos., called the lawsuit meritless and said, “Claims that we deliberately kept ratings high when we knew they should be lower are simply not true.”
The federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in concluded in its final report two years ago that the 2007-2008 market upheaval, followed by national recession, came …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Don’t Ban Firearms; BAN Obama And Cuomo!
By Tim Powers
Now that these two left wing liberal/communists have pushed their agendas to take our God given, Constitutional right to bear arms, I am now waiting for them to announce the forced buyback of our firearms.
As far as Obama, he can start with buying back the firearms that he has illegally sold to the Mexican drug cartels under his Fast and Furious gun running operation, as well as the weapons sold to the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Queida, and the terrorist factions that have taken over Libya and Syria. Not that anyone has bothered to check, but one has to wonder if Ambassador Stevens and the three brave Americans that were with him were killed with American-supplied weapons.
For two of the most polarizing people that ever entered the political spectrum, they sure have their fair share of issues when it comes to protecting and defending the United States Constitution.
Let’s start with Obama. Aside from the eligibility issues that have plagued him since 2007, which still to this day have not been investigated, we can add the Fast and Furious scandal, Benghazi, Solyndra, the NDAA, the BP oil spill extortion, offshore drilling bans, excessive executive orders to circumvent Congress, Obamacare, CZARs, and illegal recess appointments (and that is just off the top of my head. I am sure there is more.)
Now let’s look at Cuomo. As the HUD secretary, he was instrumental in pushing banks to lend money for mortgages to clients they KNEW did not have the means to pay the money back, knowing full well that this would lead to the collapse of not only the banking system, but the housing market as well. Cuomo was subsequently instrumental in causing this recession (more like a depression) that America still has not recovered from regardless of what the economists and media may tell us. I believe that this whole scam was set up in order to transfer private property into the government sector as up to 98 percent of the existing mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you look at any communist regime, you will find that ALL property is government-owned.
Some 238 years ago, our Founding Fathers faced the same kind of tyranny in the 13 Colonies. Did they just roll over and let the king of England dictate to them as we get dictated to today? No, they didn’t. They kissed their mothers, sisters, and daughters good bye, took up their arms, and stood up in one accord and proclaimed to the king “WE WILL NOT COMPLY’! I fear that if we continue on this path of destruction, we will be faced with the same choices as our Forefathers did. Will you stand up for the Constitution? Or will you just roll over and be ruled by dictators? The time is drawing short for you to make your choice. Until you choose, stay safe and always be aware of your surroundings.
Photo credit: Patja (Creative Commons)
Pro-life groups say Cuomo bill would allow late-term abortions 'on demand'
On the heels of passing sweeping gun control legislation, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing the envelope once again — this time with a call for an abortion bill that opponents say would effectively allow late-term abortion “on demand.”
Thousands rally across US against tougher gun control measures
Gun advocates — some with rifles slung across shoulders or pistols holstered at the hip — have rallied peacefully in state capitals nationwide against President Barack Obama‘s sweeping federal gun-control proposals.
Summoned via social media for the “Guns Across America” event, participants gathered Saturday for protests large and small against stricter limits sought on firearms. Only a few dozen turned out in South Dakota and a few hundred in Boise, Idaho. Some 2,000 turned out in New York and large crowds also rallied in Connecticut, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington state.
The rallies came on a day in which accidental shootings at gun shows in North Carolina, Indiana and Ohio left five people hurt. The wounded included two bystanders hit by shotgun pellets after a 12-gauge shotgun discharged at a show in Raleigh, N.C., as the owner unzipped its case for a law officer to check at a security entrance, authorities said. A retired deputy there also suffered a slight hand injury.
About 800 people gathered for the “Guns Across America” event in Austin, Texas, as speakers took to the microphone under a giant Texas flag stamped with one word: “Independent.”
“The thing that so angers me, and I think so angers you, is that this president is using children as a human shield to advance a very liberal agenda that will do nothing to protect them,” said state Rep. Steve Toth, referencing last month’s elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
Obama recently announced the gun-control proposals in the wake of a Connecticut elementary school shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six educators last month.
Toth, a first-term Republican lawmaker from The Woodlands outside Houston, has introduced legislation to ban within Texas any future federal limits on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines, though such a measure would violate the U.S. Constitution.
In Arizona, Oregon and Utah, some came with holstered handguns or rifles on their backs.
One man in Phoenix dressed as a Revolutionary War Minuteman, completing his outfit with an antique long rifle and a sign reading: “Tyrants Beware – 1776.”
“We’re out here because this country has some very wise founding fathers and they knew they were being oppressed when they were a British colony,” said another man at the Phoenix rally, Eric Cashman. “Had they not had their firearms … to stand up against the British, we’d still be a British colony.”
Rallies at statehouses nationwide were organized by Eric Reed, an airline captain from the Houston area who in November started a group called “More Gun Control (equals) More Crime.” Its Facebook page has been “liked” by more than 17,000 people.
At the New York state Capitol in Albany, about 2,000 people turned out for a chilly rally, where they chanted “We the People,” ”USA,” and “Freedom.” Many carried American flags and “Don’t Tread On Me” banners. The event took place four days after Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the nation’s toughest assault weapon and magazine restrictions.
In Connecticut, where task forces created by the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy are considering changes to gun laws, police said about 1,000 people showed up on the Capitol grounds. One demonstrator at the rally in Maine, Joe Getchell of Pittsfield, said every law-abiding citizen has a right to bear arms.
In Minnesota, where more than 500 people showed up at the Capitol in St. Paul, Republican state Rep. Tony Cornish said he would push to allow teachers to carry guns in school without a principal or superintendent’s approval and to allow 21-year-olds to carry guns on college campuses.
Capitol rallies also took place in Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin, among other states.
Back in Texas, Houston resident Robert Thompson attended the rally with his wife and children, ages 12, 5 and 4. Many in the family wore T-shirts reading: “The Second Amendment Protects the First.”
“What we are facing now is an assault weapons ban, but if they do this, what will do they do next?” Thompson asked.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
NY guv looks to clarify gun law after concern about exemption for police
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s office is working on amendments to clarify the newly passed gun-control law, following complaints that it did not explicitly exempt police officers from a ban on high-capacity magazines.