More Cuomo Corruption News

Bill Mahoney at Capital NY:

Glenwood Management, the real estate developer at the center of two former legislative leaders' federal corruption trials, gave half a million dollars in 2011 to an advocacy group that focused solely on supporting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's agenda.

Evidence federal prosecutors released Sunday in the trial of Sen. Dean Skelos itemizes the contributions that various Glenwood holdings made over the past decade.

...

On Oct. 24, 2011, a total of 10 different Glenwood holdings each made out a $50,000 check to the group, according to the federal evidence. The next day, one of them wrote a separate $50,000 check destined for Cuomo’s campaign committee.

On the same day that the holdings of Glenwood — whose principal owner Leonard Litwin was identified by Forbes in 2007 as the world’s 891st richest individual — made the donations, Occupy Wall Street protesters focused on assailing Cuomo for being too close to the “1 percent.”

Glenwood and Litwin gave Cuomo’s committee $1 million during the last election cycle, more than any other donor. They also gave his 2014 running mate, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, $19,700 and the New York State Democratic Committee $450,000.

The $500,000 given to the Committee to Save New York thus brings the total from the developer that went to support the governor during his first term to $1.97 million — about 32 times the campaign contribution limit imposed on donations from most individuals.

Other donors to the Committee To Save NY, the Cuomo PAC (that's what it was whether Cuomo wants to admit it or not since it ONLY did work for him), included a casino developer and other gambling interests that gave CSNY $2 million just as Cuomo was deciding on whether to legalize casino gambling in the state.

Funny how that worked - give money to Cuomo PAC that Cuomo says isn't his PAC but functions as an ancillary to his campaign, then get favorable policy (i.e., legalized casino gambling) in return.

Sheriff Andy said he rode into Albany to clean the corruption cesspool up but the more you learn about the doings up in the state capital, the more you realize Sheriff Andy's up to his neck in the cesspool too.

Dunno how far the feds are digging into Cuomo and his donors either as part of the Silver and Skelos corruption trials (and Mahoney points out Glenwood is at the center of both) or as part of the Buffalo Billion investigation.

But it seems to me if the feds get a conviction on Silver in a case where no specific quid pro quo has been shown (though that is no done deal, as can be seen here), there's some smoke around Cuomo and his donors too.

Governor Cuomo Looks To Impose Casinos On Any Community He Wants - Without Their Input

Just as the governor imposes an education policy without regard for what the public in the state wants, he is going to force communities to accept casinos in their midst whether they want his "generosity" or not.

The Times-Union has an interesting editorial on this issue - see how many analogues to the education reform issues we have been dealing with these past years you find in this casino issue:

THE ISSUE:

The governor brushes off legislation to let localities accept or reject a casino.

THE STAKES:

What he calls mere politics is people wanting a say in their hometown's destiny.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo may see gambling as the salvation of upstate, but not all of upstate agrees. And perhaps the most conspicuous place where the governor's view conflicts with local opinion is Saratoga Springs.

Last fall, Saratoga County was among the areas where more people voted against casino legalization than for it. The question now is whether the governor gets to impose a casino on any community he and gambling interests choose, whether citizens like it or not.

Here's Mr. Cuomo's office, suggesting that a bill to allow communities to reject a casino would "politicize the selection process." So the will of city councils, town boards, and ordinary citizens is now just politics? They're the special interests, not the gambling corporations with their lobbyists and generous campaign checks?

Surely Mr. Cuomo appreciates that New York is a "home rule" state, requiring, for some matters, both state and local approval. The city of Albany, for example, couldn't create a neighborhood parking permit system without the consent of both the Common Council and the state Legislature. Nor can New York City raise income taxes on rich residents without both state and local approval.

It's a cumbersome system, perhaps, but it also reflects how sometimes the interests and concerns of local residents and the state are equally important, and demand consensus.

At the moment, however, that's not how the law views siting of casinos. With approval last year by state voters of a constitutional amendment to allow Las Vegas-style casinos in New York, the decision on where to place them will rest with a siting board. That board will be appointed by the New York Gaming Commission — another new body, this one dominated by the governor's appointees. This process was set up in legislation months before voters approved the casino amendment.

The legislation also lays out how applications by casino interests will be weighed — 70 percent on economic development, 20 percent on local impacts, and 10 percent on labor matters. So local objections are, at best, secondary to the dollar signs. And in practice, they could mean nothing; If the siting board decides that all the traffic worries and other logistical local concerns are addressed, how people feel about what a casino would do to the character of their community might well be deemed moot.

Some lawmakers don't think that's right. A bill sponsored by Sens. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, and Cecilia Tkaczyk, D-Duanesburg, would apply home rule to casino siting decisions, requiring consent by the local government.

But a spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo says the governor isn't going to let politics be injected into the selection process with such unnecessary legislation. The governor shrugs off a vital home rule issue as if it's no more serious than choosing a state muffin.

There will be plenty of communities eager for the construction cranes that Mr. Cuomo waxed on about in his State of the State address. What nobody likes is a steamroller. 

A policy imposed by the governor, with little regard for how people in the municipalities or regions are affected by that policy - that's our Governor Cuomo in action.

And anything Cuomo doesn't like becomes "politics" - even though he engages in those same "politics" by imposing policies onto parts of the state without their input or okay.

We have an autocrat in the governor's mansion who has decided he knows best on everything and anybody who stands in his way is going to get steamrolled or told to get the hell out of the state.

Isn't it time somebody clips Governor Cuomo's ego sails and lets him know that he's not the autocrat of the state?

Someone in the comments writes:

Cuomo is acting more like a king than a governor. Does he see this as a winning election strategy? All that war chest money does not guarantee a win.

Let Saratoga decide their own fate.

Indeed.

Governor Cuomo Will Fund After School Programs Through Gambling Losses

Come on seven, mamma needs junior to get that after school SAT prep class!

Buried in the Daily News article reporting that Governor Cuomo is funding universal full-day pre-K across the state for the year, attempting to cut off Bill de Blasio's campaign pledge that NYC will fund its own universal full-day pre-K by raising taxes on individuals who make more than $500,000, is this:

In addition, officials say, Cuomo will propose another $720 million over five years in revenues generated by new casinos to fully fund after-school programs statewide.

So, hey, all you grandmas with your cups full of slot machine coins and all you degenerate gamblers who have a habit of spending the rent money at the blackjack table, you're doing the right thing by New York State's children.

It's your gambling losses that will fund their after school programs for the next five years (so long as you lose big, of course - Cuomo has calculated he needs $720 million in "gambling revenue" to pay for this.)

Another regressive tax from Governor 1% forever screwing the working people and middle class of this state so he can cut taxes on rich people.

UFT To Open Casino In NYC

Via Jeff Kaufman at ICE UFT, we learn that the UFT gave $250,000 to help Sheriff Andy Cuomo get his casino referendum passed.

Some people may be wondering why the UFT would give money to support gambling, but if you think closely about it, it makes total sense that the organized crime interests who run the teachers union would give a quarter of a million of your hard-earned dues money to the organized crime interests that run the casinos.

It's like Gambino's doing a side deal with the Bonanno's that benefits both crime families.

And Perdido Street School can now reveal what the UFT is getting in return for supporting the casino referendum.

A source at 52 Broadway tells us that the UFT will be granted a license to run one Sheriff Andy Cuomo-approved casino in NYC in return for the UFT support of the gambling referendum.

The casino will be co-located with the UFT charter school, which will be relocated to the former Aqueduct Race Track, now Aqueduct Racino, in Queens, New York.

Our source at 52 Broadway tells us that the UFT leadership knows most teachers in the NYC school system are already gambling with their careers, livelihoods, and reputations by working under the Mike Mulgrew-approved ADVANCE teacher evaluation system, so they figured why not just make some money off all of this.

Teachers at the UFT charter school, where the Advance teacher evaluation system will not be in place, will not be gambling with their careers, livelihoods, and reputations under the Danielson rubric, the state VAM or the city performance assessment "growth model," but the rest of us who are being evaluated under these three components will be subject to the whimsy of Lady Luck.

Here's how the gambling works:

Does the DOE get the class list right or will you be rated using data from the school down the street?

Roll the dice at the UFT Casino and find out!

Did your MOSL committee make a bad choice by deciding to use the state test growth for the lowest third of students?

Pull the one-armed bandit and find out!

Is the VAM rigged by the SED in NYC to come up 22 at the blackjack table?

Take one more card and find out!

There will be a free food buffet of leftovers from the UFT Executive Board meeting and of course the music of Mike Mulgrew's Unity/New Action chorus line of yes men will play over the loud speakers night and day at the UFT casino.

Some come on down to the UFT Poker Palace casino, ring-a-ding-ding, and take a gamble on your career, livelihood, and reputation.

You might roll snake eyes, but let's be honest, if you're a member of the UFT rank and file living under the Advance evaluation system and Common Core, you've got nothing to lose by betting some more.

Mulgrew Likes Cuomo's Call To Extend School Time By 25%

Andrew Cuomo called for increasing time in school for children by 25% during his State of the State speech yesterday.

The increased time will be funded by money from upstate casinos.

Because is there any better way to fund programs than by taking money from the truly desperate and hopeless in society and using it to make society better?

Of course not!

And what's even better, Gotham Charter Schools reports that Mulgrew loved the idea:

Officials from the state education department did not respond to requests for comment. New York State United Teachers President Dick Ianuzzu and United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew praised the proposals.

“We … applaud Gov. Cuomo for proposing a way for school districts to increase learning time for students through a creative grant program, one that districts could use to restore their enrichment programs in music and the arts,” Mulgrew said in an emailed statement.

Oh goodie - let's add two hours to the school day, we'll still do seven hours of test prep and test drills, but now kids can have two extra hours of school time for music and art and PE and enrichment activities.

At least until we decide two extra hours of school time for music and art and PE and enrichment activities isn't allowing for enough test prep and test drills and we cut back on the school time for music and art and PE and enrichment activities and just go with nine straight hours of test prep and test drills.

And all of this can be funded off the backs of people with gambling problems.

Yeah, sure seems like great policy - the kind of thing you would expect from some arrogant, elitist short-sighted fool like Andrew Cuomo.

It's a shame Mike Mulgrew isn't any wiser than Cuomo.

Hey Mikey, hey Andrew - you want to add music and art and PE and enrichment activities back to the school day?

Cut back on the state and local tests all the year through in every subject in every grade as mandated by your new APPR teacher evaluation system.

And certainly don't add to the problems our society already faces by funding these programs with money from casinos.