On Monday evening, the County Legislature voted to require County Legislators and the County Comptroller to pay a portion of their health insurance costs. What the Republican leadership isn’t telling the public is that unlike the Democratic bill, they have given a free ride to four countywide officials, all of whom happen to be Republicans.

“Of course we support legislators and all officials paying 15% – but it has to be done legally, and it has to include everyone equally,” said Democratic minority leader Sandy Goldberg. The county charter does not grant the County Executive the authority to impose such a policy, but instead he has had the Republican Legislature act illegally in order to ensure that he does not have to pay. This is a dangerous precedent to establish.

Last fall, Democrats passed a bill to require all elected officials to pay a portion of their health insurance costs, as a means of reducing the burden on taxpayers. This policy has been in place for years for rank and file county employees. However, rather than live up to his rhetoric of cutting costs for taxpayers, Steinhaus vetoed the bill, and Republican legislators refused to stand with taxpayers and support an override. Read the rest of this entry »

Congressman Scott Murphy just signed on to a letter urging Harry Reid to consider including a public option.

As the Senate continues to work on health reform legislation, we strongly urge you to consider including a public option.

Here are the reasons for this request:

1) The public option is overwhelmingly popular.

A December New York Times poll shows that, despite the attacks of recent months, the American public supports the public option 59% to 29%. And a recent Research 2000 poll found 82% of people who supported President Obama in 2008 and Scott Brown for Senate last week also support the public option. Only 32% of this key constituency is in favor of the current Senate bill – with more saying it “doesn’t go far enough” rather than it “goes too far.”
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Following yesterdays swearing in of Rep. Garamendi, our newest member of Congress, Rep. Bill Owens was sworn in this afternoon. Rep. Owens won a special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. The district became vacant when Rep. McHugh was confirmed by the Senate as the United States Secretary of the Army. Rep. Owens becomes the first Democrat to represent his district since the mid nineteenth century. Owens' election is the fifth consecutive Congressional special election win by Democrats.

Bill Owens pulled out an extraordinary victory in New York’s 23rd Congressional District against the extreme right wing of a Republican Party in disarray, making him the first Democrat to hold that seat since the Civil War. An Air Force veteran and long-time community leader, Bill Owens represents the best of the Democratic Party and embodies our belief that government has to work for all to be successful. Read the rest of this entry »

When moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the special election in NY-23 on Saturday – then endorsed Democratic candidate Bill Owens on Sunday – she laid bare a serious problem for the Republican Party, regardless of who wins the special election tomorrow.

The Republican Party is increasingly dominated by its radical right wing, which harbors extreme views on everything from tax policy and health care, to social issues and foreign policy.

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