In a news conference via telephone from Iraq today, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’d been making the rounds with troops, military and other leaders, and David Petraeus, commanding general of the multinational force in Iraq. He would not answer any policy questions about the war, saying he was there to wish the troops a happy new year.

“I’m very impressed with the morale,” Schumer said. “The morale is high.”

Schumer, who is on the first day of his trip to Iraq, said he also visited a local market, where he wore a bulletproof vest and helmet and was guarded by 30 armed soldiers. His office would not disclose how long the senator would be in Iraq, citing security reasons.

As you might expect with just three days to go before the Iowa caucuses, New Years is no holiday for the candidates seeking to become president. Most of them – especially on the Democratic side, will ring in 2008 in Iowa.

After a full slate of events today, Hillary Clinton will join her husband, former President Bill Clinton, for a “New Year, New Beginnings Celebration” in Capitol Square in Des Moines tonight.

The Clinton campaign also launched a new web video today entitled “Countdown,� which lists the priorities of her campaign. See the 31-second video here.

The Journal News’ Michael Risinit is reporting today that Republican Greg Ball has decided not to challenge Rep. John Hall, a Democrat, in 2008 and will, instead, seek re-election to his state Assembly seat.

Read more here.

Fark.com, a social networking Web site whose users submit stories they believe are not  newsworthy, saw fit to post a Gannett News Service story this weekend on controlling the volume of movie theater trailers and commercials. Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, has submitted legislation that would prevent theaters from playing ads and trailers at a louder volume than movies.

The following description is on the Web site:

“Having rid New York state of crime, corruption, high taxes, pollution, traffic, potholes, cockroaches, rats, silverfish, illegal immigrants and Hamptons (expletive deleted,) state assemblywoman declares war on loud movie theatres.”

The item was posted Saturday on http://www.fark.com/politics/.

Michael Carey, the father of an autistic boy who died while in a state residence this year, is asking Gov. Eliot Spitzer to give people more time to get records if they think their child or family member is being abused in the residential mental-hygiene system. A provision of Jonathan’s Law that allows families to obtain records retroactively to Jan. 1, 2003 expires today. (Documents from May 5, 2007 to the present remain available.) The law, passed this year, is named for Michael Carey’s late son.

Michael Carey, who held a news conference at the Capitol today, said the state has done a poor job of disseminating information on the law. The state Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities was in charge of developing and distributing a pamphlet to guide families in the process. It took the agency until last month to do so, and the guide is available only on the Web. Carey accused state officials of trying to limit their potential legal liability.

“Those records are vital for families to properly be able to advocate for their children,” Carey said.

A spokesman for Spitzer said the governor does not oppose an extension, but it is up to the Legislature to decide. Read more of this entry »

Former state Sen. Nick Spano called Politics on the Hudson today to dispute an item published in the Albany Times Union this weekend stating that he was cited by the police in 2002 for operating a commercial vehicle without a license.

“It’s definitely not me,” Spano said.

Spano was mentioned as part of a TU investigation into lawmakers who have broken the law.

The investigation. which was conducted for the Times Union by the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting at Columbia University, found that about one-fifth of elected legislators in New York have, by some measure, broken the law in recent years.

Meanwhile, Spano said his lobbying firm, Empire Strategic Planning, has had a successful first year, financially, but that he still continuing to weigh his options about running for his old Senate seat.

“I miss the fight, I miss the action,” Spano said about politics.

Sen. Chuck Schumer is spending this New Year’s Eve visiting the troops in Baghdad.

According to a news release from his office, Schumer’s on a trip through the Middle East and “today ate dinner with soldiers inside Baghdad after a full day tour through the war zone. On his trip through Iraq, including Baghdad and areas outside the capital, Schumer also visited with New York soldiers deployed throughout the country. After dinner, Schumer met personally with General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

“Schumer is the only member of Congress in Iraq right now. This is the Senator’s first trip to Iraq and comes after visits to Israel and Jordan last week.”

In a statement, Schumer said, “It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to spend New Year’s Eve with the brave men and women serving in Iraq. I have visited with troops all day today, many from New York, and there is no question that they represent the best of America. I am proud to convey to our troops the best wishes and enduring thanks of a grateful nation during the holiday season.�

The Democratic leadership of the Westchester Board of Legislators again this week postponed a move to hire a lobbyist to represent the board’s interests in Albany.

A proposed $55,000 contract with the lobbying form of Davidoff Malito & Hutcher was pulled from the agenda of the county’s Board of Acquisition and Contract just before Thursday’s meeting. It marked the second week in a row that the contract was pulled.

A spokeswoman for the legislature, Betsy DeSoye, said Majority Leader Martin Rogowsky was still negotiating with the firm.

Meanwhile, the contracts board did approve a new contract between County Executive Andrew Spano’s administration and the lobbying form of Patricia Lynch Associates. That contract is for $25,000, less than half of what the legislature was willing to pay for its lobbyist.

In recent years, the legislature has joined with Spano in hiring Lynch’s firm. This year, however, the BOL decided it needed to hire its own firm.

A check of state Board of Election records showed that Davidoff Malito & Hutcher donated $1,000 in October to the Democratic Majority Action Committee — a committee created by the legislature’s Democratic leadership to help elect more Democratic legislators.

The firm also donated $250 to BOL Chairman Bill Ryan, a White Plains Democrat, in November of 2006.

With just days left to go before the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton’s campaign today unveiled a new ad in that state. The 30-second spot, entitled “President” focuses on housing and the crisis in the nation’s sub-prime mortgage market.

“When we choose a president next year, let’s choose one that would have started fixing
our economy this year,” Reads the script.

See the ad here.

Tom Staudter, the press spokesman for state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, just called to say he is leaving his job to join presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich’s press shop. He will soon travel to New Hampshire to prepare for that state’s primary.

Staudter said he gave notice to Stewart-Cousins in November with the original intention of devoting himself full time to a career in music management. He currently handles a few artists on a part-time basis. But that was before he spoke with Kucinich during a fundraiser the candidate attended in Hastings last month.

“I was about to walk away from politics all together and then I had this great conversation with Dennis Kucinich,” Staudter said.

Staudter, who worked on Rep. John Hall’s campaign in 2006, had only been on Stewart-Cousins’ staff since August. He described it as a “great job,” but not for him.

“Working in an office like that, it wasn’t a great fit for me,” Staudter said. “I’m a much more kinetic person.”

The timing could prove difficult for Stewart-Cousins, however, as she heads into an election year and has already been targeted by the state GOP.