Is This Open Government (Updated)
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- April
- 15
Gov. David Paterson blew off reporters this morning after two events in Albany, refusing to answer any questions about the meager $150 in charitable contributions he claimed on his tax returns Monday or take questions on any other issue.
He barely even responded when reporters asked him about plans to throw out the first pitch at the Mets game tonight, and instead continued to walk at a brisk pace through Empire State Plaza surrounded by aides.
He said initially he didn’t have time to stop because he had to give a speech to the Transit Workers Union—an event that was not listed on his public calendar. Yet he didn’t stop after the speech to take questions, instead slipping through a back doorway on the stage of The Egg auditorium.
One aide said he had a busy schedule and couldn’t stop.
The move was odd for Paterson, who has been media friendly as lieutenant governor and as a state senator before that. And on his first full day in office, he held a now infamous press conference to disclose he had extramarital affairs years ago.
Yet in recent days he has declined to answer press questions on any topic as he heads to events at the state Capitol.
Updated: Paterson press aide Morgan Hook called to say that Paterson did take questions from the media on Monday, as he headed into a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 11:30 am by Joseph Spector.
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sounds like david knows there is more coming..
Brian Schneider will need a lot of luck to catch that one.
It does sound like he knows more is coming.
It also sounds like Paterson had no idea his tax returns were going to be made public. He wasn’t expecting to be governor. $150 bucks from the two of them? Pretty stingy for a life-long liberal.
Oh, that’s right. It’s other peoples’ money they like to take and “distribute,” not their own.
A speech to the Transit Workers Union? The guys who recently and illegally shut down the system? Should be a LECTURE to the Union, not a speech. And, so far as the tax returns go, I think the consultant and the Wahoo have nailed it. I read somewhere that her income and his, as Lt. Governor came to more than the gross income he reported. Meaning, no interest income, no capital gains, no ordinary dividends, no nothing?
Maybe they should go to Disneyworld and see how much money Walt’s heirs are losing each year.
And the above should have been posted, of course, in the Playland blog. Sorry.
you know what’s interesting..they really did not
give to charity at all..for a guy with a handicapp
you with think he would have contributed to a
charity researching macular degeneration or other
forms of sight deficit..how about the american
cancer society…how about any recognized
charity like st judes children hospital…
when you take a deduction for clothing to
the salvation army…you put your own
value on the receipt and they stamp it..
ie he gave away something he didn’t need
that was probably worth a heck of a lot less
in reality than even the $150.00. This guy could
turn out to be a dud…
Even the poor, decent guy who throws five bucks in the basket every Sunday can deduct $260.
exactly..this guy is a “schnorer”
Haven’t heard anyone referred to as a shnorer in ten years! I must be traveling in better company now than I used to.
Fewer shnorers around.
I remember a little from my youth..that is one
of the words I remember my grandpa using….it
hasn’t lost its value….
Yiddish is interesting in how much can be captured/conveyed in just one word, or a simple phrase. Long-winded professional writers would do themselves a favor studying it. It is the difference between a novel and a poem. However, it seems most poetry these days is useless, too.
the gov is a political hack, but a least he is an educated, fair minded hack, unlike Malcom Smith who is just a hack of the queens county machine.
remeber, hsi family moved to Nassau county so he could be educated, his father represented harlem in the legislature.
I would like the guy from room 8 to comment on that aspect of his life.
he may not have been give a silver spoon at birth, but he was raised to live by feeding on the public tax dollars
remeber h carl mccall and the fact that he would put in for room money while staying at hs wife’s home (paid for the state ans a SUNY school president.
Just read elsewhere in the JN that the Gov paid 10 thou to Ithaca College for his daughter’s tuition. Room board, tuition and fees there are 40 thou, and the article said that the other 30 was covered. He made $270 thousand last year. Doesn’t sound like a need based discount. Maybe everything is up and up, but sure sounds shaky at first glance. I know that when my kids went to college, I didn’t make close to Paterson’s $, my kids were National Honor Society and top students, and I couldn’t get a nickel.
See the editorial in today’s NY Post, which addresses Paterson’s incredible stinginess (he and Michelle did just what the Clintons did re: the Salvation Army)—and adds that Paterson and Michelle also are getting a state refund of about $4,400.
The editorial also reports something ominous. Paterson steered a lot of state (taxpayer) grant money to the Manhattan hospital where Michelle was public relations director. The hospital’s president confirms she was hired for that purpose—to get money out of Albany.
many of these guys just played the game for years in
albany..they got along to get along..they took money
for their friends and families..they seeded the payroll
with jobs..and they did all this under the radar..the
last thing patterson ever expected was to be in the
spotlight as governor…of course when you are all eyes
are upon you…they will be digging stuff up until
the next election and i as sure there is plenty to
dig…