Ball? Congress?
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- May
- 5
Last we checked, state Assemblyman Greg Ball was still exploring the idea of running for Congress – taking on Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains. My colleague, Susan Elan, blogged about it.
This Saturday is supposed to be the day Ball, R-Patterson, announces his decision. The following came in this morning:
BALL TO ANNOUNCE
CONGRESSIONAL EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE DECISION
DURING TRIBUTE TO MOM AND MOTHER’S DAY
Assemblyman Greg Ball (R, C, I – Patterson), currently exploring a run for the United States House of Representatives in the 19th district of New York, will be announcing his decision this Saturday in Yorktown Heights.
Ball will be joined by his family as he expresses his admiration to Judy Ball, the extraordinary woman whose guidance and unconditional love taught him the values that shaped his future in the military and public service.
_
But, according to two other sources, Ball has already decided he will take on Hall — calling into question whether his exploratory committee is still exploring or, rather, campaigning. A blurb in HV Biz, a publication about the Hudson Valley business scene, said Ball’s “announced his intentions to run for the seat.”
After the break, there’s a press release pasted in from Kennedy Catholic High School, where Ball spoke yesterday.
Ball announces candidacy to Kennedy students
Assemblyman fields questions from junior, senior history classes
SOMERS, N.Y. – Assemblyman Greg Ball (R, C, I—Patterson) announced his plans to run for Congress during a visit to Kennedy Catholic High School today.
While his campaign doesn’t officially kick off until Saturday, May 9, Ball let Kennedy’s upperclassmen in on the news and spent close to an hour answering questions ranging from his stance on illegal immigration to Homeland Security for the greater Westchester area.
“I believe we are a great nation not because of our government, but because of our people,” Ball began.
And he was quite impressed with the people gathered before him at Kennedy, stating several times that he wished such tough questions were asked of his colleagues during budget sessions. The assemblyman noted that school funding in particular is one of the sacred cows of government. When responding to a question about the shortening of athletic seasons for budgetary reasons, Ball remarked that athletics and fine arts are often first on the chopping block in order to create public outcry for a restoration of funds.
Throughout his comments, the assemblyman took care to make contemporary parallels for the students. When asked about how he would handle illegal immigration, Ball likened the situation to students who are simply handed the keys to cars, as opposed to those who have to work and pay for their own. In the same way that those who aren’t forced to work for the privilege are more likely to have an accident, the assemblyman said the current system needs to hold illegal immigrants accountable through measures such as learning English and passing citizenship tests lest it, too, crashes.
“I think they hit on key issues,” Social Studies Chair Fred Katz said of those who posed questions to the assemblyman.
The students represented a cross-section of junior and senior history classes. In addition to researching hot-button issues, students also sought out Ball’s legislative and voting records.
“I was pleased,” Katz said.
As was the Rev. Mark Vaillancourt, president of Kennedy Catholic, who looked for the visit to be a “learning process” for his students. Among the things the students learned was that Father Vaillancourt and Assemblyman Ball share an alma mater in Pawling High School.
“They did Kennedy proud,” Vaillancourt said of the upperclassmen.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 11:12 am by Mike Risinit.
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Ball has not filed with the FEC in Washington. He was supposed to make a financial disclousure back on March 30 but he did not. The disclousure is for any candidate who has raised or spent more than $5000. So either his campaign is so lame that he could not raise $5000 in 3 months worth of events ….or he just refused to file and is in violation of the law.
wow, Greg Ball in violation of the law??? Shocking. He thinks he is above the law and that rules don’t apply to him.
Well, it’s not necessarily true that he spent over $5,000 – which is pathetic – but keep in mind that most goats can be picked up at a livestock auction for anywhere from $70-$500.
But Ball didn’t buy the goat. He knows that…
My question is will his announcement come before or after he’s arrested for falsely reporting an incident?
Because that’s right around the corner…
Greg Ball says he has the ability to work across party lines to get things done for our community. In fact when Ball walked into the Assembly he accused the Republicans of being inept, the Democrats of being corrupt and the organization of being dysfunctional. But the only thing he has accomplished is grand standing, manufacturing character assassinations and exploiting racial tensions for personal political gain. He is the least effective member of the legislature.
Greg Ball has not authored one piece of legislation that has become law. Not one – zero! But this hasn’t stopped him from taking credit for others hard work. Time and again he has voted against legislation, and then turned around and issued press releases claiming the legislation as his own initiative. Ball calls this “leadership.” Actually, it’s devious, deceptive, and the mark of an ineffective and incapable legislator.
Ball’s voting record exposes that his claims are not just misleading and underhanded – they are outright lies and down-right deceitful in nature. Each vote is designed to claim support for a benevolent principle or to reinforce his claim that he voted against every spending bill in the Assembly. The thoughtful voter can see right through this charade. If Ball always votes against spending, how is it possible to “support” legislation for seniors, veterans, the disabled, the autistic, etc.? The obvious answer is – it is not possible and his voting record proves it.
Consider just a few instances of Ball’s “deception”:
He rails against the tax code, but then passes no legislation to reform it.
He voted against tax breaks for seniors, but still insists he’s their advocate.
He voted against property tax relief, and then claims to be champion of the issue.
He voted against the Basic and Enhanced STAR Property Tax Exemptions, and the Middle Class STAR Rebate Program—programs which provide billions of dollars in property tax relief for homeowners and seniors on fixed incomes.
Ball voted against funding for libraries.
Funding for our schools.
Funding for nursing homes.
Funding for mental health programs for those with autism (then aggressively courts the votes of parents with autistic children).
Ball calls the legislature dysfunctional and his colleagues inept, and suggests he has all the answers. Mr. Ball is the one who is dysfunctional. He plays to the fears and frustrations of others; he offers only lip service and provides no results.
Don’t believe what you read in his press releases. Check his voting record for yourself.
Consider thats being spewed by a disgraced, wannabe cop and his fat buddy. Didn’t work so good the last time around, and that was with $500,000 of someone else’s money.
It’ll be a chilly day in hell when a Republican gets ANYTHING passed with Silver running the circus. Seems to this disinterested country boy that of all the hundreds of opinions posted herein re: Ball, he is continuously criticized for not getting done what the writers don’t want him to get done. Ad-hominem arguments, anyone? The world’s disintegrating and all these posters wring their hands and furrow their brows over an insignificant, small-time assemblyperson from Podunk?
Looks like Mike Santos and Dan Birmingham are up to their old tricks again with this Truth About Ball group. They were handed $250,000.00 to spend against Ball – and supposedly did so – with very little to show. Including campaign filings.
Where are Santos’ missing campaign filings?
Mr. Santos and Mr. Birmingham can try that game again but doubtful that even the rummy Mr. Birmingham will be able to woo Mr. Rose again. Just look how they “wasted” his money the last time.
you missed it! birmingham flipped. supporting ball for congress so ball supports him for assembly. but danny boy is no machiavelli. he leaves a paper trail of lies and deceit. when danny boy had his “come to jesus” moment did he feel it proper to disclose to new pal greg his intimate role in spending a quarter-million against him during the last campaign? nasty, negative, even personal attack ads – all put together by danny boy. does greg know about that?
now he does!
Good thoughts as to why people are wringing their hands over an INSIGNIFICANT, SMALL TOWN ASSEMBLYPERSON ! Why does this person get so much attention for doing nothing? Can’t figure that out !
Not being able to raise $5,000 for a congressional race is pathetic.
Ball is a loser who, frankly, has only run against other losers. He picked on the weak political establishment in Putnam County and built them up (in the media) into some sort of indestructible force – so that when he beat them, the perception was that Greg Ball was unstoppable.
Now that he’s moved on to the “big leagues” he’s quickly realizing what a loser he is and that he simply cannot compete.
Looks like Greg Ball isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.
Under the “testing the waters” provision, you don’t have to say if you raised $5,000, $500,000, or $5,000,000. As soon as you say you’re a candidate, you get a month or so to file the candidate forms, and then you file the disclosure on the next disclosure deadline. He could have already filed the candidate forms prior to announcing at Kennedy High School, or could do it next week and that would be legal. It means we won’t know how much money Ball has up his sleeve until mid-July.
Ball likes to make up on his own rules. He’s in the exploratory or “testing the waters” phase of his campaign right now.
From the article:
Federal Election Commission spokeswoman Julia Queen said under the “testing the waters” stipulation filing is required if $5,000 is raised or spent.
THAT’S REGARDLESS OF WHETHER BALL SAYS HE’S A CANDIDATE OR NOT.
Did he raise or spend $5,000? If so, he needs to file.
Not filing is a violation of Federal Law. Not good for someone who wants to make the laws if they can’t even follow them.
Sorry, you’re incorrect:
“Testing the Waters” Regulation and Recent FEC Guidance
A trio of recently closed cases at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) provides us with guidance on how the current Commissioners will apply the so-called “testing the waters” regulation. FEC regulations allow potential candidates to raise and spend federally-permissible funds on pre-candidacy activities intended to help them decide whether or not to run for election. Potential candidates are not required to file FEC reports during this decision-making period. When and if the person decides to become a candidate, he or she must file reports disclosing their “testing the waters” fundraising and spending.
For example, “testing the waters” may include conducting polls, making phone calls, or traveling the district to meet potential voters and constituents. One may not continue to “test the waters” after deciding to become a candidate. The FEC looks at a number of factors to determine whether a person has decided to become a candidate, including raising funds in excess of what could reasonably be expected to be used to explore a potential candidacy, the person’s own statements referring to himself as a candidate, and conducting activities over a protracted period of time. Contrary to one common misperception, a potential candidate who is “testing the waters” does not automatically become a formal candidate upon raising $5,000. In fact, potential candidates, on several occasions, have raised $100,000 or even $200,000 without running afoul of the “testing the waters” provisions.
So Ball thinks he just gets to make up new rules? He either has raised over $5,000 and is illegally not reporting it or he hasn’t crossed the $5,000 threshold.
Either case does not boast well for him. And people will be following up on this. Stiff penalties for not following federal election law.
And Ball just keeps forgetting that he’s screwing with the big boys now. He’s not running against Vinnie Leibell or another Club Putnam politician. He’s now running against the DCCC and all of their researchers, media people, everything.
Ball won’t survive the summer. That’s a guarantee.
Ball is like teflon, he is untouchable, nothing sticks to him. Dan is a nice person and will do well as an Assemblyman. The people who went after Ball last time have not learnt their lesson, the people in our district like his platform and his position on illegal immigration.
a potential candidate who is “testing the waters” does not automatically become a formal candidate upon raising $5,000. In fact, potential candidates, on several occasions, have raised $100,000 or even $200,000 without running afoul of the “testing the waters” provisions.
Ball aka Duh is lying. Making up rules as he goes along. That’s Greg Ball’s S.O.P.
If you raise or spend in excess of $5,000.00 you must file. Go to the FEC website, pal.
Ball is not going to get away with this one.
Mr. Ball has misled the public in the past. And he’s going to attempt to do it again.
..............
Were you molested as a child? That was the question Greg Ball had for one of his prospective constituents. The incident occurred in Mahopac during the summer of 2006.
Mr. Ball was caught on video tape.
The incident occurred during the 2006 Republican Primary Election after a supporter of Greg Ball’s opponent spotted Ball and his campaign cronies moving political signs that he had just placed.
Mr. Ball was unaware that he was being recorded and his comment during the exchange reveals the shallowness of his character.
I did not vote for Ball. Was not impressed with him. But you negative Ball people posting here, come up with some new information instead of repeating the sameoldstuff ! Gets a bit well done and obviously people did not care about the negative stories because they bought the ‘goodoleballstories.’ So unless you have something new to share, stop repeating old news.
Mr. Ball is attempting to introduce himself to a new population – voting bloc – whatever you want to call it. And he’s also attempting to run from his record of failure and re-invent himself in the process. He knows that the voters of the 19th CD are not nearly as right-wing or radical as many of his previously stated positions. Greg Ball is not a dumb man.
And because of that, The Truth About Ball will continue to correct Ball’s misinformation campaign and expose him – to populations both new and old – for exactly what he is.
Sorry if this upsets you, sameolestuff, but then again, you’re probably a Ball supporter anyway…
A MUST READ
Ball steals money from charity, plots cover-up:
When the Washington Post reported that Greg Ball established a political action committee called Citizens United for Ethical Growth (CUEG) to funnel money from a charity which he also founded into his assembly race, the assemblyman denied the charges and slammed the paper. “The story is completely garbage,” he told the North County News.
But it wasn’t. The record is clear: Greg Ball funded his 2006 assembly bid with money donors thought would be spent to improve kids. It was a scam three years in the making.
In 2003, Ball founded the PAC, Citizens United for Ethical Growth, explicitly to raise funds for his future assembly race, but concealed this true purpose from donors. Instead, he cast the organization as a group dedicated to “smart growth” and environmentally-friendly development.
In 2004, Ball organized a charity polo match called “the Courage Cup” and promoted it as a fundraiser for kids in inner city Philadelphia, to provide them with an opportunity to learn to ride horses and play polo. However, in 2005, Ball used the charity to raise funds for his future assembly race by selling tickets to the Courage Cup’s “Golden Mallet Tent” through CUEG. Ball claimed afterwards that there was a disclaimer on the ticket website. “The disclaimer was so clear,” he told the North County News. “I’m still waiting for someone to tell me that the disclaimer wasn’t there.”
A disclaimer was there. It stated: “Profits arising from money raised by the Golden Mallet Tent will go towards supporting Citizens United for Ethical Growth (www.cueg.net, A Political Action Committee dedicated to promoting smart growth, Environmentally Sensible Policies, and Sustainable Development).”
But CUEG’s financial disclosures—as required by law—clearly show that all of the organization’s expenditures and donations were actually intended for Ball’s assembly race all along.
Why not just tell donors the truth?
“I thought the money was going to kids,” Courage Cup attendee Andrew McKenna told the Washington Post when the paper told him that his name was found in Ball’s campaign finance records. “I’d be pretty [infuriated] if I found out this was for a political race.”
“It was billed as a fundraiser to get kids involved with polo,” Britt Jung, another attendee told the Post, after expressing surprise at being found among CUEG’s donors.
It doesn’t end there though:
In 2007, now a freshman assemblyman, Ball engaged in a bitter public dispute with Andrea Rogers and Keri Ann Meslar, to whom gave charge of Courage Cup in 2006. Ball wanted to be in charge of the organization again, but Rogers and Meslar didn’t want anything to do him. They told the Post that Ball “ran a frat-party type” event that raised only $1,000 each year for charity and left behind sloppy records and unpaid bills.
After Rodgers and Meslar established Courage Cup as a legal charitable organization in the state of Virginia during Ball’s absence, in January 2007, Ball e-mailed several thousand local polo enthusiasts claiming that he was hosting the real Courage Cup and posted an open letter on couragecup.com denouncing Rodgers and Meslar for attempting to “hijack” his “intellectual property” by “stealing” Courage Cup. (Rodgers and Meslar had moved the official organization’s site to couragecup.org in mid-2006).
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into making the event a success,” he declared. Rodgers and Meslar responded with a press release outlining Ball’s failures, and went on to host the fourth Courage Cup—without Ball’s involvement—that June.
Ball only dismantled his Courage Cup site and took down his open letter after the Washington Post ran its story on June 12, 2007.
In its coverage, the Post asked a simple, but fundamental question: Why did Ball, a busy freshman assemblyman, want to keep running a charity party several hours from his home district?
“Perhaps because it helped him win his seat.”
NOT a Ball supporter. But people need to hear about the past couple of years as Balls position of an elected lawmaker and the failure to do a good job as an assemblyman. People tend to believe the Ball stuff that he is promoting about being outstanding at his job.
This needs to be explored so people realize that being an assemblyman is only a stepping stone with no back bone.
Can someone tell me how to get my phone number off Ball’s call list? I am sick of his robo calls and his campaign staff calling my home each and every night. I have repeatedly asked to be removed form their list to no avail.
Do I have to go to Andrew Cuomo to get this done, or what?
“Ball will be joined by his family as he expresses his admiration to Judy Ball, the extraordinary woman whose guidance and unconditional love taught him the values that shaped his future in the military and public service.”
This is a joke, right? This is the same woman who showed up drunk as a skunk to a debate and publicly threatened to punch someone in the face for passing out palm cards of her son’s opponent. What a class act!
Of course that’s where he’d learn the ‘values’ that shaped his future in the military and public service.
He literally stole from the taxpayers. Was put through the Air Force Academy with the obligation that he serve in the military for FIVE years.
He graduated and got out after serving less than TWO years.
And according to Ball, all he did was “hold umbrellas for Generals and I looked damn good doing it.”
Some military service.
As for the public service…. I won’t even get into it.
Good Luck getting your name off of Ball’s list. He’s the only one who can take you off and Cuomo can’t do anything about it. Political phone calls are exempt from the “Do Not Call” list, because God Forbid our elected officials, when writing a law, include themselves in a Do Not Call/Stop Harassing the People piece of legislation.
“Ball will be joined by his family as he expresses his admiration to Judy Ball…...”
It sure is good to see that people have a sense of humor when reading these news announcements from BalL. This has got to be the funniest one yet.
Other poster commented about this woman showing up at an event drunk as a skunk ! Question for other poster (DA1 WHO-NOSE), did this woman have her traveling cooler with her ??????
This is getting better than Sat. night live !
The man is a dangerous demogogue. If he makes it to Congress, he’ll do no legislating; he’ll spend his time blasting Democrats in bombastic speeches; he’ll spend tim on O’Reilly and Hannity to become the face of aggressive conservatism; and he’ll raise money nationwide to run statewide. He’ll do exactly nothing for the people of Orange, Rockland, Dutchess and Putnam.
He did nothing in Albany. It’s not about bills passed – it’s about spending time working and drafting ideas, and meeting with people cooperatively to advance those ideas. No thanks – too archaic for Greg. His highlight is when he speaks on the floor, talks about debates as being Dog and Pony Shows, and leaves the hall after he’s spoken.
Greg Ball intends to be a Governor, or a US Senator, and President. Whether he gets there or not isn’t the point – that’s what his every action is directed to: political advancement as the spokesperson for ultra-conservative ideology.
If you go to the Greg Ball for Congress website it links to the NY Assembly Campaign site. And on the Assembly site, if you hit contribute, it takes the money for the Congressional exploritory committee.
I have never seen such illegal co-mingling of two campaign accounts. Ball is using Assembly campaign money (non-federal corporate money) for his Congressional campaign. This is a huge violation of the law.
Greg Ball promised voters of his district that he would vote against lavish and irresponsible spending programs, inflated budgets, etc. The people of this district voted for him based on those promises and Greg has done exactly that.
It is unfortunate that many of Greg’s policies and “good ideas” are stuck in committees that refuse to vote on them but he still is at least voting in accordance with the values he campaigned on which is more than can be said for so many of our legislators.
Passing bills is not the be all end all of successful representation. Greg has held true to his campaign promises and I for one commend him on his unwillingness to waiver just to “get something done.”
If the majority of State voters dislike the direction this state is going and the spending we are seeing then more and more incumbents will lose and be forced to finally vote on issues that Greg has stuck in committee. It’s the nature of politics.
“It is unfortunate that many of Greg’s policies and ‘good ideas’ are stuck in committees that refuse to vote on them…”
There is a provision in the New York State Assembly by which a member can file a discharge petition (colloquially known as 99ing a bill) in order to get that bill out of committee and onto the floor for debate and a vote.
Ball can hoot and holler all he wants about how hard he works and how great his legislation is and that the evil Democrats won’t let him do anything.
BUT, he can do something. He could have ‘99ed’ his “meaningful” legislation. He didn’t. He probably didn’t even care enough to read the rules of the Assembly to unserstand what a discharge petition is.
So next time you hear Ball whine that the Democrats prevented him for getting legislation onto the floor for debate, keep ‘99ing’ in mind and also remember that many Republicans have had prime sponsored legislation pass the full Assembly. Ball is a liar and a loser who has not had a single bill even reach the floor for debate.
Perhaps he’s too busy sitting around clock tower begging for money that he could care less about the job we pay him to do.
Pathetic.