Politics on the Hudson

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith summed up Vice President Joe Biden’s re-election message at a campaign fundraiser in Tallahassee earlier today.

“If you want to know in 2012 what we’ve got to say, it’s very simple – General Motors is hiring and Bin Laden is dead,” Smith was quoted as saying in a media pool report filed by the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper.

In a rare show of overwhelming bipartisanship, the Senate voted 96 to 3 this evening to approve legislation that prohibits members of Congress and federal employees from financially profiting by trading on insider knowledge.

The bill, known as the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge), came to the floor as an amalgam of bills proposed by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown.

One of the last amendments approved by the Senate today is a requirement that lawmakers disclose information about all of the real estate mortgages they hold. The bipartisan amendment authored by Democrat Barbara Boxer of California and Johnny Isakson  of Georgia also applies to mortgages held by the president, vice president and executive branch employees who are subject to Senate confirmation.

House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor has promised a floor vote in his chamber by the end of the month.

House Democrats led by Louise Slaughter of New York and Tim Walz of Minnesota have started a petition drive to force a vote as soon as possible.

President Barack Obama issued a statement after the Senate vote urging the House to act quickly.

Obama also urged Congress to do more to restore public trust “like prohibiting elected officials from owning stocks in industries they impact, and prohibiting people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress from lobbying Congress, an idea that has bipartisan support outside of Washington.’’

Wappingers Falls Mayor Matt Alexander had $20,587 in campaign cash at the end of December for his bid to win the Democratic line in the November election for the 19th Congressional District seat.

Alexander is one of three Democrats seeking their party’s line to run against freshman Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth of Bedford. The Federal Election Commission website did not display Alexander’s filing early Wednesday, even though it was submitted before the midnight Tuesday deadline.

Hayworth’s campaign reported having $1.1 million at the end of the year.

Richard Becker, a heart specialist from Cortlandt seeking the Democratic line, had $165,282. A third Democrat, Tuxedo Park Mayor Tom Wilson, announced his candidacy only two weeks ago.

The Hudson Valley’s two Republican freshmen in Congress – Nan Hayworth and Chris Gibson—ended 2011 with sizeable stashes of campaign cash.
Hayworth, an ophthalmologist from Bedford, had $1.1 million in her campaign treasury while Gibson, a retired Army colonel from Kinderhook, had $702,022.

None of Hayworth’s announced Democratic opponents came close to her in fundraising.

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand heads into the 2012 election with $8.1 million in campaign cash, according to a yearend finance report filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
New York’s junior senator raised $9.76 million last year, coming out of a successful 2010 campaign in which she spent $13.4 million to win the remaining two years of the six-year term that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was elected to in 2006.
Republicans George Maragos, who serves as Nassau County’s comptroller, and Marc Cendella, CEO of TheLadders.com job search website, have been traveling around the state meeting with party leaders and seeking their support to run as the GOP standardbearer against Gillibrand this November, when she will be seeking a full six-year Senate term.
Both Republicans have indicated they are willing to spend millions of dollars of their own money for the campaign.
State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox criticized Gillibrand’s campaign fundraising several weeks ago when she traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to a campaign event.
According to Gillibrand’s campaign spokesman Glen Caplin, money raised from the campaign event held in Geneva, as well as others held in London and Paris, will be reported in her first quarter 2012 campaign finance report. During the trip Gillibrand tapped into donors who are members of the organization Democrats Abroad.

“It’s not unusual, and in fact, it is quite common for American citizens living abroad to participate in the democratic process back home,” Caplin stated.
New York’s senior Democratic senator, Chuck Schumer, won a third six-year term in 2010 and won’t be up for re-election until 2016.
Schumer’s campaign committee received $645,637 in donations in 2011 and ended the year with just over $10 million.

Bipartisan legislation that would require members of Congress to disclose financial trades on a more timely basis cleared a key Senate procedural vote on Monday.
Under the STOCK Act, for Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, lawmakers would have 30 days to post online any trade of least $1,000.
The legislation aims to clarify that members of Congress and their employees are subject to the same federal anti-fraud laws that prohibit other Americans from making stock trades based on insider knowledge.
Monday’s vote was 93-2 to take up the bill and allow amendments. Sixty votes were needed for the measure to move forward. A final vote is expected later this week.
Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who joined fellow Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina in opposing the bill, said in an interview the legislation is unnecessary. A simple signed statement by lawmakers attesting that they had not violated the law would serve the same purpose without as much bureaucracy, he said.
“Why are we playing a game with the American people?’’ Coburn asked.
The White House said Monday it “strongly supports’’ the bill, which it said “makes clear that members and employees of Congress owe a duty arising from their position of trust and confidence not to use nonpublic information obtained by virtue of their position for personal benefit.’’
Monday’s vote allows senators to begin offering amendments that could replace the 30-day reporting period with a shorter time frame. Currently, members of Congress are required only to file annual statements of personal wealth that report their assets in broad ranges.
“I have heard a number of amendments that are being considered to make it tougher or clearer or add other provisions,’’ said Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, one of the lead sponsors of the Senate bill.
Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., have proposed an amendment that would permanently ban congressional earmarks.
Federal law enforcement agencies say they need timely data in order to analyze whether lawmakers are using privileged information for financial gain.
The STOCK Act may be just the first in a flurry of bills lawmakers introduce this year in response to polls showing public confidence in them is at an all-time low.
Gillibrand plans to offer separate legislation to increase transparency that would, among other things, require the Supreme Court to televise its proceedings.
House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia plans to schedule a floor vote on an expanded version of the STOCK Act in February, according to spokeswoman Laena Fallon.
“Building upon the Senate bill, this common-sense proposal will not only deal with insider trading of stocks, but also prevent all federal officials and employees from using insider information for profit in other areas in a constitutionally sound way,’’ Fallon said. “As Leader Cantor has said, he strongly supports increased disclosure to prevent any sense of impropriety and ensure the public’s confidence and trust in our elected officials.”
The original STOCK Act was proposed in 2006 by Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter of Fairport and former Rep. Brian Baird of Washington state. The current House bill has 254 sponsors, with 218 votes needed for passage.

Ten-term Democratic Rep. Maurice Hinchey of Ulster County will retire at the end of the year, according to
spokesman Mike Morosi.

Hinchey will make the official announcement Thursday in Kingston.

The impending retirement was first reported by The Politico, which cited unnamed sources.

The 73-year-old congressman underwent a second round of surgery for colon cancer earlier this month at Albany Medical
Center, following an initial procedure in July.

Hinchey felt “very fortunate to be cancer-free’’ following the recent surgery, Morosi said. He described that
operation as “a final benchmark procedure, marking the completion of (Hinchey’s) cancer protocol.”

In April, Hinchey released a statement from his doctor saying he was undergoing radiation treatment for colon cancer
at the Ulster Radiation Oncology Center in Kingston.

He underwent surgery July 12 at the Albany Medical Center, followed by periodic chemotherapy that continued through
the end of 2011.

Last week, Morosi said Hinchey faced “a number of hurdles” in deciding whether to seek re-election.

Hinchey is making his announcement a couple of weeks prior to the expected release of new congressional district
lines by the state Legislature, and the timing serves a courtesy to lawmakers in Albany who may have intended to preserve the current configuration of his Democratic-leaning 22nd Congressional District. The current boundaries include
numerous cities and colleges. The western boundary includes Ithaca and Binghamton, while the eastern boundary includes the mid-Hudson Valley cities of Poughkeepsie, Newburgh Middletown and Kingston.

New York is losing two of its 29 House seats under redistricting this year because the state’s population grew slower
than the rest of the country.

Last year Hinchey’s campaign fundraising lagged behind many other New York incumbents in Congress.

He ended September with $107,213, much less than the $225,000 to $890,000 held by each of three Republican freshmen in surrounding congressional districts.

Hinchey’s campaign has not yet released its year-end 2011 fundraising report.

Two Republicans already have announced they’re running for the 22nd District seat.

George Phillips, a teacher from the Binghamton area who lost to Hinchey in 2008 and 2010, had $55,640 at the end of
September.

Tom Engel, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, declared his candidacy in
October. An Ulster County resident, Engel is a principal in the McKool Smith law firm.

The mayor of the village of Tuxedo Park in Orange County has announced he is seeking the Democratic Party line to run against Rep. Nan Hayworth of Bedford.

Mayor Tom Wilson is the third Democrat to announce against Hayworth in the 19th Congressional District.

However, the boundaries of the Congressional District have not yet been set through redistricting.

One or more of the candidates could be redistricted out of the 19th.

A candidate still is eligible to run if he or she does not live in the district, but it does have an impact on electability.

The two other Democratic candidates are cardiologist Richard Becker of Cortlandt Manor and Wappingers Falls Mayor Matt Alexander.

The United Farm Workers of America announced today they are endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election in November.

President Obama stands with farm workers and immigrants,’‘ UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said in a press statement. ”His administration is fighting against mean-spirited partisan legislation and gratuitous attacks by Republican politicians against hard-working, tax-paying immigrants who are among the most vulnerable people in our society.”

A bipartisan advocacy group says freshman Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth of Bedford has agreed to its pledge to sit with a member of another political party during the Jan. 24 State of the Union address by President Barack Obama.
The group, No Labels, said it has a commitment from a dozen lawmakers so far. “That was just our initial outreach,’’ said spokeswoman Sarah Feldman. “We are going to be speaking to every single office.’’
No other members of the New York delegation were part of that initial group.
Last year many Republicans and Democrats arranged “bipartisan dates’’ for the speech after the idea was floated by Third Way, a centrist Democratic advocacy group.
Both of New York’s Democratic senators sat with Republicans.
Sen. Chuck Schumer sat with conservative Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand invited Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to join her.