Politics on the Hudson

A proposal to ban insider stock trading by members of Congress and their staff will get a congressional hearing Dec. 6 before the House Financial Services Committee.
New York Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, first proposed the bill in 2006 with former Rep. Brian Baird of Washington and, until this week, never had more than 14 House sponsors.
That’s all changed since a CBS TV News segment on 60 Minutes Sunday night drew attention to the ability of lawmakers and their employers to trade on the inside information they obtain about pending legislation and regulations that can move the stock market.
Since Monday, the number of sponsors of Slaughter’s bill has grown to 61.
Slaughter said Thursday that getting a full committee hearing on her bill “shows the power of the press.”
“I’m particularly pleased because my colleagues are really starting to understand that light needs to be shed on insider trading and political intelligence which has been creeping into the halls of Congress for years now,” Slaughter said.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said Thursday he is calling the hearing even though he personally thinks members of Congress already are prohibited from insider trading.
“The American public deserves for there to be no question or equivocation concerning members of Congress or any citizen being exempted from laws prohibiting insider trading,” he said.
Bachus was one of the lawmakers highlighted in the 60 Minutes report, which drew on reporting from a new book by Peter Schweizer of the Hoover Institution.
Bachus released a letter Wednesday rebutting the accusation that he purchased General Electric stock expecting it to go down in price, pointing out that his purchase options were made with the expectation it would increase in value.
Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who preceded Bachus as the committee’s chairman, released a letter Wednesday saying he “did not pay sufficient attention” to the issue when he chaired the panel.
“I did not see this as a problem that was of any great substance,” Frank wrote. “I am still not sure that this is widespread, but given the attention that we have seen on this matter now, and given the importance of those whom we represent being fully assured that we have acted appropriately, I think we should now take up this legislation.”
While Frank chaired the full committee, Slaughter’s bill only had one hearing at the subcommittee level in July 2009.
New York lawmakers who have joined recently to support the bill include Democratic Reps. Maurice Hinchey of Ulster County, Brian Higgins of Buffalo, Kathy Hochul of the Buffalo area, Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, Tim Bishop of Southampton and Bill Owens of Plattsburgh.
In the Senate, Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts introduced a version of the bill Tuesday. Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Jon Tester plan to introduce another version as early as next week.

11/18/11 UPDATE: There are now eight sponsors of the second Senate bill. Besides, Gillibrand, Tester and Stabenow, original sponsors include Republican Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrats Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Richard Blumenthalof Connecticut.

With the election a year away, a new Siena poll shows Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand well-positioned for her bid to win a full six-year year.

Gillibrand has a 49 percent-25 percent favorability rating and 53 percent of voters surveyed said they are prepared to re-elect her.

According to Siena pollster Steve Greenberg, she’s ahead of two possible Republican opponents “by more than 40 points.”

“She leads former state comptroller candidate Harry Wilson 63-21 percent and leads Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos 65-17 percent,’’ Greenberg said. “Both Wilson and Maragos are unknown to more than three-quarters of voters and both are viewed unfavorably by more than twice as many as view them favorably.”

Here’s a link to the poll:

http://www.siena.edu/uploadedfiles/home/parents_and_community/community_page/sri/sny_poll/SNY%20November%202011%20Poll%20Release%20—%20FINAL.pdf

 Ten New York lawmakers are part of a bipartisan group of 100 House members who want a congressional “super committee” to “go big” and consider all options, including revenue increases, for reducing federal deficits.
The group, which includes five Democrats and five Republicans from New York, sent a letter Wednesday to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction asking members to consider up to $4 trillion in spending cuts and revenue raisers over the next 10 years. The committee’s minimum goal is to recommend $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 18.
“To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table,’’ the letter states. “In addition, we know from other bipartisan frameworks that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt as a share of the economy and assure America’s well-being.’’
New York Republicans Reps. Tom Reed of Corning, Richard Hanna of Oneida County, Michael Grimm of Staten Island, Bob Turner of Queens and Peter King of Long Island signed the letter.
The Democratic signatories are Reps. Brian Higgins of Buffalo, Tim Bishop of Long Island, Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, Gregory Meeks of Queens and Bill Owens of Plattsburgh.
Overall, 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans signed the letter, which was spearheaded by Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho and Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina.
Shuler’s spokeswoman said Wednesday the group plans to seek signatures from more lawmakers in the coming days.

 New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Thursday she expects Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to make a full recovery and run for re-election in her Arizona House district next year.

Gillibrand acknowledged that she hasn’t been told by the Arizona congresswoman, who hasn’t publicly announced her intentions, whether she will seek a fourth term.

“I believe in her and she fully believes in public service,’’ Gillibrand said. “And I think as she continues to heal herself and overcome these horrible injuries, I think she will be able to return full time to public service and she will be able to run for re-election.’’

But New York’s junior senator doesn’t expect an announcement from her fellow Democrat anytime soon.

“I would hope she would focus on her rehabilitation throughout the end of the year and then we’ll see in the new year,’’ Gillibrand said.

Gillibrand’s comments came following a retirement ceremony and reception for Giffords’ husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly of the U.S. Navy, which was hosted by Vice President Joe Biden in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House. 

The event marked Giffords’ second visit to the nation’s capital since she was shot in the head during an outdoor constituent outreach event at a Tucson shopping center Jan. 8.

Her previous visit to Washington was in July for a House vote on increasing the nation’s debt limit. Her surprise visit to the House floor led to an emotional bipartisan standing ovation from her colleagues.

Gillibrand, 44, and Giffords, 41, both began their congressional careers as freshman Democrats in 2007 and developed a friendship that continued after Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate in January 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gillibrand said her friend looked “wonderful’’ at Thursday’s event. “She looked beautiful, vibrant, excited. She was so proud, she was beaming with pride for her husband’s accomplishments.’’

Scarsdale resident Harry J. Wilson, who lost his campaign to become state comptroller last November to Democrat Thomas DiNapoli, was sworn in today as a member of the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s advisory board.

The PBGC oversees failed pension plans.

Wilson earlier served as a member of the U.S. Treasury Department group that oversaw the restructuring of Chrysler and General Motors.

He is currently chairman and CEO of the corporate restructuring and turnaround firm MAEVA Advisors, LLC. 

“Harry Wilson has a deep knowledge of corporate restructuring, and highly relevant government experience,” PBGC Director Josh Gotbaum said in a press statement.  “This background gives him invaluable insight into the challenges we face at PBGC. I look forward to his wise counsel as a member of the Advisory Committee.”

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, released a statement today on the expected resignation of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Queens.

“There is life after Congress for Anthony Weiner and I hope he devotes himself to repairing the damage he caused to his personal life,” Lowey said

Below is the text of a letter New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and other senators sent to the Obama administration Wednesday:

The President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express our strong support for a shift in strategy and the beginning of a sizable and sustained reduction of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, beginning in July 2011.

In 2001 the United States rightfully and successfully intervened in Afghanistan with the goals of destroying al Qaeda’s safe haven, removing the Taliban government that sheltered al Qaeda, and pursuing those who planned the September 11 attacks on the United States. Those original goals have been largely met and today, as CIA Director Leon Panetta noted last June, “I think at most, we’re looking at maybe 50 to 100, maybe less” al Qaeda members remaining in Afghanistan.

In addition, over the past few years, U.S. forces have killed or captured dozens of significant al Qaeda leaders. Then, on May 2, 2011, American Special Forces acting under your direction located and killed Osama bin Laden. The death of the founder of al Qaeda is a major blow that further weakens the terrorist organization.

From the initial authorization of military force through your most recent State of the Union speech, combating al Qaeda has always been the rationale for our military presence in Afghanistan. Given our successes, it is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily withdrawing all regular combat troops.

There are those who argue that rather than reduce our forces, we should maintain a significant number of troops in order to support a lengthy counter-insurgency and nation building effort. This is misguided. We will never be able to secure and police every town and village in Afghanistan. Nor will we be able to build Afghanistan from the ground up into a Western-style democracy.

Endemic corruption in Afghanistan diverts resources intended to build roads, schools, and clinics, and some of these funds end up in the hands of the insurgents. Appointments of provincial and local officials on the basis of personal alliances and graft leads to deep mistrust by the Afghan population. While it is a laudable objective to attempt to build new civic institutions in Afghanistan, this goal does not justify the loss of American lives or the investment of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Instead of continuing to be embroiled in ancient local and regional conflicts in Afghanistan, we must accelerate the transfer of responsibility for Afghanistan’s development to the Afghan people and their government. We should maintain our capacity to eliminate any new terrorist threats, continue to train the Afghan National Security Forces, and maintain our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. However, these objectives do not require the presence of over 100,000 American troops engaged in intensive combat operations.

Mr. President, according to our own intelligence officials, al Qaeda no longer has a large presence in Afghanistan, and, as the strike against bin Laden demonstrated, we have the capacity to confront our terrorist enemies with a dramatically smaller footprint. The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits. It is time for the United States to shift course in Afghanistan.

We urge you to follow through on the pledge you made to the American people to begin the redeployment of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer, and to do so in a manner that is sizable and sustained, and includes combat troops as well as logistical and support forces.

We look forward to working with you to pursue a strategy in Afghanistan that makes our nation stronger and more secure.

?—

More than a year after former Democratic Rep. Eric Massa of Corning resigned, his campaign committee has filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court seeking the return of $40,000 in consulting fees from his former chief of staff.

The former chief of staff, Joe Racalto, was served notice of the lawsuit Friday, according to James D. Doyle, a Rochester attorney representing the Massa for Congress Committee.

Doyle said Racalto, who now lives in Syracuse, failed to respond to a letter sent last year by the campaign’s Washington attorney, Joseph Sandler, seeking a return of the fees.

The lawsuit says Racalto was not authorized to receive the money.

Racalto’s payment was dated March 4, 2010, the day after Massa announced he would not seek re-election. Massa abruptly resigned on March 9, 2010, amid a House ethics committee inquiry into his alleged sexual harassment of staff.

At the time, Massa said he was resigning for several reasons, including a possible recurrence of cancer, disgust with partisan politics and an unwillingness to fight the ethics probe.

The ethics inquiry expired when the 111th Congress ended its term in January. The new Congress has not renewed the investigation.

Massa’s campaign committee returned cash to many donors after his resignation. It still had $105,694 on March 31, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The committee reported paying $57,204 in legal fees in the first three months of this year. Doyle, the Rochester attorney, received $33,263, and the Manhattan law firm of Dealy and Silberstein received $23,941.

The former congressman’s campaign paid his wife, Beverly Massa, a monthly salary of $1,686 in the first quarter of this year for her service as treasurer, according to the report filed with the FEC. That translates to an annual salary of $20,232.

Beverly Massa was not paid for her work on the 2009-2010 campaign until this year, but she was paid by the campaign committee during her husband’s first two campaigns for Congress in 2005-2006 and 2007-2008, according to an email from Sandler.

Rep.-elect Kathy Hochul will be sworn in as New York’s 26th Congressional District representative Wednesday afternoon, according to a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.

The ceremony on the House floor will be held between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. followed by a mock swearing-in where Hochul will pose with family members for photos.

Hochul, a Democrat who won a special election last week in which the top voter issue became the Republican plan to overhaul Medicare, will begin serving the same day the House takes up fiscal 2012 appropriations bills.

The first one on the floor Wednesday will be the Homeland Security Department spending bill. Later this week the House will take up spending bills for military construction and for the Department of Veterans Affairs and related agencies.

Hochul  is taking over the suite in the Longworth House Office Building occupied by former Republican Rep. Chris Lee until his resignation in February. She also will occupy the two district offices in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville and the Rochester suburb of Greece.