To insist upon guaranteed universal healthcare for every living person in America is to insist that healthcare is a universal right, which it is certainly not.   more

In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Michael Moore insists that Barack Obama’s ambitions are much farther left than he lets on. But contrary to the Bush years, when perceived presidential deceit evoked liberal rage and a film to go with it, Moore adoringly approves of what he now sees as a necessary “rope-a-dope strategy” to advance his side’s cause.  more

Last week, after a month-long struggle for control of the Empire State’s upper legislative house, the Democratic conference found its way back to majority status.  more

The Empire State has been severely demoralized by a stagnant legislature, a clumsy and ineffective governor, and economic hardship. New York is holding out for a hero.  more

During a phone interview yesterday on MSNBC, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) accused congressional Republicans of “rooting against the country” for daring to vote against cap and trade.  more

The past week and a half in Albany has been one for the history books. Not because of any major legislation the Republicans would’ve introduced after their surprise Senate takeover; quite the contrary. As a result of the June 8th Senate floor coup, New York’s government has come to a complete and total standstill.
To begin,   more

Sheer drama took center stage in Albany yesterday. The elements of surprise, betrayal, insurrection and resurrection were in full play as the Republicans retook control of the New York State Senate in what can only be described as a Hollywoodesque coup.
The Democrats were just about to approve (or so they thought) the state’s annual pork   more

The specters of both Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley have been summoned over the past week to offer two examples for Republicans facing the distresses of minority status. In actuality, the models contradict, not compliment, one another. But there is a unifying lesson to be learned.
In last week’s Weekly Standard, Noemie Emery presented Reagan   more

Here’s at least one presidential appointment that Republicans can cross off their worry list: Obama’s pick of Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) as Secretary of the Army, announced on Tuesday. McHugh is a strong, wise choice for the post—even if it means there will now be more Republicans in the Obama administration (5) than in the   more

The 2010 race for Governor of New York has begun. Its participants are still being sorted out.
Now that former New York Rep. Rick Lazio is seeking to run for Governor of New York, the question is not whom he’ll face in the general—unless something seismic occurs this year, that’s going to be Andrew Cuomo. The   more

The dust in NY-20 has finally, officially settled and state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has lost the first election of his 26-year career.
By virtually all accounts, this special Congressional race had all the ingredients for a decisive GOP victory. The district had more Republicans than Democrats—70,632 more. Tedisco was a popular conservative commodity, while Democrat Scott   more

What a difference two weeks make. As the special congressional election in NY-20 enters its twilight, things may no longer go as once heavily hoped or expected by the GOP.
On the evening of March 31, 2009 in upstate New York, after the polls had closed and the ballots had been counted, things looked   more

Get comfortable. The final results of the special congressional race in upstate New York between Jim Tedisco (R) and Scott Murphy (D) aren’t going to be known for several weeks, possibly longer. As the absentee ballots continue to be received, opened, counted, challenged, etc., Leigh Hornbeck sums up the increasingly tense and tedious situation perfectly   more

Yesterday evening, PolitickerNY reported that Democrat Scott Murphy had once again pulled ahead of Republican Jim Tedisco by 83 votes in their race to become NY-20’s next congressman. This news came after official tallies showed Jim trailing by 13, ahead by 12,  stuck in a weekend tie, and then leading by 97 votes all within the   more

Jim Tedisco will probably win the special congressional election now being prolonged in upstate New York.
This is not hype, wishful thinking or a hope-based prediction. After a meeting of the minds that began at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday night in Jim’s suite at the Saratoga Holiday Inn, there was genuine consensus among his inner   more

Today’s the big day in upstate New York. Jim Tedisco vs. Scott Murphy. I’m naturally nervous but not at all in despair over Jim’s chances. As Matt Dill, Jim’s political director in the State Assembly, told me on Sunday night, “I think we’re gonna win it.”
Keep in mind this is the same campaign that as   more

Jim Tedisco, the Republican candidate for Congress in upstate New York’s Republican-dominated 20th district, is currently losing his bid to win Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s vacated House seat in this Tuesday’s special election. Even if the Siena poll released today didn’t showing him trailing Democratic businessman Scott Murphy by 4 points, he’d still be   more

Six years after the launch of Operation: Iraqi Freedom, one of the war’s most extreme critics, film-maker Michael Moore, claims that most Americans now stand with him. Is he right? Two weeks ago, Moore wrote a column titled ‘Why I’m Not Now and Have Never Been the Democrats’ Rush Limbaugh.’ “What I have believed in,”   more

As last Thursday marked the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, it was also six years ago last Thursday that David Frum published his paleocon-expelling “Unpatriotic Conservatives” on National Review Online. Six years later, in another time of dramatic action and change (albeit a much different kind), the paleocons once again demonstrated their   more

On Friday, Fred Thompson, through his FredPAC organization, seconded Newt Gingrich and others and publicly endorsed upstate New York congressional candidate Jim Tedisco, “a solid conservative,” in his race against “wall street Democrat” Jim Murphy.
“America is waking up to the flawed thinking and outright dangerous schemes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s Congress and the   more