Statement by Chairman Joseph N. Mondello, New York Republican State Committee

Republicans in New York State today took another positive step forward in our efforts to deliver real tax relief and allow more people to keep more of their hard-earned money instead of turning it back over to the government in taxes at the pump. Both the Senate and Assembly Republicans announced solid plans, and the State Party has created an online petition at www.nygop.org to give people an opportunity to voice their opposition against gas taxes. (more…)

Mondello Statement

Last month, political candidate Al Franken was required to pay over $25,000 in penalties to New York State for failing to make workers compensation insurance and disability insurance payments for his employees in Al Franken Incorporated.Recent reports that Al Franken Incorporated, the company Al Franken founded in New York in 1991, has not filed corporate income returns in the State of California from 2003-2007 raises new questions about his business dealings. (more…)

Associated Press article in the New York Times

Democratic Party members increasingly dislike the contender they are not supporting in the bruising nomination fight, an Associated Press-Yahoo News survey and exit polls of voters show. That is raising questions about how faithful some will be by the November general election.In the AP-Yahoo poll — which has tracked the same 2,000 people since November — Barack Obama supporters with negative views of the New York senator have grown from 35 percent in November to 44 percent this month, including one-quarter with very unfavorable feelings. (more…)

Statement by Chairman Joseph N. Mondello, New York Republican State Committee

As thousands of truck drivers from across the country travel to Washington D.C. asking for relief from soaring fuel prices, Senator Obama refuses to support a plan to help hard working American families and business.

With the average price of gas in New York State creeping even closer to four dollars per gallon heading into the busy summer driving season, families and businesses in New York and across America need relief right now. (more…)

Senator Andrew Lanza, Albany Times Union Letter to the Editor

The Times Union’s April 17 editorial, “Pain at the pump,” understates the negative impact that soaring gas prices have on average families today. Gas prices are expected to continue rising even higher without some relief, and simply suggesting that people drive less won’t solve the problem.

U.S. Sen. John McCain recently introduced a proposal that would provide real relief by removing federal gas taxes between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when New Yorkers are on the road visiting relatives and taking family vacations, while also relieving the upward pressure on prices by suspending stocking the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (more…)

Jacob Gershman, New York Sun

The last and perhaps most scandalous chapter of Troopergate has yet to be written.

While the demise of Eliot Spitzer cleared the way for vigorous fact-finding on the part of Albany County district attorney David Soares, who released his corrective report of the affair only after the governor was obliterated from office, a key question remains unsolved. (more…)

Michael Goodwin, New York Daily News

Debates about debates are common in campaigns, but that is no ordinary invitation Hillary Clinton is extending to Barack Obama. It’s a gang-girl taunt when she tells a big rally she will go anywhere, anytime for a throwdown.

She offers to do it without a moderator, just the two of them asking and answering questions. Stripped of her gauzy spin that it could be like Lincoln-Douglas, she’s really challenging him to a bareknuckle punchout. On TV. (more…)

Rich Lowry, New York Post

HE self-appointed 19th-century prophet William Miller attracted an intense following when he predicted the end of the world and the arrival of the Second Coming sometime between March 1843 and April 1844. When the appointed time embarrassingly came and went, one of his followers pluckily predicted a new date of Oct. 22, 1844. The Millerites gathered that night to await the blessed event, and instead experienced what became known as “The Great Disappointment.” Barack Obama’s supporters and the media (excuse the redundancy) have expected his ascension to presumed Democratic nominee (accompanied, no doubt, by blazing lights of Unity and trumpet calls of Change - in New Hampshire, Texas and now Pennsylvania - and experienced a “Great Disappointment” each time. (more…)

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post

Who picked this movie? A few months ago, the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination looked as if it would be the feel-good political campaign of the decade, if not the century. We settled in for a heartwarming sequel to “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Instead, we’re having to endure an endless loop of “Alien vs. Predator,” a grisly piece of cinema in which all-powerful extraterrestrials battle for ultimate supremacy while mere humans become collateral damage.

Somebody make it stop. (more…)

Karl Rove, OpEd in the Wall Street Journal

After being pummeled 55% to 45% in the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama was at a loss for explanations. The best he could do was to compliment his supporters in an email saying, “you helped close the gap to a slimmer margin than most thought possible.” Then he asked for money.

With $42 million in the bank, money is the least of Sen. Obama’s problems. He needs a credible message that convinces Democrats he should be president. In recent days, he’s spent too much time proclaiming his inevitable nomination. But they already know he’s won more states, votes and delegates. (more…)