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

The soaring price of gasoline is at absolute crisis level for small businesses and families who are already dealing with rising prices across the board. Today’s rally in Albany highlights the problem Republicans have been trying to address for months with little cooperation from Democrats.

Republicans from Senator John McCain at the federal level to Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco and their Republican conferences at the state level have advanced a range of commonsense proposals to provide the relief people need immediately while longer-term solutions are proposed, researched and enacted. (more…)

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

After repeatedly telling the American people that he supported and would participate in the public financing system, Senator Barack Obama has now backtracked and opted out. This is the latest flip-flop from Senator Obama, following his conflicting positions on Reverend Wright, negotiating with terrorist leaders, foreign policy positions in the Middle East and others.

American needs a President who will take thoughtful, determined stances on critical issues and stick with them through tough times. Unfortunately, the public has no reason to have faith in Senator Obama’s ability to be the kind of leader we need. (more…)

New York Sun Editorial

So Senator Obama, who is running a presidential campaign of “change” aimed at reducing the influence of special interests and lobbyists in Washington, has a federally registered lobbyist leading the host committee for the Denver convention at which he’ll be nominated, and was having his vice presidential candidates vetted by a man who took more than $7 million in loans under a special “Friends of Angelo” program for associates of the chief of sub-prime lender Countrywide. (more…)

New York Post Editorial

It’s getting a little crowded under Bar ack Obama’s bus.

Washington power broker James Johnson got tossed under yesterday - joining Chicago wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the entire Trinity United Church of Christ. (more…)

Dana Milbank, Washington Post

It was billed as a post-primary unity event at Democratic National Committee headquarters yesterday. But the unity fell apart before the opening “thank you all for coming.”

As 18 elected Democrats filed into the party’s conference room for the show of force, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, evidently not realizing the microphone was picking up his words, took a swipe at Sen. Chuck Schumer, the loquacious leader of the Senate Democrats’ campaign effort.

“Wait until Schumer stops talking,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggested to Dean.

“That’ll be a long wait,” Dean replied. Then began the meeting. (more…)

Michael Goodwin, New York Daily News

It’s the most memorable line from Troopergate, and on its first anniversary, it bears repeating. Darren Dopp, under oath, described how his boss, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, authorized him to release police documents to smear Republican leader Joe Bruno.

“F— him, he’s a piece of s—, shove it up his a– with a red hot poker,” is Dopp’s recollection of Spitzer giving the order that launched the scandal. (more…)

New York Post Editorial

Just two months ago, Gov. Paterson de putized Attorney General Andrew Cuomo finally to get to the bottom of the Troopergate scandal. No mean feat.

Indeed, now it turns out that Albany DA David Soares had yet another trick up his sleeve in what can only be termed a whitewash of the affair. (more…)

Elizabeth Benjamin, New York Daily News

SECRET DEALS CUT by the Albany County prosecutor with members of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s administration could prevent key documents from the Troopergate scandal from ever seeing the light of day - despite District Attorney David Soares‘ promise to release them.

In exchange for testimony from key Spitzer aides on how they plotted to discredit Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Soares acknowledged he granted them “limited waivers,” in which he vowed the information they provided would be only for his use and not made public. (more…)

Josh Gerstein, New York Sun

Long-standing ties between a member of Senator Obama’s new vice presidential search team and a prominent mortgage executive the senator has pilloried could become a political liability that hampers the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s ability to tap into public ire over the subprime mortgage crisis.

James Johnson, one of three people tapped by Mr. Obama recently to oversee the search for his running mate, took at least five real estate loans totaling more than $7 million from Countrywide Financial Corp. through an informal program for friends of the company’s CEO, Angelo Mozilo, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. (more…)

JAMES T. MADORE, Newsday

Good-government groups accused Gov. David A. Paterson and his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, yesterday of breaking a campaign promise to overhaul state government - even as Paterson unveiled a plan to curb the influence of money in politics. (more…)