Poor choices for Senate except for Maloney

[clear eye]

NY is quite an independent and aware state. Caroline Kennedy has not been active in public service. Sitting on a bunch of boards hardly constitutes gov't experience. Her opponent in 2010 will remind the electorate of that fact, and it may jeopardize her in the next election against any reasonably qualified moderate Republican woman. Andrew Cuomo is best remembered for involvement w/ massive corruption in HUD during his tenure as its head. His election as Attorney General was a fluke(his opponent had her own corruption issues and didn't bring up his background, as well as the widely publicized Deskovic case which cast doubt on both her judgement and ethics) and he has not done anything memorable since. Steve Israel is a self-proclaimed "blue dog" Dem who opposes all the policy changes NYers are looking for. Jerry Nadler is a superb member of Congress, but is too "downstate", a man, and limited in wider appeal. Mayor Byron Brown's total claim to fame seems to be backing the building of some Native American casinos, being tight w/ Andrew Cuomo, and upscale development of Buffalo's waterfront. NY women--the majority of the electorate--will be expecting a woman. If Paterson doesn't appoint one, there is a real threat of a moderate Republican woman successfully challenging the seat in 2010.

Of the proposed batch, only Rep. Carolyn Maloney has extensive issues experience as well as being justifiably appealing to women. She is recommended by Emily's List. Her resume is extremely impressive, including a senior analyst position w/ the NYS legislative committee on cities, heading NYC's Board of Education's sections for occupational & career education (NYC has a good program for teens not planning to go to college) and welfare education. And she has taken the lead in the U.S. House of Reps. in providing expert analysis of financial issues for house financial committees and co-chairs the powerful Joint Economic Committee. She rivals our current Sen. Clinton as a "wonk", something that NY women like and respect when paired with support for the middle class as her voting record amply demonstrates in: support for health care, especially children's, education, tax justice, economic safety net including Family and Medical Leave and extended unemployment, the new jobs-centered economic stimulus plan, withdrawal from the ruinous Iraq War, and retirement security. She voted against the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Act, against the FISA bill, and against Bush's Repeal of the Estate Tax for very large inheritances. She is a past president of the NYC Sierra Club. She is reliably liberal on social issues (a slight weakness in rural upstate and possibly Suffolk County, but helpful elsewhere). She also earned top scores with:

The Children's Health Fund
Citizens for Tax Justice
Children's Defense Fund
Council for a Livable World
ACLU
NOW
Human Rights Campaign
AIDS Action Council
Nat'l Educ. Assn
Campaign for America's Future
League of Conservation Voters
Humane Society of the U.S
American Public Health Assn
AFL-CIO (95%)
ADA
Alliance for Retired Americans
Disabled American Veterans
League of Women Voters

She rated a 0% from the "wise users" (code for allowing unregulated exploitation and development of land) http://www.landrights.org , despite receiving a fair amount of funding from real estate developers. To me this demonstrates courage and committment to "green" values.

Some links for her background and voting record are: her website, On The Issues,
The Drum Major Institue, OpenSecrets.org(who gave her a top rating on full disclosure), Washington Post U.S. Congress Votes Database Key Votes.

[Jim Lane]

1. I think you're wrong about one of her qualifications

You write that Maloney "is a past president of the NYC Sierra Club."

Well, I'm a past Chair of the New York City Group of the Sierra Club (1989 and 1990). I never heard Maloney named as one of my predecessors, and she certainly hasn't held the post since. In her first campaign for Congress, we (the Sierra Club) even endorsed her Republican opponent.

I have nothing against Maloney. She'd be an excellent pick -- certainly better than Andrew Cuomo or Caroline Kennedy, who've both been mentioned. But what's the basis for your statement about Maloney and the Sierra Club?

[clear eye]

2. Whoa! My bad. I misread the source.

I went back to the Project VoteSmart page where I thought I'd read that. Under "Organizations", I see now it said "Sierra Club of New York City - present". http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=H2681103 I just thought I saw "president". :blush: Thanks for the correction. I don't think you'll find any other boners like that in the entry. Unfortunately your correction came too late for me to fix the article.

I can say, that if you Google "Carolyn Maloney" and "Sierra Club", you'll come up with all sorts of fine things she's pushed for in the House that your organization appreciated--e.g. Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 1975), taking away tax breaks from oil companies to use for green energy, sponsoring the bill in 2005 to restore UNFPA funding, and others too numerous to list.

I apologize for my confusion.

[Jim Lane]

3. Thanks for the clarification

Yes, Maloney is a strong pro-environment legislator. We've endorsed her in all her bids for re-election. We opposed her the first time only because the incumbent (Bill Green) was also good, and we have a policy of endorsing good incumbents.

[Muttocracy]

4. sounds good to me. nt