« February 2007 | Main | April 2007 »

March 29, 2007

Trip to D.C.!

The New York Young Republican Club is looking to plan a road trip to Washington DC sometime in either late May or early June. Details are being worked out.

If you would be interested in being part of our trip, send us an email to info@nycyr.org.

Posted by NYYRC at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2007

Chairman Hornak in charge of Candidate School

A Press Release by the Queens County GOP informs us that the NYYRC outgoing Chairman, Robert Hornak, will be heavily involved in Queens County politics.

= = =

Newly elected Queens County Republican Party Chairman Phil Ragusa, as part of his pledge to focus his energies on rejuvenating and growing the Queens GOP's grassroots infrastructure, has been tirelessly touring the County visiting local Republican clubs, stopping by to discuss and share his plans for the future of the Party with the Queens Village, Northeast Queens, Whitestone, and Frank Kenna Republican clubs, with visits to the Rego Hills, Women's Club and Rockaway clubs already scheduled. In a whirlwind of activity the Chairman also met with Senator Marty Golden and NYC's other four GOP County Chairs to discuss State Senate strategy. The Chairman then met privately with America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani before the Home Team Fundraiser at the New York Sheraton this Wednesday. On Thursday, the Chairman had a powwow with Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco and his New York City Reginal Director, J.C. Polanco. With 18 Assembly Districts and seven State Senate Districts in Queens County and populations exceeding that of most cities in New York State and indeed the nation, Chairman Phil Ragusa is off to an impressive start.

Chairman Ragusa also announced the appointment of noted Republican activist, GOP blogger and political strategist Robert Hornak (often seen on New York 1 espousing the Republican position) to chair the "Candidate Recruitment and Development Committee." This committee will be vested with the vitally important task of identifying and recruiting Republican candidates to run in the elections for the 2008 cycle. Hornak stated "I am honored at the trust Chairman Phil Ragusa has placed in me given the importance of this role and am eager to assist the County in this critically important initiative."

Chairman Ragusa commented, "When I first joined the Beechhurst Republican Club decades ago, at my first meeting the club's President said the main purpose of our club is to elect Republicans, period. After I was elected County Chairman, I wanted to make clear that our first order of business as a County organization is, likewise, to elect Republicans and advance Republican principles and representation in all levels of government. In order to do this, we must find and cultivate Republicans from the grassroots level that can run competitive and successful campaigns next year. Bob Hornak is just the person we need to spearhead this effort."

The announcement of Hornak's appointment was accompanied by the unveiling of plans for an ambitious "Candidates' School," to be held by the County scheduled for May, as aspiring candidates, prospective campaign managers and treasurers are instructed on the fundamentals of ballot access and campaign organization by leading experts from the Republican delegations in the State Senate and Assembly, as well as party leaders.

"We have not decided yet specifically what races we are targeting in 2008; however, it is clear that our number one priority is the successful reelection of Senator Padavan and Senator Maltese. We are also keenly interested in fielding a slate of candidates to challenge incumbents. To coin a phrase, the Grand Old Party Wants You! If you are envisioning a picture of Uncle Sam in top hat and tails pointing your way, I have succeeded in getting your attention," said Chairman Ragusa.

Dates for additional club visits and the Candidates' School will be announced shortly. Clubs and leaders interested in arranging a Chairman's visit or discussing potential candidates or aspects of the Candidates' School are encouraged to call County as soon as practicable.

Chairman Ragusa said "I am very excited about the progress we've made in such a short time, especially in light of some of the difficulties we have encountered. I look forward to competitive, exciting, and victorious campaigns in 2008 and beyond."

# # #

Posted by NYYRC at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2007

The Issue of Term Limits on the State Level

When New York City put term limits on the ballot, I voted against it. When they tried to put the vote again, I was still against imposing term limits. Both times, New Yorkers stood in favor of term limits and now all municipal seats are term limited to eight to ten years.

Today, after being active in politics for two-and-a-half years, I find myself in favor of term limits. My original feeling was that term limits prevents me from voting for a candidate I like, if they choose to run beyond the eight years of service. Now, I've done a complete 180. Public service should not be a career, but a duty and those that seek service should have a chance to serve. Without term limits, incumbents use their power to hold office until they die.

In 2005, I ran for city council in a seat that was open due to term limits. When I would be out on the street campaigning at street fairs and the local parks, I would encounter other candidate also out introducing themselves to the many potential voters enjoying the summer days in the city. Because my district was an open seat, we had 13 candidates seeking office. Yes, the primaries would widdle it down to three candidates (if I had made it - four), but the people had many choices and on primary day, they voted for their choice.

It occurred to me that in a city like New York, democracy works best when you open the system to new blood. This all made sense to me suddenly.

Unfortunately, the State desperately needs to reform its election process and one key step would be to institute term limits. Of course, there are many steps that need to be taken and I'll list the steps I think should be take on the state level.

  • The first step is setting up a non-partisan redistricting commission that can create as many competitive seats in both the Senate and the Assembly. The last two census reports forced the leaders of both legislative houses to gerrymander their chamber to favor their own party. The Democrats were allowed to chop up assembly districts and the Republicans were allowed to chop up senate districts. This needs to stop and a true non-partisan (or tri-partisan) commission should be established to give both parties a chance to reform our state's legislature.

  • The State Senate term should be expanded to four year terms. Right now, both senators and assembly members serve two year terms and districts are based on population for both. Now, the ulimate upper house would be to let one senator represent each New York county since there are 62 of them, but this was determined years ago as unconstitutional and both are proportioned by population. Still, the redistricting of Senate seats should be in line with counties where they can.

  • Term Limits for the State Senate will be two terms (8 years) and the maximum of service can be less that ten years. So if there is a Special Election and the winner serves out less than two years, he or she can run two more times.

  • Term Limits for the Assembly should be five terms (10 years) or less, since the assembly will remain at two year terms.

  • One fear would be what we are about to experience with the city council. Of the 51 council seats, 40 are term limited out as 2009. So is the mayor, comptroller, public advocate, and four borough presidents. Some argue that this could affect city government and if the state were to enact term limits, the same could happen. To settle this, the clock begins with the election that follows enacting the new Term Limits law. Plus, any elected legislature that hits twenty years, must retire by the next term. For example, any Assemblyman who has served 18 or more years, he or she can run for one more two year term, but after that they cannot run again. The Senate can be done the same way.

  • The office of Governor, Lt Gov, Comptroller and Attorney General will be term limited to 2 four-year terms or 10 years.

    • There are probably a number of other things that would need to be worked out, but this is definitely a start in reforming State Government in New York.

    Posted by Daniel Peterson at 05:47 PM | Comments (2)

    March 11, 2007

    April 12th Speakers Forum

    The next New York Young Republican Club, Inc meeting will be held on Thursday, April 12 2007.

    Scheduled Speakers

    Steve Malanga, Senior Fellow from Manhattan Institute and contributing editor to City Journal

    Prior to joining City Journal, Malanga was executive editor of Crain’s New York Business for seven years, serving on the publication’s editorial board and writing a weekly column. He also supervised special projects, including investigative stories.

    Spc Robert L. Lauer, a US Army Military serviceman and founder of WarriorPAC will discuss his efforts of gathering support for our servicemen among Washington politicians.




    Seth Borden is a labor and employment lawyer with KREITZMAN MORTENSEN & BORDEN and will discuss the "Employee Free Choice Act" -- the current pro-union "card check" legislation winding through Congress. His website is http://union-free.blogspot.com


    Meeting Location

    7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
    Place: Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen's Club
    283 Lexington Ave (bet 36th & 37th St), 2nd Floor
    Admission: Members - FREE, Non Members - $5, F/T Students - $2.

    After-politics Socializing

    Come join us afterwards for drinks at:
    Margarita Murphy's
    591 Third Avenue
    Between 38th and 39th streets

    Posted by Daniel Peterson at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

    March 01, 2007

    Cooper Union - Cuomo & Gingrich

    Last night at the Cooper Union, made famous by Abraham Lincoln's speech in 1860 that propelled him into stardom and won him the Republican nomination and later, the presidency of the United States of America, held a debate forum between to men, dubbed as two great orators of our time, former Governor Mario Cuomo and former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

    In the heart of Manhattan, one would have expected an auditorium filled with liberal democrats and a miniscule amount of scattered republicans, but to my surprise, the 900 seat room was well balanced in support for the two speakers. Journalist Tim Russert was there to moderate the debate part of the forum and I commend him for showing up, because he recently broke his leg and by the looks of how he was walking, must've been in some pain.

    Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke first, addressing the crowd with a very well thought out introduction and breaking up his talking points into three sections 1) the political culture, 2) national security, and 3) health care. The speaker compared the current political culture to the one of the 1850s, where this nation was being torn into two opposing factions and how the threat of the nation was at stake. Though he didn't believe our current climate is of the same magnitude, the destruction of a nation, it is reaching parallels at a different level because of the technology current available.

    Speaker Gingrich held kept a positive approach to his address, drawing from the spirit of Ronald Reagan, that America can do better and will do better with the right message and the right bi-partisan culture in Washington. He showed why he led the in 1994 with the Contract with America and kept his views clear and simple and very forward thinking.

    Governor Mario Cuomo spoke next and the message was a complete 180 to Newt's. Cuomo, once known for great liberal speeches, came out and harped on the exact destructive culture that Speaker Gingrich said we must move beyond. Gov. Cuomo offered no new ideas and no future plan for Democrtas and gave a very partisan speech that to many (and I asked a few people in attendence), was twenty years out-of-date. Or it was at least a 1992 political campaign speech. Failing economy, the rich benefit while the poor does not, the middle class is suffering, the evils of religious influence in the presidency, the fear-mongering of trying to change social security, and all the great things that government can give you when the Democrats are in power, and the dangers that government can give you when the Republicans are in power.

    I couldn't believe how contrasting the messages were from these two speakers. It was easy for Democrats to win an off-year election by running against President Bush, since this administration has made some missteps and in order to hold our president accountable, we must change something in Washington. But in 2008, President Bush cannot run again, and the American People will want to look forward. If Mario Cuomo is the great orator for the Democratic Party when it comes to a message for the voters, than we'll see another Republican president following this one.

    There is one point I'd like to end with, which is very disturbing to me. The Cooper Union auditorium holds about 900 people. It's in the heart of Manhattan, an island of ethnic diversity and various immigrants from all over the world. One would think that New York City would fill Cooper Union with a diverse politically active culture to watch Gov. Cuomo and Speaker Gingrich. Sadly, I saw very, very few non-white faces. This event was free and it was well promoted. Where was that ethnic diversity that New York so often praises?

    Posted by Daniel Peterson at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)