On June 26th [it's good if I get the damned date right!] there is an important Democratic Primary election in NY State. The decisions are between reform and corrupt, progressive and regressive. I would like to do another of my round ups of endorsements from local clubs, focusing on those that are considered progressive and reform-oriented.

I want to note that voting in these primaries is critical. People complain about corruption in local politics all the time, but if they don't vote in these primaries they are doing nothing to fight that corruption. If you want a better system for Brooklyn and for NY State, pay attention to these primaries! It also helps to donate to or volunteer for some of these candidates.

So here is a round up of endorsements from local clubs and organizations. (Presented before with the addition of Lambda Independent Democrats' latest endorsements)

MOST RECENT ENDORSEMENT: Lambda Independent Democrats (LGBT issues)

For Congress...
Nydia Velazquez, 7th CD
Hakeem Jeffries, 8th CD
Yvette Clarke, 9th CD
Jerrold Nadler, 10th CD
Mark Murphy, 11th CD
Carolyn Maloney, 12th CD

For NY State Senate...
Eric Adams, 20th District
Kevin Parker, 21st District
Diane Savino, 23rd District
Andrew Gounardes for State Senate, District 22
Velmanette Montgomery for State Senate, District 18
Daniel Squadron for State Senate, District 25

For NY State Assembly...
Rhoda Jacobs, 42nd AD
Olanike Alabi, 57th AD
Jim Brennan for State Assembly, District 44
John Mancuso for State Assembly, District 60
Joan Millman for State Assembly, District 52

For Civil Court Judge...
Lizette Colon
Robin Garson
Wavny Toussaint

For District Leader...
Lincoln Restler for Male District Leader, 50th AD
Jo Anne Simon for Female District Leader, 52nd AD
Faryce Moore for Female District Leader, 57th AD
Joanne Seminara for Female District Leader, 60th AD
Jacob Gold for District Leader/State Committee, Assembly District 44
Lori Knipel for District Leader/State Committee, Assembly District 44
Chris Owens for District Leader/State Committee, Assembly District 52

CENTRAL BROOKLYN INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS: Considered the most progressive and most reform club in Brooklyn.

One of the best things about this club is that they require candidates to fill out pretty tough questionnaires so you can read about each candidate. Click here to see the questionnaires that have been turned in for the June 1st primary.

Now here are the CBID endorsements:

Jo Anne Simon (District Leader AD 52)
Chris Owens (District Leader AD 52)
Joan Millman (52nd AD)
Jim Brennan (44th AD)
Nydia Velazquez (7th CD)
No Endorsement (8th CD)
Yvette Clarke (9th CD)
Lori Citron Knipel (44th AD District Leader)
Jacob Gold (44th AD District Leader)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (10th CD)
Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (18th SD)
Sen. Eric Adams (20th SD)
Sen. Kevin Parker (21st SD)
Sen. Daniel Squadron (25th SD)
Hon. Lincoln Restler (50th AD Male DL)  read more »

My wife and I applaud Barack Obama and Joe Biden finally embracing the righteousness of marriage equality. At LAST! It has taken way too long for marriage equality to be supported by the leaders of the FREE world. We are ALL more free now that they have done so.

My wife grew up in New York. I grew up in California. When we decided to get married (as a hetero couple, if that wasn't obvious) we had to agree on where to get married. Ultimately I convinced her (due to the venue I could offer for free) to get married in California. It was an amazing wedding. But we settled in New York. We visit my family in California about once a year. Ironically, my family in California has spent more time with our kids during our brief visits out West than our East Coast relatives have spent with them despite the fact they could see them any day they want.

During the brief period when marriage equality was legally accepted in California, my wife and I agreed we regretted we were already married because we were about to visit my family in California and we wished we could get married AGAIN, together with the same-sex couples who for that brief period in California had the FREEDOM to get married. We felt that their right to get married made our own existing heterosexual marriage THAT MUCH MORE SPECIAL.  read more »

Ostensibly there are very few people willing to say the obvious: that relative to recent political events dealing with the issue of “same-sex marriage” (or “marriage-equality” as others label it), Joe Biden and Barack Obama both messed up. And in my estimation they messed up big time.
To me the qualified silence from left-leaning columnists -in critiquing Biden and Obama- is simply another miniscule example of cowardice in politics and journalism: USA-style. I can only hope this wouldn’t come back to haunt too many moderates and progressives on the first Wednesday after the first Tuesday (after the first Monday) next November.  read more »

The co-op apartment building I live in has recently been bullied by Verizon trying to lock our shareholders into a deal with FIOS. So I have become rather sensitive towards what a really lousy company Verizon is. And comparing Verizon to other telecom companies, according to Green America's Responsible Shopper site, Verizon is among the worst telecom companies in America (T-mobile and Sprint are the best) though because of laws that help companies get semi-monopolies, there isn't always much choice in a given area.

Which led me to take notice of this little Mother's Day campaign focusing on Verizon's rather poor treatment of working women:

You can read a detailed report (PDF) of Verizon's anti-middle class policies here. But let me highlight one particular anti-American practice of Verizon's: they actually take more tax money than they pay:  read more »