My apologies to the dogs. Governor Paterson, Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Smith have struck a deal on NYS’s budget. In a number of ways, read for yourself, it's not great but it is a significant improvement over the rotten Paterson proposals which were aimed entirely at harming lower and moderate income New Yorkers and protecting higher income residents. Robert Harding writing in The Albany Project picked up the press release in full and the State Senate provided hot links to the actual budget bills for those committed to self-abuse (Thanks to Liz Benjamin who posted the link). The negotiations were carried out completely behind closed doors to the disappointment of reform-minded folk who’d hoped for a cleaner process. See Amy Traub's spirited defense of the broad outlines of the budget on the DMI blog (with which I agree). Also check out the NY Times budget critique favors better spending controls.  read more »

In the December issue of Vanity Fair, Maureen Dowd frets in re: Fey/Palin:

Still, the debate raged about the politics of Sarah Palin’s appearance on S.N.L. Did it help her? Did it hurt her? Was it demeaning to politics? Were late-night shows determining the election?

Obviously, Miz Dowd lacks clairvoyancy, otherwise she would have known that in New York, no comedy show can trump our actual government in demeaning politics. A senator gets arrested for smashing a bottle into his girlfriend's face. Our City Council overturns voter-imposed term limits without sanction. And now, of course, there's the debacle about the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Ben Smith:

The loser, of course, is Paterson, whose strong choice is overshadowed by a process that deeply alienated one of America's most powerful political families, humiliated a friend of the president of the United States, and generally appeared utterly, needlessly chaotic -- at a time when the accidental governor is struggling to demonstrate that he has a firm grip on his power and can stand up to a powerful legislature. When the headline is "Blago Did Better," you know you have a problem.

The process could badly damage Paterson in 2010, and the risk for Gillibrand that she be tarnished by the process that chose her -- it's a different (and lesser) version of Roland Burris's problem -- and yoked to a governor who is in serious trouble.

But then again, it's not as if the state is in crisis or anything like that. We have plenty of bandwidth for soap operas.

Interesting juxtaposition: Eliot Spitzer is writing a column for Slate, while David Paterson is shaking up his team of campaign consultants.

Gov. David A. Paterson is said to be considering shaking up his political team by downsizing the role of the Global Strategy Group, which has been a one-stop Democratic political consulting and polling shop for the last two Democratic governors.

I've done work for a subsidiary of Global in the past, so I'm not entirely unbiased here. That said, what David Paterson needs aren't new consultants. What he needs is a higher level of leadership, partisan and generally. For example, can anyone imagine Eliot Spitzer putting up with the Diaz/Kruger rebellion?

David Paterson is a wonderful, funny and smart human being. I've never heard anyone offer an unkind assessment of his character and person, which, in this state, is remarkable in itself. But sometimes, that's just not enough. There are times when the whip needs to be cracked, and now is one of those times.

You didn't need to be a neurosurgeon to see over the last year that this state would be facing a fiscal crisis. Collapsing investment banks - which we used to havem but don't anymore - certainly made clear that the revenue side of the budget would be facing some strain.

Now, the governor is preparing to make cuts to that budget, and it's not going to be pretty.

Gov. David A. Paterson said in an interview on Sunday that he would almost certainly seek billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, as well as midyear reductions in school aid, to address New York’s worsening fiscal condition.

He also said he expected to urge labor unions to reopen the contracts they have struck on behalf of public employees as a way to avoid or decrease layoffs.

WFP hasn't yet weighed in with multiple email blasts, but of one thing you can be certain: nobody's cutting a dime to schools while Randi Weingarten yet breathes.

Governor David Paterson spoke before an overflow crowd at the UAW Region 9 hall in Williamsville today urging local voters to help get out the vote (GOTV) for Democratic candidates like Bill Stachowski, who is running for the New York State Senate.

For the first time in more than 40 years, Democrats are likely to take the Majority in the Senate. The ideological shift as a result will better serve economic development and job growth initiatives Upstate and statewide, which have floundered under a failed economic agenda of Senate Republicans. The election of Stachowski is recognized as key to that changeover in power in Albany.

"Bill is one of the most dedicated public servants I have ever had the pleasure of working with," said Governor Paterson. "He has an uncommon understanding of the communities of his district and the concerns they face. New York is in some tough times. We cannot afford to lose Bill's experience, knowledge and vision. Democrats have the first opportunity in more than 40 years to create real change with Bill's election—to grow the upstate economy, bring new green jobs and industries to our state, and ensure every New Yorker gets the education and affordable healthcare they deserve. Anyone who cares about these issues can be proud to cast their ballot for Bill Stachowski on Tuesday."

Speaking to hundreds of supporters, Governor Paterson spoke about the importance of this year's election and why Democrats have earned the chance to lead Congress and the State Legislature. He noted that people who want to see real change cannot stop at Barack Obama for President—they need to vote right down the ballot.

"People should not underestimate the importance of this election and how every race on every level of government can make a difference," said Democratic State Senator Bill Stachowski. "Governor Paterson has provided incredible leadership during hard economic times. It is nice to have a partner in the Executive Chamber who is committed to Western New York and the health of our economy. Western New Yorkers deserves better than what the Republican legacy has left us. There is a lot of hard work to get things back on track. I look forward to joining with the Governor as a member of the Democratic Majority in the Senate, focusing on the issues that matter most."