DraftRudy.com Newsletter #1: The Corruption of Gov. Paterson and the Rudy Alternative
Dear Rudy Supporters,
This is the first installment of what we hope will become a weekly newsletter where we at DraftRudy.com will strive to bring you updates about what's happening in New York State. We want to talk about what real change in government – the kind that Rudy would bring to New York – means. First, let me take this opportunity to welcome you and thank you very much for joining our group. Thank you for voicing your support for our cause: Rudy Giuliani for Governor of New York in 2010!
As everyone knows, this past Monday was President's Day – one day set aside in the year to honor some of our greatest leaders, specifically George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. It seems then only fitting that we consider leadership in general and in our state. So, what makes a great leader?
Well, we've all heard of "Honest Abe" and the story of George Washington with his cherry tree, where he could "not tell a lie". I think the reason that President Lincoln's moniker and President Washington's story have endured is due to the fact that they illustrate, in our minds, images of what a leader should be. We are reminded that these two great statesmen were marked by honesty, integrity, sincerity, and candor. Perhaps these traits are not enough, but they are certainly necessary. And, the opposite is also true. There are men who are insincere, duplicitous, and dishonest, and, intuitively, we know such men are not meant to be our leaders. It is with men like that we can find corruption. From this, it ironic that on President's Day (2/16/09), Fredric U. Dicker of the New York Post published "GOV's HY-PAY-CRISY," an article which revealed massive corruption in the Paterson administration.
The article informs the reader that, while the New York State budget has reached a record deficit of $15.5 billion – BILLION, with a "B" – 15 of them!!! – "Gov. Paterson has secretly granted raises of as much as 46 percent to more than a dozen staffers at a time when he has asked 130,000 state workers to give up 3 percent pay hikes because of the state's fiscal crisis…" All of these raises occurred since August's "emergency" declaration and one occurred as recently as last month. These raises are expected to cost the state about $250,000 annually.
The Post explains that while two of the raises were tied to publicly-announced promotions, the raises themselves were not discussed in the announcements and the remaining 14 appear to have been given to people who remained in the same positions. While Gov. Paterson's spokesman, Errol Cockfield, claimed "These are not raises for old positions, rather new salaries for new positions," the state Comptroller's office revealed that in actuality, "These are individuals who stayed in their same position and received a salary increase."
Many of the raises went to administrative workers such as Cassie Prugh, a "confidential assistant", Brendan Fitzgerald, a "special office assistant", Michael Deloach, a "confidential assistant", Lauren Passalacqua, a "confidential secretary", and Chardee Mendoza, a "confidential aide", who saw their salaries increase by 46%, 21%, 29%, 31.5%, and 28.5%, respectively. These numbers are disturbingly high considering how great the financial strain on the economy and state budget is right now, but this isn't nearly the worst of it! Other raises went to close staff and friends of Gov. Paterson. Among these were William Cunningham, Gov. Paterson's top aid and, "a one-time law partner of the governor's father, Basil" and Charlotte Hitchcock, "one of Cunningham's deputies and A PERSONAL FRIEND OF THE GOVERNOR'S." Cunningham saw a 5% increase from $170,000 on Nov. 7 to $178,500 and Hitchcock received an 11.25% raise.
Now, this is not a one-time occurrence. This is yet another in a series of Gov. Paterson's abuses of his office. "Paterson is under attack for spending well over $20,000 in state funds on a four-day stay for himself and several aides during President Obama's inaugural last month, and for planning a state-funded junket to Davos, Switzerland, which he canceled only after his plans became public."
So, here's the situation, in Gov. David Paterson, we have a corrupt man who uses state funds to enrich his friends and those he is closest to. He is a man who, when no one is looking, will spend extravagantly on himself, and backpedal as soon as he's confronted. He will take corrupt action, and when he is confronted, have his staff lie about it. This is one option for leader of our state.
But there is an alternative. There is a man who has a history of fiscal integrity and discipline. There is a man of great character. There is a man with a record of straight-forward no-nonsense talk and a man with proven leadership ability. This man is Rudy Guiliani! And, with any luck, if we all pitch in and work hard, in a few short months, he will be the Governor of the Great State of New York.
Once again, thank you all very much for signing on!
Keep up the good fight!
Until next time,
Your Friends at DraftRudy.com
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*Quotes and information obtained from "GOV's HY-PAY-CRISY" by Fredric U. Dicker published in the 2/16/09 edition of the New York Post available at: <http://www.nypost.com/seve
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As a former New York City
As a former New York City resident I witnessed first hand how Rudy cleaned the streets of New York. We need his leadership to clean Albany and get the State on a right track. Patterson and Co., will continue to destroy this state if he is not stopped.
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