The Statue of Liberty | blog

Messaging matters in Washington, so why did New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg go mushy when talking to reporters about a government-run insurance program?

Bloomberg privately told lawmakers Wednesday that he supports the public plan option. After a meeting with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a key vote on the Senate Finance Committee, Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern tweeted, “Lobbying with Mayor Bloomberg on health care. Leaving Senator Snowe. Mayor big proponent of keeping people healthy and the right public plan.”

But later, when Bloomberg got behind the microphone at a press conference with Stern and SEIU health care point man Dennis Rivera, the mayor was noncommittal on a public plan.

“What I support and don’t support is not important. What I care about is how any plan they pass will affect New York City,” Bloomberg said. “I don’t want to go and prejudice their negotiations. In a real world, they have to come up with something that can get a majority of the votes. And to polarize them is just dysfunctional. It may make a great sound bite for you, but it doesn’t help the country.”

By: politico.com      Read more >>

A new poll indicates New York Gov. David Paterson is less popular than his predecessor Eliot Spitzer who resigned in disgrace for seeing a prostitute.

A telephone sampling of adults throughout the state found only 21 percent of New Yorkers have a favorable view of Gov. Paterson compared to 26 percent who see Spitzer in a positive light, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The poll by the Times, Cornell University and NY1 News found seven in 10 respondents said Paterson did not deserve to be elected New York governor in 2010.

Attorney Gen. Andrew Cuomo, a potential 2010 challenger to Paterson, received overwhelming approval of the way he was handling his job, the Times said.

By: upi.com     Read more >>