According to a report in today's Post, Governor Paterson is up Shell Bank Creek without a paddle, or a dollar to buy a paddle. Paterson has allegedly been using leftover cash from his campaign war chest to pay for his various legal expenses, and expected to use it to pay for his $62,125 Yankees fine. But it seems that he is in such dire straits, he may not even get the opportunity to do something ethically challenged this time. more ›

Today, the Post has a story about how the notorious and colorful Republican strategist Roger Stone owes a lot in back taxes, "The Internal Revenue Service filed a $405,035 lien for unpaid income taxes against the consultant -- one of politics' most notorious dirty tricksters -- and his wife, Nydia, last fall in Dade County Circuit Court in Florida, records show." Naturally, Stone, who is an unpaid adviser to Carl Paladino's campaign, fired back, accusing the Post's Fred Dicker (one of the bylines on the story) of "slipping... Fred never lets the facts get in the way of a good tabloid story." more ›

So, about that whole, “Has anybody asked Andrew Cuomo about his paramours?" personal attack that was one of the triggers for Wednesday evenings epic Paladino/Dicker confrontation...remember how Paladino snapped at Dicker when he asked if he had proof of his allegations? He responded, "Of course, I do. You'll get it at the appropriate time." Well, we've all completely misunderstood his intentions! And his words! more ›

It's been a long 24 hours for Carl Paladino, who was getting into a pointed verbal argument with Post reporter Fred Dicker around this time yesterday. Since then, he and his team of advisers have spit-balled back and forth with the Post about who's at fault, who deserves to be sued, and whose love child has been poked in the face with a camera. It's all so confusing! So hard to keep track of! Thankfully, the Atlantic has broken it down to the original argument between Paladino and Dicker which started it all, and re-animated it in cuddly teddy bear form. Animated bear recreations really are the true opiates for the masses. more ›

Carl Paladino warned a couple days ago that the gubernatorial race between himself and Andrew Cuomo was "going to get nastier." And lo and behold, a couple adulterous claims and journalist altercations later, we now have ourselves a regular Nostradamadino. But despite his own forewarnings, last night's incident with Post reporter Fred Dicker seems to have riled up the already riled up candidate. In a ranty statement defending Paladino today, official campaign bull dog Michael Caputo tore into Dicker and the Post. And in the aftermath of the incident, Paladino may file trespassing charges against a team of Post photographers who took "close-range" shots of his love child. more ›

Last night, Carl Paladino got into an intense altercation with Post reporter Fred Dicker, which resulted in Paladino threatening Dicker, and campaign manager Michael Caputo promising to cut Dicker out of the loop. And thankfully, the whole mish-mosh was captured on video! Dicker appeared on Fox News this morning to defend himself and explain what happened and why Paladino got so mad. more ›

After all the talk that ex-State Comptroller Alan Hevesi would plead guilty to charges related to the "pay-to-play" state pension fund scandal, there was nothing! Now the Daily News reports, "A source familiar with the investigation said Hevesi plans to plead guilty to felony corruption - but won't cop to it until his lawyer Bradley Simon returns next week from an overseas trip. 'It's going to happen,' the source insisted." Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would only say, "This is an ongoing investigation and we have no agreement with Mr. Hevesi pertaining to that investigation." Fine—we'll just watch the video of Paladino and Dicker over and over and over and over again to get our fill of Albany insanity. more ›

Between the attack ads, love children and background checks, tensions have been steadily escalating between Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino in Crazyfest 2010, so it was only a matter of time before someone's kettle boiled. And so it was yesterday in Lake George when Paladino got into an altercation during a Q and A with Post State Editor Fred Dicker. Dicker wanted to see evidence for claims Paladino made in an interview with Politco that Cuomo had cheated on his wife; Paladino shot back that he wasn't happy with the way Dicker and the Post have been reporting on his love child. "I want to know why you sent your goons after my daughter, Fred. You send another goon to my daughter's house and I'll take you out, buddy!" Paladino yelled (you can see the video from ABC below). more ›

Governor Paterson continues to swing wildly at any and all challengers who might want a shot at his governorship, whether they are actually coming for him or not. And apparently now he's also paranoid that Richard Ravitch might want his job. After chatter that he'll resign, Paterson is reportedly worried that such speculation is going to the head of Richard Ravitch, the man whom he handpicked and fought for in court to be lieutenant governor. An "insider" told the Post's Fred Dicker, "I think Paterson thinks that Ravitch can't wait for him to go so he can take over and become governor." more ›

The "will he or won't he" talk surrounding Governor Paterson's 2010 campaign is once again getting overshadowed by speculation that Paterson may not even finish his term. "One of the state's most prominent Democrats" tells Fred Dicker that they think the governor may pass the state's reins over to Richard Ravitch by next spring. Dicker adds that a longtime Paterson backer called his appearance "a pathetic performance" and other Dems are referring to him as "finished," "dead meat," and "not among the political living." more ›

If Governor Paterson expected to look up after his comments Friday that we are not living in a "postracial period" and found a reaction of one person daring to applaud his nobility, building slowly toward a standing ovation, then he was sadly disappointed with the reality of the actual response. After the governor went on the radio and claimed that the media was orchestrating his perceived failure and that President Obama would be the next target, everyone seemed to respond with a "not quite, Dave," including reps for the president himself. more ›

In what is truly a case of politics making for strange bedfellows, it's reported that Governor Paterson's right-hand man, Charles O'Byrne (pictured), recently had a meeting with GOP operative Roger Stone. Stone of course is the man best known for helping bring down former Governor Eliot Spitzer, outing his penchant for socks-on time and chewing out Spitzer's elderly father along the way. Stone has publicly stated that he would like to see Paterson, and not Andrew Cuomo, get the Democratic nomination next year because he knows the governor appears more vulnerable to a GOP opponent. Could O'Byrne have been looking for assistance from a man eager to aid the governor's ultimate defeat? more ›

Maybe what upsets Governor Paterson most about the Saturday Night Live portrayals he says crossed the line and hurt him isn't so much their content, but his frustration in wishing that he was the one who was sitting at the Weekend Update desk. After seeing him send up the infamous health care union 1199 ads over the weekend, we think Paterson could put together a pretty solid audition tape. more ›

Yesterday, the Post ran a cover story suggesting that Governor Paterson bitterly criticized Mayor Bloomberg. Not to Bloomberg's face or anything, but a source provided the Post's Albany bureau chief Fred Dicker with alleged Paterson quotes like "He has the same kind of anger that reminds you of Spitzer" and "It's obvious that Bloomberg has little use for the kind of people who come from Queens and Staten Island." more ›

Darren Dopp, Governor Spitzer's communications director who was faulted for at least co-devising a plan to smear State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno by way of State Police records, is planning on fighting a subpoena from the State Ethics Commission. The subpoena, which asks for Dopp's email that relates to the scandal (beginning January 1, 2007, Spitzer's first day, until a few days ago), is described as "very broad" by Dopp's lawyer Terrence Kindlon who told the NY Times, "It asks for a lot of information that isn’t really mine to give, including correspondence with ink-stained wretches [as in reporters!]. Prudence dictates that we ask a court to look at this and determine what is being legitimately requested.” more ›

State Ethics Commission, long time no see! It's been about eight months since you found State Comptroller Alan Hevesi had violated state law, and now you're back on the radar with an investigation into Governor Spitzer's administration's conduct regarding use of the state police to track State Senate Majority Joseph Bruno. more ›

We love scurrilous political gossip! The NY Post's Fred Dicker says that Mayor Bloomberg wants to run for Governor in 2010! For some reason, Mayor Mike thinks that Albany might be his kind of town. A "senior" Republican source spills the beans:

"On two occasions in recent weeks, the mayor brought up the possibility of running for governor, of running against Spitzer in 2010. more ›

• Name a new commissioner for the Department of Transportation (it's Janette Sadik-Khan - check out Streetsblog's suggestions for her)
• Cancel an appearance at a big GOP fund-raiser, which the Post's Fred Dicker thinks fuels further "speculation that he'll run for president"
• Continue to be mad at a Kansas TV station for not airing one of his anti-illegal gun ads

State lawmakers passed a $121 billion budget yesterday morning. The budget deadline was midnight, so despite Governor Spitzer's hopes that his first budget would be on time, this is the 21st time in 23 years the NY State Budget has been late. But maybe it should be asterisked - lawmakers agreed on everything prior to the midnight deadline, but decided that it wouldn't be printed on time. more ›

Governor Spitzer and other state leaders finalized this year's budget, to the tune of $121.8 billion, just in time for tomorrow's deadline. While Spitzer has touted greater transparency with public process, the budget deal has been notable for negotiations taking place behind closed doors. The Times Union had Spitzer's opinion on the secrecy, "Do we all wish there had been more public articulation? You bet," but "said a 'wide chasm' between his plan and the Legislature's had to be bridged somehow." In other words, the Legislature didn't want to be steamrolled. more ›

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