“David Paterson” on The Daily Caller

ALBANY – Outgoing Gov. David Paterson called this morning for a criminal investigation into allegations that a slowdown by budget-squeezed plow operators contributed to the city’s blizzard woes. (more)

A black Long Island homeowner who fatally shot a white teen he feared was part of a “lynch mob” looking to attack his family walked free yesterday after Gov. Paterson commuted his sentence in a stunning epilogue to the racially charged case. (more)

The lame-duck government is all the rage in the news these days. Entire news shows with talking head after talking head discuss what the lame-duck Congress will do, what it should do, what it is right for it to do, and so on. Meanwhile, states are having their own lame-duck sessions, with their own new laws, regulations and deals being pushed through by governments populated by people who’ve been rejected by their constituents. Yet that simple and obvious rejection by voters deters no one with a vote and inspires little questioning of the legitimacy of the concept. (more)

The policy debate rages over fracking, a process for extracting oil and/or natural gas from rock. (more)

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. David Paterson contradicted his staff, the Yankees and common sense when he falsely claimed he always intended to pay for five tickets to the first game of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium, a state commission said in assessing him a $62,125 fine. (more)

Bloomberg News reported some rather startling news on Tuesday: According to Duke-National University of Singapore researchers writing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “A tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in the U.S. would generate billions of dollars in federal revenue and have little impact on weight loss.” The researchers concluded that the best plan for reducing consumption of sugary drinks is to end sugar subsidies, not increase taxes. (more)

Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo has said all the right things about changing Albany, but his predecessor questions whether one person can make a difference. (more)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did not hide his feelings today when asked about Gov. Paterson’s idea that the Garden State share in the re-construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge. (more)

With the elections over, politicians can now go from lying about their opponents in attack ads back to their normal pastime: lying to the American people. (more)

The Republican candidate for governor in New York has been somewhat colorful on the trail this year. Carl Paladino, a novice politician and experienced businessman from Buffalo, won the Republican nomination against establishment candidate Rick Lazio thanks to the excitement of Tea Party supporters. His candidacy has produced some odd and sometimes uncomfortable moments on the campaign trail. This three-minute compilation features Paladino fighting with a political reporter, answering questions about inappropriate e-mails, cursing Eric Holder, explaining his comments about homosexuality, and describing a Gay Pride parade. (more)

At the risk of being branded racist, this can easily be defined as a case of the pot calling the kettle black. (more)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s newest laws are meant to make Internet dating safer, further protect victims and witnesses in domestic abuse cases, and require landlords in New York City to come clean about bedbugs when leasing apartments. (more)

ALBANY — A special investigator called out Gov. Paterson yesterday for allegedly lying about his efforts to score free World Series tickets — and, in an unprecedented action against a modern governor, asked a prosecutor to consider criminal perjury charges against him. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — Supporters of a Greek Orthodox church destroyed on Sept. 11 say officials willing to speak out about a planned community center and mosque near ground zero have been silent on efforts to get the church rebuilt. (more)

A Native American tribe is calling on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to either apologize or resign after he said on a radio show that Gov. David Paterson — who’s trying to rustle up millions in cigarette taxes from the tribes — should grab “a cowboy hat and a shotgun” and demand the money. (more)

Rep. Pete King’s camp tells me he spoke with Gov. David Paterson this morning and that the governor said he is meeting later this week with the developer and leader of the ground zero-area mosque project to discuss the possibility of moving it to an alternate site. (more)

President Obama on Saturday said he had not expressed an opinion the day before on whether a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is appropriate, as the White House scrambled to limit the political damage from the president’s seeming expression of support for the project at a dinner with Muslim leaders at the White House. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s Democratic political establishment came out in force for embattled U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel on Wednesday, packing a sold-out fundraiser to praise Rangel’s service to the city and state over a 40-year career recently tainted by ethics charges. (more)

Democratic leaders and major party donors plan to hold a lavish 80th birthday gala for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) at The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan next month, despite 13 ethics charges pending against the veteran lawmaker. (more)

ALBANY — Gov. Paterson has been cleared of criminal witness tampering, but he did use bad judgment when he contacted Bronx hospital worker Sherr-una Booker, who was involved in a violent domestic dispute with now-suspended Paterson aide David Johnson, an investigation by the Attorney General’s office released today has found. (more)