Wall Street Journal
How papers around New York State played the Smith-Halloran scandal
Almost everyone featured State Senator Malcolm Smith as the main culprit trying to scheme his way into the New York City mayor's race. But it's Smith's role in the State Senate that apparently gave other newspapers around the state to write about the mostly New York City-based scandal. More
Republicans target Nadler's trillion-dollar-coin, as Colbert and the 'Journal' join the debate
Rep. Jerry Nadler's endorsement of a trillion-dollar coin to dodge a fight over the debt ceiling has officially spread beyond the small group of liberal wonks who have used it to highlight the co-equal absurdity of Republican threats not to pay the nation's bills.
The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and even Steven Colbert, analyzed the coin solution last night and this morning, as Republicans tried to use the coverage for campaign-related purposes. More
Governor-discomfiting reporter Jacob Gershman prepares to leave the Albany beat
Veteran Albany reporter Jacob Gershman of the Wall Street Journal is preparing to leave the Capitol beat and report on legal matters for the paper, according to a knowledgable source. More
'It's the same school': How to make sense of those letter grades, or not
"I take no credit nor responsibility" for the letter grades, the principal said. After complaining about the complicated formula used to determine the schools score, this principal said, "I call data the new four-letter word." More
(1)In a global finance capital, a 'sub-Saharan' income gap
New York has always been home to the very rich and the very poor, but the gap between them is now bigger than it has been in more than ten years. Also: Frank Seddio is officially the new Brooklyn Democratic County Leader. More
Cuomo says his teacher evaluation bill 'reflects much of Bloomberg's perspective'
According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Michael Bloomberg really ought to like his teacher-evaluation legislation. More
(1)'Inspiring leader' or 'empty suit'? Mixed assessment as Dow Jones president Todd Larsen steps down
The move comes several months after former Bloomberg executive Lex Fenwick was named C.E.O. of Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal and is owned by News. Corp. More
A Capital anticipations list: Drinks with Arianna, Cloud City, James Franco art, Figment Art Festival, Tiki Disco
Each week, Capital's editors and writers will offer a list of the events, activities, releases and personal obsessions that we are looking forward to during the next week. Here is a list of our anticipations. More
A former Rangel aide reconsiders a congressional challenge: 'I'm leaving all of my options open'
"Politics is a funny thing," he told me, when I asked him about it. "You're mentioned in certain articles and not mentioned in certain articles. I've kept a relatively low profile in the last couple of weeks as I've seen this play out."
When I said it sounded like he wasn't sure about running, Morgan said, "I'm leaving all of my options open right now. I have until the 13th to submit petition signatures to get on the ballot." More
(1)John Liu: 'I was stunned by the news of Jenny ... there are probably few things that will stun me again'
Capital New York: Who did she immediately answer to on the campaign? You or somebody else?
Liu: My campaign operations are no different than other campaign operations. More
(1)John Liu is excellent at saying things that don't necessarily mean anything
The New York Post and Wall Street Journal are out today with slightly different reads on what to make of John Liu.
The Journal headline is "Defiant Liu Weighs Race for Mayor."
The Post has "Liu hints he might abandon run for mayor in light of scandal." More
A stop-frisk-and-release anecdote from a four-time friskee
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the New York Police Department's record-high number of stop-and-frisks, follows up with a write-up of a press conference denouncing the agency.
The lead anecdote is from a homeless man who said he was stopped-and-frisked four times but was never arrested or even given a ticket. More
Cuomo confirms he's rethinking the tax code, but not 'breathlessly'
In what might be the longest single interview of Andrew Cuomo's tenure as governor (or attorney general, for that matter), he told New York Post state editor Fred Dicker on the radio this morning that the administration is considering a broad array of possible changes to the state's tax code.
"We are discussing how to use the tax code to create jobs," Cuomo said. More
Reading Cuomo's lips and broadcasting the result, again and again
The Wall Street Journal reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering a way to raise taxes, effectively, by restructuring the state's tax codes. The article quotes an unnamed source explaining the governor's thinking: "That's not an extension of the millionaire's tax in his mind."
That's an important quote, since Cuomo has repeatedly stated his opposition to extending the millionaire's tax, articulated as principled defiance of public opinion, and said he opposes raising taxes in order to replenish the state's coffers. The New York Post editorial page has been reminding Cuomo of his position by reprinting his anti tax-hike quotes for weeks. Today, they kept the same headline they've been using for that feature--Read Andrew's lips--and issued a stern warning to him about what would happen if he let them down. Raising taxes and blaming the legislature for it is not an option, they said. More
What's a lawsuit over homeless policy between long-term political friends?
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is taking the rare step of suing the administration of her ally, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, over a new homeless policy critics say unfairly turns away people in need.
The suit cites the administration's alleged failure to notify city lawmakers before rolling out the plan. (That's something the city's homeless commissioner Seth Diamond strongly denied to Capital.) More
