Despite first year legislative gains, Governor Cuomo is not setting an example on Campaign Finance Reform, an issue he campaigned on and offered a detailed agenda how to fix when in office. To date he has not only failed live up to his campaign promise, but failed to lead by example on the issue, by raising millions of dollars for his reelection using the same broken system. Only through addressing this issue can Albany be reformed and make state government …
“Capitalism is only as good as the respect it has from its citizens”
New York, NY – After participating in the launch of the 99 New York campaign, a coalition of community groups, labor leaders and businessmen who want to stop state tax breaks for millionaires, Bill Samuels, Founder of New Roosevelt issued the following statement:
I agree that a top priority for Governor Andrew Cuomo and our legislature should …
Bill Samuels, founder of the reform group New Roosevelt, joined State Senator Liz Krueger, Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause, and Elizabeth Caputo, Chairperson of DL21C to blast the continued over-use of special elections, exposing the fact that the boss-driven selection process has had a demonstrably negative impact on the percentage of women representative in Albany.
“The six Assembly Special Elections did not have competitive party primaries that continued the worst traditions of Albany dysfunction. Worse, the process had no accountability to the voters because the candidates were picked by the party leaders not the voters. It is a badly flawed process and a constitutional remedy should be considered,” said New Roosevelt Founder Bill Samuels
Bill Samuels, founder of the Albany reform organization, New Roosevelt, endorsed progressive candidate Jesus Gonzalez, who is running in the hotly contested special election for the 54th Assembly District in Brooklyn, NY. Gonzalez, a Democrat, is running as the Working Families Party candidate and is the only true reform candidate in the primary. Samuels slammed the special election process as badly flawed and patently undemocratic, and one more reason is it difficult for candidates who are not favored by …
