Along with his IDC colleague Sen. David Valesky and an unlikely ally in the Republican Sen. Ball, Carlucci surrounded himself with PA-based landowners who claim hydrofracking sites nearby have contaminated their water. Coverage in Capitol Confidential was a rare exception in what otherwise amounts to a statewide media blackout of a proposed bill expected to be shot down by the Republicans.

Following the recent expiration of the public comment period, the state DEC report, farmed out to a firm with natural gas industry clients was panned by a multitude of NY residents and activists, drawing tens of thousands of complaints including threats of lawsuits from environmental groups challenging the accuracy of the economic impact findings, for example underestimating truck traffic, overestimating job creation and ignoring alternative solutions.

New Yorkers also complained about the rush-job, seeking to greenlight drilling before the EPA can publish it’s study. The report was said to inadequately consider radon risks or hundreds of cases of fracking disasters and contaminations in NY and PA which have been hidden from public scrutiny for decades because of non-disclosure settlements.

The Halliburton loophole, a product of Dick Cheney’s infamous 2001 energy meetings circumvents the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and four other federal anti-pollution statutes, a sweetheart carve-out for the large national fracking firms that has transferred costs associated with environmental impact to states and all the risk – hydrofracking wells don’t qualify as superfund sites which can use federal funds to compensate victims or clean up accidents.

DEC personnel themselves testified against the practice in open hearings, naming officials who they claim are in bed with industry before admitting they have no resources to police or enforce permits after devastating budget cuts. In Cuomo’s latest budget proposal, no money was allocated for wastewater removal, leaving no clue as to what will happen as fracking chemicals surface or find their way into nearby waterways.

Reading from the prospectus for an hydrofracking investment fund, critics noted the fracking firms themselves acknowledge the risk of accidents, earthquakes, floods, explosions or natural disasters could be catastrophic, describing 29 mile death-plumes shooting into the sky. In the planning are up to 18,000 wells, so prevalent that pristine Finger Lakes areas could a see a well site every quarter mile.

Conservationists described simple alternatives to supplant energy demand, for example replacing an average of 2-inch of insulation with 16 inches in half of NY homes to reduce fuel costs dramatically. The Solar Jobs Act projects creation of 40% more jobs in producing clean, renewable pollution-reducing energy. Personally, I am “going solar” now, with a contractual guarantee I will produce about 95% of my home’s electricity for decades with a 4-5 year pay down of my investment (about $11K after state and federal grants and tax rebates).

The public indicates overwhelming anti-fracking sentiment in polling, hesitant to turn over our precious drinking water to for-profit energy firms with gigantic lobbies, campaign contributions (including a reported $3 million to Gov. Cuomo), enormous war chests, propaganda on TV every night and no regard for transparency to enable proper scientific evaluation. But people around the state are still grossly underinformed on the issue.

Carlucci, who spoke out during public DEC hearings, has been a persistent anti-fracking voice since taking office – last July he confronted DEC chairman Joe Martens over the hypocritical exemption keeping fracking away from NYC’s water supply while putting the rest of the state’s water at risk.

NY’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman threatened lawsuits if state agencies approved permits before full federal reviews were completed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. Frackers skewered Schneiderman in the press for causing “red tape” and unnecessary delays despite 30,000 complaints from environmentalists, conservationists, parents, hunters, anglers and landowners.

NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli also challenged fracking firms last February to disclose risks of water pollution and lawsuits, seeking to protect the state’s then $130 billion pension fund, which included natural gas investments. DiNapoli’s charge that frackers were holding back information was echoed by other investment groups.

Let Sen. Carlucci know how you feel on his Facebook page, by phone at (845) 623- 3527 or via email at carlucci@nysenate.gov.

Cross-posted at NYaltnews.com

Judge Jed Rakoff sent a message today to Wall Street and the Securities Exchange Commission that may multiply in shockwaves when he refused to approve a $285 million dollar payout to drop charges against Citigroup for defrauding investors without admitting any guilt. Business Insider’s haunting pullquote is a somber reminder of a basic message of the Occupy movement. : “Judge Rakoff: Truth is Confined to Secretive, Fearful Whispers”

We might recall Goldman Sachs paid a $535 million dollar settlement “without admitting guilt” in a case brought by investors claiming they were defrauded in a somewhat similar collateralized debt obligation scam. Goldman squirmed by, saying they had provided ‘incomplete information’ but in this case Citigroup had more blatantly profited off the deal.

With prosecutions for bank fraud today at a 20 year low, the Occupy movement has focused new attention on the gladhanding between Wall Street titans and federal officials who are supposed to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing. In 2008, on his way out of town, President Bush issued a DOJ directive that greenlighted the practice of “deferred prosecutions” which gave DOJ and SEC desk jockeys latitude to craft immunity deals in secret in exchange for fines and promises to do better.

Readers might be disgusted to learn that these huge fines only went to the government after being split with attorneys for the banks. This also precluded the victimized investor’s ability to bring civil suits. This is why Rakoff’s bold stand is so consequential – any finding of guilt opens up the floodgates for investors to bring civil suits.

Contrast Behind Rakoff’s Rejection of Citigroup Settlement (NY Times) to Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal piece Citi Ruling Could Chill SEC, Street Legal Pacts where taxpaying voters might wonder what the hell ‘street legal’ pacts means. Indeed, this might be claimed as a rousing victory by #OWS protestors who in recent weeks have seen a number of anti-Wall Street actions taken by leaders in business, politics and clergy.

#OccupyWallStreet was just in its infancy when Bill Gates plunked down in front of the G20 in France calling for the ‘Robin Hood Tax’ that would impose as little as a tenth of a penny fee on a stock or bond transaction. This was echoed by the Pope as part of his updated canons against the obscene and un-Christlike intentional hoarding of wealth – to the detriment of others.

In Congress, House and Senate bills proposed Constitutional amendments to reverse the Citizens United ruling that granted unlimited powers for paid political ads so the wealthiest could crowd out the messaging during elections. Noticeably, the Senate bill, co-sponsored by Chuck Schumer, Jeff Merkeley, Tom Udall, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Dick Durbin was “whited out” – given virtually no coverage – by the major media networks expected to reap exorbitant profits on American elections for selling prime-time spots.

The failure of the so-called Super-Committee is also supposed to have steeled “99%” supportive candidates who can run against Republicans and their crucial ‘sticking point’ being the claim that raising taxes on the rich would stifle job growth. They termed revenue increases as ”a job-killing tax hike on small business during tough economic times.” Brookings debunks this: “less than 2 percent of tax returns reporting small-business income are filed by taxpayers in the top two income brackets”.

Lastly, for those still claiming the #OWS movement lacks focus and cohesion, here is the full text of the declaration approved on Sept. 27 that was aired in full on cable TV by October 5:

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

Cross posted at OpEdNews.com

Buffalo Sen. Mark Grisanti, with 7,797 fans. Second prize for popularity goes to Sen. George Maziarz, with 2,620 fans, followed by David Carlucci with 2,170.

The article speculates that Grisanti’s popularity on Facebook tripled abruptly when he became the decisive vote allowing passage of the same-sex marriage bill, but Carlucci’s placement on the list seems to underscore his youthful following, his effectiveness as a freshman Senator, and the increasing transition to social networking tools for political engagement.

The former Clarkstown Town Clerk has made Rockland Dems proud in his fight for careful scrutiniztion of hydrofracking safety, the inclusion of autism spectrum in health coverage, localized farming and more. But Carlucci’s use of Facebook and other online tools point toward the potential of social networking for better connecting taxpaying voters to their elected officials.

Indeed, the shifting landscape of political speech and widespread anger and frustration begs the question – why can’t we see more constituent involvement with tools available through free technologies like Facebook, Twitter or Google? Why can’t government be more responsive and field comments from real people in real time for all to see?

Especially as a member of the IDC or Independent Democratic Conference, Sen. Carlucci stands out in Albany as a different kind of elected official, staying connected and responsive to his constituents rather than the Albany set. So whether you are for or against, click over to David’s Facebook site now and let him know that you are actively engaged in the process of democracy!

Created by the founding president of the Heritage Foundation Paul Weyrich, ALEC’s hooks are decades deep into state legislatures, channeling money from the richest secret conservative donors like the Koch Brothers straight into the  conservative sausage-making pipeline that helps produce thousands of bills designed to bust unions, evade taxes, starve public schools, sabotage health reform, oppose net neutrality, exploit prison labor and rig elections.

But they also help install loyal members like Scott Walker and John Kasich into governors mansions to sign into laws bills “inspired” by ALEC in secret.

The American Association For Justice called ALEC “the ultimate smoke filled back room”, comprised of thousands of state legislators who pay a nominal membership fee in order to attend ALEC retreats and receive draft legislation after meeting corporate sugar daddies from firms like Exxon and Wal-Mart who fund 99% of ALEC’s activities.

New York is seeing the “Kochtopus Monster Squid” reach into it’s borders with two NYS legislators now openly tied to ALEC through a list of “signatories” promoted by ALEC on letters written to Congressional leaders titled “Federal Health Care Reform” in 2009.

District 99′s Assemblyman Greg Ball would be one, and the other is ALEC’s NY chair, Long Island State Senator Owen Johnson.

Ball is recently rumored to be considering a primary against Rep. Nan Hayworth. With only two pols on ALEC’s register of “friendlies” statewide in New York, it’s likely the association may play against Ball with savvy voters.

On the other hand, ALEC provides networking with wealthy donors who have been successfully using elected officials as trojan horses to further their agenda, ghostwriting legislation for corporate America.

As Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and local papers all over the country are now noticing, the stand that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has taken against the Obama administration and five largest mortgage firms is building drama.

After CBS Marketwatch called the all-too-kind settlement being offered to the mortgage giants “another bank bailout“, the NY Daily News reported Schneiderman got a lift from New York’s Congressional delegation in the form of a letter sent to the Iowa Attorney General Tom Kelly. Kelly removed Schneiderman from the 50-state negotiating panel for objecting to a grant of blanket immunity from state fraud investigations and the NYS Dems did not appreciate this.

Kelly also shared some none-too-kind words about Schneiderman for “undermining” the work of the committee, which he wants to conclude expeditiously with a narrower settlement, focusing only on foreclosures and mortgage servicing practices. Kelly has been criticized in Iowa and elsewhere for serving the big banks who have contributed greatly towards his campaigns.

Schneiderman, elected to enforce the rule of law, wants to use this 50-state panel to immediately investigate the cause of the mortgage backed securities crisis that led the United States into the most debilitating economic tragedy in a lifetime. Attorney General Kelly, along with Obama’s HUD Secretary and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner are noticeably anxious to rush through a settlement that does nothing to confront the dangerous moral hazard of unregulated securitization or hold to account the crooks who designed them to be impossible to detangle, costing taxpayers billions.

Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi was not shy in suggesting Obama may want to cuddle up to these banks in time for election contributions, abandoning the “small individual donor” he prided himself on for the historic 2008 election he won as our economy was crumbling. Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. are the firms in question, but other toxic debt bundlers are also watching keenly.

The signatories to Jerrold Nadler’s letter included every Democratic Member of Congress in the state – Louise Slaughter, Charlie Rangel, Gary Ackerman, Maurice Hinchey, Eliot Engel, Carolyn Maloney, Carloyn McCarthy, Nita Lowey, Kathy Hochul, Yvette Clark, Nydia Velasquez, Joseph Crowley, José Serrano, Brian Higgins, Yvette Clarke, Bill Owens, Paul Tonko, Edolphus Townes and Steve Israel, Gregory Meeks and Tim Bishop.

This display of party unity begs the question – will Governor Cuomo weigh in on the issue as the grassroots are mobilizing? Last week, a petition was circulated by Citizen Action of New York (sign it here) and late word came today that a group including AIG, the FDIC, and various ripped-off banks, insurers and fund managers are joining Schneiderman and Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden in a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp., seeking to block any settlement and move the case to federal court.

If you have not yet written AG Schneiderman to support his investigation, click here. To complain to HUD Secretary Donovan, email to Secretary.Donovan <at> hud.gov or “tell your story” to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau overseeing the negotiations. Email the White House here or send a message to Geithner at the US Treasury on Facebook here.

*UPDATED BELOW*

We complain and complain but now here is something we can actually do.

It just broke in Monday’s NY Times that NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said “not so fast” as the Obama Administration sought to whitewash mortgage fraud, pushing for a settlement that includes fines but no fraud or criminal investigations for the major banks who intentionally sold toxic securities and “robosigned” foreclosures.

AG Schneiderman is doing his job, exploring whether some people might need to go to jail for fraud in lending, securitization practices, shady documents or home seizures.

White House pressure NOT to do this has been coming through Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, HUD secretary Shaun Donovan and Eric Holder’s DOJ, according to the Times, to settle because the poor homeowners need the money fast. In fact, the first, worst offer by the banks sought to puts $5-8B towards over $170B in underwater mortgages to buy get-out-of-jail-free cards for everyone involved. Industry watchers told Huffington Post the payment should be more like $20B or $30B plus structural changes and the latest offer is said to now exceed $25B.

Ironically, it was HUD, under Donovan that concluded audits in May showing the lenders violated the False Claims Act, defrauding US taxpayers as well. They referred criminal charges to the DOJ – so why are HUD and the DOJ rushing to make it all go away?

Verizon workers from all over the tri-state gathered to walk a candlelight vigil past the home of a wealthy chairman in West Nyack, NY tonight beginning from a nearby school parking lot.

Following a walk out begun last Saturday night at midnight, picket lines have been seen all week around the region dressed in telltale red. I spoke to a land line worker from Orange County with over 18 years in the company. He told me Verizon has for years been slashing jobs but also shipping jobs off to non-labor states and overseas.

The current contract offer seeks pay freezes and reductions in benefits from the elimination of sick days to the wholesale elimination of pensions, job security provisions, disability for on-the-job injuries, and as is being seen in Wisconsin and nationwide, the elimination of collective bargaining rights.

The centerpiece of the vigil was a coffin representing the death of the middle class, complete with corporate “pig” cartoons, a mock priest giving a sermon, a bagpiper and even the grim reaper stopped by. The procession began quiet but grew louder with chants of “God Bless All Unions, Save the Middle Class” as police looked on.

Among an estimated 800 proud Communications Workers of America (CWA) union families were IBEW, SEIU and UFT members, Rockland Young Democrats and activists from the Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice.

The event was also promoted by Rockland County Democratic Committee Chair Kristen Stavisky and the Rockland Progresssive Dems (that’s us).

One day after Mitt Romney soundbytes told hecklers in Iowa “There was a time in this country when we didn’t celebrate rich people by attacking their success”, CWA set their sights on the home of Verizon Chairman of the Board Ivan Seidenberg, a luxurious spread on a quiet residential drive overlooking scenic rolling hills in Rockland County. Seidenberg has been taking home an average of over $20 million a year, 300 times that of his average worker.

Verizon made the Washington Times “Top Ten Tax Evaders” this year, paying zero taxes on $24.2 billion in pre-tax US income, but they did even better after gaming loopholes, claiming a $1.3 billion federal refund using offshore subsidiaries as write-offs over the last two years.

Passing by cameras from Hudson Valley’s News 12, and a van for Channel 7 Eyewitness News(ABC-TV), I asked marchers if protests at the chairman’s home residence might draw complaints of harrassment, if perhaps they could have remained in the parking site some quarter mile from the house itself. I was told it was necessary – protests had been ongoing at the executive offices for weeks, with picketers from some sites being forced to move by police.

The event was peaceful, with nothing scarier than raised voices as police blocked off the streets for about one hour. I was assured there would be no litter left behind and saw none. One older union hand even urged a younger protester to stay off people’s lawns when the street got congested. The chairman’s home appeared dark and quiet throughout, evidently unoccupied throughout.

After the mock ritual, speeches were made and the marchers passed the coffin, chanting and singing solemnly. According to the CWA District Vice President, the corporate bosses at Verizon are “trying to destroy the middle class in this country” and that “we’re not going to let them….we’re not just in this for the CWA at Verizon, we’re in this for the entire country, for every middle class family in the United States”.

Keith Olbermann’s guest host on Current TV’s Countdown also sat Ralph Nader down Friday night, where he argued a primary would not hurt Obama and the party:

“Well, it’s just the reverse…It will challenge him, bring the best out of him and there’s nothing worse for a candidate in terms of lessening the enthusiastic level for him than to go through an unchallenged routine of repetitious primaries.”

Nader described an impending campaign which will emerge in coming days, intended to “generate a robust debate” over domestic and international policies, including jobs and wars for 2012.

Nader said that without any such effort, Obama would take free license to cater to “corporate warlords and corporate barons of Wall Street.”

Popular progressive Senator Bernie Sanders told Thom Hartmann that same day that he approves of a primary challenge. Over the weekend, as the country stewed in the aftermath of the recent debt ceiling deal in Congress, word surfaced that over 70 members of the CA Democratic Party had passed around and approved a resolution blasting Obama for:

- potentially negotiating away resources in “safety net” programs
- escalating military conflicts
- extending tax cuts for the rich
- abandoning single payer/public option healthcare models
- renewing the Patriot Act and ignoring human rights violations
- refusing to restore Habeas Corpus
- increasing arrests of undocumented workers
- expanding privatization of education
- abandoning the environmental and labor movements

…among other issues. Delivered to the CDP’s Executive committee, the resolution drew jeers from the African-American Caucus and others, and was tabled to allow “tempers a chance to cool on all sides”

Read the resolution in it’s entirety here. Also weighing in on the same topic was Dennis Kucinich, also calling for a primary challenge to heighten crucial debates and ‘strengthen’ the Dems. Also from Raw Story we learned of this pledge petition in which hundreds of anti-war activists vow to abandon Obama in 2012 unless he changes Afghanistan and military spending policies. Signers included David Swanson, Cynthia McKinney, Daniel Ellsberg, Chris Hedges, Coleen Rowley and many more.

Here John Nichols of The Nation takes the country’s progressive temperature citing polls and various local efforts to mobilize a primary challenge.

We at RPDC take interest in this question as progressives nationwide ponder – to support Obama or not? We’d love to hear from Democrats and democrats on the pros, cons and concerns as the 2012 elections slowly shape up.

Carlucci Asks DEC "What The Frack?"

Wondering if your water is healthy to drink? So do we. That’s why we’re grateful State Senator David Carlucci stepped up Friday to proactively and publicly ask the State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens why we exempted NYC’s water supply from the risks of hydrofracking but not the water supplies in other areas.

Just this evening on CBS, 60 Minutes ran a segment questioning the true cost of fracking, showing overnight “shalelionaires” on the one hand thanking the Lord for their blessings and on the other hand, residents living near fracking sites suffering from pollution who showed Leslie Stahl how they can light their well water on fire.

After explaining the rush to make quick billions harvesting natural gas by pumping water, sand and secret poisonous chemicals deeply into the ground under high pressure, 60 Minutes may have for the first time on network television exposed the alarming facts behind the “Halliburton loophole”.

This special privilege granted hydrofrackers exemption from compliance with the regulations in the Clean Water Act, designed to ensure our drinking water is safe. The free pass was named after the large energy firm Halliburton which first sought the exemption, benefiting from their close ties to former CEO Dick Cheney. In his now-famous “Energy Meetings” then Vice President Cheney successfully influenced Congress to pass a measure essentially granting an entire industry a license to pollute.

These meetings were said to have been illegal, because representatives of private corporations were allowed to participate in policy discussions and even make recommendations. The meetings not only resulted in the expansion of domestic gas drilling, but the resultant policies and deregulation led to the deadly Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, the Enron bankruptcy scandal, the California energy crisis, billions in subsidies to oil companies and the MMS royalty and cocaine/fornication scandal.

Violating federal transparency requirements, the secret meetings resulted in lawsuits brought by environmental and judicial watchdogs alike, but Cheney made unprecedented assertions of his “executive” privilege to conduct meetings in secret that landed the case in the Supreme Court.

In a dramatic fashion, Cheney narrowly triumphed as the deciding vote of dissent came from Antonin Scalia. Scalia had been asked to recuse himself because he had recently gone duck hunting with Cheney, but asserted he could rule fairly as he agreed to everything Cheney wanted.

This leads us back to our water supply. We have to act, as Carlucci and 60 Minutes both recognize, we cannot let the Halliburton exception stand in NY. Karl Rove is gathering money to buy a lot of PR putting a pretty face on the hydrofracking issue. The energy companies have considerable resources and many NYS lawmakers have shown they can be far too easily bought.

But we have the greatest water supply here in the NY metro area. We cannot afford to let anything happen to it – act out for your children’s sake. Let Albany know – water is the key to life, liberty and health – don’t frack it up.

$72 million to Chesapeake Energy Corp.
$145 million in Schlumberger Ltd.
$15 million went to Chesapeake/Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.
$30 million to Southwestern Energy Company
Hundreds of millions more were invested in Exxon and other shale drillers and energy company consolidators.

As debate rages concerning the safety of fracking and the impact of accidents, leaks, safety regulations, oversight and pay-for-play, NY’s current moratorium doesn’t seem to deter energy companies from expanding operations in the state.

NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and other federal regulators in recent months have asked for stepped up disclosure of chemicals used and new studies.

Ola Fadahunski, a spokesman for the state Comptroller’s Office said the investments are about getting a return, but Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has also advocated for safety and risk mitigation.

It remains to be seen if short-term gains on state pensions will be worth potential damage to the environment in the long term. We should really determine whether this is a safe practice or not, as investors in the process.