I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. It’s open thread time again here in DL world. Share your thoughts, plans, rants and everything else.
In a move that surprised absolutely no one, Andrew Cuomo announced that he’s running for governor of New York.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Saturday officially entered the race to become the Empire State’s next governor, a move that has been long anticipated and long planned for.
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Gov. David Paterson (D), who has been embattled for most of his tenure since assuming office in March of 2008, announced in February that he would not run for a full term. Cuomo is viewed as the overwhelming favorite to succeed Paterson over former Rep. Rick Lazio and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who are seeking the Republican nomination.
Yes, Rick Lazio, the guy that lost to Hillary Clinton the first time she ran for Senate. He ran on the “I’m not Hillary Clinton” platform. No word yet on whether he plans on running on that same platform in this race.
Who could have guessed that this would look bad?
Earlier this week, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced a reorganization of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which has been rife with corruption and incompetence. MMS would be split into three different offices. Shortly after Salazar’s announcement, John Goll, the head of the Alaska MMS office, called an “all hands” staff meeting to eat a cake decorated with the words, “Drill, Baby, Drill.” Goll is now expressing regret for the incident:
In an e-mail Thursday to agency employees nationwide, Regional Director John Goll says it was wrong and expressed regret that he let that happen in his office.
The MMS under Bush was stunningly corrupt. There was a huge sex scandal involving MMS employees sleeping with oil company executives. Breaking up the permit function and the regulatory function is a good first step but obviously there’s a long way to go before that agency is cleaned up.