Andrew Cuomo and Dean Skelos and Mike Bloomberg and Sheldon Silver and all the Unions proudly agree that NY Const Art 1 Sec 3 does not apply to Greek Bettors, infidels, atheists and other undesirables who wish to bet at Nassau OTB on any day of the year that there is a race being run anywhere in the United States that is of interest. New Jersey and its Governor welcome us with open arms. We need a spokesman who can talk and walk and make himself heard like Chris Christie and not a email the masses .... like Andrew Cuomo.
New Congress Faces Same Partisan Divisions
Battles Over Government's Cost and Size Are Likely to Dominate Coming Months
By SARA MURRAY And PATRICK O'CONNOR
REUTERS
Speaker of the House John Boehner holds up the gavel after being re-elected on the first day of the 113th Congress on Thursday.
The House has re-elected embattled Republican
John Boehner as speaker on Thursday. The Ohio lawmaker won a second,
two-year term as leader with 220 votes, losing just a handful of votes
in the Republican-controlled chamber. (Photo/Video: AP)
Signs of discord were evident in the GOP ranks as nine Republicans voted for someone other than Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio) to be speaker of the House. Their public defiance—votes were cast on the House floor in front of his friends and family—highlighted the challenges ahead for Mr. Boehner, days after 151 of his GOP colleagues broke with him on legislation to prevent tax rates to rise for most Americans.
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The new Congress will soon be confronted with difficult votes on raising the government's borrowing limit, as well as on measures to deal with across-the-board spending cuts that are now scheduled to take effect on March 1 and a stopgap spending bill to fund the federal government that expires in late March.
"Public service was never meant to be an easy living," Mr. Boehner said in a speech from the rostrum Thursday. "If you have come here to see your name in the lights or to pass off a political victory as some accomplishment, you've come to the wrong place. The door is right behind you."
Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.), who had been
absent for the past year while recovering from a stroke, slowly walked
up the 45 steps to the Senate on Thursday, with Vice President Joe Biden
nearby. (Photo/Video: AP)
President Barack Obama has said he won't negotiate with Congress over the nation's statutory borrowing limit, but Republicans believe they can demand and win spending cuts
"We have very few pieces of leverage that we can use by being the minority of divided government," Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "This is one of the obvious ones."
The next Congress is likely to see the same divisions that regularly left the 112th Congress gridlocked. And incoming members, many elected by wide margins, came to Washington armed with promises to reach across the aisle—even as they outlined partisan goals
Getty Images
A young girl raises her right
hand as newly elected members are sworn in during the first session of
the 113th Congress on Thursday.
Timeline: John Boehner's Career
At the same time, Mr. Salmon's legislative priorities—a pledge not to raise taxes, for instance—likely make compromise tough.
Previously elected to Congress in the 1990s, Mr. Salmon initially abstained in the vote for speaker on Thursday to signal to leadership that he thinks conservatives haven't done enough to cut federal spending. He eventually voted for Mr. Boehner.
Mr. Boehner's re-election as speaker was never in doubt Thursday, but Republican aides needed to find GOP lawmakers who had not voted and bring them to the House chamber to ensure the election wouldn't go to a second ballot.
In the end, nine Republicans voted for someone other than Mr. Boehner, including three who chose Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) and two who backed former Rep. Allen West (R., Fla.), who was defeated in November.
Rep. Steve Stockman (R., Texas) voted "present," and two other Republicans—Reps. Raul Labrador (R., Idaho) and Mick Mulvaney (R., S.C.)—declined to vote, even though both were in the chamber.
Mr. Labrador checked his phone as his name was called for a second time, and Mr. Mulvaney stood at the back of the chamber as the clerk read his name again.
Along with the prospect of political battles, Thursday brought the ceremony of welcoming a new band of lawmakers.
On the steps of the Capitol Thursday morning, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi welcomed Democratic women in the House. Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) was greeted by Vice President Joe Biden as he climbed the Capitol steps almost a year after suffering a stroke.
During the vote for speaker, Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican, perched on the edge of his chair as one of his grandchildren nestled behind him and seven others piled into nearby chairs.
Some Republicans are starting to look beyond the looming budget battles to the prospect of tackling a tax overhaul and other legislative priorities.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.), who spent much of the past year laying the groundwork for a sweeping overhaul of the tax code, said legislation Congress passed this week to lock in income-tax rates was "only the first step."
"We need to make the tax code simpler and fairer for families and small businesses," Mr. Camp said. "We need to pursue comprehensive and fundamental tax reform to make American businesses and workers more competitive in the global marketplace."
—Corey Boles contributed to this article. Write to Sara Murray at sara.murray@wsj.com
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LI Confidential
> Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
NJ Gov. Christie blasts Boehner, Republicans
Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie's blunt talk has long been one of his hallmarks.But Christie, who has verbally tangled with many, showed Wednesday he's willing to aim his barbs at the highest echelons of his own party.
In a State House news conference, Christie blasted Republican U.S. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio for delaying a vote on a $60 billion aid package for Superstorm Sandy recovery.
"Do your job and come through for the people of this country," Christie pointedly said about Boehner.
Harsh criticism of Boehner by elected officials in New York and New Jersey turned into a bipartisan affair Wednesday. But it was Christie's remarks that drew the most attention, both for what he said and his willingness, as a Republican with higher aspirations, to so forcefully take on Boehner and Congressional Republicans.
The bill "could not overcome the toxic internal politics of the House majority," Christie said.
Under pressure, Boehner will schedule a vote Friday to fund $9 billion for the national flood insurance program. A vote on the remaining $51 billion will take place Jan. 15.
Even before word of the rescheduled votes came out, Christie said he could no longer trust such assurances.
"There is no reason for me at the moment to believe anything they tell me because they've been telling me stuff for weeks and they haven't delivered," Christie said.
Christie accused House Republicans of focusing on internal politics and "palace intrigue" instead of voting on the bill, which would financially assist states hit by the Oct. 29 storm. Sandy severely impacted New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
"There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner," Christie said.
A former prosecutor who flirted with running for president, Christie significantly raised his national profile this year, positioning himself as a tough-talking, no-nonsense chief executive. He delivered the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa and hopscotched around the country to campaign for Mitt Romney and Republican Congressional candidates.
But there has been little love lost of late between Christie and some members of his party. Before blasting Boehner, Christie drew the ire of some Republicans after touring the storm-damaged Jersey shore with President Barack Obama.
The two men embraced on the tarmac in Atlantic City days before the election and Christie effusively praised the president's handling of the storm. Christie said his loyalty to the people of New Jersey trumped politics.
Christie is seeking re-election, saying he wants to see through the Sandy recovery, something that a failure to vote on the bill is tying up, he said, keeping people from rebuilding homes and businesses.
In a Republican Party trying to figure out what it stands for, Christie could be positioning himself as both a potential conservative candidate who is not beholden to Tea Party notions and a pragmatist who is willing to work across party lines to get the job done.
Should he plan to run for president in 2016, Christie's stance could gain traction with an electorate that generally disdains Washington — a stance that Christie drove home Wednesday.
"It's why the American people hate Congress," Christie said of the failure to vote on the Sandy bill.
Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said Christie's attack is emblematic of a division emerging in the Republican party between conservative members calling for spending cuts wherever possible and others who think allocating money is necessary in certain cases.
"This is an example of another moment of him separating himself from a section of the GOP that is not very well-liked right now," Zelizer said of Christie. "I don't think it's politics. I think it's general frustration."
Leo Quigley, whose house in New Jersey's Little Ferry was damaged in the storm, said he's glad that Christie so forcefully criticized Boehner.
"I think he's right," Quigley said. "Some people are living in bad circumstances right now because of this, and that's to be blamed on the Congress."
Gigi Liaguno-Dorr, whose bar, Jakeabob's Bay, in Union Beach, was destroyed, said she and others in her blue-collar New Jersey town feel as though they've been ignored. She thinks Congress dragged its feet on the bill, but wants to know where the money will be allocated if the bill is approved.
"If Christie was out there blasting them, God bless him. Good for him," Liaguno-Dorr said. But once they release it, where is it going to go?
Liaguno-Door criticized Christie for not visiting her town, though he did mention it Wednesday as a place where a delay in aid would have detrimental effects.
7/87/8_____
Zezima reported from Newark, N.J. Associated Press writer Philip Elliott in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow Zezima at http://www.twitter.com/katiezez
Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill
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