"Since Washington politician Tim Bishop has proven again and again that he has no clue how to create jobs, cut spending or reduce the debt, it's not a surprise that he's more focused on winning re-election in 2012 than he is on actually trying to solve the problems we face as a nation today," said Altschuler spokesman Christopher Maloney.

Tickets for the Southhampton fundraiser start at $100 a person. Jon Schneider, a spokesman for Bishop, said that the congressman will not attend if Congress is working through the weekend to pass the budget.

And he noted that Bishop has pledged to give away to charity any salary he earns if the government shuts down.

"He is not an outsourcing millionaire, so he has to raise money," Schneider said. "We certainly don't make any bones about it. He scheduled this a month ago not thinking that Republicans would try to shut down the government."

Please Join CONGRESSMAN Tim Bishop As he kicks off his   2012 Re-Election Campaign   Sunday, April 10th· 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM   230Elm 230 Elm Street, Southampton   CONTRIBUTION $100 per person   Click here to donate with a credit card online   __________________________________________________________                  __I/we would be pleased to attend. Enclosed is a contribution of              $100 per person for____tickets.                __I would like to join the Host Committee and contribute $1,000.               Thank you packages for members of the Host Committee include 10 tickets              and event advertising.               __I cannot attend, but I would still like to help Tim.              Enclosed is a contribution of $____.   Checks and response cards should be mailed to: Tim Bishop for Congress P.O. Box 437 · Farmingville, NY 11738 For information, please contact Molly Bishop at (631) 451-1764 ormbishop@bishopforcongress.com   Name_______________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________ City____________________________State_____Zip_________ Phone_______________________________________________ Name on card_________________________________________ Card Number__________________________Exp Date________   Forms may be faxed to (631) 204-6625   Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle. Contributions to Tim Bishop for Congress are not tax deductible. Corporate contributions are not allowed.   Paid for by Tim Bishop for Congress

Forward email This email was sent to  by mbishop@bishopforcongress.com |  Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribeTM | Privacy Policy. Tim Bishop for Congress | (631) 451 - 1764 | PO Box 437 | Farmingville | NY | 11738

"Considering the primaries Randy Altschuler faced in the run up to his challenge with [Bishop], I think he earned our endorsement and ended up running a strong race," Suffolk County Conservative Party Chairman Ed Walsh said.  "Altschuler was clearly the most qualified and conservative candidate in the primary and the voters verified that by a large margin last September.  My hope is that Randy does decide to run against Tim Bishop again.  The Conservative Party would be proud to stand next to Randy and have him carry our banner."

The Conservative Party's backing doesn't come as all  that much of a surprise, since Altschuler received the party's endorsement in the 2010 race and is so far the only candidate who has publicly shown an interest in taking on Bishop. However, the party's early nod could help clear the field. In 2010, Altschuler won a divisive, three-way primary, only to emerge weakened in his race against Bishop. Republican chairman John Jay LaValle has already signalled that he would like to avoid a divisive primary this time around.

This morning we received a fundraising solicitation from Bishop with the subject line "Deja Vu All Over Again," which uses the prospect of an Altschuler redux to rally the troops. The email makes note of Altschuler's seemingly endless resources and attempts to tie him to some of the austerity measures  that the House G.O.P. is proposing.

Writes the Bishop campaign:

Today, we learned from the newspaper Roll Call that my 2010 opponent, Randy Altschuler, will be visiting Washington, DC this week in preparation to run against me in 2012.  While it is very difficult to go head-to-head with an outsourcing millionaire with bottomless pockets, I know that I can count on supporters like you.  CLICK HERE TO SHOW YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT 

Your support right now is particularly critical because we are approximately one week from the important March 31 FEC deadline.  This will be the first time for Randy and his friends in Washington to assess how aggressive a campaign we intend to wage in 2012.  

Meanwhile, if we needed further proof that these two teams are already in war-room mode, Altschuler campaign aide Chris Maloney sends along the following statement, knocking Bishop for coming out swinging so early:

"As if one failed stimulus wasn't enough, it's shocking that Tim Bishop's latest prescription for job creation in Suffolk County is urging taxpayers to donate to his endangered political campaign.  It's the height of hypocrisy for Tim to bill himself as being concerned about job loss, while in the same breath he attacks Randy Altschuler, a proven American job creator who has employed hundreds of New Yorkers. 

"Voters didn't send Tim Bishop to Washington to be a complaining campaigner for the next two years; they elected a congressman to save their jobs.  If the past three months and this fundraising ploy are any indication, it is increasingly clear that the only job Tim Bishop cares about saving is his own."

This should be fun. Full Bishop solicitation below:

 

From: Rep. Tim Bishop <mbishop@bishopforcongress.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 10:37 AM
Subject: Deja Vu All Over Again

Tim Bishop for Congress  ______________________________________

Dear Friend,   As Yogi Berra would say, "It's deja vu all over again."  Today, we learned from the newspaper Roll Call that my 2010 opponent, Randy Altschuler, will be visiting Washington, DC this week in preparation to run against me in 2012.  While it is very difficult to go head-to-head with an outsourcing millionaire with bottomless pockets, I know that I can count on supporters like you.  CLICK HERE TO SHOW YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT    Your support right now is particularly critical because we are approximately one week from the important March 31 FEC deadline.  This will be the first time for Randy and his friends in Washington to assess how aggressive a campaign we intend to wage in 2012.  We need to put up a very strong number to make it perfectly clear to them, that once again, Suffolk County is not for sale. I believe the choice will be clearer than ever in 2012.  Throughout much of the campaign, Randy would talk vaguely about "reducing spending" but refused to say exactly how he would do so.  At a Meet the Candidates night in Hampton Bays, he responded to one question about specific cuts by saying, "That's a loaded question, as we call it," before launching into a diatribe about earmarks, which, by the way, we no longer have.  When I pressed him on the issue, he responded, "I think we all know that the Congressman has no real deep interest in hearing what spending cuts I propose.  What Congressman Bishop will do with that is put it into his campaign, as he's done on everything.   Now that we have seen the actions of the House Republican majority which Randy aspires to be a member of, it is clear why he refused to answer the question.  The House Republican budget hurts Suffolk County families in almost more ways than I can count. The budget eliminates approximately 1,000 jobs at Brookhaven National Laboratory and undermine America's scientific leadership; slashes Pell Grants by $5.6 billion which will reduce grants by at least 15 percent for over 9 million students; eliminates family planning and attacks the right to choose; eliminates funding to help homeless veterans; blocks EPA enforcement of clean air and clean water laws; and so much more. By the way, Randy's right.  I will absolutely talk in my next campaign about the fact that House Republicans want to put 1,000 Brookhaven National Lab employees out of work.  In fact, I'm writing you today to help give me the resources to do so.  CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR DONATION TODAY As always, thank you for your continued friendship and support and I look forward to seeing you out on the road as I continue to talk in communities throughout our district about the need to make responsible choices.    Best,   Tim Bishop Member of Congress      VISIT WWW.BISHOPFORCONGRESS.COM TO CONTRIBUTE

 

 

"What did Ed Cox know and when did he know it?" asked State Democratic Executive Director Charlie King in a public statement. It was issued after Cox praised Levy this morning, following Levy's announcement that he settled a 16-month investigation by giving up his $4 million campaign account and pledging not to seek a third term in office.

"Ed Cox doesn’t get it," King said in a public statement. "Integrity counts. Ethics counts. It is not acceptable to break the law, which apparently comes as a newsflash to Ed Cox. The question for Ed Cox – Levy’s de facto Campaign Chairman during the campaign under investigation – is what did he know and when did he know it?”

The famous reference is, of course, to a question asked during the Watergate hearings of then-President Richard Nixon, who Democrats always delight in tying to Cox, who married Nixon's daughter, Tricia, in the White House Rose Garden in 1971.

In an email to me, King elaborated on the statement, saying Cox didn't just support Levy's gubernatorial candidacy, but hoisted foisted him onto the GOP, and was intimately involved with the campaign.

Now, it's hard to see how Cox benefited personally or politically, from his ties to Levy. If anything, it was Cox's recruitment of Levy that caused Cox so many headaches. The assumption at the time was that Cox worked with Levy in exchange for Levy's help in a congressional race taking place in on his home turf, where one of the candidate's was Cox's son, Chris. Cox never made it onto the ballot and Chris lost the crowded primary to Randy Altschuler, who narrowly lost to Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop.

Yesterday we made note of the fact that businessman Randy Altschuler is gearing up for another run for Congress against incumbent Democrat Tim Bishop, and then today reported how the Bishop camp is already throwing potshots. 

Now Altschuler is out with some potshots of his own, with a spokesman sending along a statement accusing Bishop of a.) playing politics, b.) going negative and c.) doing the bidding of Nancy Pelosi.

Says Altschuler spokesman Christopher Maloney:

"It's unfortunate for taxpayers and families in Suffolk County that Tim Bishop's lack of seniority in Congress affords him and his staff plenty of down time to continue baseless personal attacks against Randy Altschuler.

"The constituents who pay their salaries remain hopeful they will wake up, step out of campaign mode, and fight to protect jobs and control the unrestrained deficit spending which they have championed during their eight years in Washington.

"It's no surprise that Tim Bishop and his flacks want to spend today, the one year anniversary of his vote to pass Obamacare, talking about anything but his blind loyalty to Nancy Pelosi."

Maloney took issue with Bishop's spokesman Jon Schneider's assertion that Bishop has an advantage since 2010 was such a Republican year, arguing that it remains unclear what kind of year 2012 will be, and that the Republican nominee could be boosted by the lack of a primary challenge.

Yesterday, G.O.P county chairman John Jay LaValle told The Politicker that it was the party's goal to get behind a candidate early on.

Unless he cuts a deal beforehand, Rangel is widely expected to be censured, especially after the Ethics committee overwhelmingly voted for that punishment. But for the New York delegation, the question of whether or not to censure Rangel is an especially difficult one. While even Rangel admits that what he did was wrong, the Harlem congressman remains a beloved figure among the delegation, the one who as the longest-serving member welcomed newcomers to the House.

The Observer reached out repeatedly to New York's House members to gauge how they plan to vote on the Rangel question. Most refused to answer.

So far, however, Rep. Christopher Lee, Rep. Bill Owens and Rep. Tom Reed all stated their intention to vote for censuring Rangel. Rep. Gregory Meeks said that he would be voting against the measure. Four other New York congressmen--Rep. Peter King, Rep. John Hall, Rep. Edolphus Towns and Rep. Paul Tonko--all said that they were currently undecided and were unsure how they would vote at the moment.

Rangel was found guilty on 11 counts of ethics violations by a bipartisan commission last week. While the censure is a far cry from expulsion, which was also on the table for Rangel- it is certainly a degrading one, as Rangel will be asked to stand alone in the well of the House of Representatives and receive a verbal condemnation from Speaker Nancy Pelosi on behalf of her congressional peers.

Rangel was found guilty of using rent-stabilized apartments for his campaign headquarters, for improperly soliciting donations for a library named in his honor by using congressional letterhead, and for failing to claim over $600,000 of income stemming from a rental villa in the Dominican Republic in his tax returns.

In an email to his supporters, Rangel made his clearest apology yet.

"I apologize for the embarrassment I have brought upon you," he wrote.

"Thursday was one of the most difficult days of my life since I was left for dead in North Korea 60 years ago...I hope that you would judge me on my entire record as a soldier and a dedicated public servant - not only by my mistakes," he said.

We will update as we hear from more members of the delegation.

But guess who isn't watching the race? Tim Bishop.

According to spokesman Oliver Longfellow, Bishop is in Florida with his family and Longfellow said he it was unclear when the congressman was coming back.

 As of Monday night, 1,912 votes in the district have yet to be counted.

Both candidates have challenged votes on grounds of voter eligibility, with Bishop questioning 714 and Altschuler challenged 1,051, two of which were Bishop's parents who voted absentee from Florida.

"Its just not right that the people on the east end of long island have someone who doesn't vote with their interest but votes with the interests of Washington," Pataki said. "Nancy Pelosi already has a district, its San Francisco, not Suffolk county."

Gov. Pataki focused on Bishop's legislative record, knocking his adherence to the Obama administration. He highlighted Bishop's votes on the stimulus,  "deficit busting budgets," and the health care bill, which Pataki called "one of the worst bills I've seen passed in my lifetime."

"We are the ones we've been waiting for," Obama says.

"Was the wait worth it?" a narrator asks.

"How come the only jobs we seem to have created are for IRS agents and Census takers?" he asks.