2012: Obama’s re-elect kicks off with testimonials from the grassroots. [BarackObama.com]
FOIL: Wikiaccountability.org collects FOIL requests scrutinizing Obama. [Noam Cohen]
Federal Budget: Schumer doubts there’ll be a shutdown. [Thomas DeFrank]
Redistricting: Tie-breaking professor endorses “Democratic-drawn map.” Christie a loser. [Lisa Fleisher]
Redistricting: Christie got very involved. [Richard Perez-Pena]
Comparing Cuomo: He’s like “Happy Warrior” Alfred E Smith, but Cuomo “isn’t known to be as warm and fuzzy.” [Rick Karlin]
Questioning Cuomo: Why did’t Cuomo negotiate with schools the way he negotiated with healthcare “stakeholders” during Medicaid redesign? [Fred LeBrun]
Questioning Cuomo: Will education cuts and property tax hikes be blamed on Cuomo, or local school districts? [Casey Seiler]
Property Tax Cap: Cuomo insiders say Skelos may hold it up. [Fred Dicker]
Albany Ethics: It’s next up on Cuomo’s agenda. [WNYT]
Albany Ethics: Silver says he has a deal with Cuomo. [Ken Lovett]
Albany Ethics: “Cleaning Albany’s ethical stable is as necessary a task as maintaining a balanced budget” say the editors. [New York Post]
Message Control: State’s top geologist is barred from talking to reporters since making comments about gas drilling. [Times Union]
Labor: Central Labor Council holds first political directors meeting in six months; major rally set for Saturday. [Celeste Katz]
Voting: Walter Cronkite and Frank McCourt among dead celebrities listed as eligible voters. [Aaron Short]
Education Deals: Dean Skelos gets TAP funding approved, Agudath officials agree to support GOP for Kruger’s seat. [Chris Bragg]
Education Money: “The pain is just beginning.” [Jay Jochnowitz]
Education Money: Downward pressure to make budget cuts. [Tiffany Lankes]
Education Staff: Bloomberg sends new mailers, attacking “Last In First Out.” [Heather Haddon]
Education Staff: “No teachers in the classroom should be cut, period,” says Gale Brewer. [Emily Neil]
Education Staff: As enrollment dropped, more supervisors and teachers were hired. [Brendan Scott]
Campaign Money: Oddo says raise bar for matching funds. Paper describes “candidates [who] got a total of $900,000 in matching funds but only got an average of 6 percent of the primary vote.” [Tom Wrobleski]
Campaign Money: Critic complains Oddo’s bill will hurt minority challengers. [Sally Goldenberg]
Housing: De Blasio wants “worst landlords” info on Craigslist; potential 2013 rival has long record on the issue. [David Chen]
Crime: 24 percent spike in rapes in NYC compared to 2010. [Bob Kappstatter]
Crime: 32 percent spike in rapes in NYC compared to 2009. [Bob Kappstatter]
