The Political Weekly

2006-05-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

According to an article, John Faso has remarked negatively of Stephen Minarik and his state party leadership, which has lasted for seventeen months thus far. He accused Minarik of failing to attract good candidates for congress and legislature, as well as “driving a rift through the party by pressuring grass-roots leaders to get behind William Weld” for governor. Faso stated the party is “being led over the cliff by state chairman”. Minarik does not think Faso has the ability to raise the millions of dollars likely needed to run for governor. Minarik has made a move to block Faso from receiving 25% of the delegate vote at the state Republican convention next month. Faso said Minarik is trying to foreclose a primary, which he believes he will not be successful at. In an issued statement, Minarik did not address the alleged fight between him and Faso. Minarik acknowledged that he and Faso’s views differ, but he also said “at least our party is providing John an opportunity to seek the nomination.”

Info courtesy of:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060408/NEWS01/604080314/1002/NEWS

2006-04-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

According to an article from Newsday.com, John Faso has created a plan to cut school taxes and spending. He plans to set a cap on spending, one that is about half less than the rate of spending increases currently used. The cap could be rasied if student enrollment increases, state aid increases because of construction, or if voters vote to lift the cap by a two-thirds majority vote. He would also gradually double the state’s payment to the STAR program. This program picks up a portion of residents’ school tax bills. Laws and regulations would also be loosened, since according to Faso, they leave the schools with “control of only 20 percent to 25 percent of their budgets”. According to his plan, Faso believes if the plan is put in place in 2007, taxpayers would end up saving $19 billion by 2012. The schools would feel very little “fiscal pain”. Democratic front-runner Eliot Spitzer has yet to detail his tax proposal, he does agree with the idea of education tax credits for parents who have children in school. Faso hopes this plan will fix up the damaged economy of New York and improve the education system, a problem that he thinks will cause the “depopulation of our state”.

Info courtesy of:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--
governorsrace0406apr06,0,5806474.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

2006-03-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

According to a news release from Mike Long, State Chairman of the Conservative Party in New York, he has sent members of the Conservative Party State Committee and Conservative endorsed legislators a letter praising “the vision of John Faso”. One of his praises was about a past achievement Faso accomplished in 1995, when he helped create spending limits and tax relief for Governor Pataki’s first budget, breaking from a previous practice of excess spending. Long states that the many people who are seeking Conservative endorsement offer many fine traits, however, Faso’s key trait is his ability to stay committed to conservative ideas as well as the ability to run an effective statewide campaign. After reviewing many possible candidates, Long chose to go with John Faso, a candidate he believes represents the party’s principles the most and has the greatest chance of uniting the Conservative Party with the Republican Party in the race for governor. In his most praising comment, Long says:

“John Faso has displayed the courage to fight for conservative issues. He is pro-life and says so. He is committed to protecting marriage. He has the command of the intricacies of the budget to find and cut the waste. And he knows we must reduce taxes to create jobs and give our kids a future here.”

This kind of praise from a major political party, as well as their backing and the personal backing of the party’s chairman, John Faso is receiving some free PR and publicity, as well as the support and aid of a major force that has helped determine the winner of previous governor races, when a Republican runs, for the past decade
or so.

Info Courtesy of:

http://www.eisinc.com/release/storiesh/CONPAR.390.html

2006-03-09T22:52:00.000-08:00

According to the Capital News 9 website, John Faso has won the personal backing of the Conservative Party chairman Michael Long. This event, according to Faso, will lead to the party’s official backing, which is an important step in winning the election because no Republican has ever won a statewide office without their support. In a recorded interview, he expresses his gratitude for Michael Long’s personal backing. Faso is also being supported by Republican congressman John Sweeney, who he has spoken with before about issues that they agree upon. During the interview, Faso is asked if he will be able to win the election without the Republican Party support. Faso believes he will win it and earn it too. There is much competition for the Republican Party’s backing, which he says he is glad for since whoever wins it will truly deserve the backing. The interviewer also asks Faso about alleged rumors he spread about Republican Pat Manning and his wife going through with a divorce. Manning says Faso threatened him to go public with the news or else he would himself. Faso denies it, claiming it is a flat out lie, as did Pat Manning’s campaign (according to Faso). This would lead to Manning losing Republican support. Faso accused his opponent, Eliot Spitzer, of planning to raise the taxes again and again. Faso says there are too many problems in New York to deal with and that raising taxes would be a problem. In the closing, Faso stated he would not only win the Conservative Party, but also the backing of the Republican and Independent Party.

Info Courtesy of: http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=169364&SecID=33

2006-02-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

According to New York Daily News, John Faso is sticking by his anti-abortion promise, drawing up a stark contrast between him and his opponents. He vowed to end “Medicaid-funded abortions” in New York. Faso declares he has never “veered from his record as an abortion foe”, adding that he would stop funding abortions for poor women. The only abortions he would allow to be funded include cases of rape, incest, or if the abortion was needed to save a women’s life. He would not comment on the possibility of the Roe vs. Wade court decision being overturned. This court decision, which stated making abortion illegal invades one’s privacy, could be overturned, leaving the decision of legalizing abortion up to each state. If this happened and John Faso became governor of New York, there is a possibility he would make abortion illegal in some cases. Faso’s ideology differs greatly from his opponents Eliot Spitzer and pro-choice William Weld. Faso also took a jab at his opponent Spitzer, saying he will not be able to keep his promise to not raise taxes. While Faso’s stance on abortion may seem damaging to his reputation, two positive ideas come out of it. First, the fact he is not flip-flopping on his ideology against abortion. He remains constant with what he says. Second, this ideology will win over the conservative voters. In fact, according to the article, Faso is close to capturing the backing of the state Conservative Party. The only negative outcome of his ideology would be Faso losing the liberal vote.

Information courtesy of –
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/391758p-332266c.html

2006-02-10T17:31:00.000-08:00

In an unorthodox move, John Faso has chosen to air a ninety second live commercial on TV stations across New York, even though nine months remain before the election begins. He hopes this will allow him to talk directly to “members of both political parties” as well as independents. He wants to use the commercial to inform everyone what he is all about and what he plans to with New York State. The commercial will cost $104,000 and be aired on eleven stations across the state. “He's got to do something dramatic to separate himself from the pack” said Helen Desfosses, interim dean of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. He is running in the race because he wants to help the state of New York, not just any particular region. A taped version will also be readied, in case there are any technical difficulties.

Info courtesy of - http://www.wnyt.com/x6961.xml?ag=x995&sb=x183

According to Newsday.com, the Independence Party is trying to change its racist tainted image. The group said certain members have used the party to promote their “anti-Semitic views”. With this new zero tolerance policy, the party hopes to turn its image around. Past candidates, including Hillary Clinton in 2000, turned down the party’s nomination due to members with racist beliefs. With 330,000 voters under its wing, the Independence Party endorsement is the difference between winning and losing. John Faso is currently trying to win the party’s support for his election.

Info courtesy of - http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--independenceparty0210feb10,0,4522154.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

2006-01-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

According to an article in the New York Sun, if John Faso was governor of New York, he would not go along with a court decision that would require the state to give billions more to aid New York city’s school system. "The courts can't make the Legislature and the governor appropriate money," Mr. Faso told The New York Sun, adding that to hand the school funding issues over to a few individuals would be “absurd” to him. This new amount of needed money for schooling would allow students to “legally” receive a “sound basic education”, which is a constitutional requirement. Mr. Faso does not think this is a feasible plan, saying the state would have to raise the state income tax 25% to meet this new requirement. The president of the United Federation of Teachers went as far as to say Mr. Faso is similar to the “southern governors” who wanted to maintain segregation in public schools. Mr. Faso is not completely against the idea of spending more on public education, but that other state expenses need to be reviewed and considered first. If other programs are found not as important or anything of that manner, then more money can be shifted over to education.

Info courtesy of: http://www.nysun.com/article/26440?page_no=1

According to New York Daily News, John Faso is behind in the polls for the race to be governor of New York. According to polls, Democrat Eliot Spitzer is leading. Faso trails 61% to 19% according to a Quinnipiac University poll taken January 19. The article suggests that Faso and his other political contender William Weld accused Spitzer of “flip-flopping” on his proposal to offer low-income New Yorkers $500 education tax credits in order to close the gap in the polls.

Info courtesy of: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/384222p-326144c.html