Monday, December 29, 2008

New York Tithes to Obama

Well, well, well. An interesting list of New Yorker's donating to Oblabla's Coronation, ahh, I mean Inauguration. From the Times Union:
  • Six members of the Soros family and the Soros Fund, including George Soros, sent $50,000 apiece. A few Rockefellers sent money, including Laurence, of the New York League of Conservation Voters, down for $38,000.
  • Banker Howard Millstein and wife Abby Millstein, a lawyer with Constantine Cannon, donated $50,000 each.
  • Chairman of The Island Def Jam Music Group Antonio Reid contributed $50,000.
  • Jeff Gural, the track and racino operator, sent $25,000 and his father Aaron Gural, who started the Gural family real estate firm, threw in another $50,000.
  • Ronald O. Perelman , chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., sent $50,000 and the company lawyer, Barry Schwartz, added $25,000.
  • In the Capital Region, Andrea and Timothy Collins, of Ripplewood Holdings, each wrote checks for $50,000, using their Saratoga Springs address.
  • And technology and learning consultant Elliott Masie, of Saratoga Springs, sent $10,000.
And, another interesting story regarding Gov. Paterson's Wish List Letter to the Oblabla administration:

Four days after Christmas, David Paterson sent his wish list to President-elect Barack Obama.

He wants money. Lots of it. In an open letter sent today, Paterson asked for Congress to appropriate $500 billion of direct aid to states, with half of that amount earmarked for social service programs. He also asked for $300 billion to be earmarked for infrastructure projects, of which he and others are fond of boasting that New York has 98 which are "shovel-ready."

This weekend, Senator Chuck Schumer said he thought New York would get $5 billion in extra Medicaid funding. New York is facing a budget gap of about $15 billion this year, and Paterson met with Obama earlier this month in Philadelphia along with other governors to make the case for more aid.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away or, I'll grease your palm if you grease mine. Same old dance - just a different partner.

1 comment:

HL said...

Terrific and helpful information. Thanks for finding and disseminating - Heidi Li