Or something.

Remember how Governor “black socks” Spitzer got into it with Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno? They feuded for practically the entirety of Spitzer’s reign, because the governor figured that by bringing Bruno down, he could push his agenda through. Hence “troopergate”.

Paterson isn’t spying on Sheldon Silver - at least, not that we know of. But they aren’t getting along at all, and that’s good and bad.

The insiders said Silver’s resistance to Paterson’s proposals are largely rooted in the unwillingness of lawmakers, who must face voters in November, to back spending restraints that are bitterly opposed by the powerful public-employee unions.

“[Former Gov. Eliot] Spitzer couldn’t figure out how to work with the Legislature and neither can Paterson. How do you ask Shelly to do something a few weeks before the end of the session that will damage his members in November?” asked a senior state official.

It’s good because Sheldon Silver needs standing up to. It’s bad because if Sheldon Silver has a sniffle, the rest of New York State gets SARS.

Yes, it’s true that New York is one state; geographically and to a degree politically.

Economically, though, there’s a distinct difference between upstate and downstate; between east and west. The upstate economy is saddled with fail. Whether it’s taxes higher than that of neighboring states, regulations that are too onerous, or a general business unfriendliness, there’s really no compelling reason why a company might locate in Utica or Rochester or Buffalo when Erie and Toledo and Columbus are also available.

I’ve said before many times that, to compete, all of upstate should be a massive empire zone. That hasn’t happened. But under former governor Spitzer, at least upstate had a dedicated upstate economic “czar” named Dan Gundersen. Not only that, but his office was going to be based in Buffalo.

Governor Paterson is considering scrapping the downstate/upstate economic czars. Upstate business leaders and the heads of Unshackle Upstate aren’t happy, and they hope that - if this does happen - that Gundersen become the head of the united Empire State Development Corp.

I think that it’s a given that, when forced into competition, downstate interests will prevail over upstate interests, and losing a dedicated advocate for upstate business development is a massive step backwards.

Upstate New York of the 2000s is not unlike the eastern Europe of the 1990s. It needs Sachsian shock therapy. It needs people to fight for it. It needs fundamental change in the way government works.

All I know is that, Albania and Slovakia have more robust economies than Western New York.

UPDATE: Read what In Java, Literally has to say. NYCO notes this Rochester D&C article alleging that Gundersen is very loosey-goosey with his state plastic.

Does anyone else give a crap whether or when disgraced Nixon dirty trickster Roger Stone found out that Spitzer was hiring whores? Does anyone else give a crap whether or when Stone had his lawyer tip the Feds off to Spitzer’s hiring of whores in Florida?

Me, neither.

And now that Spitzer has resigned in disgrace, here’s Stone’s newest target (NSFW)

Posted by BuffaloGeek 

In a blatant publicity stunt, Playgirl Magazine has offered former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer $1MM to pose nude for their magazine.

Your political career is sadly over; and you owe a lot of money to a lot of people. Hell, you may land in jail before too long. So consider this letter a brief note of urgency.

How about making some loot back, by showing us what you saved for such a select few? How about strutting your sexuality, and defending your right to get down for the magazine and Playgirl.com?

Eliot Spitzer, bringing passion back to Albany…

As one might expect, the offers are trickling in for Spitzer’s three-diamond hooker to pose nude. Penthouse and Hustler are competing for the “get”, and even newly-released-from-PMITA-prison “Girls Gone Wild” producer Joe Francis has put in a bid.

Except later yesterday, Francis realized that Ms. Ashley Rae Maika Youmans DiPietro Alexandra Dupre posed nude for his own “Girls Gone Wild” around her 18th birthday.

There’s an interesting legal case about copyright law and the adequacy of Francis’ releases in there somewhere.

Sirius 126 is now “Client 9 Radio”

Yesterday, I posted Spitzer’s resignation letter.

Commenter “Jack” wrote:

That signature would be fun exercise in handwriting analysis, I’ll bet…

I contacted professional handwriting analyst Dennis Duez of www.handwritinganalyst.com, who was kind enough to permit me to post his analysis of Spitzer’s signature:

Eliot Spitzer possesses an extremely strong ego, but is dealing with a strong downturn in self-image.

Ego and intellect tie together. Tell him he is brilliant and he will easily agree with you.

Spitzer is extremely independent, he knows that his way of doing things is the right way and does not respond well to critics.

Spitzer is a great spin-doctor, manipulating reality to his own ends. He has a talent for making things work his way.

Spitzer is an intensely private person, who does not easily, if at all, let people see the his inner psychological depths.

His signature evidences frustration because he is not able to maintain his own sense of privacy and individual identity in regards to family or other relationships

Spitzer deals with strong anger issues. He deals with strong, sharp intellectual frustrations.

A major emotional / family relationship in his life has flat-lined / strongly diminished.

His sense of sexuality, contrary to what might be assumed, has diminished and is he more drawn to emotional support and interaction as well as sexual involvement.

He is a strong romantic, he needs the romance, believes in it, but does not trust it.

Someone has been out of contact with him for some time, and this is a continuing frustration.

Someone who was an important mental support / mentor is no longer available and that is a major frustration for Spitzer.

Although the scan was grainy, there are some artifacts of physical stress that may be indicated.

Spitzer appears to have an older injury to lower back and possibly aggravation in the left hip area.

He also appears to have an older injury / stress point in the left shoulder, neck, collarbone, and / or rotator area.

Copyright © Dennis Duez 2008 All Rights Reserved

HT Robert Harding @ TAP

The New York Times has a detailed account of how the Spitzer revelations unfolded.

It’s interesting in the same way listening to a downed airliner’s black box is interesting.

Also, as you’re probably well aware, “Kristen” is an aspiring singer originally from Belmar, NJ.

Here’s a quaint post I wrote in 2006:

2010

That’s when Spitzer’s up for re-election.

I read this very thoughtful post over at NYCO’s blog and I, too, thought throughout 2005 that this year’s election would be a watershed moment for upstate and western New York. I set up a whole separate category for those posts as soon as I switched to Wordpress in April 2005, and had already endorsed Spitzer when I was still on my blogger site.

I started focusing on local and state issues soon after the first Brennan Center report on state government was released(pdf), outlining Albany’s dysfunction. When I discovered other upstate bloggers also posting about their frustration with Albany and its ill effect on the upstate economy, I was heartened by it because I learned that while the details of upstate’s problems may differ, Albany always came back as being a significant factor in bringing those problems about. Our legislators were mostly emasculated rubber stampers. Three men in a room act as the politburo, with lobbyists and unions as the party cadres.

So, was the election of 2006 the watershed moment I’d hoped it’d be? Time will tell.

People are very skeptical about Eliot Spitzer, which is understandable in a place that has an absolute right to its cynicism. I’m setting aside my skepticism for hope. As early as March 2005 I had attended my first local Spitzer event, and when he spoke about upstate, he got it. He understood that the old way of doing things was the problem. That “day one, everything changes” line was custom-designed for upstate New York.

Because the people downstate don’t generally give two thoughts about Albany and its politics. New York City is the political and economic engine driving everything south of Poughkeepsie where most of the state’s population lives. New York’s local news channels focus on tri-state goings on, not Albany. Upstate is different. Since government is the chief employer now in most of the big upstate cities, people are more keenly aware of what goes on in Albany and local politics.

I have not once heard someone say that Spitzer was a poor or ineffective Attorney General. I have never heard a criticism of him except that he has sometimes bullied Wall Street firms to pony up a settlement rather than take them to court. Given that 90% or more of most litigation is resolved prior to trial, that’s hardly surprising. What Spitzer did, though, is enforce regulations and statutes when the federal government wouldn’t. That enforcement inured to the benefit of consumers over powerful entities that were playing fast and loose with the law.

We’ve traded in a feckless windvane of a Governor for one who is not afraid to make waves and take on entrenched, powerful interests.

Skeptics point to Spitzer’s collection of endorsements and contributions from unions and scoff at the notion that Spitzer would bite the hands that fed him. But he got out of the gate so fast and so far ahead, that one could argue that he didn’t need them as much as they need him. Had it been a close race where he would have required heavy union turnout efforts to pull it over the top, that’d be a different story. But it wasn’t, and he didn’t.

Spitzer’s mandate is strong enough that he can wield it effectively against Albany legislators who are stuck in the muddy status quo and refuse to reform. Strengthening committees. Conference committees. Bringing bills to the floor for votes. Equal funding for all legislators. Loosening the Assembly speaker’s and Senate president’s grip on legislation. This is Albany’s unfinished business.

I am hopeful that Spitzer can push through the sorts of desperately needed reforms which would finally restore democracy to New York State government. With that restoration, along with comprehensive reform of state authorities, upstate New York could finally be on the path towards economic prosperity. If the cost of government is lowered and policies are fair and our interests are given a voice, we can make great strides in the coming years. If government is no longer the only local growth industry, but we can instead encourage the growth, advent, and an influx of private industry, we can then attain that Buffalo renaissance for which we all strive.

By 2010, we’ll know if that restoration has arrived, is on its way, or hasn’t even left the station.

Let’s make sure that all are aboard that train as we speak.

It’s now 2008. Spitzer has been in office for what, 14 months?

Let’s be frank. The train hasn’t left the station.

It hasn’t reached the station, and all the passengers are stuck in their cars trying to get to the station. They’re in mind-blowing traffic on the Cross-Bronx Expressway right before a Yankee game.

Courtesy of the New York Post’s Page Six. It’s pretty much not safe for work, so I’ll put it after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Spitzer to speak at 11:30.

UPDATE: Bruno strikes a conciliatory tone, saying that it is now time for New Yorkers to move forward with a smooth transition of power from Spitzer to Paterson.

Bruno is also probably thrilled to be number two in power. He says he has a great relationship with former Senate minority leader David Paterson.

UPDATE 2: Spitzer is in his motorcade going down 5th Avenue to his midtown office.

He’s currently stuck in traffic on 5th, and I’m desperately trying to find a watchable newsfeed. So far, WABC seems to be most stable. Kudos to WIVB Buffalo’s Channel 4 for still running the Price is Right.

UPDATE 3: Here it comes. He’s very remorseful for his three-diamond whoring. He apologizes to all New Yorkers. Yeah, fuck you, buddy. He says he accomplished a great deal and there is much more to be done.

He has insisted that people take responsibility for their conduct. He can, and will, ask no less of himself. He is resigning the office of Governor effective Monday the 17th, to permit an orderly transition. Spitzer takes no questions.

Spitzer is allegedly set to resign sometime today. For some reason, this man who promised to be a reformer, said at his inauguration,

“I pledge to toil each and every day so as not to disappoint the hard working people of this state who have placed their trust in a future which rekindles hope and restores growth.”

With calls to, and dalliances with three-diamond whores in-between.

But now, with his political life in ruins, and his personal life exposed, he has preferred to use resignation as some sort of bargaining chip to avoid prosecution. He is using his office to save his own skin, at the cost of the entire state. A state that was so eager for change, and has had its hopes dashed yet again.

Eliot Spitzer, in his final moments as governor, has shown his true colors once and for all. Self-preservation over the public interest. Good riddance, you fraud.

Courtesy of Empirewire.com

Albany Republicans are demanding that Spitzer resign today or tomorrow, else they’re going to initiate impeachment proceedings.

I’m so glad that Eliot was able to give Albany legislators something to really work on for the good of the embattled New York State taxpayers.

UPDATE 3: Like everyone else in the world, I’m waiting to see whether Spitzer steps down today or some other day this week. Either way, it seems inevitable.

UPDATE 2: It looks more and more likely that the Governor of the State of New York is going to resign. Paterson is making the rounds, and reaching out to legislators. Could it be that Mr. Paterson could accomplish through consensus-building and cooperation what Mr. Spitzer could not accomplish through his dictatorial, aggressive manner? Time will tell.

UPDATE: Also, a smattering of downstate headlines, which can always be amusing:

And a free Latino paper in New York, with a nod to the whole “licenses for illegals” fiasco of last fall:

Get yours at Cafepress.

As the Spitzer scandal continues to explode, I have felt a variety of emotions - from shock to incredulity to amusement to fury.

Right now, I’m stuck on fury.

Regardless of whether Spitzer resigns or not - and I think he will - his political career is probably over. It’s not over just because he hired a hooker. It’s over because he got caught doing it on tape, because he paid for her to cross state lines (a federal crime), and because he was supposed to be Mr. Clean the crime fighter.

The steamroller got steamrolled by the FBI.

“Kristen” will get rich off of this, probably getting a million from the Enquirer or Star to tell her story. Maybe she’ll do a Playboy spread, and parlay it all into a daytime talk show. From her description as a 5′ 5″ brunette at 105 pounds, maybe Anne Hathaway can play her in the movie. The FBI tapes of Spitzer making intricate arrangements to hire and pay for “Kristen’s” services will make their way to air, which will only make matters worse.

Kristen will also make some serious money explaining what it is that Spitzer likes to do that isn’t “safe”.

But amidst all of this tabloid fodder, we’ve lost a guy who promised us to do better. That on Day one, everything would change. That he would bring “passion” back to Albany (looks like he brought it to the Mayflower Hotel, instead). He promised reform - he promised a renewed focus on upstate - he promised to make the state more attractive.

By giving “Kristen” Acela tickets, cash, and two hours’ worth of God-knows-what, has he also screwed us all?

My guess is that Spitzer’s resignation is tendered the moment he is indicted for violation of the Mann Act. In that case, his lieutenant, David Paterson, becomes governor. There is no provision for anyone else to ascend to the post of lieutenant governor; Joe Bruno automatically becomes second-in-line.

Any movement for change and reform in Albany is on hold, but perhaps we’ve crossed some sort of threshold. Maybe with this shock to the system - where just about everybody checks and double-checks to make sure they’re not reading the “Onion” - we’ve laid a foundation for a true reformer to come in and shake up Albany. Because ultimately, Spitzer’s legal troubles, and his betrayal of his family are personal issues that affect us not at all.

What I care about is the state getting back on track. I care about lower, smarter spending and a moderation of taxation. I care about attracting, not repelling, residents and business. I care about getting a state government that doesn’t just talk about reform, but implements it.

Spitzer has dragged his heels on replacing Pataki appointees with his own. Very little tangible help has come to upstate. Spitzer instead became embroiled in a war with State Senate President Joe Bruno. There’s more to leadership than just being an arrogant know-it-all.

So, time will tell whether Governor Client-9 messed it all up. But the sooner he resigns, the better off the state will be. He can fight the charges all he wants, but not on my dime.

UPDATE: Commenters suggest it’s the money, not the Mann Act, that will be Spitzer’s ultimate undoing. I had only heard some vague reports about this, but the Times has more detail:

The rendezvous that established Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s involvement with high-priced prostitutes occurred last month in one of Washington’s grandest hotels, but the criminal investigation that discovered the tryst began last year in a nondescript office building opposite a Dunkin’ Donuts on Long Island, according to law enforcement officials.

There, in the Hauppauge offices of the Internal Revenue Service, investigators conducting a routine examination of suspicious financial transactions reported to them by banks found several unusual movements of cash involving the governor of New York, several officials said.

The investigators working out of the three-story office building, which faces Veterans Highway, typically review such reports, the officials said. But this was not typical: transactions by a governor who appeared to be trying to conceal the source, destination or purpose of the movement of thousands of dollars in cash, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

UPDATE 6: (Putting it up here for its sheer newsworthiness): By clicking this link, you can read the criminal complaint, as well as the affidavit in support of the request for search and arrest warrants. Paragraphs 73 - 85 deal with “Client-9″, who is reportedly Eliot Spitzer, Governor of the State of New York. He is caught on tape arranging for the transfer of money to the escort service, and helping arrange for “Kristen’s” travel from New York City to Washington, D.C.

LEWIS said that they would probably not know until 3 p.m. if the deposit arrived because Client-9 would not do traditional wire transferring.

A headline from the New York Times: Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He is set to make an announcement about 2:15 this afternoon at his Manhattan office.

Mr. Spitzer, a first-term Democrat who pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Albany, is married with three children.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

Update:

From the New York Sun:

During a court hearing in the case, at which the four people were arraigned, it emerged that all three of the assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the prosecution are part of the U.S. attorney’s public corruption unit. One is the bureau’s chief, Boyd Johnson III. The unit investigates wrongdoing by both elected and nonelected officials and bureaucrats at various levels of government.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Yusill Scribner, would not comment when asked whether a public official was among the clients of the Emperors Club. But the involvement of the public corruption unit raised eyebrows among the defense lawyers.

“When we first got the case, we were surprised that these were the assistants handling the case,”

Now we know why.

The Times story has now added:

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

But a person with knowledge of the governor’s role said that the person believes the governor is one of the men identified as clients in court papers.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

New York’s Channel 4 will have the presser live.

UPDATE 2: Sources: Spitzer Will Resign as Governor

George Holt > Eliot Spitzer?

UPDATE 3: Spitzer gave a very short statement acknowledging that he “failed to live up to the standard” that he had set for himself. He apologized to his family and the public, and said that politics is about ideas and the public good. He did not resign outright - not yet, anyway. He indicated that he needed to “take some time to regain the trust” of his family, and he did not take questions. He said he’d “report back” to us “in short order.”

You know, this is one of those stories I had to triple-check and make sure it was the real New York Times website I was reading.

UPDATE 4: The Times is now reporting that Spitzer was recorded on a federal wiretap arranging for the hooker’s services:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.

An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

WBEN is saying that Fox News is supposedly reporting that Spitzer has been indicted. I can’t confirm that anywhere. Looks like he hasn’t been indicted. Yet.

Via Ben Smith comes Here’s a cached version of the escort service site with which Spitzer is linked.

UPDATE 5: At least he wears a lapel pin. Also, for sheer entertainment value, Sir Norman Fry, M.P.:

Paul Wolf had a great post up today about Community Development Block Grant monies and how they should be spent. He asked a simple question, “How would you spend it?”

Well, Geek and I spent some time kicking around how we would spend it, but we just kept coming back around to imagining how other local politicians and community leaders would spend grant money or tax rebates if they could. Here’s what we came up with:

We’ll give it to poor people and tax, err, institute a fee on it with a stamp - Eliot Spitzer

Give it directly to the poor, but don’t let them spend it on tobacco, lottery, or anything fun - Sam Hoyt

Give it to the people and track where and when they spend it - Byron Brown/Steve Casey

Not know how much you have to give them: Satish Mohan

I’d loan it to my brother - H. McCarthy Gipson

Hemp necklaces and mandannas for everyone! - Newell Nussbaumer

I’m opposed to giving these checks out, wait, hold on…this was my idea? Damn - Antoine Thompson

Audit it - Mark Poloncarz

Shove it down the throats of neighborhood activists - Brian Higgins

Figure out if there’s a more efficient way to distribute the checks via Six Sigma troubleshooting - Chris Collins

Put the money in a box and scream insults at it - Dale Volker

Double the payments and add in coffee breaks for everyone - Tim Kennedy

Use it to pay rent on an empty house in Kenmore - Michelle Iannello

Take the money home and sleep on the floor next to it – Mike Cole

Surround yourself with kids at the announcement - Tom Reynolds

Huh? I must have missed the meeting about giving out checks. - Mike Ranzenhofer

Ask my Mother what I should do - Ed Rath III

File a lawsuit to block the distribution of checks until an alternative can be researched and put up a billboard announcing it - The Waterfront Coalition

Lap dances for me and Victor! - Joel Giambra

Give the whole sum to Smokin’ Joe Anderson - Vince Anello

Whadda you got?

Not really, but close enough.

His “State of Upstate” speech is reprinted here in its entirety.

It starts out beautifully:

The vision I will outline today is one we all share: to make Upstate New York the best place in the world to live, work, raise a family and run a business.

We all know it’s that last bit that’s difficult upstate.

You may recall last year Oswego County got battered by a storm that dumped 10 feet of snow. Spitzer remarked on the kindness, helpfulness, and neighborliness that he experienced there after that storm. He likens upstate’s economic woes to that storm, and argues that, if we

put that same strength, that same resiliency, and that same community-mindedness to work-if we summon the will to work together to achieve the reforms and make the investments I will lay out today-we can overcome this storm and return growth and prosperity to Upstate New York.

Spitzer argues that he laid a foundation for upstate’s rejuvenation last year through:

First, broad-based reforms to make Upstate more competitive by lowering the cost of doing business and lowering taxes;

Second, breaking gridlock on regionally- and locally-specific projects to build the infrastructure for economic growth;

Third, retooling State government so it is built to zero in on Upstate’s unique economic challenges; and,

Fourth, changing the way we approach economic development by incorporating local and regional stakeholders into everything we do.

He touts the work that the Empire State Development Corporation, and its upstate chair Dan Gundersen, have accomplished throughout upstate, adding:

Everywhere Dan stopped, he sat down for an audience with the best economic development consultants of all: local business leaders, who know the