Former NY Governor George Pataki (who?) Wants to Run for President,

And Comments on Some of the News of the Day

George Pataki was Republican Governor of New York.    He was selected to run for Governor by former NY Senator Alphonse D’Amato, and became a “giant killer” by defeating Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo.  He left office in 2006, succeeded by Eliot Spitzer (that story is for another time) and now is thinking about running for President.  





Former New York Gov. George Pataki said Thursday he's not sure if any of the current fieldThe ex-governor has been hinting for months that he's considering a White House bid. As The Ticket previously reported, Pataki said in June that he felt increasingly "compelled" to jump into the race.

Pataki (Bela Szandelszky/AP)

Mr. Pataki is a decent man and was generally a good Governor, with a strong bent towards conservation.  He should not run for President, it will not serve him nor his party nor the country. 

Gov. Jerry Brown of California has blasted state university officials for increasing salary and benefits for school Presidents while the state budget problems have caused substantial increases in tuition and fees.  The target,

the decision by the Cal State Board of Trustees this month to approve an annual salary of $400,000 for Elliot Hirshman, the new president of San Diego State, at the same time the school increased annual student tuition by 12%.

Hirshman's salary — $350,000 from the state, with an annual supplement of $50,000 from the campus foundation — is $100,000 more than his predecessor's.

Mr. Hirshman’s response

He would not say whether he thought his compensation was fair, nor would he speculate on whether he would have taken the job at a lower salary.

And the state of California has chimed in this way

State Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) has already drafted a bill that would prevent Cal State from giving current and incoming executives raises above 10% in years when it also increases tuition.

Yes, that will teach them, no more than a 10% raise. 

Do these people just not get it, ever?

Rep. Jim Jordan (R,Oh) has been the leading opponent of Speaker John Boehner’s debt ceiling/deficit reduction package.  Now Roll Call reports that his district might be eliminated as punishment for his taking his stand.



File Photo Rep. Jim Jordan (left) could find his district essentially eliminated in redistricting  after he challenged fellow Ohioan Speaker John Boehner (center) on his debt limit proposal.

File Photo

Rep. Jim Jordan (left) could find

his district essentially eliminated in redistricting

 after he challenged fellow Ohioan

Speaker John Boehner (center) on his debt limit proposal.



Rep. Jim Jordan (R) might pay the ultimate price for undercutting Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) efforts to pass a debt ceiling bill, according to a report Thursday in the Columbus Dispatch.

The cost? His safe Republican House seat.

The newspaper cited anonymous sources “deeply involved in configuring new Ohio congressional districts” who said that Jordan’s defiance puts his seat on the chopping block in 2012

Mr. Boehner said



"Jim Jordan and I may not always agree on strategy, but we are friends and allies, and the word retribution is not in my vocabulary,"

Now The Dismal Political Economist is willing to take Mr. Boehner at his word here, in fact, after observing Mr. Boehner in the last few months it appears there are a lot of words that are not in his vocabulary. 

But watch out Mr. Jordan, the words “revenge”, “payback”, “gotcha” and the phrase “sorry about your Congressional seat” are in his vocabulary.

Democratic Governor prospects for 2012 are not good.  Politico reports on the top ten races, and there is no really good news for the Democrats.  North Carolina Gov. Beverly Purdue continues to look like a sure loser, and then there is this comment on the race in North Dakota

No Democrat of significance has yet entered the race.

Remember that phrase, it is going to be applicable for a lot of races in 2012.