Joshua Malbin » Pedro Espada http://joshuamalbin.com Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:38:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 I Approve! http://joshuamalbin.com/2010/05/i-approve/ http://joshuamalbin.com/2010/05/i-approve/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 19:35:37 +0000 Joshua Malbin http://joshuamalbin.com/?p=1359 Apart from my rooting on anybody who’d challenge the odious Pedro Espada, I actually know this guy and can vouch for his karaoke skills. We duetted on “Forgot About Dre” this one time and it was HYPE.

Support!

]]> http://joshuamalbin.com/2010/05/i-approve/feed/ 0 Still Nothing To See Here http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/still-nothing-to-see-here/ http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/still-nothing-to-see-here/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:17:26 +0000 Joshua Malbin http://joshuamalbin.com/?p=156 The headline says it all:

Sen. Pedro Espada’s son to quit 6-figure gig after attorney general launches probe

That’ll make the stink go away. Sure.

PS:

What the hell was John Sampson thinking? Was there ever any chance this wouldn’t look completely terrible? I think what’s annoying about the current Senate Democratic leadership is how incompetent they are at their corruption. When the Republicans were in charge they kept millions in corrupt expenditures and dozens of patronage jobs completely off the public radar for years and years.

]]> http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/still-nothing-to-see-here/feed/ 0 Espada, Jr., cont. http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/espada-jr-cont/ http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/espada-jr-cont/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:28:14 +0000 Joshua Malbin http://joshuamalbin.com/?p=114 Several more tidbits on the Senate Democrats’ shame, via Liz Benjamin. First:

Senate officials … declined to answer detailed questions about the circumstances of Pedro G. Espada’s hiring, such as whether he was a candidate for the job before Senator Espada returned to the Democratic caucus.

That would be a no. If was a yes, they would have said yes.

Then there’s this lovely bit of anonymous dishing about Pedro, Jr. from, I’m guessing, one of the seven Democratic Senators who were very close to a power-sharing arrangement with the Republicans before the Democratic leadership cut their legs off with the Espada deal:

“He’s lazy and not so smart, so I don’t know why we need him in some kind of policy role in the state Senate,” the Senate Democrat said.

The Democrat said the elder Espada initially sought to hire his son as his own chief of staff.

“He was told, ‘You can’t do that. You can’t hire a family member,’ ” the source said. “So that’s how he became a central staffer. I guess this is how he came up with the compromise.”

Nice. That’s backed up by at least one other source in the Albany Times Union, which also brings us the news that Steve Pigeon, the Golisano stooge who engineered the coup, will get $150,000 a year in his new Senate gig, and that Hiram Monserrate gets to hire two new staff members and give raises to his staff worth a total of $150,000 a year. Because the state budget isn’t tight or anything. Also Monserrate got back the committee chairmanship he lost for (I guess I have to say allegedly) stabbing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass.

Feh.

]]> http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/espada-jr-cont/feed/ 0 Nothing To See Here http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/nothing-to-see-here/ http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/nothing-to-see-here/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:10:30 +0000 Joshua Malbin http://joshuamalbin.com/?p=108 Pedro Espada says his son’s new job and his decision to return the Democrats have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.

“He has been expressing a desire to return to government service in some capacity and saw this opportunity I encouraged him to pursue it. That was the extent of my involvement. This wouldn’t even be a story if it were someone else hired to the position. End of story.”

Oh, okay then. If you say “end of story.”

]]> http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/nothing-to-see-here/feed/ 0 New York Senate Democrats Appall, But Do Not Surprise http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/new-york-senate-democrats-appall-but-do-not-surprise/ http://joshuamalbin.com/2009/08/new-york-senate-democrats-appall-but-do-not-surprise/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:35:01 +0000 Joshua Malbin http://joshuamalbin.com/?p=102 This is crazy.

How badly did Democrats in Albany want to lure turncoat senator Pedro Espada Jr. back to their side? Well, we know they crowned him majority leader of the Senate. Now, word is coming in that they put his son, Pedro G. Espada, on the Senate payroll. The son, a former Bronx assemblyman and City Council member who was voted out of office twice, started last week as “deputy director of intergovernmental relations,” a $120,000-a-year job, according to Austin Shafran, a Senate spokesman. He’s not replacing anybody; it’s a newly created position.

There are a lot of things I could say. I think they can all go without saying.

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