Governor Paterson Kickoff Event In Harlem

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(This post by request of my good friend Aisha Ahmed.)

Please join

GOVERNOR

DAVID A. PATERSON

as he kicks off

The People First

2010 Campaign for Governor

Rescheduled: new date Sunday, February 28

Doors open at 1:15 p.m., event starts at 2:00 p.m.

Our Children’s Foundation

527 West 125th Street, Harlem, NY

Event is free but R.S.V.P. requested

To R.S.V.P. visit http://www.governorpaterson2010.com/events or call (212) 286-2010

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Please fill out and bring with you to speed entry

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YES! I will vote for Governor Paterson Call me to volunteer! I will host a house party

GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON
Biography

DAVID A. PATERSON became New York's 55th Governor on March 17, 2008. In his first address as Governor, Paterson spoke about the challenges facing New York and his plans to build a better and brighter future for the citizens of this great state.
Governor Paterson was ahead of the national curve in predicting and acting on the State's current fiscal downturn. Despite the greatest economic crisis our State has ever faced, Governor Paterson has enacted sweeping reforms on a wide range of issues facing New Yorkers.

Governor Paterson led the movement to create permanent reforms to the way health care is delivered in New York State to rationalize the State's Medicaid reimbursement system and provide increased investment in primary and preventative care. He overhauled the Rockefeller Drug Laws for the first time in more than 30 years and after a 9-year struggle to update the 1982 law governing bottle deposits, Governor Paterson guided the legislature to enact the Bigger Better Bottle Bill. In addition, as a result of the Governor's leadership, the Empire Zone Program is being reformed, the basic welfare grant was increased for the first time in two decades to help assist those struggling in poverty during a time of unprecedented economic turmoil and unemployment insurance benefits have been extended.

Governor Paterson successfully negotiated an MTA bailout plan allowing commuters to avoid painful service reductions and he introduced landmark civil rights legislation that will end legal discrimination against same-sex couples in New York.

In 1985, at the age of 31, Governor Paterson was elected to represent Harlem in the New York State Senate, becoming the youngest Senator in Albany at the time. In 2003, he became the first non-white legislative leader in New York's history when he was elevated to Minority Leader of the Senate. He made history again in 2004 when he became the first visually impaired person to address the Democratic National Convention and again in 2007 when he became New York's first African- American Lieutenant Governor. As Lieutenant Governor, he led the charge on several crucial issues for New York's future including achieving legislation for stem cell research, working to prevent domestic violence, putting forth a statewide renewable energy strategy and championing the expansion of minority and women owned businesses in New York.

Governor Paterson, who is legally blind, is nationally recognized as a leading advocate for the visually and physically impaired. He is a member of the American Foundation for the Blind and he serves on the Board of the Achilles Track Club. He serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee and as a Chairman of the Coalition of Northeast Governors (CONEG).

Governor Paterson was born May 20, 1954 in Brooklyn, NY to Portia and Basil Paterson, the first non-white Secretary of State in New York and the first African-American Vice-Chair of the National Democratic Party. He earned his bachelor's degree in History from Columbia University in 1977, and completed his J.D. at Hofstra Law School in 1982. He lives with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, and their two children, Ashley and Alex. Ashley attends college in Upstate New York and Alex attends public school in New York City.

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State Of The Union: In Good Hands

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Immigration Lawyer

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Immigration is a touchy topic in America. And you can pontificate about it to your heart's wish depending on where you stand on the political spectrum, but if you are in a limbo, or possibly facing deportation, that is not exactly time for idle talk. It is time for action. It is time for an immigration lawyer.You need a well informed skilled attorney to navigate the bureaucratic maze that is the immigration bureaucracy. Darren Silver and Associates is one such team. They have a track record of having handled well "seemingly impossible cases." They stay on the top of issues.

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Supreme Court Vs. Obama

Paterson, Cuomo, Gillibrand, Ford: New York 2010

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I have not been following politics closely lately, let alone local politics, but 2010 promises to bring a lot of drama to New York politics, which usually stays dramatic. You have a sitting Governor being challenged. You have a sitting Senator being challenged. Both challenges are looking credible. It is going to be really something to watch.

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Iran: An Opportunity

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A lot of progressives - Barack Obama included - dislike the Bush phrase War On Terror, but what I like about it is that it seems to rhyme with the Cold War phrase. 9/11 launched an era. It will conclude with all Arab countries having turned into democracies. The Berlin Wall will fall all over again. Israel has built one. Israel is what South Africa was.

I have been disgusted with all the innocent lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some specific examples stand out, like blowing up a wedding party from the sky, but the numbers are out and out outrageous. Bush killed more than 100,000 Iraqis. That is not okay.

The Al Qaeda is not a state. But America the superpower was only prepared to go after a state. The US military might had not prepared to go after an organization like the Al Qaeda. So the medicine looked for a disease and found Saddam instead (I don't miss the guy).

I don't have firsthand memory of the 1979 Iran revolution, I don't remember following it in the news. But when the people of Iran came out into the streets last year, I fell in love with the country. Iran has firmly established itself as the Arab solution to the War On Terror. America invading one Arab country after another is a recipe for bankruptcy for America, not a recipe for spreading democracy in the Arab world.

We did this in Nepal in 2006. In 2006 for democracy - the king of Nepal had issued a shoot at sight order at one point in April 2006, so just because we succeeded does not mean it was easy - and again in 2007 and 2008 for social justice for the Madhesi in Nepal. It can be done in Iran.

The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal

One of my regrets of 2009 is to not have given enough time to Iran. The resiliency of the Iranian protesters inspires me.

Iran: Yes, We Can
How We Have Failed Iran
Dumb White People (DWPs) And Iran
The Fraud In Iran
Iran: This Is What I Am Talking About

Just like America as a country at some point is going to have to apologize for slavery, America as a country at some point is going to have to apologize for what it did in Iran in the 1950s.

I am a firm believer is democracy and social justice. That does not make an American stooge. I want Iran to become a full-fledged democracy (even as a half baked one it is ahead of Saudi Arabia and Egypt) and ask America a question: Why does America have nuclear weapons? Good thing Barack Obama asked that question early in his presidency. I am glad I was one of his earliest supporters in New York City.

As long as the Iranian reformers keep asking the regime to redo the election, the movement will be a waste. As long as Iran's global grassroots supporters keep extending only moral support, the movement will have a tough time. The Iranians have to come out into the streets to shut the country down completely for as long as it takes to ask for an interim caretaker government that will conduct elections to a constituent assembly that will give Iran a new constitution. And the global grassroots will have to become more sophisticated. We need to offer detailed logistical support. We have to out organize the mullahs.

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Las Vegas Weddings | Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel

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