Schumer and Durbin Admit Democrats Won't Vote for Obama's Tax Increases

Left unmentioned for the most part by the media is the fact Democrats have to defend 23 Senate seats in 2012, and with Barack Obama at the top of the ticket many of them realize they're going down with the sinking ship. So if any of them are to survive they understand one thing: Do not, under any circumstances, commit political suicide by voting for a massive, job-killing tax increase.

New York's senior senator said even the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate was balking at paying for President Obama's jobs bill.

"The main hangup is not the jobs bill itself," Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday. Obama has been calling on lawmakers to pass his $447 billion jobs bill in nearly every speech for almost a month and proposed paying for it with spending cuts, tax hikes on the wealthy and closing corporate tax loopholes.

"After [Obama] announced the jobs bill ... he proposed ways of paying for it that are probably not the best way to garner the votes," Schumer said.

But like a schmuck, you stood there and cheered him on, Chuckie.

Republican leaders in the House had been vocal arguing that now was not the time to raise any taxes. And Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) has said that Democratic senators standing for election won't vote for a tax increase - "even on the wealthiest people."

So there's no hope Obama's tax increases pass and Democrats won't even bring it up for a vote. But the clown in the White House is still running around to daily fundraisers demanding it be passed.

Be assured it won't.

Surprise! Obama All-time Leading Recipient of News Corp. Donations

Obviously, he's in the back pocket of the evil Rupert Murdoch.

Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

The transparency watchdog noted Tuesday that Democrats received 51 percent of contributions while Republicans received 49 percent, despite the firm's highly publicized links to the GOP, such as a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association in August.

News Corp. is the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News, among others. The firm is currently under scrutiny in both the U.S. and U.K. over allegations its subsidiary News of the World hacked into voice mail accounts and bribed public officials.

"Obama being listed as the company’s top recipient might surprise some people because of its highly publicized involvement with his political rivals, like Sarah Palin who was the vice presidential candidate in 2008 and reportedly still under contract with Murdoch-owned Fox News as a paid commentator," wrote Sunlight's Ryan Sibley.

More here.

Hypocrisy, you say? Feh. Obama likes to talk one game and play another. Heck, it hardly caused a ripple last year when he railed against BP and then was revealed to be their largest recipient.

Inconvenient truths.

So clearly News Corp., its subsidiaries and employees are fair and balanced when it comes to political donations. I wonder whether we could say the same about other large news organizations?

Update: More details on past recipients.

While Obama is by far the all-time leading recipient, he's followed in order by Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Gray Davis and Howard Berman. See if you can detect a common thread between them (hint: they're all Democrats).

Chuckie Schumer's also in the top ten. Considering Schumer was also the biggest recipient of Bernie Madoff money when he ran the DSCC, this daily double should qualify him for some kind of award.

The top recipient from News America Holdings was also a Democrat, Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey.

For 2009-2010 from News America Holdings, the top recipients with $10,000 each were Democrats Nancy Pelosi, Berman and Schumer.

Meanwhile, the fabulously wealthy Kerry, who served in Vietnam, is the top political stakeholder in News Corp, with an estimated $600,002 to $1,250,000.

Granted, that's his wife's money.

Update: In a stunning development, a George Soros flying monkey from Media Matters put a unique spin on these revelations.

If it seems like Obama got a lot of money from News Corp. employees, that’s because he got a lot of money from a lot of people in 2008.

Soros is really getting his money's worth, huh?

Finally: Schumer Resumes Sunday Press Conferences After Weiner-Induced Hiatus

The one silver lining of the sordid Anthony Weiner scandal was it pretty much drove his mentor Chuckie Schumer into hiding, too ashamed to show his face. Well, those precious days are history and the camera-loving New York Senator has picked up where he left off a few Sundays ago.

Discount buses' safety ratings should be easy to understand - and right out there for customers to see at ticket booths and in bus windows, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

He called on the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to assess bus companies' safety records with a system of letter grades - like the one that gauges hygiene at city restaurants.

"This is a classic American way to get better bus safety," said Schumer (D-N.Y.), who predicted that bus companies with low grades would strive to improve their safety records to compete with "A"-grade bus lines.

"Why can't we separate the so-called wheat from the chaff?" Schumer said outside the Fung Wah Bus ticket booth on Canal St. in Chinatown.

Oh, so now it's so-called wheat, eh, Chuckie?

Thanks now to the ubiquitous presence of America's gadfly, people taking discount bus rides will breathe a little easier. A grateful nation thanks you, Chuckie.

Schumer also today accused the GOP of not wanting the economy to grow, because they obviously are thrilled to be mired in the dreadful Obama economy. Yes, Chuck, we want more people out of work. That's always helpful.

But They're Just Paying Their Fair Share, Chuckie

Sudden concern for consumers

This schmuck never met a tax hike he didn't embrace, never met a proposed tax cut he didn't demagogue and has helped oversee the largest expansion of an intrusive federal government this nation has ever seen.

So all of a sudden he's feigning outrage over some utility increase? Hey, Chuckie, in case you haven't noticed the price of everything has gone up while you and the Democrats have been in charge, so shut your piehole and deal with it.

Sen. Chuck Schumer yesterday posed four tough questions to operators of the state's private power generating plants -- as consumers and politicians battle shocking rate increases the companies are planning for this summer.

The furious political leaders want to reverse a boost of 12 to 14 percent for New York City residents authorized by the asleep-at-the-switch Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which ignored big property-tax breaks that some of the firms get.

"These power companies owe New Yorkers clear and unambiguous answers why, on top of massive tax breaks, they also need massive rate hikes that will sock energy consumers," Schumer told The Post.

As someone who's never held a job outside the public sector, Schumer clearly has no understanding how business works. These companies don't simply create energy for nothing and decide to gouge consumers. They purchase a product and in order to stay in business sell it at a higher rate in order to make a profit. If this knuckle-dragging mouth-breather ever gets a clue it'll be the first time.

"While I realize that there are legitimate costs that need to be considered when building new generation facilities in the city, I think it is unconscionable for generators to go before FERC and argue for rates that amount to winning the lottery," Schumer wrote.

Perhaps New Yorkers ought to think twice the next time this tool is on the ballot. But hey, they're the chumps who just gave him another six years.

Suckers.

Good News: Schumer Pal Bernie Madoff Wants to Teach Ethics Courses

Bernie Madoff teaching ethics would be akin to his good buddy Chuck Schumer teaching a course at charm school.

Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff claims academia is calling him - for help with ethics.

In a prison interview published in the Financial Times, Madoff said several business schools have approached him to "work on ethics courses."

He said his sights were set on Harvard and Northwestern.

A spokesman for Harvard told the Daily News that "it seems unlikely" Madoff meant the institution had reached out to him. Northwestern didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

For now, he'll have to stick to his job at the FCI Butner commissary, which inmates call the "money management department."

Madoff, prisoner 61727-054, began serving 150 years at the federal prison on July 14, 2009, after his $65 billion swindle unraveled.

After setting "ground rules," Madoff, 72, told his interviewers that he accepted responsibility for his shocking financial crime.

But Madoff - who also revealed that he passed the time by reading Danielle Steel romances - then went on to cite pressure from forces he couldn't control and to blame investors who should have known better.

Up until the 1987 market crash, Madoff told the magazine, he was getting legitimate returns on investments.

"The long-term gains started to evaporate," he said. "But they refused to close it out - they were greedy."

So was his extremist buddy Schumer, who greedily took over $100,000 from Madoff while he was running the DSCC. It's curious how a shameless media whore like Schumer never faced a minute of scrutiny for that.

Financial Times link here.

Schumer Baffled By NYC Census Count

Let's see: We had a $340 million campaign in an effort to get people to respond to the 2010 Census. We've got a Democrat administration in Washington running the show during that time, along with a Democrat Senate and Congress. Obviously some chicanery must be afoot, right? Of course there was! Now we must investigate!

Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the federal government Saturday to probe the 2010 U.S. Census' finding that New York City had grown by a mere trickle.

"These numbers cry out for investigation," Schumer said, adding his voice to a chorus of critics, including Mayor Bloomberg, who have railed against the decennial count.

"I'm going to put a lot of pressure on them to do it," he said. "For the census director to just shrug his shoulders ... isn't good enough."

The U.S. Census reported that the city grew by 166,855 over a decade to 8.175 million despite a Census estimate last year that reported the city was home to 8.3million people.

Schumer called for the investigation in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves.

I guess not enough illegals filled out their forms.

I suppose it would never occur to this idiot that people are fleeing New York.

There's a logical answer, of course, but don't anyone tell Chucky. He needs some attention.

"We reported today early quality indicators that show a stronger Census than in 2000 thanks in part to higher levels of participation by the public than many projected," said Steve Jost, Associate Director for Communications for the Census Bureau "Nationally the growth rate from 2000 was one of the lowest measured in the last century. The pattern in New York City as like that seen in many other large cities — higher rates of growth in suburbs than in urban cores."

Charles Schumer Continues Tackling the Important Issues

In his never-ending quest for Sunday television facetime, the unctuous Democrat keeps scraping the bottom of the barrel for ways to get himself some attention. This week's pressing issue? Why, bath salts, of course. This should go over well with his unwashed supporters.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York says he wants the federal government to ban new designer drugs known as bath salts that pack as much punch as cocaine or methamphetamines.

The small, inexpensive packets of powder are meant to be snorted for a hallucination-inducing high, but they are often marketed with a wink on the Internet or in convenience stores as bathing salts.

The Democratic senator is announcing a bill Sunday that would add those chemicals to the list of federally controlled substances. He is also pushing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ban the substance in the state.

'This is a Serious Movement to Undo the Most Successful Government Program of the 20th Century'

These Democrats sure have a curious way to defining success. Here we have the odious Chuckie Schumer telegraphing the fact he plans to demagogue Social Security reform despite the fact the GOP is already pretty much retreating from the issue and even the president has acknowledged there is a need for reform. Of course, that's lip service, but we'll take him at his word for whatever that's worth.

Senate Democrats led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are gearing up for a battle with House Republicans over Medicare and Social Security benefits.

Schumer and other Democratic strategists see Medicare and Social Security as winning political issues that can help them regain the momentum they lost over the last two years.

Schumer, who has taken over the Senate Democrats' communications operation, delivered some of his most direct shots at House GOP leaders.

“They want to privatize Social Security,” Schumer said of Republicans. “Privatize equals end, no more.”

Well, nobody has actually introduced legislation proposing that, but hey, why quibble with facts? That's never stopped this pinhead before.

Senate Democrats have unified over the issue after President Obama stayed away from proposing a cut in Social Security benefits at Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Democratic pollsters warned that if Obama called for raising the retirement age, it would create a schism in the party.

House Republicans have discussed advancing a proposal to privatize Medicare in the budget plan they expect to unveil in the next few weeks.

God forbid the GOP act responsibly to save programs through cost-cutting measures. Has it occurred to Schumer and Sanders that there won't be any money left in the Social Security Ponzi scheme a few decades down the road once the retired baby boomers have chewed through it? Apparently not. Because to them government dependency on a broken program equates success.

Democrats say the growing influence of the Tea Party in Congress poses a threat to entitlement programs.

“The fact that five senators are for privatizing Social Security shows we’re not crying wolf here,” Schumer said. “This is a serious movement to undo the most successful government program of the 20th century.”

I shudder to think what he would consider a failed government program.

Amazingly, It Took Eight Days for Chuckie Schumer to Inject Himself Into Arizona Shootings

Now that the narrative that Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh were to blame for Jared Loughner's homicidal act in Tuscon has imploded, we can finally move on the real culprit: gun clips.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that he is penning a letter to President Obama asking him to close one of the gun-control loopholes that may have contributed to last weekend's shooting at a meet-and-greet in Tucson, Ariz.

The shooting left six people dead and 13 wounded, included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in the head and remains in critical condition.

The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is suspected to suffer from mental illness on the account of various reports and ramblings he had posted online.

Loughner had tried to get into the Army, but was denied for "excessive" drug use.

That, Schumer said on NBC's "Meet the Press," should have prevented Loughner from legally buying the Glock pistol allegedly used in the shooting rampage.

But the Army was not required to notify the FBI of the "excessive drug use" rejection, which would have let law enforcement add his name to the database that would show up when checking a customer purchasing a gun.

"There are certain things that can be done that don't even require legislation," Schumer said, adding that he was "writing to the administration this morning" to get President Obama to close that gap between the armed forces and law enforcement.

Yeah, why bother with the will of the American people and Congressional legislation when with the stroke of a pen King Obama can fulfill the wishes of an imperious demagogue.

Meanwhile, New Jersey crank Frank Lautenberg was exhumed in time for the Sunday mornings babblefests.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), with the backing of gun-control groups, are drafting a bill that would ban the sale of magazines such as the one reportedly used by Loughner.

"The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly," Lautenberg said in annoucing plans to introduce the bill when the Senate returns. "These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market."

Another reason could be target practice, of course. But hey, why let a good crisis go to waste?

Important News: Schumer Takes on Restocking Fees

You would think a prominent United States Senator has better things to do with his time. But we're talking about the obnoxious gadfly Charles Schumer, who cannot possibly let a Sunday go by without nattering about something as insignificant as fees charged by retailers to people who return items.

Plan on returning some gifts this holiday? It may cost you up to 25 percent of the price of the item and, if it was purchased online, you may not have a clue about that "restocking fee."

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants the Federal Trade Commission to end that. He wants the FTC to determine if failing to disclose the restocking fee is a deceptive practice and to require retailers to prominently display that the fee will be charged.

Several states including New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California require restocking fees to be prominent at retail stores.

"While an ever increasing number of retailers are starting to charge restocking fees, the disclosure of these fees has hardly kept pace," said Schumer (D-N.Y.). "Customers have a right to know that when they make a purchase they could be held responsible for up to 25 percent of the original cost of the product if they choose to return it.

Schumer said a restocking fee is an important element for consumers to consider when choosing where to buy.

Is there no aspect of life Schumer doesn't want to micromanage?

Schumer Emerges From Witness Protection, Back to Tackling the Important Issues

You couldn't find this guy with bomb-sniffing dogs during the election cycle, but now that he's safely back in office to haunt us for at least another six years, Chuckie Schumer is back to addressing the important issues that face all Americans: alcoholic energy drinks.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling for the state Liquor Authority to ban caffeinated alcoholic drinks in New York, saying the state has the ability to clamp down on a product that is purposely geared to minors.

In a statement, Schumer singled out Four Loko, an alcoholic energy drink distributed by a Chicago-based company that's already been banned in several states.

"Four Loko and drinks like it are a toxic, dangerous mix of caffeine and alcohol, and they are spreading like a plague across the country," Schumer said, claiming that the fruity-tasting drinks with vibrantly colored packaging are marketed with underage drinkers in mind, he said.

I'll make sure if my kid wants fruity-tasting drinks that he learns how to mix a proper margarita.

Four Loko's distributor, Phusion Projects, says on its website that Four Loko has "roughly the same alcohol content as wine and some craft beers" and "roughly the same amount of caffeine as a tall (small) Starbucks coffee."

Missing Democrat Alert: Anyone Seen Chuckie Schumer?

Ever since he first graced us with his presence in Congress and now for two terms as Senator from New York, Charles Schumer has been a ubiquitous presence on television. He's famous for his Sunday press conferences where he'd announce anything and everything. The man would show up at a can opening if a TV camera was present.

Yet now he's mysteriously disappeared from sight.

Has anyone seen our senator?

No, not the blond one strutting through the pages of Vogue magazine this week in glamorous high-collar get-ups.

The other one. The notably unglamorous one who during normal times is about as obscure as a yellow taxi cab and quiet as a subway train.

His name is Charles Ellis Schumer, the senior senator from New York.

He's always been a one-man political infestation on par with the bedbugs.

He is happiest burrowing deep inside our lives to solve all our problems.

Can't reach the remote to turn down TV commercials that come on too loud for your comfort?

Well, Schumer fathered the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation -- or CALM -- Act to combat this very problem.

But for months now, Schumer has gone missing.

Sure, he quietly pops up every now and then on the campaign trail, but no longer is he the ever-present national spokesman for Democrats.

He quit doing that right at the moment when the popularity levels of Democrats in Congress reached the throat of the toilet.

Even after years of wind sprints to cameras and microphones, Chuck Schumer, it turns out, really does know when to shut up.

For that we should all give thanks. He's finally learned to dummy up. Well, we probably can place some of the blame on the woefully inept New York GOP, who couldn't even find a recognizable candidate to run against Schumer (raise your hand if you can name his opponent ... OK, it's Jay Townsend) in a year when Democrats are endangered nationwide. If Harry Reid is in trouble against a woman nobody heard of six months ago, it stands to reason a Rudy Giuliani or George Pataki might have stood a chance to unseat Schumer.

So we should all enjoy the relative silence, as come January Schumer could well be Dingy Harry's replacement as Senate Majority Leader (God help us). Then he'll be back reminding us of his presence ... every day.

He knows that the only sure way for a Democrat to survive this year's elections is to simply disappear.

But, rest assured, he'll be back and more powerful than ever.

All the more reason to hope the GOP pulls an inside straight on November 2 and somehow wrests control of the Senate. Otherwise we'll be stuck with this pantload forever.

Chuckie Schumer Has a Tantrum

These sanctimonious liberal Democrats like to pretend they care about the little people and the working class. Except when they're inconvenienced. Then they act like obnoxious boors.

Apparently even Sen. Chuck Schumer isn't immune to the pitfalls of the new voting system.

What the hElmo is going on with these voting machines?

A party insider told me Schumer showed up at his polling place, P.S. 321 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, at 5:55 a.m.

"They don't open the polling place until 6:10... They can't figure out how to open the machine and he is, like, screaming at the staff that he wants to vote," the insider said.

What a putz. Imagine the tantrum he'd have if he actually had someone running against him.

Another source said, "First, the site opened late. Second, the room was in a different location. Third, there were only 2 machines, and workers told him there were supposed to be 8. And 4th, the machines did not boot-up on time."

There was some dispute about whether the senior senator had to vote by emergency or regular ballot, but his office says he was (finally) able to vote by regular ballot.

Gee, I hope that 15-minute delay he suffered didn't wreak havoc on his press conference schedule.

Guess Who Took Twice as Much Lobbyist Cash as Boehner?

You'll never guess. Can't wait for the New York Times hit team to unveil their investigation of Queen Nancy.

If you read this weekend’s New York Times’ hit job on would-be Speaker John Boehner and his “lobbyist friends,” you might think, as the reporter clearly thinks, that John Boehner is cozier with lobbyists than most powerful politicians are.

But did you know:

* Nancy Pelosi has raised almost twice as much money from lobbyists this election as Boehner has?
* At least 18 House Democrats have raised more lobbyist cash this election than Boehner has.
* Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid have pocketed more lobbyist cash in the past 18 months than Boehner has raised in the past 6 elections, combined?

Heck, it's been almost two years and has the Times even mentioned Schumer was up to his eyeballs in Bernie Madoff cash?

Schumer Tackling the Really Important Issues

His party is in complete disarray, he's nowhere to be found when it comes to having an opinion on the Ground Zero Mosque, he's done nothing for job creation in New York, yet he still finds time to meddle in people's business here and now abroad.

What's the urgent business for this twit today? Coffee prices, of course.

Java drinkers rest easy. Sen. Charles Schumer has perked up to the spiraling cost of coffee beans, and he wants something done about it.

The New York Democrat has asked U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to warn major coffee growers Brazil and Vietnam at an International Coffee Organization meeting later this month to not stockpile their crops, a move that could further boost bean prices that already have spiked this summer because of poor crops in some regions.

The fallout from rising prices has been brewing for months. Coffee futures spiked in June and have remained high. Coffee producers and sellers -- including Folgers and Dunkin' Donuts coffee maker J.M. Smucker Co. and the Wawa convenience store chain -- have already raised their prices. Starbucks Corp. has said it will absorb the higher cost.

Why the buzz? According to Schumer, the issue goes beyond bad crops. The senator said in a statement that Vietnam bought more than 60,000 tons of its own coffee last spring and was considering a plan to stockpile up to 200,000 tons. Meanwhile, Brazilian growers have pressured their government to consider a similar move.

Schumer said coffee exporters are acting like "the OPEC of coffee," a reference to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which has a large influence on oil prices.

So these countries enact policies to benefit themselves yet here we have this meddling twerp telling them how to do business. Our economy is in shambles, his party is facing massive losses in November due to their economic ineptitude and this idiot is out there whining about coffee prices.

Where Do You Rank on the Schumer Scale?

Is this guy an out-of-control megalomaniac or what?

Are you smarter than a senator?

You'll need to be able to match wonky wits with New York's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, if you want to work for him, passing a political brain-teaser that's become one of the most famous interviews in New York politics.

Schumer examines the political IQ of job candidates by asking them to rank members of Congress, including himself, on a 1-to-100 continuum -- with 1 representing an arch-conservative and 100 an ultra-liberal.

For Schumer, it's not a matter of opinion: There are right and wrong scores for his fellow lawmakers, he insists.

Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash in 2002, defines the liberal end of the spectrum, at 100. The late Republican Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina is at the opposite end of the scale, with a 1.

The senator usually opens with an easy one -- "Where does Olympia Snowe rank?" he'll ask about the moderate Republican from Maine.

Answer: Snowe gets a raw score of 50.

It's in between, however, that Schumer puts the political savvy of potential staffers to the test.

"Where do you put Ted Kennedy?" he often asks.

The correct answer for the late iconic Massachusetts lawmaker is a 90.

"What about Mitch McConnell?" he asks, looking for an answer that gives a raw score of 20 for Kentucky's Republican senator.

Schumer's former Senate colleague Hillary Rodham Clinton rates an 80 -- exactly five points to his left. Schumer gives himself a 75.

"He wants to be seen as the middle of his party," said a former Schumer staffer who recalls watching Schumer give the test as far back as 1998, when he was first elected to the Senate.

"It's very important that staffers understand that Clinton, in his mind, lies to his left on the liberal continuum," said the former staffer.

I'd rank Schumer as a 100 on the Schmuck Scale.

'They Did the Right Thing - They Just Didn't Do It the Right Way'

Don't these clueless Democrats realize The Obama does what he wants, when he wants, their feelings be damned?

It's all about The O, suckers.

Democrats complain they were blindsided when President Obama weighed in on the Ground Zero mosque and handed the GOP a new club to beat them with.

Capitol Hill Democrats, including those facing tough races, were not told in advance before Obama's Friday night speech defending Muslims' rights to build a mosque in lower Manhattan.

While Mayor Bloomberg knew ahead of time what Obama intended to say at the Ramadan dinner at the White House, New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were kept in the dark, sources said.

Now if I recall correctly last Friday I wasn't paying much attention to the news but could swear there were media accounts that Obama was addressing the Muslim dinner in Washington. Oh right, there were.

Now considering the mosque issue has been a red-hot one for several weeks at least, Obama would be pandering to this esteemed group and word was out he was likely to speak about it, how can these buffoons Schumer and his puppet Gillibrand be caught off guard? What, was Chuckie busy rehearsing a speech about the evils of baggage fees or something? Or is he just too feckless to take a stand and be prepared to defend it?

Several Democratic campaign operatives complained that without a heads-up, they did not have the time to war-game how to handle questions from the news media or GOP attacks.

"They did the right thing - they just didn't do it the right way," lamented another Democratic source.

They've had several months to "war-game" a response. Considering Schumer and Gillibrand are the senators from New York, one would think they'd have a clue or would have taken a position by now.

Assorted thoughts and reaction on the mosque here.

Silence of the Schumer

For a guy who'll hold a press conference every day of the week to blather on about anything, it's curious how the very opinionated senior senator of New York can't manage to take a stand on the abomination that is the Ground Zero mosque. I noticed this in a story laughably claiming Obama's politically-calculated stance on the mosque isn't motivated by politics.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who so far has not taken a position on the mosque, dismissed the endorsement.

The endorsement referred to was the one by a Hamas leader.

To their credit, the NRSC wonders why Chuckie is silent.

Schumer’s silence is particularly notable considering the range of issues he has addressed during his famous Sunday press conferences. For example, in April 2010, the camera-friendly Senator held a press conference attacking Facebook and other social networking websites. And just last month, caffeinated malt liquor was in the Senator’s crosshairs as he held a press conference to announce he was asking the Federal Trade Commission to review the marketing practices of these beverage makers. In fact, Dow Jones Newswire recently reported “On recent Schumer Sundays, the senator has discussed legislation to prohibit sex offenders from working as dance instructors, carnival workers, clowns, and magicians, and announced his agreement with five major airlines to not be like Spirit Airlines and charge passengers for carry-on bags.”

“It’s a remarkable commentary on the most camera-friendly Senator that he’s more than happy to weigh-in on caffeinated malt beverages, but he won’t take a public position on the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh. “It’s time for Chuck Schumer to stand up and be counted – does he stand with President Obama in support of this mosque or does he stand with the countless 9/11 families who believe it’s location is inappropriate? Chuck Schumer’s continued silence on this issue is not the type of leadership New Yorkers deserve from their senior Senator.”

Of course if Schumer dared to show any balls and opposed the mosque in defiance of his boss Obama, would the antique media be buzzing about the deep divide in the Democratic Party and be issuing warnings not to play politics with the issue?

Historic First: Schumer Unavailable for Comment

For a guy who would hold a press conference to announce a can opening, it's rather telling that the ubiquitous Chuckie Schumer is mum on whether he plans to slither into the scandal-plagued Charlie Rangel's birthday bash.

Two of New York's top statewide Democratic office holders dodged questions yesterday on whether they would attend the 80th-birthday fund-raiser for Rep. Charles Rangel, who is facing ethics charges.

Both Sen. Charles Schumer and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo declined to say whether they would show up for the bash at The Plaza hotel -- even though they're listed as members of the event's host committee.

Schumer repeatedly refused to answer when asked by The Post to give a "yes" or "no" answer about whether he's going on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Cuomo -- who has made a commitment to the highest ethics a centerpiece of his campaign for governor -- gave The Post an eyebrow-raising statement that insisted no decision has yet been made on whether he'll show.

"The attorney general hasn't figured out his schedule that far in advance," said the spokesman -- even though the event is just six days away.

The spokesman also noted, "The attorney general never said he was going." However, Cuomo is listed as one of the chief sponsors of the fund-raising event.

A Rangel campaign source said neither Schumer nor Cuomo have told the Harlem congressman they were backing out of the fund-raiser.

While Cuomo has made ethics reform a key platform in his campaign, he has angered some black leaders for not having a minority as his running mate or elsewhere on the slate of statewide candidates.

Some analysts said Rangel's alleged misdeeds have put Democrats in a bind.

"Schumer and Cuomo are probably embarrassed and offended by Rangel's offenses," said University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato.

"It's really hard to defend going to the fund-raiser. You're just going to give your opponent a club to hit you over the head with."

That would be all well and good if these two actually had some competiton running against them. Why should they worry when they're both likely to get 70% of the New York numbskull vote against virtually invisible token opposition from the GOP?

Comedy Alert: Democrats Claim They Want Border Security

If Republicans are dumb enough to fall for this bait-and-switch scam they deserve no mercy. We're actually to believe the open borders crowd all of a sudden has found Jesus and wants to lock down the borders?

Democratic senators writing an immigration bill are circulating details about their emerging proposal that would secure the border before illegal immigrants could become legal U.S. residents.

The plan would increase the number of border and immigration enforcement agents, and lays out security benchmarks. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft legislation on Wednesday that is being developed by Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada, Charles Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Oh, sure, we can trust Dingy Harry, Schmucky Schumer and the oily Bob Menendez, right?

Please.