NEW YORK, NY - Senate Candidate Jonathan Tasini today accepted an invitation from the New York League of Women Voters to a Democratic primary debate on September 6, 2006. The debate will be held at the RNN television studios in Westchester.

"The League has a long, proud history of promoting fair, informative, democratic debate and I agreed to their offer immediately," said Tasini. "I hope Senator Clinton quickly joins me in agreeing to participate in the debate so that voters have a chance to hear us talk about our views and positions on the issues. I will soon be proposing additional debates as a way of expanding our democratic debate."

Also see the NY Sun Blog and the Times Union blog.

NEW YORK, NY - Senate Candidate Jonathan Tasini today called for northwest Queens neighborhoods affected by the power outages to be declared a federal disaster area. He also called for a public investigation into Con Edison's response to the extensive outages.

Tasini walked through Astoria on Sunday, listening as residents described their ordeal. In the afternoon he volunteered with the Red Cross at a station at the corner of Steinway Street and Ditmars Boulevard, distributing water and sandwiches to Queens residents affected by the outages.

Jonathan volunteering at the Red Cross station on Sunday.

"People are outraged and they feel helpless," said Tasini. "Small businesses are losing thousands of dollars a day, money that Con Ed will never fully reimburse. I spoke to many business owners who stood outside their stores and asked, 'how could this happen.' By declaring the areas affected by the outages a disaster area, we can assure residents they will receive the extra support they need to get back on their feet. We must also demand an explanation from Con Ed for the unacceptable prolongation of the blackout."

Jonathan speaks with Queen residents affected by the power outages.

Tasini joined Congressman Joe Crowley and Congresswoman Nydia Vela Velazquez in calling on Governor George Pataki to declare northwest Queens a disaster area. Doing so would allow residents to receive low or no-interest loans to assist economic recovery from the power outages.

Con Ed has promised a report within two weeks detailing the causes of the blackout, but the utility still cannot say when all power will be restored in the borough. "The people of Queens deserve better," said Tasini. "I believe they have a right to know if the blackout was caused by the failure of Con Ed to properly maintain the system."

more photos here

The Daily News political blog reported today that Hilary Clinton is asking around for volunteer spokespeople to speak out about the importance of decreasing violence in video games as part of her new initiative on this topic.

The gaming blog that the Daily News cited said that, "One of Clinton's brainbursts is to try and add a special tax to video games, sorta like what a lot of states do for cigarettes. The profits from the tax would then go to a child advocacy program."

Isn't it slightly ironic that Senator Clinton is advocating to decrease violence in video games at the same time she votes for sending more troops to Iraq and condones Israel's attacks on Lebanon and Gaza?

NEW YORK, NY: Jonathan Tasini, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, will take part in a rally in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations today at 4 p.m. where peace and justice activists will call on the U.S. to actively support a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire in the hostilities now being waged in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza. The activists will urge the U.S. to call for negotiations now to resolve all disputes, including the release of prisoners on all sides, with the goal being a comprehensive just and lasting peace in the region based on the implementation of international law. Tasini will also be part of a delegation that will deliver a letter to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, urging the U.S. to intervene to end the bloodshed.

Based on the recent Marist Poll, we’ve calculated that the Clinton campaign spent 30 times more than the Tasini campaign per percentage point of support. Clinton spent $22 million so far on her campaign and got a 83% support rating, while Tasini spent roughly $120,000 and is polling at 13%. Which means for each percentage point in the poll, Clinton spent an estimated $277,000, while Tasini spent only $9,000. So if you want to spend your money where it counts, donate today to our campaign!