I thought to myself, "is he really that dumb to put something like this out there for the public to read???"

I steadied myself and remembered that this was from Kevin Powell. But there are people that read things online and accept facts and figures verbatim, and worse, four (at last count) Facebook persons that marked the post as "like" and one that left a comment of amazement.

Someone at the FEC needs to pay attention to what's going on in the 10th Congressional District race.

This week, as part of the New York Daily News' standard investigative reporting into all candidates and incumbents for any elected office, it was revealed that candidate Kevin Powell had not done his required financial disclosure reports (click here for the link), and also that his personal finances were in disorder (click here for the link).

Kevin Powell, candidate for New York’s 10^th Congressional District, has been of late bombarding readers of the Huffington Post with an angry tirade against the incumbent, Congressman Ed Towns. Through tags this post will appear on the Huffington Post; some readers of Huffington know me from posts here on Room 8, and I’ve been comfortable expressing my opinions and fact finding here. Up to now, I’ve focused my writings solely on issues of policy: proper reporting of crime stats, Hispanic issues of the day, and an essay about being a District Leader that has become (arguably) the de facto job description used by many political clubs around the state when vetting candidates for that job. However, I believe now is the time to break away from the relatively safe position of criticizing policy—not candidates—and that’s because what is potentially at stake: not just losing our local congressman, but also the chair of the powerful government reform and oversight committee, and his seniority that is matched by few in the House of Representatives.

An accurate Decennial census will play a critical role in shaping Brooklyn’s future.  Without full participation from our community, we risk losing congressional seats and billions in federal, state and local funds aid.  After undercounts in 1990 and 2000, the Census Bureau put in place safeguards to prevent undercounts in communities like Brooklyn, known as a “hard to count” community.  For these important reasons, I made the 2010 Census a top priority when I became Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  That is also why I am deeply troubled by recent allegations of fraud at a local census office in Brooklyn. 

Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY, NY-10), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today announced that he will hold a hearing on Monday, July 19, 2010 in Brooklyn, New York, to examine a recent incident involving two senior managers at the Brooklyn North East Local Census Office who were fired for fraudulently completing census surveys.  The hearing, that will feature testimony from the Census Director, the New York Regional Census Director and the Commerce Department Inspector General, will also examine the steps the Census Bureau is taking to ensure the accuracy of the 2010 count. 

We're seeing the beginnings of the 2010 local election season, with perennial candidate Kevin Powell issuing a statement about the story published in the NY Daily News on 3/26/10.

The statement says, "...When I am in Congress, I will fight for the working people that are the backbone of our neighborhoods."

Powell still doesn't understand that he should never use FIGHT and PEOPLE in the same sentence.

A quick trip to his personal website shows it's currently doubling as his campaign site (we can't wait to see how that looks on his next campaign filing), where you can also buy a copy of "Open Letter to America: Essays by Kevin Powell". Former supporters of Powell still haven't gotten over what happened 2 years ago with his previous book, the one that he was actively promoting out of state while he told his loyal groupies that he was out there "fundraising" (a factual statement when you think about it, in the disambiguous sense).

And something I forgot in my earlier post ...

Now, Ed Towns is EVEN taking on corrupt contracting practices too: http://www.house.gov//list/press/ny10_towns/memo.html

Oh, there's a cold change a' comin', and righteousness and truth are his names ...

“I appreciate President Obama’s efforts to ensure that there is transparency in government, particularly when it comes to federal contracting,” Chairman Towns said.  “We must put an end to no-bid contracts and dishonorable procurement practices that are often the root cause of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

Well, it has been awhile since I posted something - sorry to all the good readers on my favorite political blog - but I'm going to try harder to get back into the mix ...

And without further ado ...

Anyone catch this: http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/03/05/oversight-committee-will-host-stimulus-hearings-across-the-us/

Brooklyn's own Rep. Ed Towns seems to be taking his Chairmanship very, very seriously.  And good on him for it!  And we owe it to him to show up, to make this a success.  It is not very often you get to see a Chairman in action outside the secretive confines of Capitol Hill.

So, did anybody catch this:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/sports/pro/football&id=6553902

So, my (and our) favorite Congressional also-ran, Kevin Powell, helped organize a recent charity event.  That, I find laudable, absolutely.  Also appearing at the event, the ever unpredictable hero-to-goat of NY Giants fandom, Plaxico Burress.  What I find unbecoming was Kevin Powell's reaction:

For some of you caught up in "Blagogate", you may have missed that Congressman Towns will have a new job in the 111th Congress:

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday was elected to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform panel, according to sources.

“I am humbled and honored by my colleagues’ support and confidence," Towns said in a statement. "There is a great deal of work to be done to ensure a smooth transition, and I look forward to working with both my Democratic and Republican colleagues in concert with the Obama Administration to ensure the federal government is transparent, responsive and efficient.”

In honor of Halloween, I wanted to share with everyone what scares me most.

1. Bloomberg serving a 3rd term

It's not that I think he is a bad Mayor, but more he cannot be allowed to serve a third term. Also, he is destroying his legacy in his quest for more power. It's time for new leadership.

2. If Kevin Powell had beaten Ed Towns

I know, you all thought we wouldn't have to hear about Kevin Powell for awhile...but given the current state of the union, can you blame me? I've said it before, and I will say it again, I don't agree with Congressman Towns on 100% of his votes, but Kevin Powell would have been disastrous for Brooklyn.

When I first heard Kevin Powell speak, I thought to myself that here was a charismatic individual who has some good points about my Congressman not doing enough for the citizens of his district. However, I like to research, and as I found out more about who Kevin Powell really was and what he stood for, I felt just like I hope sensible Republicans (if there are any left) will feel in a couple of weeks – manipulated. You see, people like Kevin fall into what I call the “prophet mold,” the person who tells them with passion what their problems are and that solution is in front of them.

*** UPDATE ***

So, wrote this but then found more interesting news. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Powell is not an official candidate and is soliciting donations in violation of FEC regulations. They have also issued the equivalent of a "cease and desist" letter to the Kevin Powell for Congress campaign.

See my latest post for more (including the original letter): http://www.r8ny.com/blog/slothman8888/exclusive_powell_violating_the_fec.html

I was reading this article about the Towns/Powell race, and had a question:

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=22716

"Powell, a Jersey City native, Rutgers University graduate and longtime Brooklyn resident ... "

?

I thought I read something somewhere that Powell hadn't finished at Rutgers, or left or something? Does anyone know the reason at all? I've seen some reports of rumors about violence and stuff, but can't really find the facts. Either way, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle should at least fix their story for the readers, because I doubt the Powell campaign had told them he had graduated if he didn't.

I wanted to send an interesting follow-up to close something that I had raised last week.  You may recall an original posting that had appeared on the Kevin Powell for Congress campaign blog last week (see: http://www.kevinpowellforcongress.org/featured_blogs2/2008/08/13/i-got-a-story-to-tell/).

Last week I took serious offense at this arrogant attack and posted a thread here on R8NY (see: http://www.r8ny.com/blog/slothman8888/kevin_powell_likes_demeaning_teenagers_exclusive.html) which then became a hot thread mainly due to responses left by a few workers from Powell (Gene Johnson, Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, and Powell's Campaign Manager, Erica Perkins), from Towns, as well as several voters.