Political Reform Tops Indies' List

NO LABELS
Member throws yellow flag on No Labels (Ken Bingenheimer, National Common Ground Examiner) David Gilmour, a full-time No Labels volunteer, replied that "John, those are great points and I applaud your keeping us focused on our essentials. I do want to reassure you that I think more and more as this movement grows we are very much doing practical things in three categories. Number one, in throwing yellow flags about the way legislation is getting done or not getting done in Washington. Number two, in the sort of big issues that relate to open primaries, redistricting, caucuses, rule changes--all the things that will ultimately control the amount of partisanship that will exist in our system. And finally, in the great hidden secret that in these primary contests it's very easy to have a great influence and encourage candidates that actually support bipartisan action and working across the aisles. Those are very, very practical things."

OBAMA BLOOMBERG SCHWARZENEGGER

• Obama To Meet With Bloomberg, Schwarzenegger On Immigration Tuesday (By Jared A. Favole, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES, Automated Trader) Bloomberg, an independent, last summer organized a coalition of mayors and business leaders to advocate for an overhaul of immigration. Others expected at the White House meeting include San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
• Obama urges push for immigration reform (AFP Google) Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Bloomberg -- a Republican who left the party ahead of the 2008 presidential election -- was joined by Texas Mayor Julian Castro and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey among others.

DONALD TRUMP'S NON-RUN

• What Is Trump's Exit Strategy? (John Ellis, Business Insider/Politix) Such an exit would enable Trump to continue to flirt with an "independent" presidential candidacy, thus giving him the publicity he craves, while he assessed his next move.  Running for president as an independent candidate is a cash-intensive, labor intensive business.  It takes an enormous amount of preparatory work, as Michael Bloomberg can attest from his "run" in 2007.
• Donald Trump To Raise Money For Hometown GOP (By Laura Nahmias, City Hall News) Donald Trump will deliver the keynote address at the New York Republican County Committee’s annual Lincoln Dinner on June 14 – another sign the real estate magnate and reality television star is mulling a serious run for president in 2012.

NEW YORK

• Data And Field Services Held In Contempt (BY CELESTE KATZ, Daily News/Daily Politics) The upshot is that DFS was required to do a number of things the court felt it didn't do. Instead, it changed its status from for-profit to non-profit, decided the costs of its own services rather than getting an estimate of fair market value, didn't make sure board members had the required degree of independence from the WFP and failed to get an independent evaluation of the software it uses for its clients.
• Contemptible, and in contempt (NY Post) Alas, Judge Giacobbe only fined DFS $250 and court costs for repeated instances of "contumacious behavior" -- a slap on the wrist.
• Harsher Penalties Could Stem From Court Ruling Against Data & Field Services (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News) A February 2010 settlement between DFS and Mastro’s clients compelled the firm to reshape its operations under the enforcement of State Supreme Court Justice Anthony Giacobbe. Mastro and his clients alleged that DFS massively undercharged Council Member Debi Rose, a Staten Island Democrat, and other WFP-backed campaigns for services, though DFS and the WFP acknowledged no wrongdoing in the settlement.