The Gateway (Corrections and Leaks Edititon) [UPDATED]

Afterwards, I got some angry email, which really related more to the link than my words.

The article linked used the bank’s Queens location to imply a link to Senate President Pro Tempore in Name Only (and soon not even that) Malcolm Smith , but that bank in Queens has been DSCC's bank since at least 1986 during the days of Senate Democratic Leader Manfred Ohrenstein (1975-1994). The initial credit line was $100k. When Ohrenstein left in 1994, the line was $250k, which the new leader, Marty Connor, had to pay off.

All loans are backed by personal guarantees by members, "jointly and severally". Since the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee banks there, the bank is able to track DSCC fund raising.

Thus, after Connor paid off the loan balance after his first year as leader and banked about 500k, the line increased to 350k, then 500k, then 750k, and then up to $1 million, based on his fundraising track record.

Naturally, when Dems were in the Majority, they raised far larger amounts and, as a result, a much larger line of credit was made available.

The DSCC has a quarter century old track record of always paying off the loan, which is the most important credential a borrower can have.

So, by banking criteria, extending the credit line was not a bad decision.

However, politically, it appears the Bank may not have been smelling the coffee. In the Minority, without any race track related extortion to facilitate, the Senate Dems will surely raise far less, and therefore, my pun may still wind up being accurate.

Nonetheless, a correction was surely in order.

Interestingly, back in 2002, Eric Schneiderman used the far smaller debt from that time to scare the hell out of all the newer members in his successful effort to vote Connor out and make David Paterson the Democratic Leader. Paterson as Leader cried about the "debt" for two years and when it was paid off, falsely claimed it was the "first time" DSCC was out of debt. (This was before everyone in NYS knew he was a pathological liar.) The fact was that Connor had paid off the loan many times in 8 years.

Incidentally, it now seems clear that the Schneiderman/Paterson scare tactics were probably responsible for Smith rejecting the offer made by Eliot Spitzer in the closing weeks of the 2006 campaign to match whatever new funds the DSCC could come up with in their Senate races. Smith did not want to officially become Leader with a debt. As a result, the Democrats left several seats on the table which could have been won in the 2006 landslide.

And in other Sen Dem news:

Shafran defends Sen Dem shopping orgy: “We put our resources into the field of play where they can be the most effective.”

He has a point; despite a record of corruption, incompetence, stupidity and ineffectiveness, they held their net losses to only two seats (Though it couldn't have hurt that their Republican counterparts had a remarkably similar track record to live down). Helping Build Senate Democrats’ Debt, $6 Million In Outside Consultants And Vendors www.cityhallnews.com

Klein: I am tremendously concerned about the puerile eruptions of Julian Assange. Let's say you're an American diplomat in a provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar Province. Let's say you're a woman, reporting on the conditions of women in this largely Taliban-controlled area. Let's say you mention one or two of y…our contacts in a cable. They are now extremely vulnerable–indeed, they are likely to be rounded up Wikileaks – Swampland – TIME.com swampland.blogs.time.com

One more for the road. Why Wikileaks Is Bad For Progressive Foreign Policy | The New Republic www.tnr.com