Joe Illuzzi was named by the Buffalo News as the blogger who has been writing about State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt’s sexual indiscretions with two female interns.  Mr. Illuzzi has been feeding Speaker Sheldon Silver any and all information he has received concerning Hoyt.  Speaker Sheldon then forward all the information he had in his possession to the press office and to the Chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Guidance for “appropriate action.”

The tales of the politicians who have been unfaithful to their mates fill many large books.  Go back to the birth of our nation.  Ben Franklin was paid by women who wanted to have good old Ben sleep with them.  If he got them pregnant the women would brag that they were carrying Big Ben’s baby!  The Father of our country, George Washington, even before he was married, was a constant member of the whore’s clubs of that time.  It would be hard to find a Founding Father who hadn’t fathered both black and white offspring.  Ben Franklin is noted for fathering 76 children from women who came to him from all over Europe and Africa.

This type of cheating on ones mate has continued to the present day.  Historians believe the only President who was loyal to his wife was Harry S. Truman.

Why am I writing a history lesson about some of our famous politicians?  The same things they did back then have become a pattern for most politicians. Some got caught including Presidents Lincoln, Harding, and Clinton.  Times have changed.  The Fathers of our country were treated like heroes, even after their transgressions were known.

The sexual antics of any politician, if it does not break any rule or legal law, should not be brought up to bring down that politician.  It is their private life and they will have to face their family and friends in dealing with the fallout.

             Daniel J. Ward, Democratic candidate for New York Senate, 61^st District, today announced release of his 2007 New York State Board of Ethics disclosure statement.  Ward received forms from the New York State Legislature, as he is a qualified candidate, and filed them before the July 18, 2008 deadline.

            “I have completed these ethics disclosure statements in a timely manner, and filed them in Albany.  I challenge my opponents to similarly release their ethics filing statements.  My disclosure basically shows me free from any business or corporate entanglements, other than my two (2) sources of income:  my service with the Town of Amherst as a councilman, and my professional law practice.”

            Ward said he personally felt the disclosure forms did not go far enough and he wants tochange that in state government.  He has been a long-time advocate to the total elimination of all gratuities to public officers, and elected officials

            I believe the new state senator from our district must make it perfectly clear, right from the get-go, that business as usual in the field of ethics is not enough.  We have had far too many ethical lapses lately in state government, and the public deserves better.”

            Ward was the author of the first draft of the Town of Amherst ethics local law.

For more information, contact DANIEL J. WARD, AMHERST TOWN COUNCILMAN at 631-7013 or 444-5326