Liu's Mayoral Campaign Hits Big Roadblock

The campaign of dark horse mayoral candidate John Liu was delivered what could be a fatal blow Monday, when he was denied matching funds by the NYC Campaign Finance Board. 

According to published reports, the CFB cited concerns that Liu's campaign was flouting election law and contribution limits. 

The Wall Street Journal noted that while the allegations of misconduct were not specifically attributable to Liu, the actions of campaign staffers are considered part and parcel to the campaign itself.

Some reports have called the decision a "campaign death penalty" considering how much less money Liu has in the bank than his competitors. 

According to the CFB, Liu's campaign has already spent more than $1.8 million of the $3.3 million in cash raised so far. Without matching funds, the remaining money could be exhausted very quickly. 

Liu isn't the only one seeing some tough headlines Monday that revolve around money. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was the centerpiece of a City and State article published Monday morning that harkens back to her 2008 slush fund scandal.

The storied slush fund was compiled in secret with taxpayer dollars and used as a political tool — managed by the Speaker's office, its funds could be doled out easily and with no oversight to political allies. 

At the time, the scandal threatened to sink Quinn's political career. She was the third Council Speaker to use the slush fund as common practice, after Peter Vallone, Sr. and Gifford Miller. 

But Quinn doesn't come off as all bad in the piece, getting credit for instituting reforms to make the city's discretionary funding system at least somewhat more transparent.

New York's reining transparency king, Anthony Weiner, in a desperate bid to change the conversation to something that might be considered family-friendly, released 61 more "keys to the city" Monday afternoon on his campaign website.

The new keys include proposals like requiring beat cops to wear cameras and giving city school teachers a career ladder to help retention rates among educators. 

Despite the new ideas, Weiner is still having a hard time convincing reporters to ask questions about anything other than his salacious texting history, Politicker notes.