Category: News and Opinion

The Latest Greater New York Hospital Association Propaganda

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With another round of sacrifice coming in Albany, likely to be shared among those with less political clout, the Greater New York Hospital Association has started dishing out the propaganda. And with the New York Times no longer simply repeating what it says as fact, the factoids instead appear in this New York Magazine article.

The main GNYHA argument is apparently that because those who work in or with New York hospitals get more compensation, costs are higher, and therefore the government needs to give them more. That is the same argument top executives use for their own compensation across corporate America – because I voted while on your board to pay you more, you should vote on my board to pay me more. It is the same argument that public employee unions use to ratchet up their pensions – because you cut a deal with union A, we in union B deserve that deal too. It conveniently ignores the labor market most people are in, one where pay and benefits have been cut to remain “competitive.” Competitive for what? Competitive to attract the dollars spent by those with choices. As opposed to money received from the government, into which people have to pay whether they like their deal or not.

A NOTE TO NEW YORK DEMOCRATS: WE HAVE TO GO OUT AND VOTE NEXT MONTH LIKE BOTH SENATES DEPENDED ON IT.

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I am sure you have heard all the recent predictions from so-called political experts: of gloom and doom for democrats in next month's nationwide elections. They have been saying that polling results are showing a large enthusiasm gap between democrats and republicans in near every state, which would translate into gains for republicans in both federal and state legislatures. They say more republicans  will turn out to vote than democrats, and that this has been fueled by the Tea Party movement. I caution people to consider this: polls are just snapshots in time, and as such they are subject to overnight change. I also caution people that the same movement (Tea Party) ostensibly driving republican turnout, could likewise motivate Dem turnout. Perceptions that President Obama is being disrespected by certain elements within the Republican party, will surely spur turnout in this midterm election, and as such I expect that there will be a slightly higher nationwide voter-turnout than what historically occurs in mid-term elections. I predict that election-night results will show democrats in surprisingly good shape compared to the predictions: there will be some hemorrhaging as expected, but it wouldn't be a bloodbath as the pundits predict. I expect Democrats to retain both houses of Congress.      

Cuomo has to be ecstatic with the debate

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Going into the debate Andrew Cuomo had the most to lose, and yet when the hour and a half session was over–he appeared even stronger as the clear front runner in the race.

Cuomo avoided any gaffe and appeared gubernatorial.

It was Cuomo’s nemesis Carl Paladino who seemed like he was completely out of place. Paladino didn’t challenge or attack Cuomo once. Paladino appeared nervous a good deal of the time. Perhaps he was trying to show a softer side to appeal to voters, or perhaps Paladino was just completely out of his element and not ready for prime-time.

The Jimmy McMillan Show

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THE NEW YORK TIMES: Jimmy McMillan, Rent Is Too Damn High

AGE 64 HOMETOWN Flatbush, Brooklyn

OCCUPATION Retired letter carrier for ZIP code 10018 in Midtown. CLAIM TO FAME A Vietnam War veteran, he travels city streets in his car shouting for social justice. A perennial candidate, he was called an anti-Semite during his mayoral run in 2005 for blaming rent problems on Jewish people.

Tonight’s Debate in the race for Governor

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8:15 p.m

An hour into the debate, and the Cuomo folks have to be ecstatic! No one has laid a glove on Cuomo.

In fact it seems Cuomo’s lead nemesis, Carl Paladino has run the other way, not criticizing Cuomo at all.

Perhaps Paladino is trying to look gubernatorial by appearing substantive, but the problem with that is for the first 30 minutes Paladino looked, and came off as very nervous. He hasn’t said anything outrageous.

The Moderators are tackling a number of topics: The budget, taxes, MTA.

Cuomo has not lost his cool. He has come off the way he had too – as the one who will lead Albany out of chaos.

Save Our Veterans

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Save Our Veterans

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

60 Minutes reported tonight that thousands upon thousands of veterans from our most recent wars are homeless.  This is a vast sea of humanity, a sea of heroes who put their lives on the line defending their country a country where they now find themselves without a roof over their heads.

Detroit Funk, French New Wave, Klezmatic Dysfunction, Electric Kool-Aid and Other Distractions (The Gateway)

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I suppose part of my posting obits at the passing of the great soul heroes is to get Daylife to once again revert to the days when they said my writing was 90% "National" and 10% "Entertainment," instead of being 100% about politics.

Anyway, I would be the last to put General Johnson in the same category as the unforgettable Solomon Burke. But how many guys founded groups with cult status for both aficionados of Detroit Soul and N'awlins?

I first learnt about the General because of my Allen Toussaint obsession, though I'd surely heard the Showmen's "It Will Stand" on CBS-FM. A Toussaint production notable both for Johnson's soulful lead and the fact that it was Johnson who wrote it, and not Toussaint, it became a Rock and roll anthem (Doo Wop branch). Johnson also wrote one of my least favorite songs by one of the great unsung soul singers, Clarence Carter's "Patches."

But "Patches" was recorded not only by Carter, but a group tailored for Johnson by the Holland-Dozier-Holland production team, once they started their own Hot Wax and Invictus labels. Johnson not only piloted the Chairmen of the Board, hitting big with "Give Me Just a Little More Time," but also wrote hits for the rest of the H-D-H stable, including Freda Payne (the anti-war “Bring the Boys Back Home”) and The Honeycone–the indescribably great "Want Ads', the best Martha and the Vandella's song never recorded by Martha and the Vs–in fact, the best Martha and the Vandellas song PERIOD! [He later produced Martha herself (she’s now a Detroit Councilwoman for those who insist on the political link)]

In their dying days, the Chairmen also recorded the wonderful album, "The Skin I'm In" (the best P-Funk album George Clinton ever had nothing to do with, though his musicians, especially Eddie Hazel and Bernie Worrell, are all over it as session men).

After the bubble burst, Johnson eventually moved down to the Carolinas, where he became the leading exponent of the soul genre known as "Beach Music." (Like "Northern Soul, an utterly unexplainable genre– although it' other leading exponents seem to include the Platters and Bo Diddley).

Johnson is a leading member of the Academy of the Underrated; General, we salute you. Chairmen of the Board – You got me Dangling on a String www.youtube.com

Report: NYC Pension Funds Run Out of Money in 2021

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In general, research and news articles on public employee pensions have focused on state systems. Why? Because there are only 50 of them. But the separate NYC pension system is larger than that of most states, and more troubled than all but a few of them, even though NYC taxpayers have contributed more to those pension funds that those living just about anywhere else. Because the state legislature has granted richer and richer pensions to NYC public employees, the richest of whom live outside the city. It seems that some researchers, having finished with the states, have moved onto the cities, and one finds that NYC's pension funds will run out of money in 2021.

But that's not a problem for anyone that matters. The rich will continue to get around in black cars and send their kids to private schools, donating to their own "public" parks if they want them. The public employees will live in the suburbs, before taking their tax-free pensions to Florida, drive everywhere and park for free with their placards. The pensions are guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and the senior citizens in the New York State Legislature and Congress will make sure today's senior citizens make absolutely no sacrifices. Only the serfs and younger generations will lose, as public services and benefits face an institutional collapse.