Category: News and Opinion

Education In An Era of Institutional Collapse

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As I have described in as many ways as I can, an inevitably rising share of public spending will be going to debts run up by past generations, rich pension and other retiree benefits for those cashing in and moving out, workers with seniority who are no longer required to work, and those in places like New York’s suburbs and upstate New York who need a “job” to be able to live the way they “deserve.” At the federal level, thoughtful people of all political views understand that the “debt” implied by having younger generations provided with the same health care and Social Security benefits that older generations have handed themselves is so high that it can ever be paid — the financial debts are on top of that. If you live in New York State, the situation is actually much worse, because it is necessary to anticipate future increases in benefits for those with deals on top of those that have already occurred. At the same time, more and more potential tax revenues are lost to special tax deals and breaks, and as a result of similar self-dealing and future-selling in the private and personal sectors, people are about to get a whole lot worse off, reducing tax revenues overall. Actual public services, benefits, and infrastructure will be crushed between these two pincers.

Warning to Barack: Don’t Blow This

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The last column I wrote relative to Barack Obama and this upcoming presidential election didn’t go down well with some of his sycophants, as I received more than my share of quiet protests through various channels. As I said in that qualified column, I really don’t want to give Republicans more ammunition for November, and I have started to feel that if I don’t keep my big mouth (well in this case: “big typewriter”) shut, I will be helping to load any Republican’s gun, as he or she canvasses the nation in obvious desperation and distress, come October. So I cringe while watching a series of mistakes being made by a campaign that should be slam dunking its way to another victory and more glory. 

A tale of two female candidates running for the Assembly; one in Queens & the other in Brooklyn; but it’s the same old bad stuff

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When I write my some of my columns many folks get angry, but most times all I am trying to do is highlight the trials and tribulations of innocent challengers to the political status quo, while listing the affronts to democracy which take place everyday, and which gets more pronounced during primary (silly) season. Maybe someone needs to go to the federal court under the Ricco statutes, and show that the New York City county organizations are no different to the friggin Mafia. The way they try to keep people off the ballot is nothing short of criminal. 

In Queens (34th AD) Marlene Tapper challenged Ronald Reagan’s elder brother Ivan Lafayette. Word on the street was that residency issues were involved with the incumbent. Maybe someone got wind of whatever Ms.Tapper was cooking up, so they got Lafayette to resign and take some job with the current administration. Ms.Tapper was then shafted because the Queens county political machine did a substitution. I am told that they have put up a former garbage-collector as their candidate now. He was put up over the objections of Lafayette’s faithful and loyal female Chief of Staff (COS), who had worked with him for more than 20 years. It looks like she was good enough to be COS, but not good enough to handle the reigns of the district. Or maybe the garbage man had been collecting dirt on the organization for enough years, to turn the dirt into gold. 

Whatever happened to the Establishment Clause?

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"In the end, Powell laughed off the “bring home the bacon” line as merely his way of saying that he would fight hard for Jewish concerns including affordable housing, health care, and the improvement of Yeshiva and technical education — community issues that he said Towns hasn’t addressed."

The Brooklyn Paper on Kevin Powell's meet and greet with a groups of Williamsburg Hasidim.  

Actually, the problem is not merely with that pesky Bill of Rights. 

Here We Go Again

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I remember the sense of frustration and injustice I felt back in 2000, as the dot.com bubble burst and it was clear that we were heading into a fiscal crisis. Even though certain interests had gotten far more out of New York State’s budget that was justifiable based on any fair principles during the boom, and others were permitted to put in far less in taxes, I assumed that spending in all categories and for all groups and places would suffer equal cuts, and all would be drained by equal increases in taxes. That is an easier road to take, politically, than asking those who have benefited disproportionately from government policy to sacrifice first. Taking the easy road, making the non-decision, is what our politicians do.

The reality was far worse than even I had expected. There would be no equal sacrifices, even after grandfathering existing inequities. Those who were behind would end up further behind, those who were ahead would end up further ahead. And that is exactly what I expect is about to happen again. It isn’t even worth wasting bandwidth talking about alternatives. Let’s just review what they did, and try to project what they will do, in Albany.

Responding to Michael Bouldin’s Daily Gotham column : “The tormented egos of blogdom”

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I don’t know why my friend Michael Bouldin from the Daily Gotham website/blog, chose to lock down his comment section, after an out of the ordinary column entitled “The tormented egos of blogdom”, on 8th June, 2008. Too many lattes in the in the dog days of June, I guess. Or could it be that sitting in the sun too long -in some overly pretentious Park Slope sidewalk café- shifts your thinking cap somewhat?  Well, for whatever the reason, the bourgeois Bouldin isn’t exactly known for shying away from lively threads, so it was -to say the least- a bit surprising, to see him immediately close up shop; and after hanging me out there to dry like that. But I have been thinking about that column ever since, because it raised for me the spectre of MB agonizing over the central question here: why the fuck do I blog? 

Kevin Powell’s Durban Reviewal (Updated) [Warning Signs Have Now Been Added So You Can Skip The Boring Part]

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“…think about the fact that just a week or two before September 11th, you had this major conference on global racism and intolerance happening in Durban, South Africa. How many Americans knew 1) That is was going on? or 2) That the American delegation walked out of the country when the thorny issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was brought up, from the perspective of people of color?”—Kevin Powell

Today came “news” that Congressional candidate and Hip-Hop Philosopher Kevin Powell would be meeting with 200 Hasidic leaders in Williamsburg and accepting their endorsement for Congress.

Hillary Clinton wows them in Starrett City

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In Starrett City, Brooklyn, and in front of a few hundred adoring residents, Hillary Clinton was in fine form today.  She was at a rally, to support the passing of a bill by Democrats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which seeks to preserve affordable housing initiatives in the country. Congressman Ed Towns, who has introduced legislation that specifically deals with saving the affordability standards of the Starrett City housing development, was also on hand to speak to the concerned residents. Starrett City is the largest development of its kind in the nation. For the past two years or so, the residents have been embroiled in a battle with the old-owners, who were intent on selling the complex to a group of speculators.

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