Category: News and Opinion

During the past year of reporting and commentary on “Troopergate”, many have criticized the various government agencies involved in investigating the matter.

Fred Dicker of the Post, Michael Godwin of the News and the Post Editorial Board say the Albany County District Attorney was said to be too partisan because he was a Democrat.

Of the numerous things Rudy Giuliani did that I disliked, possibly the worst was his habit of using slurring critics and others by using past “criminal” behavior.

The most notorious instance was his illegal leaking of the sealed juvenile record of Patrick Dorismond, a completely innocent man killed by NYC police officers. But that was not the only time Rudy did this.

I was surprised on Sunday to see the Bloomberg administration is now behaving in a similar way.

The Daily News printed the following –

Some time in the very near future, the cost of the Medicare program will exceed Medicare tax revenues by enough that general revenues cover more than 45 percent of the program. Social Security will start running a deficit, to be made up by money diverted from elsewhere, within a decade. Generous early retirement for state and local employees, combined with increasing lifespans, mean that in any community without significant population growth the number of ex-government workers receiving pay and benefits for nothing will approach or even exceed the number actually still providing public services. The massive infrastructure built after WWII is aging, the previous urban infrastructure is still not at a state of good repair, little new infrastructure has been added since 1973, and the cost of building and repairing the infrastructure has soared. And on top of this, there are the enormous debts bequeathed by the generations now in charge to those who will follow. Whereas today’s elected officials stay in office by handing out favors to interest groups, tomorrow’s may face the ongoing task of handing out sacrifices, disappointments and losses to an increasingly stressed public. In an attempt to do something else, they’ll be looking for initiatives that can be sold as public benefits that have one critical characteristic – little or no public cost.

Although the focus has been on the presidential primaries- where I have been batting in the .900 range- the beat goes on in NYC politics. Especially in my favorite borough: Brooklyn. So let’s catch up on things (important or not) for the political crack heads out there. I will leave my comment section open for this one, but please: “don’t start no shit” (as the late great Richard Pryor used to say/lol).

Word is that our first black governor (David Paterson) is pissed at the Bill lynch crew. He needs to get a friggin grip. Bill Lynch and Associates have always had his back and he needs to show some more loyalty. Trust me when I say he will need that crew again real soon. Didn’t Luther Smith (Associate) step in to do damage control when Patterson’s Lieutenant-governor campaign was in the doldrums? Didn’t Bill help in putting together the support that convinced Spitzer to select David? And did they not work hard to convince many to help convince David to run; even when he was reluctant to do so? Did they not help keep Ms. Eve in the fold when she could have caused some problems by running for the position? After all: she was out there first. Anyway; the point is: David Paterson needs to know where his true friends reside. Bill Lynch and Associates have been -and still is- very loyal to the governor.

New York’s city-councilman Doctor Kendall Stewart grew up on some rough streets in the Caribbean. He was born on Union Island, and lived in Grenada, St. Vincent and Trinidad (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). He is a fighter. He came to New York here from rather humble circumstances, and has made a success of himself as a podiatrist, realtor, entrepreneur, impresario and politician. Don’t underrate his fortitude and independence. Sometimes he swims upstream against the crowd; other times he cuts against the grain. He can be somewhat unpredictable at times; but in general I like him as a human being. And no; that isn’t because he was the only district leader to endorse and support me when I ran for the State Assembly in 1998; it’s because he and I have been friends for more than twenty years. I first met him at one of his social clubs on Church Avenue, way back when I was a much younger man-still hanging out on weekends looking for action.

As I wrote earlier, beginning about eight months ago I’ve been riding a bicycle to and from work three or four days per week, something I wish I had done 20 years ago. It was something I had long been interested in, but which had seemed impractical without a host of unavailable services — indoor bicycle parking, showers, a place at work to store business attire, etc. But after a little research and given “business casual” clothes that can be carried in a bag, I have found that it is doable after all, even though my commute is nine miles in each direction. I haven’t been riding to save the earth or save money — the subway, my other transportation mode, does a very good job of both, particularly with TransitChek. What bicycling to work has done has allowed me to improve my health by getting lots of exercise without using very much of my most scarce resource — time. I’m a little late to the party, but riding to work given me a new perspective on certain health, personal finance, transportation, and city planning issues. This post on the bicycle and personal lifestyle and the one following on the bicycle and public policy are based on this new perspective, and the upcoming institutional collapse I wrote about previously.

Most Democrats that I’ve spoken to are freaked out with fears that the long Presidential Primary campaign will split the Party and elect John McCain in November.

A report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is an example of why Democrats are worried.

Here are some highlights –

Letting go of one’s illusions is a difficult process that takes a long, long time, but I am just about there. From a young age I have been a believer in public services and benefits as a way of providing some measure of assurance for other people, people I rely on every time I purchase a good or service, of a decent life regardless of one’s personal income or standing. After all, I initially chose public service as a career. And I have been a defender of the public institutions when compared with those who were only concerned with their own situation and preference put in less, or get out more, as if the community was a greedy adversary to be beaten in life rather than something one is a part of. Now, however, I see that it is probably hopeless.

Under the current generation of “leaders,” “the community,” in its governmental form, is controlled by insatiable interests and sits on top of those who happen to live in New York City, New York State, and the United States. While promising general, universal benefits in the future, or lower taxes in the present, they have already taken so much out of that future for themselves and self-interest groups that it is unlikely that there will be a functioning school system, usable parks, convenient mass transit, affordable health care, or a livable Social Security retirement stipend for my children’s generation. Even at high future taxes. They’ve blown it all, rationalized or just ignored the near certain effects on others, and they won’t give it back. So perhaps all the time, energy and money directed toward trying to reform or improve our social institutions, particularly out government institutions, would be better spent preparing to do without them.

Yes, if I were Governor David Paterson, I’d want to change the subject. I’m just not sure I’d want to change the subject to drugs. Well, maybe. At least we can be sure that the drug weren’t paid for with campaign funds or the public treasury. Well, actually, with this Governor even that is probably somewhat less than certain. What can be said with certainty is, despite competition from his nose and nether regions, the bodily organs which have so far caused the Governor the most damage are his mouth and tongue.
 

A quick look at the website of the Fiscal Policy Unit of the New York State Department of Education shows the school finance data for the 2005 to 2006 school year has been released. That year, and the following year, was probably as good as it is going to get for the New York City public schools. The New York State Court of Appeals subsequently ruled that although it was wrong for the state legislature to make financial arrangements that eliminated the possibility of many NYC children receiving a decent education, there would be no consequences for those who benefited from those arrangements in the past, and no judicial restrictions on doing so again in the future. The pattern of New York City’s state education funding being cut, while that for the rest of the state is increased, in recessions is therefore likely to recur. Also recurring are pension enhancements for those cashing and moving out, paid for by reduced pay for future teachers and reduced services for NYC children, with a recent massively-costly example just enacted. With doom once again approaching, let’s look at the “good old days” for the public schools.