Category: News and Opinion

Those who’ve followed my basically pro-Olmert writings on the topic of Israel may be surprised to learn that the recent ads taken out in Jewish newspapers by Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, calling for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, do not bother me overly much. From one thing, such distractions keep Hikind from spending time defending the rights of local Jewish youth to beat up Pakistanis; they also serve the laudable function of making sure he does not have as much time to contribute his public policy input in places like Albany, where it might actually have an impact.

It is rumored that, when attending college, one of the members of our esteemed City Council took their oath of office for the Student Senate with his hand solemnly placed upon a copy of William Riordon’s “Plunkett of Tammany Hall’. Riordian’s book, like De Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”, is a profoundly American historical document (and, unlike De Tocqueville’s, one which was written by an American), and it surely embodies many of the values of the political culture which are part and parcel of what conservative commentator Dennis Prager calls “American Civilization”. Would such an oath be acceptable to Mr. Prager?

Wellington Sharpe called to inform today, that he is seriously considering a run for the 40th City Council seat being vacated by Yvette Clarke- who becomes a congresswoman from January 1st, 2007. Sharpe, a longtime Caribbean–American political activist, as well as a successful businessman in the Brooklyn community, has run for this seat before, when he was one of seven candidates who vied for the seat in 2001. He also ran for the State Senate in both the 20th and 21st districts.

Like Una Clarke-who first represented this district in 1991- Sharpe was born on the island of Jamaica, West Indies; this will surely help him in a district with a high immigrant population. When pressed as to why he is now considering a race he had earlier seemed reluctant to run in, Sharpe said that “the support for my candidacy here has been mind-boggling”. He went on to state that of the presently declared candidates, no one seems to be emerging from the pack. Sharpe further added that his phone has been ringing off the hook about this race, ever since Yvette won the congressional primary; with people inquiring about his intentions and speculating about his chances of winning. “Every where I go, people keep asking what was I going to do”, he also said. This is the back-drop for his reconsideration to enter here. He has also been approached about running by various leaders in the community, who seem leery of the present crop of entrants.

In the 1990s, the Pataki Administration brokered a deal between "business" and "labor." Unemployment insurance taxes were cut and unemployment payouts were raised, an "everybody wins" deal. Those who became unemployed and stayed unemployed in a booming economy when just about everyone was working got more money. And employers who were getting ready to lay people off and leave the state paid less in.

The only problem — New York was one of two states which failed to follow the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Labor and build up a big trust fund for hard times. Then the future arrived, and the state had to borrow from the federal government to pay benefits, and impose a massive unemployment insurance tax increase to pay it back, in a recession at the worst possible time. Those who left the state, of course, didn't have to pay the tax, but anyone dumb enough to start a new business here when we needed them most did.

A couple of years ago, a bump grew on my forehead. It didn't hurt, and by the time someone noticed it, it had stopped growing. Concerned friends and relatives began to push me to see a physician, fearing it might be cancer or some other dangerous condition. Finally I relented and my worst fears were realized — I had taken time out of my all-too-limited life to find that what I had was nothing more than a bump on my head. This didn't satisfy anyone, and I continue to be bothered about getting it removed. The question is whether I should do so, and whether everyone else should help to pay for it with tax dollars.

I spoke with my health insurance company, which said I would have to go to the doctor who would confer with the company on whether a removal was "medically necessary." My observation is that for purposes like this, "medically necessary" depends in part on how hard one is willing to push, and how adept at working the system one is. I also observe that if the procedure were not covered by insurance and I paid for it myself, I would probably pay less that the insurance company would be charged.

Pick Hit

Chris Owens and the DDDB Hallelujah Chorus: Tis The Season (NIMBY Single ’06).

Sez Bouldin: “At the risk of Gatemouth sharpening every one of the knives in his drawer, here you go"

Sez Gatey: Don’t be callin’ me Ebenezer!

Chris has filled out and so has his voice; put a tatoo of the side of his face, and he could almost be Aaron Neville (although if he doesn’t lay off on the latkes and jelly donuts at his maternal family’s Chanuka party, next year’s comparison could be to Solomon Burke), and the performance itself is the funniest Christmas song by an African-American since Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run”, although in this case, not all the laughs are intentional (although, surprisingly enough, some are).

My objections are as follows:

http://www.cafepress.com/bluegreenred.71542210

I'll bet it's a limited edition of five (which is probably five more votes than those attained by the person who will eventually get the job).  

Fresh off of a spirited challenge for the 10th Congressional District this past summer, New York City Councilmember Charles Barron is now considering a run for Public Advocate in 2009. This morning, Barron informed me that given his frustration with the institutional responses to the “police brutality” issue, he believes that he could use the office of the Public Advocate as a platform for seriously dealing with issues like police abuses, racial discrimination, black-unemployment, and the like. He said that my recent challenge to him to run for public advocate, as a way of fighting for address to some of his hot-button issues, makes a lot of sense and he is now considering it. He said also that running for citywide office is so much more difficult than running for a congressional seat that he has to give it long hard thought. He will make a final decision sometime late next year, but intends to start exploring it with his main supporters and his organization “Operation Power”, ASAP.

With the release of details about who is responsible for which member items, there is likely to be a great deal of discussion of the member items per se. But the nature of what they fund is not their true significance.

While the amounts of money involved are not small, neither are they large in the context of overall state and local government spending in New York. And while most of the services funded with these grants are not useless, few are essential, or incapable of being funded locally if thought to be worth the money. Some parts of the state may be treated unfairly in the distribution of these grants, but the effect of this is not likely to be siginificant either in terms of the taxes they have to pay or the services most of them receive. The real importance of member items (and, at the federal level, earmarks) is that this sideshow is virually the sole focus of most of our elected representatives. And, it is the sole focus of elections for state legislature and Congress.

In August, I wrote an entry criticizing John McCain's flip-flop on the issue of Ethanol under the headline –

John McCain – Just Another Pol

This week's New York Magazine has Bloomberg doing the same –

"He even singled out John McCain, whom he generally respects, for abandoning his position against ethanol subsidies as he prepares to curry favor in 2008 with Iowa caucusgoers."