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The doctor came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
He said Rocky you met your match
And Rocky said, Doc it's only a scratch
And I'll be better I'll be better doc as soon as I am able.
Now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt
To help with good Rocky's revival.
Anyone who reads me knows my life was saved by Rock, and I do not mean Hackshaw.
Despite all the amputation, my life was saved by Rock and Roll.
With Carl Paladino shocking the republican establishment with his outsider victory and tea party push, all bets are off.
First news of the night. Stachowski gone. One more vote for same sex marriage provided (1) Tim Kennedy wins in November and (2) he keeps his word.
Both highly doubtful.
Espada gone. Even with the WFP in Rivera's corner, one must consider this unequivocal good news.
With Espada gone, electing Tim Kennedy is now Steve Pigeon's only hope of keeping a job; but I'm still unlikely to endorse the Republican
Monserrate conceded. Diaz prohibitedly ahead; Stavisky looking safe. Bad nite for Amigos, but it couldda been worse. Well, at least the new one who won defeated an opponent of same sex marriage.
From the Primary Day edition of the Wall Street Journal –
If Marty Connor had done this crap with his taxes, Schneiderman's friends at the WFP would have done six mailing about it.Eric Schneiderman Hoodwinks the New York Times (UPDATED) blogs.villagevoice.com
The shell game continue. The new WFP Party Chair is Three Card Monte. Close friends get to call him TC.With DFS Quiet In 2010, DSCC Helps Fund New WFP Campaign Account www.cityhallnews.com
This grab bag of leftovers brings to an end my 2010 primary endorsements.
MORE CONGRESS (5th CD): I didn’t realize until today that Gary Ackerman had a primary. I’ve had my differences with Ackerman, but he plays a unique role in Congress, staking out the sort of First Amendment free speech and religion issues no one else has the guts to touch. He’s also been that rare unyielding supporter of Israel who’d stuck his neck way out in support of a Two State Solution and other pro-peace measures, which given the large number of Orthodox Jews he represents, takes real guts (compare Anthony Weiner and weep). Most importantly, Ackerman has a savage wit, which he uses to puncture the Republican balloon with more bravado than anyone but Barney Frank.
I thought I’d be done with endorsements by now, but twice during my weekend writing marathon, things got out of control and two articles emerged where there should have been one. I tried to save time on the first Amigo article by just stringing together everything I wrote before, and the damn thing ran 20 pages.
Anyway, the goal here is to quickly bang out the rest of my endorsements, or as many as I can before I go to work, and then pick up the slack after five. I’ve written about most of these races before, and I’ll try to provide some (but not all) appropriate links, but I’m in a rush.
This piece is meant to be part two of the column I just recently posted, charting the current state of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party organization. It is also meant to be the sequel to the piece I posted earlier this year, chronicling the races for Democratic Party District leader (AKA State Committee) in my home 52nd AD.
It would be regarded by me as a great favor if you went back and read those pieces first before embarking upon this one.
“It has seemed that each time someone attacks Vito you are there to disagree…though perhaps with only a lukewarm defense.” Mole333 11/24/2006
“Here's what I'm curious about, Gate: you're clearly a smart guy; why do you go to all this trouble to defend a decaying machine that doesn't deserve you?” Nick Rizzo 09/16/2008
This summer brought the death by puddle jumper of former Alaska Senator Theodore “Ted” Stevens, one of the last examples of a Republican Senator of the old non-ideological school, and for those immune as I am to bleary and teary-eyed nostalgia, one of the most despicable persons to occupy a seat in Congress.
As I showed in the spreadsheet attached to this post, the State of New York spent $35.02 on Medical Vendor Payments for each $1,000 in income of state residents in FY 2007, compared with a national average of $23.02, and $4.97 per $1,000 of personal income on state Public Hospitals compared with a national average of $4.00. Much of that was paid for through the Medicaid program, as was the $7.64 per $1,000 of personal income spent by New York’s local governments on Public Hospitals and Medical Vendor Payments combined, compared with a national average of $6.28. With Medicaid a state government rather than local government function in New York, and in most of the country, this post extends my overview of state government finances with a specific analysis of Medicaid spending by state in 2008.
Most of the data in the attached spreadsheet is from the Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS), generously tabulated for me by one of its staff members since its Datamart program no longer works on my home computer, now that I have an I-Mac rather than a PC. The data do not include Hawaii and Utah, because they had not completed their submissions as of the date of this tabulation. The data show that New York State spent $45.30 in total Medicaid payments (to public and private providers) per $1,000 of state residents’ personal income in FY 2008, far above the average of $24.34 for 48 states plus the District of Columbia, or the $22.83 for the adjacent states combined – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont. Only New Mexico spent more on Medicaid as a share of its residents’ income at $46.11, mostly because the income of that state’s residents is so low. In addition to spending more, New York covered a higher share of its spending in state and local taxes. For regular Medicaid (not categories with an enhanced federal match), the federal government covers 57 percent of Medicaid costs on average but just 50 percent in New York (as well as New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts). The regular federal matching share in New Mexico is 71 percent. A discussion of where New York spends more follows.