The Mayor and the Mosque

By Michael Boyajian

Mayor Michael Bloomberg displayed true courage in his defense of the proposed lower Manhattan mosque.  He exercised leadership in the face of great opposition but was rewarded for his strength by the continued support of the people.

State Senator Shirley Huntley: “They know that I don’t go out and raise a lot of money. I don’t try to take money from people who can’t afford to be giving it out…I take donations from my colleagues, of course. It's not unheard of. If you look at other people’s filings, they all do too. There is nothing unusual about… me receiving money from a colleague like John Sampson.”

Taking money from colleagues as indivduals is one thing–taking money from the Party conference's campaign committee for an intra-party primary in a safe seat is quite another; especially when they hold the Majority by a single seat.

Is Huntley dumb enough not to know the difference?

Clearly John Sampson sees Huntley's and Bill Perkins' survival as crucial to keeping his leadership, and clearly sees his staying as leader as more importan tthan the question of whether he leads the Majority or Minority.

And Democratic donors (especially those interested in same-sex marriage) should be on notice–better you should give to indivdual candidates or the the New Roosevelt Initiative than the DSCC. DSCC Kicks In For Shirley Huntley And Bill Perkins, Spending Money In Safe Districts www.cityhallnews.com

GOLDEN SHOWER; NO PLUMBING (AKA MARTY GOLDEN'S MISSING EQUIPTMENT): Cross-Party Petition challenges aren't quite as a rare as the dodo, but nonetheless deserve distinction. Voters deserve choices in every general election.  

State Senate candidate Mike DiSanto is sincere and hardworking, but if one had to profile his suitability for this district, you couldn't find much more going for him than the vowel at the end of his name, and that attribute didn't help Obama much here.

The incumbent, Marty Golden, has not faced a general election since 2002; one might think that, in a year when Republicans might actually do well, he'd welcome an opportunity to actually show his strength, which is probably considerable.

Instead, Golden proves himself a political castrato, as spineless as a pea-nutless butter and jellyfish sandwich, afraid to let the public have an actual choice in a November election.

Years ago, as a cop, Golden once got in trouble for losing his gun, which was never recovered; but I know where it is.

Next to his balls.

And they both shoot blanks. the albany project:: Senator Martin Golden Attempts to Knock Mike DiSanto off Ballot www.thealbanyproject.com  

I had to cut my prior post on the cost of pension enhancements short because it was already too long, and I was out of gas in any event, so I’ll finish the analysis here. To review, according to the model described in this post and present in the attached spreadsheet, I found that for those now approaching retirement from New York City, New York State and other New York local governments, the state had promised, when the employees were hired, pensions that would cost the taxpayer 8.8% of payroll for most workers, 13.2% of payroll for those in physically taxing jobs such as sanitation workers, and 28.7% of payroll for police and fire. But they didn’t set aside enough money to pay for those pensions, using the stock market bubble of the 1990s as an excuse (and still doing so a decade after it popped), as I showed in this post. In addition, the pensions were drastically, retroactively increased compared with those promised, in a series of deals between the public employee unions, representing those workers who were already or about to retire, and politicians seeking political support. At the expense of the general public, particularly those worse off, and the future, now the present. For most public employees, as this post showed, the result was pensions that, for those getting early retirement incentives, cost double what had been promised. Little of this has been paid for, and under a proposal by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, local governments outside New York City would not pay for another 10 years, up from the three year postponement the state legislature just passed.

So what about the cost of pension enhancements and other deals for those in physically taxing titles, police and fire? Read on.

Congressman John Hall for Veterans and the Environment

By Michael Boyajian

We are often quite aware of our soldiers when they are fighting for us overseas and in harm’s way but we often forget about them when they return home in dire need of medical treatment.  Not Congressman John Hall.  During my recent interview of the congressman he reported that he has been battling on behalf of veterans for many years.

Of course, the rumors of Parker’s heart attack are nonsense–in the world of heart attacks, Parker is what is known as a carrier Sen. Kevin Parker: Rumors Of My Demise Greatly Exaggerated www.nydailynews.com