The Latest

Announcement: Come See Powerful Brooklyn White Guys

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On Thursday October, 30 at 7:45 PM, Councilman Lew Fidler’s 41st AD Democratic Club continues its unexpectedly interesting Speakers Series with a twi-night double header of epic proportions.

Those whose remember the Club’s September candidate’s debate between Simcha Felder (intentionally hilarious), Kevin Parker (hilarious; intentions unknown) and Kendall Stewart (that schtick couldn’t have been serious, could it?) ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

On Thursday Night, Sheephead Bay’s Own reincarnation of The Great One presents Brooklyn’s DA, Charles “Joe” Hynes and it’s Borough President, Marty Markowitz.

Funny Face (AKA Pretty Woman)

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MCCAIN: Well, in our nation's capital and New York City. I've seen it. I've lived there. I know the town. I know– I know what a lot of these elitists are. The ones that she never went to a cocktail party with in Georgetown. I'll be very frank with you. Who think that they can dictate what they believe to America rather than let Americans decide for themselves

“The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August. According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.…September payments were also made to Barney’s New York ($789.72) and Bloomingdale’s New York ($5,102.71).—Jeanne Cummings on Politico

Defending Bertha Lewis and the ACORN organization.

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The organization known as ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is around forty years old. It emerged from the 1960s era, when battles over civil rights issues were waged on the frontlines everyday. It’s an offshoot from the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), which by 1966 had around 170 member-groups in at least 60 cities all over the USA. The objectives here were to protect, edify, organize and empower the poor and working class people of this country; amongst other things.

By 1972, ACORN was already up and running for a couple years, while getting itself involved in the politics of Little Rock, Arkansas. Who can forget Little Rock as it relates to civil rights history? Today, ACORN still fights for poor people and the working class. They do a decent job in this regard.

Term Limits By Caste

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You have three castes in New York: the executive caste, the political caste, and the serfs. The executive caste rides around in taxis and black cars, or drives their own luxury cars to paid-for corporate parking spaces, lives in the wealthier parts of Manhattan or the more affluent suburbs, and sends its children to private or suburban schools. Its capital gain and investment income is taxed at favorable rates, but this caste nonetheless pays much of the city’s taxes. The political caste drives its own or city cars to public parking spaces reserved for it by placard, receives much its pay in tax-advantaged retirement income and employer-financed health care, lives in the middle-caste suburbs (even if required to live within the city) or in a limited number of suburban-type city neighborhoods, and sends its children to suburban or “special” city public schools. To the extent that in the past there were special “middle income” housing deals on offer, such as Mitchell-Lamas, the political caste got them.

It seems that both the political caste and the executive caste are in favor of extending, in fact repealing, term limits. And based on the polls, the serfs are not.

A Minor Correction To Gatemouth

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Gatemouth’s commentary on the two Sarahs repeated an “urban legend” about the 2004 campaign that was created when DC pundits still thought Karl Rove was a genius.

http://www.r8ny.com/blog/gatemouth/two_schmuels_for_sister_sarah.html

Gatemouth wrote – “In 2004, there was virtually no effort made by Republicans to attract black voters to George W. Bush, and as a result he got virtually none. The one exception was in Ohio, where helped by the presence on the ballot of an anti-gay marriage initiative, Republicans did undertake such efforts, and Bush managed an eye-popping 25%, which alone may have deprived John Kerry of the White House.”

No Wonder They Didn’t Want A Property Tax Cap

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The back-to-school employment data is out from the New York State Department of Labor (attached), and guess what? In the face of an upcoming fiscal and economic catastrophe, the public schools in the portion of New York State outside New York City added another 4,900 jobs in the year to September 2008, bringing the total increase since September 1993 to 76,400. This despite staffing levels (as well as pay and cost) in the rest of the state that were already sky-high relative to the national average (adjusted for the student population, the cost of living, etcetera). Overall local government employment in the portion of the state outside of New York City is up 2,500 from a year earlier and 119,500 from 1993. All these people have a “right” to their jobs, pensions and benefits, it seems, and if honoring that right in a budget crisis would drive property taxes too high, well, New York City’s share of state education funding will just have be cut again, Silver and Skelos are likely to agree. As in the previous two recessions, but perhaps to a greater extent, particularly if credit conditions prevent the state from getting through the recession by borrowing even more.

Endangered Species

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Across the country, voters are preparing to take part in (or already taking part in) a national referendum on such monumental issues as “Smart Diplomacy versus Aggressive Isolationism“, “16 More Months (‘God Willing’) versus 100 More Years (‘Make My Day’)”, “Sensible Regulation versus Adam Smith on Acid and Steroids” and “Guaranteed Health Care versus the Freedom to Die Free From Government Interference in Excruciating Pain” .

And yet, in over 10% of New York’s City’s Congressional Districts, seriously delusioned voters will be unable to cast a vote for a Republican candidate for Congress (although in one of the offending districts, they will have the option of voting for a Conservative).

My Long-Awaited Election Day Predictions

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I have avoided commentary on this presidential race lately, mainly because there are things I don’t want to discuss right now. As it relates to political issues, I will wait until it is all over before I get back to brass tacks. But given that I have been badgered by some of my many fans to call the race: I will. In fact I will do a little more than that. 

Let me say that there will be a record turnout for this year’s presidential race. I am talking about raw votes not percentage(s). Barack Obama will win easily; it won’t even be close. He will get closer to 400 electoral votes than three hundred. He will receive more single votes than any presidential candidate in the history of this great country.

Two Schmuels for Sister Sarah (now mitt a bisseleh correction)

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The year was 2000; I was on line at JFK, about to check my baggage for a flight to Florida, answering questions from a young woman with a clipboard.

“Is this trip for business or for pleasure?”, she asked. I felt like Jack Benny asked to choose between his money or his life. A minute went by and then another. She tapped her pencil as folks behind me began to grumble.

“Neither”, I finally responded, “I’m going to visit my parents.”

This less than happy memory came back to me like acid reflux as I pondered the strategy behind “The Great Schlep”, an effort by young Jewish Obama supporters to impact the votes of their grandparents by trekking down to Florida.

Two, Three, Four, Many Terms?

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At Thursday’s City Council hearing on extending term limits, former Mayor Ed Koch supported Bloomberg’s scheme.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/live-blogging-the-term-limits-hearings/#koch

Koch said:

“The change I support would allow those who are term limited to serve three terms rather than two. I have always supported 12 years as opposed to eight years. My belief in the need for three terms was predicated on my experience of mayor of the city of any.”