Today is Monday, 15th January, 2007. It is a public holiday. It’s the day that most states have set aside for the celebration of MARTIN LUTHER KING’S birthday; but it’s actually a day for celebrating the man’s life-accomplishments over his thirty-nine years on earth. MLK was born on January 15th, 1929, and by the time of his assassination on April 4th, 1968, he had -like many of the great humans who have walked among us- evolved into a person of civility, compassion, dedication, determination, decorum and humanity; amongst many of the qualities (or is it “virtues”) that single such people out.
The Latest
A Question for Joe Hynes
|This week’s story in the Village Voice about former Brooklyn County Leader Clarence Norman selling judgeships begins with a little history.
The darker secret was that the bench itself had been bought, that its polyester black robes were on a perpetual special-sale rack, that smarmy party bosses, ensconced at 16 Court Street across from the supreme court they ruled, demanded cash tribute to "make" a judge. The district attorney, Joe Hynes, who first heard the rumor 36 years ago when he was a young prosecutor running the office's rackets bureau, said in 2003 that he'd have to be "naive to think it didn't happen," that it was "common street talk that this has been going on for eons."
The Latest on New York State School Aid and Spending
|Fiscal 2005 New York State public school finance data from the Fiscal Analysis and Research Unit of the New York State Department of Education is here. I’ve done some calculations that are of particular interest to me, and attached the modified spreadsheet to this post. The calculations, and the findings, are below.
NY Times on Judges – What They Left Out
|Sunday’s NY Times lead editorial in its City & Regional sections was about reforming New York’s courts
In the editorial the Times criticized former Governor Pataki –
The urgency of this task is attributable in no small measure to indifference by Mr. Spitzer’s predecessor, George Pataki. Although he periodically gave lip service to making improvements in the courts, occasionally following through, Mr. Pataki generally shied from expending the necessary energy or political capital to persuade the State Legislature to go along. To the extent Mr. Pataki led in this sphere, it was mostly by bad example. His misuse of the governor’s judicial appointment power to play politics — even to the extent of packing Manhattan’s appellate court with upstate Republicans — has left a legacy of mediocrity and cronyism.
The City Mouthpiece and the Country Mouthpiece
|The story is told of a Court Street personal injury lawyer, eating lunch at Mr. Souvlaki and running into a former law school classmate now practicing in Suffolk County who's trying a PI case in Brooklyn.
“I’m trying this case and I’m winning it”, said the Country Mouthpiece, “but I know I’ll be reversed by the Appellate Division because the record’s a mess; I think the judge has Alzheimer’s”.
“So”, said the City Mouthpiece, “you’re in front of Ruditzky.”
Political junkies will have field day with the details of Wayne Barrett’s expose of alleged judgeship buying in Brooklyn. Barrett's article has practically every salacious detail of the sale of a judgeship in 2001 to brain dead hack Howard Ruditzky. Every detail but one.
“Not Running” Announcements
|Given that I am a native-born American over the age of 40, I realize that a few may be curious about my plans. In lieu of a press conference, I've decided to use Room 8 to make the following announcement: I will not run for President of the United States in 2008.
120 million potential candidates to go. Or so it seems.
Pol Quits Titantic – Son Stays
|TRENTON – Eight-term State Sen. Leonard T. Connors Jr. said yesterday he would not seek reelection because he didn't want to be "associated with the downfall of this great state." "To be frank, I just don't have the stomach for it anymore," Connors said. "New Jersey's course is set straight for the ice fields, and I no longer have any desire to be a crew member of the Titanic ………… His son, Assemblyman Christopher J. Connors, is expected to seek the open Senate seat.
Convention City Bounce?
|Now the Democrats have selected Denver as the host city for the 2008 National Convention, we will soon see pundits writing how this will make Colorado and neighboring states more likely to vote Democratic for President. Previously others have written that the Republicans having their convention in Minneapolis will help them win in Minnesota & Wisconsin. For example – "The Midwest has become strategic ground," said David Schultz, who teaches politics at Hamline University in St. Paul. "Bring the convention here, get the faithful excited, and spotlight that you care about the Midwest and farmers." Schultz said it's also a "symbolic black eye" to Minnesota Democrats trying to keep alive the spirit of Hubert Humphrey and Paul Wellstone. "It's a purple state now, and Republicans increasingly view this as a winnable state," he said.
Hedge Funds: Kiss Our Assets Goodbye?
|It looks like the hedge fund bubble may be about to burst. With more competition in the industry spreads are shrinking, leaving many funds with no greater gross returns than on conventional mutual funds, but with far greater fees. We are heading for a housing bust, with foreclosure rates soaring as a result of exploding cost loans peddled to, among others, sub-prime borrowers. Rumor has it that in order to get higher interest rates, hedge funds were buying the most risky pieces (tranches) of groups of these loans – the piece that becomes worthless if more mortgages than expected don’t pay. Other rumors say the hedge funds were gambling on commodities, and have been caught when commodity prices suddenly dropped. Some may have been trading derivative instruments without the hassles of a formal exchange – hassles like showing you have enough money in reserve to pay off your counterparties if your bets go bad. The last firm to do this on a large scale: Enron, which would have gone down much sooner without the fraud. Far from “hedging,” that is accepting a lower return but limiting the potential for loss, most of these firms are leveraging, borrowing big so that a trend slightly in your favor yields a big payoff, but one slightly against you delivers a massive loss. It is likely that some of these firms could use a greater fool. They may have just found one.
Feudal New York
|The dominant political philosophy of New York City and State is not liberalism, conservatism, capitalism or socialism. It is feudalism, American style. Under capitalism, you get what you earn, at least in theory. Those who believe that people need an incentive to work and innovate can agree with that. Under socialism, you get what you need, at least in theory. Those who believe that we are all part of one human family can agree with that. But over time, when you have the same group of people in power, both capitalism and socialism degenerate into feudalism, under which the privileged expect to continue to get what they have been getting, and perhaps a little more, whether they need it or not, deserve it or not. For those who have real needs, and who produce real earnings, it's just tough luck. The feudalism of unearned privilege explains much about the state of the State of New York, where all past deals are set in stone, and more are added every year. The most recent case in point: the City's residential property tax system.