We're either all in it together or we are not. That's the feeling I had as I listened to Governor Spitzer's soaring rhetoric about being "one state." For some time, as far as our state government has been concerned, whenever some people, groups, or places have had a need, we've all been in it together. And whenever other people, groups or places have had a need, they have been told to take more responsibility for themselves. The inequities have been generational, regional, and in some cases simply insiders vs. outsiders. The optimist in me wants to take Spitzer's words as a sign of future fairness, and accountability for those with better deals. The cynic see it as a call for the losers to stop pressing their claims, and accept plans that could perhaps make them a little better off — and the winners better off as well.
The Latest
2 Job Applications From Pollster Frank Luntz
|When 81 percent of Americans say they'd be willing to consider voting for an independent candidate for president, you have the makings of a political revolution. Okay, the rhetoric may be a bit overheated, but the American electorate is hot, angry and now, for the first time, afraid. We were always sure the future would be better than the past, but no longer. The national mood is not just anti-incumbent, and it is not just anti-Republican. Thanks to a whole lot of federal failures – Katrina, illegal immigration, wasteful spending, perceptions of economic stagnation and political corruption – we have become anti-Washington. A credible presidential independent will be someone who is not tied to the Washington political establishment but can point to a record of results. He (or she) will say "no" to the lobbyists and special interests but still have the financial means to run a serious national campaign. Such a candidate will attract considerable attention – and perhaps some serious votes. There's only one person in America who fits the bill: New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Common Sense in Remission
|An article in today’s Village Voice contained this startling passage:
“Blindness is something in which Paterson has an intensely personal stake. The 51-year-old State Senator is legally blind…but his interest in the issue stands out for other reasons. Paterson represents Upper Manhattan, including Harlem, an area that includes some of the city's poorest areas…There are many with visual handicaps in Paterson’s district, but these diseases don't strike residents in the area any more often than those in the rest of the city, health studies show. The biggest local health problem, according to a 2006 survey by the city's department of health, is asthma: Hospitalization rates for asthma attacks suffered by both children and adults in the area are double that of the rest of Manhattan, as well as the city as a whole. Infant mortality rates are also higher than the city average, the study found.”
Some Good News
|Since joining Room 8, I’ve spent much of my time writing about things I’m not happy about, generally about the policies of the State of New York. After all, it is those things that I want to see change. But I don’t want people to get the impression that I am dissatisfied with everything. Aside from my personal life, about which I have no complaints, there are many things that have gotten better in the past 30 or 40 years. In the holiday spirit, I’ve decided to list a few of those. "
Thirty or forty years ago, reasonable people thought it possible that a nuclear war would lead to human extinction in the near future. Sadly, the risk of a single nuclear, biological or chemical incident is much greater, thanks to the rise of international terrorism. But with the number of warheads greatly reduced and the Cold War over, extinction caused by a massive nuclear exchange seems to be off the table, at least for the foreseeable future.
Behind the NYC Population Forecast: The Schools
|Last week, there was a news splash about the city's population projection, with an overall gain but a decline in school-aged children. I read the fine print, and it appears that my former mates at City Planning did what I consider the right thing, and constrained the population forecast by land use. That is, since NYC is already developed at a high density, there are only so many housing units that can be added, and demographic trends are driven here (unlike in Texas) more by the occupancy of existing housing than by the amount of new housing. And here DCP used migration by type of person from 1980 to 2000 to see who would flee and who would move in. Therefore, the city's official population projection assumes that parents of school age children with the means to leave will continue to be driven out of NYC by bad schools and small housing units, as they were in my generation.
Brian McLaughlin Endorsement Coming Next
|AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes just released a statement of support for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, saying the senator has “proven himself time and again to be a man of honor and unquestionable integrity.”
You Heard It Here First
|Prediction – Joe Bruno will not be Senate Majority Leader when Alan Hevesi's replacement is selected.
In The Seasonal Spirit Of Giving
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I downloaded the spreadsheet of member items for my Assembly Member, and found that he has magnificently bestowed on his district $386,000 over the past three fiscal years. Moreover, looking at the specific list of grants, I found there isn’t a howler in the bunch. He sent $4,000 per year to every school in the district (not just those in Park Slope but also those in Parkville), for things like after school enrichment, software, contacts with parents, “multi-cultural” books, programs in music, bookcases and file cabinets. He provided grants for computer training and gardening for senior citizens, along with day care and transportation. He funded Pap test for poor women, language training for immigrants, assistance with safe homes and
crime prevention, a newsletter for businesses, etc. etc., generally with grants of $3,000 to $6,000 per year. Who could be against such things? Goes this mean I agree with the Daily Politics poster that “Everybody seems to forget that one man's pork is another's ‘vital infrastructure improvement?’” Absolutely not!
Supreme Court Primary Preview
|I have written before about the possibility that candidates for New York Supreme Court Justice will be selected in contested Primaries. I think it’s now time to look at what such Primaries might look like in New York City in 2007.
This assumes that the U.S. Supreme Court does not agree to hear the appeal from those who support keeping Judicial Conventions and that no alternative to some sort of Primary system are agreed to by the State Legislature and Governor.
The strong rumor is that the Democrats in the State Assembly are in favor of a system of Judicial Conventions and Primaries like the present way candidates for statewide office are picked. Each Party would have a convention in May or early June. Candidates for Supreme Court who receive 50%+1 of the vote of the delegates would automatically be placed on the ballot as the Party’s endorsed choice. Candidates who received 25% could also run and candidates who did not receive 25% or more could then petition to get on the ballot.
Fidler On The Black Roof (Part One)
|A rather militant black political-activist associate of mine, called a short time ago, and uttered this remark in apparent disgust; “why is it that Lew Fidler seems to always involve himself in the politics of black districts?” My reply was ambiguously nuanced yet simple, to wit: all politics is local, and all local elected officials have a right to be involved; more so when the jurisdiction that he or she represents, has contiguous borders with districts where the racial make-up maybe somewhat different to his or hers. He then retorted; “but do you see local black elected officials in the middle of things in say Bensonhurst and/ or Bay Ridge?” He further queried; “do you ever see black elected officials interjecting themselves in the elections that take place in these white areas and amongst the white candidates?” I didn’t respond to those questions. No sireee Bob; I couldn’t touch them with even a ten-foot pole. Fact is, I don’t recall at anytime- in my near 34 years involvement in Brooklyn’s politics- where black electeds were deeply involved in white races. Maybe Gatemouth could help me out here, since he has a firmer grasp on the political history than I- especially in the white areas of Brooklyn.