The Latest

Crucial Independence Party – Don’t Make Me Laugh

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Every year around this time of the year, stories appear about how crucial the support of minor parties are to this or that candidate.

I, for one, have always thought that this was BS 99% of the time.

Sure, there have been times that 3rd Party support has been the margin of difference in an election but these have been relatively few in number. Senator Nick Spano in 2004, John Lindsay in 1969, etc.

The fact that there are so few is why we remember them!

This week, the DC paper, The Hill attempts to once again elevate a minor Party, in this case that weird alliance that calls itself the Independence Party, to a major force in the Democrats attempt to regain Congress. They point to 2 districts.

Father Knows Best

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"We call on the Democratic Party, the national chairman, Howard Dean, right on down to the New York state Chairman Denny Farrell, to Brooklyn chairman Vito Lopez…We want the party to realize that the most loyal constituency of the Democratic Party have been black people. Now don't ambush us. Don't take away our power. We're also going to go to the Republicans and say 'How about you. Do you support the principle of power sharing?' And we'll see what the Republicans say also." – — Congressman Major Owens calling upon leaders of the Democratic Party at various levels to prevent a white politician, David Yassky,  from winning a Congressional seat  long held by black politicians.

Turning Up the Heat: A look at Mr. Rip Van Winkle (Al Vann)

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The response to yesterday’s column has left me humbled, since I was really trying to make a point, and at the same time, to also atone for a mistake made by publicizing the illness of a friend. I further compounded that mistake by listing her phone number without her permission. Well she has accepted my apology, and she understands that it wasn’t done with any malicious intent. I see now that there are some people who do care about my postings; this was flattering once revealed, thus I have decided to spend the next few weeks turning up the heat, in hope of supplementing the point I was trying to make yesterday. Decisions about my future as a blogger, will be on hold for a while, and during that suspension, I will start naming names and taking no prisoners. However, I do reserve my concerns about this inchoate media-vehicle: political-blogging. I am still troubled.

Right now, I aim to hit my favorite targets: the somnambulant black elected officials of Brooklyn. So I will aim, shoot and duck (maybe). Here goes. Let’s see what the responses will look like. Later this week, I will hopefully tackle a few more controversies, so stay tuned.

Faso and Spitzer Agree: NYC’s Share of State Education Funding Should Be Cut

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If you have been reading this blog, then you know that education spending in the rest of the state is off the charts, that school districts there have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees even as enrollment falls.  Meanwhile, the City of New York continues to have a level of staffing, and (if the cost of living is adjusted for) spending and pay that is lower than the national average, and far lower than the rest of the state.  (Send me an e-mail at vampire-state@att.net if you require proof of these assertions, and I’ll send you a report).  Because school districts in the rest of the state hire and spend so much, the STAR program — which diverts education money away from New York City — was developed to pay for it.  And now that spending, and property taxes, outside the city have increased even more, both Faso and Spitzer want to expand STAR once again.

Faso and Spitzer Agree: NYC’s Share of State Education Funding Should Be Cut

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If you have been reading this blog, then you know that education spending in the rest of the state is off the charts, that school districts there have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees even as enrollment falls.  Meanwhile, the City of New York continues to have a level of staffing, and (if the cost of living is adjusted for) spending and pay that is lower than the national average, and far lower than the rest of the state.  (Send me an e-mail at vampire-state@att.net if you require proof of these assertions, and I’ll send you a report).  Because school districts in the rest of the state hire and spend so much, the STAR program — which diverts education money away from New York City — was developed to pay for it.  And now that spending, and property taxes, outside the city have increased even more, both Faso and Spitzer want to expand STAR once again.

Faso and Spitzer Agree: NYC’s Share of State Education Funding Should Be Cut

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If you have been reading this blog, then you know that education spending in the rest of the state is off the charts, that school districts there have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees even as enrollment falls.  Meanwhile, the City of New York continues to have a level of staffing, and (if the cost of living is adjusted for) spending and pay that is lower than the national average, and far lower than the rest of the state.  (Send me an e-mail at vampire-state@att.net if you require proof of these assertions, and I’ll send you a report).  Because school districts in the rest of the state hire and spend so much, the STAR program — which diverts education money away from New York City — was developed to pay for it.  And now that spending, and property taxes, outside the city have increased even more, both Faso and Spitzer want to expand STAR once again.

Faso and Spitzer Agree: NYC’s Share of State Education Funding Should Be Cut

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If you have been reading this blog, then you know that education spending in the rest of the state is off the charts, that school districts there have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees even as enrollment falls.  Meanwhile, the City of New York continues to have a level of staffing, and (if the cost of living is adjusted for) spending and pay that is lower than the national average, and far lower than the rest of the state.  (Send me an e-mail at vampire-state@att.net if you require proof of these assertions, and I’ll send you a report).  Because school districts in the rest of the state hire and spend so much, the STAR program — which diverts education money away from New York City — was developed to pay for it.  And now that spending, and property taxes, outside the city have increased even more, both Faso and Spitzer want to expand STAR once again.

Faso and Spitzer Agree: NYC’s Share of State Education Funding Should Be Cut

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If you have been reading this blog, then you know that education spending in the rest of the state is off the charts, that school districts there have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees even as enrollment falls.  Meanwhile, the City of New York continues to have a level of staffing, and (if the cost of living is adjusted for) spending and pay that is lower than the national average, and far lower than the rest of the state.  (Send me an e-mail at vampire-state@att.net if you require proof of these assertions, and I’ll send you a report).  Because school districts in the rest of the state hire and spend so much, the STAR program — which diverts education money away from New York City — was developed to pay for it.  And now that spending, and property taxes, outside the city have increased even more, both Faso and Spitzer want to expand STAR once again.

Faso and Spitzer Agree: NYC’s Share of State Education Funding Should Be Cut

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If you have been reading this blog, then you know that education spending in the rest of the state is off the charts, that school districts there have been hiring tens of thousands of new employees even as enrollment falls.  Meanwhile, the City of New York continues to have a level of staffing, and (if the cost of living is adjusted for) spending and pay that is lower than the national average, and far lower than the rest of the state.  (Send me an e-mail at vampire-state@att.net if you require proof of these assertions, and I’ll send you a report).  Because school districts in the rest of the state hire and spend so much, the STAR program — which diverts education money away from New York City — was developed to pay for it.  And now that spending, and property taxes, outside the city have increased even more, both Faso and Spitzer want to expand STAR once again.