New York State of Mind: Face-Off Edition

Oooooh, Mayor de Blasio is in trouuuubbble! He just got "one-upped" by Governor Cuomo and it was pretty funny to watch.

So here is how it went down. Mayor de Blasio is trying very hard to make good on one of his many campaign promises. He promised to raise income taxes on those evil rich people who make $500,000 or more to expand his idea of universal pre-K education in the NYC schools. In true socialist fashion, that would only be the cost of a Starbuck latte to these evil rich people. They can afford it.

Well, our Governor Cuomo one-upped him by offering to allocate state funds to NYC to fund the program so that no new taxes needed to be levied. It went something like this:

The scene opens to two men sitting in their executive offices on opposite sides of the stage deep in a phone conversation...

Mayor de Blasio: "Wahh, wahh, wahh! I must raise taxes on the rich to fund universal pre-K! I promised! It is my voter-mandated mission! IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN!"

Gov. Cuomo: "Hey, that Pre-K thing sounds great, but I think that we can do it without raising taxes! Just let's us know your plan and if the state legislature agrees, we can fund it through the state. Oh, and just so you know, in order to raise income taxes, you have to get approval from the state legislature. 'kay? It says that right in the state Constitution, 'kay? [And under his breath very quietly] And frankly, I am not inclined to raise taxes for anyone in the state in an election year. Understand? But, hey, friend, come to Albany and we can talk."

Mayor de Blasio: "Okay, I will come to Albany. But wait, you're a Democrat and I'm a Democrat. We MUST raise taxes. It's what we do! There is no other way! And anyway, if we were to take the money from the state, then the state could one day take that money back and the where would the children be? Out on the street, that's where! These are 4 years old, for God sake! They can't get jobs because they don't know how to use glue and scissors! And who will teach them not to run with scissors if we don't. IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN!"

Gov Cuomo: "Yeah, the children. I get it. Just come to Albany."

Phones slam and the scene fades to a politically-correct "lack of light"...

So a joint Senate-Assembly meeting was held in Albany this week in which the chronically-late Mayor de Blasio and his entourage of 18 City Council members arrived to explain their grand plan and answer questions. [Yeah, our new Mayor is not a "morning" person, so he is habitually late to meetings...about that later.]

Well, this is when the trouble really started. De Blasio made his case and insisted that the only way to fund mandatory Pre-K classes in NYC is to raise taxes. After he finished, the questions started. One of our fine (and few) Republican state legislators asked "Why do you need to raise taxes when we are offering you money so you don't have to and..." And yes, the big reveal comes next. It seems our former Mayor Bloomberg left NYC in pretty good shape fiscally and left us with a $4.8 billion (yes, that's with a "B") surplus that could be used just for this very plan. Uh, say what? We have a $4.8billion surplus??

After sputtering about and defiantly insisting that he would raise taxes with or without legislative approval, de Blasio admitted that he had ear-marked the surplus funds to fulfill other campaign promises. When pressed he finally admitted it was to be used for the pending contract "negotiations" with the many city union employees who haven't had new contracts in three years. And by "negotiations" he meant rewarding his Union buddies with promised raises for getting out the vote...er...uh...the great job they are doing for the city. Oops, this didn't go over well.

Let's see who wins this one. My bet is on Gov. Cuomo.

And speaking of taxes - despite the commercials airing your various states about how tax and business friendly New York is, our state has been ranked #1 on the list of "10 Worst States" for taxes. We're #1! We're #1!

Oh, yeah, our new Mayor apparently has a tardiness problem. To the annoyance of just about everyone including the press corps, he chronically keeps people waiting sometimes up to an hour to meet with him. It's gotten to be a "thing".

Finally - Just in case you haven't heard, New York, or more accurately, New Jersey is hosting the Super Bowl this year. Don't ask why. The NFL in their infinite wisdom decided to break with the tradition of holding the Super Bowl in weather-friendly locations, to hold it in an open-air stadium in the Northeast in February...with a blizzard coming. It's going to be fun for all - the crowds, the parties, the 20-degree temperatures...ah, good times. If you want tickets, I hear they are plenty still available and the price is crashing by the day. I can't understand why though.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

New York State of Mind - Get Out!

It is cold here..and snowy...and cold. Even my brain is cold. But then our Gov. Cuomo didn't really help me feel all warm and fuzzy, so maybe that's why I feel the cold so intensely. With all of the problems in New York, he decided to take pot-shots at state Republicans last week.



As reported in the New York Daily News:

“Who are they?” Cuomo said about the Republicans. “Are they these extreme conservative, right to life, pro assault weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are, and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York. Because that’s not who New Yorkers are. If they are moderate Republicans, like in the Senate right now, who control the Senate - moderate Republicans have a place in this state.”

It kind of reads like "blah, blah, blah, REPUBLICANS, blah, blah, blah, HAVE NO PLACE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK [SO LEAVE], blah, blah, blah..." Considering that he isn't actually running against anyone yet, it seems kind of out of context to tell people to leave if they do not share the same political beliefs as you. Needless to say, this set off a firestorm with state Republicans and a soft back-tracking ensued from Cuomo's team along the line of "I know you think he said that, but you didn't hear what you thought you thought you heard. He didn't mean "no place" as in "leave". He meant something else entirely."

Funny thing is that Andrew Cuomo is a savvy politician, so I am sure he knew exactly what he was saying and the effect that it would have. Or maybe state Republicans are just being over-sensitive. Either way, he has no problem spending our tax contributions every month.

Any thoughts? As always please feel to free to comment on this or change the subject.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

New York State of Mind

Here is something I bet you didn't know about New York. We are a great place to open a small business! Yes, it is true! In page taken from Texas Governor Rick Perry, our Governor Andrew Cuomo (potential 2016 Presidential hopeful) is rolling out a new ad touting how business-friendly the State of New York is. Who knew? Unfortunately, the ad has not yet been released on YouTube, so you can't see it, but it has been running in the State for a few weeks to the confusion of just about everyone who lives here. And, in a case of really bad timing, a list was published this week of the best and worst states for businesses. Guess which state was No. 49? Go ahead, I dare you. [Hint: New York] Hey, at least New York is above California! That's something that Cuomo can hang his hat on, right? Oh, and guess which state is No. 1...oh, come on. Oh, yeah, do want to know where $140 million of the $60 billion dollars New York received for Hurricane Sandy relief? You guess it...to make Cuomo's ad touting how business-friendly New York is...

On a related note: Both Bloomberg and Cuomo have been crowing about our very healthy television and movie industry in the state. And do you know how they have lured all these television and movie productions companies to New York...tax "incentives". The Governor just signed a bill to expand the tax give-a-way to reality and talk shows too. Shortly after the ink dried on the bill, it was announced that "The Tonight Show" would be moving back to New York when Jimmy Fallon takes over at the end of the year! What a coinkidink! All of these tax breaks are reportedly going to bring in a whopping 400 jobs. If only Cuomo could make up his mind about fracking. That could bring in thousands of new jobs, so we could maybe finally lower the unemployment rate to below 10%.

Moving on...

- It's an election year in New York City. We are about to finally divest ourselves of our Mayor/Nanny Bloomberg and the field of candidates is growing by the minute and the pandering is growing even faster. So far, we have promises of minimum wage hikes, mandatory personal days for all workers, and reigning in the evil police department. The list grows. In the following weeks, I will introduce our candidates - there's Christine Quinn the Lesbian City Council Chairperson, John Liu the Asian Comptroller whose two campaign managers was just convicted of campaign fund fraud, the billionaire Grocer, and the disgraced former lying US Representative (who hasn't declared yet). It is going to fun, fun, fun until November! So far, none of these candidates would be any improvement over Bloomberg, but it's early yet.

- The only person who is actually working for the people of New York City, our Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, is under fire because of his successful "Stop and Frisk" policies. The problem is that the police are targeting the worst, most crime-ridden areas and, as the name suggests, stopping and frisking people who appear to be up to no good and may possibly be carrying weapons like guns. It is successful because violent crime (specifically gun-related) is at the lowest levels they have been since the 1970's. Kelly has been very receptive to the concerns that the police may be heavy handed in stopping too many otherwise law-abiding citizens and updated the procedures. But that is not enough for some. They want it stopped completely and as an extra added bonus, many of our current mayoral hopefuls are vowing to do away with it. {{cough..pander...cough}}}

- And speaking of pandering, Congressman Charlie Rangel has filed a lawsuit against Speaker Boehner and other members of the House Ethics Committee to overturn his 2010 censure. He claims he continues "to suffer irreparable harm that cannot be compensated by money damages..." and the committee "acted knowingly, intentionally and willfully to frustrate the goal of assuring adherence to plaintiff's due process rights." The 40+ year Congressman, former Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committe claims he did not intend to be a tax cheat for 17 years, he was just careless. If it weren't so pathetic, it would almost be funny.

- Finally - I know, I know. You thought that there cannot possibly be anyone in our state legislature left to arrest, right? Never underestimate Albany. Yes, this week brought a new arrest with the possibility of up to six as-yet-to-be-named others to add to my rogues' gallery. This week we add State Senator John Sampson (D) former Senate Majority leader and head of the Senate Democrat Caucus was caught in sting in which other Rogue's Gallery member Shirley Huntley, in a plea deal, wore a wire. He is even accused of pressing a friend in the US Attorney's office to turn over the names of all of the cooperating witnesses who could make a case against him, so he could arrange to “take them out.” You would think by now that the New York State Dems would be embarrassed, but Gov. Cuomo just gives lip-service to reform the ethics of the Legislature.

Drumroll please......

State Senator John Sampson (D) - two counts of embezzlement, five counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements to the FBI.

State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D)- Arrested for accepting bribes to pass legislation for his special interests with 4 co-conspirators.

State Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) - resigned after turning states' evidence and wearing a wire to implicate Assemblyman Stevenson. He was compelled to help the Feds because he was under indictment for perjury.

State Senator Malcolm Smith (D) - Arrested for paying bribes to NYC Councilman Daniel Halloran (R) to secure a spot on the Republican ticket for the upcoming Mayoral election.

NYC Councilman Daniel Halloran (R) - Arrested for accepting a bribe from State Senator Malcolm Smith (D) for same.

Oh, plus "...five other politicians, three Republicans and two Democrats, were also arrested and charged with collectively accepting more than $100,000 in bribes in meetings that often took place in parked cars, hotel rooms and state offices..."

State Senator Shirley Huntley (D): pleaded guilty to embezzlement of $90,000 in taxpayer funds for personal shopping sprees.

State Assembly Vivian Cook (D): not yet charged; implicated in procuring funds to be funneled to Sen. Huntley and participating in personal shopping sprees.

State Assembly Jimmy Meng (D): pleaded guilty to soliciting bribes

US Representative Gregory Meeks (D): Currently under investigation for accepting $40,000 in unreported "loans" from Queens businessman Edul Ahmad. Ahmad has pleaded guilty and awaiting sentences in a $50 million mortgage fraud scheme.

State Senator Carl Kruger (D) - resigned his seat and pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)

State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D-NY) - of the 13th District, was expelled by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2010 in connection with a misdemeanor assault conviction against his girlfriend.

State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D-NY) On May 25, 2010, Gonzalez was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, after pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts in May 2009.

President of the New York City council Andrew Stein (D) - was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme in November 2010.

Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) - On May 14, 2012 a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation.

State Senator Nicholas Spano (R) - in 2012 Spano was indicted for Federal Income Tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He admitted that he under-reported his income — $42,419 in federal income taxes and $10,605 in state taxes — from 2000 to 2008. He is to be sentenced to 12 to 18 months in Federal Prison in June 2012.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...