NY State Corruption Without Limit UPDATE

Now that we have a little time to breath, let me catch you up on the big news that came down today in the ongoing trials and tribulations of our corrupt elected officials in the state of New York.

When I last reported on this in May, two new high ranking state legislators had been arrested and charged with corruption - former State Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Both trials have been ongoing since the first week of November.

The big news from yesterday is that the jury in the 5-week trial federal court trial of former Speaker Sheldon Silver came back with convictions on all 7 counts that included honest-services fraud, extortion and money-laundering for trading political favors to enrich himself and then lying about it. This is big news. Silver has been the most important Democrat in New York for the last 20 years. He is a very big fish. If you want to read the sordid details, here is a LINK

What will be interesting in the weeks to come is how this will effect Gov. Andrew Cuomo who abruptly disbanded his much-touted ethics investigative committee that caused US Attorney Preet Bharara to take over the investigation that led to Silver's conviction. [You can get the background from the link to my May 2015 post]

So, with a drumroll, here is my update of my ongoing list of elected officials who have been arrested and convicted in New York in just in the last 5 years...

2010-2015

State officials -
1. Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver (D) was arrested for multiple counts of bribery and corruption January 22, 2015. Case pending. UPDATE - Sheldon Silver was convicted by a jury of his peers in a 5 week trial on all 7 counts on November 30, 2015 after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation over 3 days. He faces 130 years in jail. Appeal will be pending.

2. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) (and his son) was arrested for corruption on May 4, 2015. Case pending. UPDATE - trial is ongoing and should go to the jury in a matter of weeks.

3. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Malcolm Smith (D) was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to bribe a Republican Party official to let him onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral race. (2014)

4. State Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D) sentenced to a year in jail for entering into a sham marriage in order to gain U.S. citizenship. (2014)

5. State Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. (D) convicted of bribery (2014)

6. State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D) found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other related charges. (2014)

7. State Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) convicted of perjury (2013)

8. State Assemblyman Chris Ortloff (R) pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors for trying to have sex with a child after leaving his seat to become a member of the NYS Parole Board. He was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison (2010)

9. State Senator Shirley Huntley (D) convicted of mail fraud. She was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. (2013)

10. 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. (2012)

11. State Senator Vincent Leibell (R) found guilty of felony bribery, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice charges related to $43,000 in cash kickbacks he took from 2003 to 2006. (2012)

12. State Senator Nicholas Spano (R), convicted of federal income tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He was sentenced to 12 to 18 months in federal prison. (2012)

13. New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), was convicted on charges surrounding a "pay to play" scheme regarding the New York State Pension Fund, and was sentenced to 1–4 years. (2011)

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

15. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D) was convicted of fraud and embezzling $400,000 from the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc. and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison (2010)

15. State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello (R) pled guilty to costing the taxpayers $48,000 by making her staff carry out personal chores for her such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. Her plea deal calls for 250 hours of community service at an Albany health clinic, $22,500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. (2009)

Local

16. Mayor of Mount Vernon Ernie Davis (D) was convicted on federal misdemeanor tax evasion. (2014)

17. New York City Councillor Dan Halloran (R) convicted of taking bribes and orchestrating payoffs. (2014)

18. New York City Councillor Larry Seabrook (D) On February 9, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Seabrook on 13 counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook was convicted on 9 charges (2012).

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

2000-2009

State Officials

20. State Representative Anthony Seminerio (D) pled guilty to taking large sums of money from hospitals through a consulting firm while still a member of the New York State Assembly. His appeal was never heard but his conviction was abated due to death. (2009)

21. Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo (R), was convicted by a federal jury of attempted extortion and attempted soliciting of a bribe for pressuring a lawyer to give $10,000 to his defense fund. (2009)

22. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D) was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts. (2009)

23. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Joseph Bruno (R) was convicted on two counts of wire fraud. (2009) Update: Exonerated of all charges on appeal (2014).

24. State Representative Brian McLaughlin (D) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering.(2009)

25. State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D), convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault, and acquitted of two counts of felony assault and one other count of misdemeanor assault. (2009)

26. State Representative Gloria Davis (D) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for bribery. (2003)

27. State Senator Guy Velella (R) was indicted for bribery and conspiracy for accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties.[179] He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and received a year in jail. He served 182 days. (2002)

Local

28. New York City Councillor Miguel Martinez (D) pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy two days later. Martinez admitted to stealing $106,000 that was for children's art programs and low-income housing.[181] Martinez was convicted on three felonies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2009)

Any questions or comments?

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New York Corruption Without Limit

Andrew mentioned something in a comment last week about needing a distraction with more arrests of politicians. And as always, the State of New York is always happy to oblige! New York leads the country in highest taxes, best of the worst states to do business and...well, apparently corrupt politicians! Woo-hoo! Oh, wait...

Since the first of the year, both the leaders of our state legislatures have been publicly led off in hand-cuffs. And because all if fair in politics, one was a Democrat and one was a Republican. And, if what the local papers say is true, then we might not have to wait too much longer to add the Governor to the list.

As I have written before, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) used as an election "promise" in 2010 to investigate the rampant corruption amongst our elected official in the state. He did not start right away. But nearing his 2014 re-election, he finally started by appointing a commission to investigate ethics in the state - the Moreland Commission. But as soon as the Commission began to sniff a little too close to the Governor's mansion and threaten his re-election bid, he abruptly disbanded it.

That's when the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara took notice and requested all the Commission's files. He picked up where their investigation left off which shortly had led to the two long-time leaders of the State Legislature being led away in hand cuffs. He has promised not to stop until he cleans up the state and right now Cuomo is in his cross-hairs. If that happens and Cuomo is implicated, this could be just the distraction Andrew was looking for! I will keep you posted. And I will keep my eye on Preet Bharara because his political star is on the rise...

As I have before, below is an incomplete list of politicians who have been arrested and mostly convicted in the last 15 years or so [with help from Wikipedia] Revel in our corruption knowing that your state will never measure up...

2010-2015

State officials -
1. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) (and his son) was arrested for corruption on May 4, 2015. Case pending.

2. Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver (D) was arrested for multiple counts of bribery and corruption January 22, 2015. Case pending.

3. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Malcolm Smith (D) was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to bribe a Republican Party official to let him onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral race. (2014)

4. State Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D) sentenced to a year in jail for entering into a sham marriage in order to gain U.S. citizenship. (2014)

5. State Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. (D) convicted of bribery (2014)

6. State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D) found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other related charges. (2014)

7. State Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) convicted of perjury (2013)

8. State Assemblyman Chris Ortloff (R) pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors for trying to have sex with a child after leaving his seat to become a member of the NYS Parole Board. He was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison (2010)

9. State Senator Shirley Huntley (D) convicted of mail fraud. She was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. (2013)

10. 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. (2012)

11. State Senator Vincent Leibell (R) found guilty of felony bribery, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice charges related to $43,000 in cash kickbacks he took from 2003 to 2006. (2012)

12. State Senator Nicholas Spano (R), convicted of federal income tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He was sentenced to 12 to 18 months in federal prison. (2012)

13. New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), was convicted on charges surrounding a "pay to play" scheme regarding the New York State Pension Fund, and was sentenced to 1–4 years. (2011)

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

15. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D) was convicted of fraud and embezzling $400,000 from the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc. and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison (2010)

15. State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello (R) pled guilty to costing the taxpayers $48,000 by making her staff carry out personal chores for her such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. Her plea deal calls for 250 hours of community service at an Albany health clinic, $22,500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. (2009)

Local

16. Mayor of Mount Vernon Ernie Davis (D) was convicted on federal misdemeanor tax evasion. (2014)

17. New York City Councillor Dan Halloran (R) convicted of taking bribes and orchestrating payoffs. (2014)

18. New York City Councillor Larry Seabrook (D) On February 9, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Seabrook on 13 counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook was convicted on 9 charges (2012).

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

2000-2009

State Officials

20. State Representative Anthony Seminerio (D) pled guilty to taking large sums of money from hospitals through a consulting firm while still a member of the New York State Assembly. His appeal was never heard but his conviction was abated due to death. (2009)

21. Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo (R), was convicted by a federal jury of attempted extortion and attempted soliciting of a bribe for pressuring a lawyer to give $10,000 to his defense fund. (2009)

22. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D) was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts. (2009)

23. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Joseph Bruno (R) was convicted on two counts of wire fraud. (2009) Update: Exonerated of all charges on appeal (2014).

24. State Representative Brian McLaughlin (D) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering.(2009)

25. State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D), convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault, and acquitted of two counts of felony assault and one other count of misdemeanor assault. (2009)

26. State Representative Gloria Davis (D) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for bribery. (2003)

27. State Senator Guy Velella (R) was indicted for bribery and conspiracy for accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties.[179] He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and received a year in jail. He served 182 days. (2002)

Local

28. New York City Councillor Miguel Martinez (D) pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy two days later. Martinez admitted to stealing $106,000 that was for children's art programs and low-income housing.[181] Martinez was convicted on three felonies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2009)

Sadly, this isn't the end of the list...

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Elections and Other Stuff...

I don't have much for today, but just a little about my assessment of recent elections. I am not sure that the Liberals really grasp how badly they lost in 2014. Not only did they lose the Senate badly, but, according to National Conference of State Legislatures, "Republicans gained 300-350 seats in state government and control over 4,100 of the nation’s 7,383 legislative seats." The last time this happened was in the 1920's.

That's great, but here is why I think they are even more clueless. Earlier this year, Obama's crackerjack election team went to Israel to help and advise Isaac Herzog on how to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Herzog and his party lost badly.

David Axelrod, key election adviser to Obama along with our dear New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio traveled to England to advise Ed Millibrand and his Labour Party on how to defeat David Cameron and his Conservative Party. Millibrand and Labour lost badly.

They just don't get that the people are just not buying what they are selling.

Now, here is where it gets really fun. NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio is travelling the US to sell his version of the Liberal "Contract With America" that will be revealed soon. He is convinced that the Democrats can win in 2016 if they can just move sharply left. Now, Bill has never really understood that he won by only 18% of vote of NYC registered voters despite that the fact that he swears he has a "mandate from the people". This is his now-famous quote from his recent Rolling Stone Magazine interview:

"A lot of people outside New York City understand what happened in the first year of New York City better than people in New York City. But I´m convinced something very special happened here."

Yeah, real special - murder is up 20% including three dead cops and we just don't "get" his brilliance. [Full disclosure: I have not read his RS interview because I just don't want to.] Though he has already announced that he will run again in 2017, I predict that he most certainly he will not win. He is that unpopular.

Anyway, let's hope the Dems keep up their present election track record.

Oh, did I forget to tell you that yet another New York State elected official has been indicted for wrong-doing? Remember earlier this year, I told you about long-time Democrat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's arrest. This time it is the Republican State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos who was arrested on federal corruption charges and after much wrangling, he finally stepped down today. I don't know the details and it almost doesn't even matter anymore. But at this rate, we may have to ask for volunteers to fill our state legislature simply because no one will be left who isn't already in jail.

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New York Shenanigans

While the big news for today will be Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before Congress today on the existential threat to his country if Iran is allowed to continue to build nuclear weapons, let me bring you up to speed on what is happening in the ethics front in New York while we wait.

State Level Shenanigans:
It has been reported that Gov. Cuomo quietly ordered sometime in 2013 that all state workers’ e-mails be automatically deleted after 90 days. Now this is interesting on many levels, but the most important was that this was ordered right before he created his commission to investigate corruption in the state goverment. When he disbanded his commission without warning, the US Attorney Preet Bharara took up the investigation which resulted in the arrest of Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the Assembly. [Here's a link to my previous post explaining all about that.]

Yeah, that's some good planning by Gov. Cuomo to make it easier to destroy evidence before he convened and then disbanded the investigation that got uncomfortably close to his own office. Fortunately, the state workers have not been very diligent in deleting their emails, so last month thousands of email were automatically deleted by the state's "chief information officer". One can imagine that this has made a very many people quite upset and hopefully one of them will be US Attorney Preet Bharara.

Gov. Cuomo has made it very clear that he is really, really pushing to overhaul the ethics laws in New York government and said he won't approve a budget without major changes. It all seems to hinge on the long-criticized state laws that require how much lawmakers have to disclose about their private income and clients that they service. It seems way too many of our state legislators may have clients who may or may not have official business with the state creating what may or may not appear to be a conflict of interest. Since the majority of elected officials are Democrats, the Republicans who are not exactly saints in regards to the conflict issue, have taken the side of more disclosure and transparency. So to tweak the Governor just a bit because they know he really just wants to get this settled as quickly and quietly as possible, several GOP legislators have floated the idea to require that live-in girlfriends' income must be disclosed just like a spouse.

You may not know this, but Gov. Cuomo has been living with his FoodTV Network cooking show star/hostess Sandra Lee (I hesitate to ever give her the moniker "chef") since his divorce from Kathleen Kennedy (yes, one of THE Kennedys) years ago. Instead of living in the Governor's mansion in Albany, they have chosen to live in her multi-million dollar mansion in tony Westchester County. But, since the embarrassing episode in Oregon where Governor John Kitzhaber recently was forced to resign over claims that his fiance Cylvia Hayes was selling her access to the Governor, one would think that Gov. Cuomo would be more than willing to embrace this idea or at the very least, not dismiss it outright. But his office responded with the assurance that Ms. Lee has no business before the state and then with an "anonymous" quote "suggesting that the financial disclosure measure be expanded 'to include all girlfriends, even those of married members' of the Legislature." Cheeky little devil is this "anonymous" quote-source.

New York City Level Shenanigans:
At the first of the year, our Mayor Diblasio, mandated that illegals and any other citizen of the city (but mostly illegals) who didn't have proper photo identification would be able to get one free of charge courtesy of the City of New York. The new NYC Municipal ID will allow those who do not have ID to open checking accounts and do other business that requires a photo ID to be able to do so within New York City. All one has to have is some kind of documentation that proves that you have an address in NYC. To sweeten to pot, along with new NYCID, a whole host of free stuff comes with it - free memberships to various museums and cultural isntitutions, prescription drug discounts, grocery discounts and may other goodies. The ID can also serve as a library card.

As a taxpaying citizen of the City of New York, I was very interested in getting all that free stuff too, so I applied for my NYCID on Friday. All I had to do was fill out a form and present my NY State drivers license to prove I had an address in NYC, and bing bang boom, I will get my new NYCID in 4 weeks. Which brings me to the other part of the story. Remember I told you that this was primarily so that Mayor Diblasio could give proper identification to illegal aliens in our city? Well, this week, the Mayor passed an executive order that all information and applications regarding NYCID will be destroyed on December 31, 2016 to protect any ID holders just in case the new WH Administration should be a little more inclined to uphold our federal immigration laws.

What is it with New York State Democrats and their need to destroy evidence?

Any questions, comments, updates?

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Preet! Preet! Preet!

“We simply want people in high office to stop violating the law...People elected to make laws should not be breaking them.”






Phew, Lots of goings on in state politics New York in the last week. Last Friday, the citizens of my fair state woke to photos splashed all over the papers of Sheldon Silver, venerable and all-powerful Speaker of the Assembly, being led away in handcuffs. Thanks to the investigation headed by the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara who took up the gauntlet when it was abuptly dropped by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mr. Silver has been charged with five counts of crimes against of the citizens of New York including allegedly "us[ing] the power and influence of his official position to obtain for himself millions of dollars masked as legitimate income earned...as a private lawyer" and "knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate...to willfully and knowingly obstruct, delay, and affect in any way and degree commerce...by extortion..."

In his press conference after the Silver arrest, Bharara ended with this:

"These charges in our view go to the very core of what ails Albany: lack of transparency, lack of accountability, and lack of principle — joined with overabundance of greed, cronyism, and self-dealing. But we will keep at it. As our unfinished fight against public corruption continues, you should stay tuned."

Silver was elected to the state assembly to represent lower Manhattan in 1977 and proceeded to gain more and more power and influence culminating in his appointment as Speaker of the Assembly in 1994 and a position he has held for 20 years until this week. Mr. Silver has spent his time in the Assembly gaining more and more power until he is now the most influencial Democrat in the state of New York. He has also spent his time making himself a very wealthy man. While serving as our esteemed Speaker, he has also been on the payroll of one the most influential and powerful plaintiff products liablility law firms in the state. Though he diligently reported some of the millions he was paid by this firm on his mandated yearly disclosure forms, he refused to answer questions as to what he did to earn his millions claiming that it would compromise his "client/attorney" privilege to divulge that information. This is important in that a simple docket search yielded only one case in which Mr. Silver was listed as the attorney of record. Oh, and this is kind of important too - he has spent much time blocking any kind of tort reform legislation in the state.

As I have written about before, we have a problem with "ethics" in our state legislature. So much of a problem that 22 elected officials have been indicted, tried, and jailed in the last 10 years and a Governor who was forced to resigned because of his taste for transporting prostitutes across state line for the purpose of...well, I don't really have to spell it out, do I? This is where Governor Cuomo's problems enter in. When Cuomo was elected as our governor, he promised to clean up Albany. It took him a while, but in early 2014, Cuomo invoked his governorly duties by appointing a commission of hand-picked members to investigate the ethics and corruption in our state government. The Moreland Commission, as it was called began diligently investigating any allegations of unethical behavior and asking questions, lots of questions. However, when their investigation began to close in on Speaker Silver with multiple subpoenaes, and little too close to the Governors office, Governor Cuomo abruptly quashed the Commission. His public excuse was that he had stuck some vague deal with Mr. Silver and the Legislature that they would pass new ethics laws real soon. Interestingly, Cuomo quashed his own commission right before the 2014 general elections.

Well, this came to the attention of our intrepid US Attorney Preet Bharara who smelled a rat. He asked the Commission to turn over all their files to his office which they did and his office started their own investigation. During their investigation, they discovered that not only was Mr. Silver on the payroll of one highly influencial law firm, he also had not disclose that he was kicking back a "finders fee" to a prominent Oncologist to direct his patients to the law firm. And this prominent Oncologist was awarded $500,000 in research grants from the taxpayers awarded by the very generous...Mr. Silver. What a coikidink! Then it was discovered during the investigation that Mr. Silver had failed to disclose more millions that he was paid by another law firm. This firm was an influencial real estate that brokered real estate transaction that came with huge tax rebates from the state. Transactions that were directed to the law firm by...Mr. Silver. Oops, but it was just a clerical error...no, he just forgot about those millions.

Silver isn't going down without a fight. While in closed meetings with his fellow Assembly Democrats this week he tried his hardest to make a deal that he wouldn't have to actually resign, but maybe just appoint a 5-person "committee" of hand-picked cronies who could just take over temporarily until he could be fully exonerated of all of the scurrilous charges and resume his powerful post. That did not fly so well and he has been forced to resign his post effective Monday.

Preet Bharara did not file these charges lightly and he knows what he is doing. And if he is successful which I have every confidence he will be, Silver will most likely go to prison and hopefully lose his state funded pension and Governor Cuomo will have to answer questions as to what he knew about all of this, when he knew about it and why he disbanded his own Commission when it was obvious what Mr. Silver had been up to all these years. Bharara has indicated to a very nervous Albany that he has "a number of public corruption investigations going on", so stay tuned.

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New York State of Mind and other Ebola-related stuff...

It has been awhile since I have reported on the state of New York. Like so many other states, we are well into the 2014 midterm election cycle. We will be either re-electing Andrew Cuomo or moving in another direction with Rob Astorino (R).

So far, Cuomo is leading by double digits, so I do not expect Astorino to win. But then again, Cuomo won't talk or debate anyone, but he is pushing a new party - the Women's Equality Party...yeah. Hey, his three daughters and current mistress Sandra Lee (Food Network star) are advertising a new political party in New York. Yeah, I feel better now.

But in other news, we have a new mayor. Oh, I know you think that Bill DeBlasio has been our mayor since January 1, 2014, but you'd be wrong. Actually he is being held hostage by Al Sharpton. Ugh. It's not it wasn't predictable. So here's the poop. Mayor Bill decided he wanted his wife to be an important part of his administration. Yey. So he appointed his wife, Chirlane to head (unpaid) the Mayor's Fund To Advance New York. So far, so good. But then she appointed as her highly paid assistant at $170K a year to be Rachel Noedlinger. Okay, not bad...well except that Noedlinger was Al Sharpton's second in command at his National Action Network. Okay, still not so bad.

But then, it has come to the attention of the press and everyone else that Ms. Noedlinger has some issues. [Surprise, surprise] As a potential highly paid employee of the city of New York one has to fill out a full disclosure form. And as always it is not what is disclose that is the problem. It is what is NOT disclosed.

First, when one applies for a city government position, one must reside in New York City. So, Noedlinger, who, like Al Sharpton, lives in New Jersey. She received a special waiver because of her son who she claimed had been in a so damaged in a car accident that he couldn't be moved. Well, he apparently was injured yet played on his high school football team. Strike One.

Next it was revealed that she forgot to inform anyone that she lived with her boyfriend who is a convicted felon - attempted murder. Now, he's served his time...but then he punched out a cop in a routine traffic violation. Oops. Then it was reported that he was stopped for another minor traffic violation while driving without a valid driver's licence (her car) and while driving under the influence of...well, a herbal substance...with Noedlinger's son. Strike two and three

Oh, that's not all. Noedlinger forgot to reveal that she has a tax lien and owes $800 worth of parking violations in NYC. Strike four and five.

Now anyone who fills out these forms and was hired by the City of New York would face immediate dismissal for any one of these disclosure failures. But not Noedlinger. The Mayor is standing by his man...Al Sharpton. Deblasio has proclaimed that there is nothing to see here and refuses to talk to the press. Deblasio has declared that there will be no other discussion and the new age of Al Sharpton has begun. Where is Mayor Bloomberg when we need him. Oh, he is back in control of Bloomberg, Inc. It turns out he really, really likes being a billionaire! Who knew?

In other news - Ebola...the saga continues.

It has been reported that a second nurse who was exposed while administering to Michael Duncan in Dallas has been diagnosed with Ebola. Now this is somewhat different because she just took a little round-trip plane trip to Cleveland with the blessing of the CDC. Now, one would think that any reasonable person who had been exposed to a highly contagious disease would self-quarantine or maybe the CDC would require them to be quarantined. But apparently these times are not reasonable. To her credit, she did seek clearance from the CDC who okayed her travel. Yet, as has been revealed, she travelled with a low-grade fever to and from Cleveland...on an airplane with the blessing of CDC. Because she is now not in good shape, she has been moved to Emory in Atlanta. And Frontier Airlines is scrambling to inform the people who flew, crewed and clean out the plane that made seven flights after she flew on it. By the way, no one has stated how long the Ebola virus hangs around on surfaces after exposure. I am SO glad the CDC is on top of this stuff.

I was recently asked what my greatest fear is. Without thinking, I immediately answered "irony". When asked what that meant, I really couldn't respond coherently. I sputtered for a few minutes and then responded that it was those "knock on wood" statements that we make. The "I could/would/should nwver" or "it could/would/should NEVER happen. But, after thinking for a few weeks, I finally can respond coherently. It is those moments when we proclaim that this could never happen and then it does. Like right now. The President has claimed for months along with the CDC that we have nothing to fear from Ebola because it...could/would/should...NEVER...happen here. Oh, the sad irony.

As an aside - I finally realized that my fear of irony was born during 9/11. The early morning of September 11, 2001, the weatherman on my radio station proclaimed "...there is no other way to say it, folks. It's gonna be a PERFECT day!" I can't recall a more imperfect day in my life...

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New York Election Cycle Hijinks.

Oh, those crazy, wacky New York Democrats. As we go into the final weeks of our state election that includes the Governor, the Dems in our legislature have just doubled down on stupid. Well, I guess that's just my opinion. To their credit they have managed to marginalize the Republican party in New York even though the Republicans hold the majority in the state Senate by one vote. In what these knuckleheads think will win them lots of votes, the senate Dems have introduced a bill in the Senate called "New York Is Home".

This bill proposed in June would create a state-level amnesty that would effectively make all illegal immigrants, and pretty much anyone who happens to cross the state line, a citizen of the State of New York. It would bar police from releasing any citizenship status information to the feds unless it involves "a criminal warrant unrelated to their immigration status", allow non-citizens to obtain professional licenses and permits, drivers' licenses, serving on juries, and bestows voting rights in local and state elections including running for local and state office, though federal law would still prohibit non-citizens legal or illegal from voting in our federal elections. As reported in the NY Post, the key sponsor are Brooklyn Assemblyman Karim Camara said that taking back the Senate is the key to getting this passed. The Senate sponsor Bronx Sen. Gustavo Rivera likens the proposed measure to the campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage and medical marijuana", both which passed and have been signed into law by Gov. Cuomo in the last few years.

If this gains local media traction, it might just backfire on the Dems. The two legislators who sponsored the bill represent "downstate" districts in NYC and those who represent "downstate" forget that "upstate" voters are not quite so liberal. Already the few competitive Republicans have been using this against their Dem opponents. It will only get louder and more ugly.

To be honest, my head nearly exploded when I first read this in the Post. But on second-sight, I am thrilled that the Dems have done this. It may just make this otherwise boring election cycle in New York more interesting.

Any thoughts or feelings?

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He's Baaaack!

I knew this was going to happen. For 20 years, it was clear that he had lost access to City Hall. Former Mayor Giuliani told him directly in his first few months that he was no longer welcomed at City Hall. And former Mayor Bloomberg made a point to exclude him. When our new Mayor de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray appointed his long time assistant at the National Action Network as her chief of staff at the cushy $170K salary, I knew he was back. If you haven't already guessed, "he" is Al Sharpton. And now Mayor de Blasio has made it clear that Al is back and has a seat at the table.

Let's take a trip to yesteryear...{{{{{wooooo...wooooooo....dissolve to...}}}} Oooh, the early '90's in New York. I remember this time! Cool! This was the time where you couldn't walk around Manhattan without fear of becoming a statistic! Cool! David Dinkins was Mayor and Al Sharpton was his best buddy! Protests, riots, general mayhem, and a peak of 2,224 murders in 1991! Good times.

It all came to a grand crescendo on August 19, 1991 in Crown Heights (Brooklyn) when a boy named Gavin Cato was accidentally struck and killed by a car driven by a Jewish man. Four days of riots ensued urged on by the Rev. Al Sharpton (and weakly discouraged by Mayor Dinkins) ending with the stabbing death of Yankel Rosenbaum, an innocent Australian rabbinical student innocently walking down a Crown Heights street.

Dinkins lost his reelection bid in 1994 to Rudy Giuliani claiming it was because of racist voters (a claim he still makes to this day, by the way). So Rudy came in as a former US District Attorney and with the help of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and then by Ray Kelly, set about cleaning the city up. Block by block, they cleaned up the streets and crime went down.

But fearing that he had not done enough damage and probably because he thought Rudy would see the light, Rev. Al staged another protest in 1995. This time against a Jewish landlord who was trying to evict a black business owner to expand another business of Jewish tenant and owner of Freddie's Fashion Mart. Yeah, this was Rev. Al's rally cry -

"We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business."

Unfortunately, the protest turned violent (again), when one of the protesters entered Freddie's Fashion Mart and shot several people and then set the place on fire. Six employees died of smoke inhalation and the shooter killed himself. Al's only regret was using the term "white interloper".

Rudy didn't back down from his crusade of ridding the city of crime. He, Bratton and Kelly were so successful that the tourists started pouring in. Times Square morphed from some post-apocalyptic Mad Max movie into Disneyland. [Maybe they overshot the mark] Mayor Bloomberg continued with Ray Kelly and lowered violent crime to less than 300 murders in 2013.

{{{{woooo....wooooooo....dissolve to....}}}

Now Bill de Blasio is Mayor and Al Sharpton is his point man in all things racial. Oh, and violent crime is up 25% in just 8 months! Rev. Al is staging a protest on August 23 in Staten Island to protest the death of a long time petty criminal at the hands of the police. The good times are back.

Oh, there's still some good news! Bill Bratton is back as Police Commissioner. That's something, right?

CORRECTION: I have been spelling our new Mayor's last name incorrectly. It's "de Blasio", not "DiBlasio".

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A Cross Atheists Must Bear

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an excavator named Frank Silecchia uncovered a 4,000 pound broken I-beams that bore an striking resemblance to a cross. Soon after a Franciscan priest blessed the cross to be used as a "point of refuge" for those digging through the rubble. Dubbed the "Miracle Cross", it became an iconic symbol of resilience for the scared landscape of Ground Zero.

Shortly after, the cross was moved to the Old St. Patrick Church one block northeast of Ground Zero and then on to a temporary 9/11 Memorial section at Battery Park in Lower Manhattan along with another icon of the WTC, the smashed globe from the WTC Plaza.

Fast forwarding through the years of clean up, planning and rebuilding, it was decided that the "Miracle Cross" would find its finally resting place at the new National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the new, improve WTC complex. But, some took exception. In 2011, American Atheists Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Museum to bar the cross from the Museum on the grounds of "separation of church and state". Since the Museum was to be partly funded by the federal government they argued that the cross was a nefarious Christian plot to indoctrinate the masses and would be offensive to...oh, you know what their argument was. The idea that they might have to look upon a cross offended their weak little minds.

Late last year, a federal court judge did not buy their reasoning and ruled against American Atheist Inc. They appealed the judge's decision (not surprising) and this week they got their answer. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued their decision this week:

“[Given] the absence of any evidence of ulterior religious motives, and the undisputed historical significance of The Cross at Ground Zero, we conclude that, as a matter of law, the record compels the conclusion that the actual purpose of displaying the cross in the September 11 Museum is a genuine secular interest in recounting the history of extraordinary events,”

So the Miracle Cross gets to stay to continue its life as a point of refuge and resilience for all.

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Times Square Mayhem Open Thread

I know what you're thinking from the title. Maybe you think that it has to do with all of the Pro-Palestinian protests. I mean, what better place for the Palestinian sympathizers to protest than the one city in the US that has more Jews than Israel. But no, this is much worse. What do you do when Superheroes go rogue or you're groped by a Super Mario Brother or worse, Elmo punches your child? Well, it happens all the time in Times Square these day.

It all started during the Bloomberg Years when former Mayor Bloomberg and his trusty side-kick former Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan closed off part of Times Square to car/bus/truck traffic and turned it into a pedestrian plaza. Yep, mayhem has ensued. Now the plaza is flooded with every movie, comic book, and Disney character rimaginable vying with each other to sell photos of themselves with your friends and family. I applaud the entrepreneurial spirit, but really, how many dueling Statues of Liberty is too many? [And when I say "dueling", I mean they will take that lamp of liberty and use it against you if you don't pay up...]

Yeah, so you might have heard that last week Spiderman (one of at least three) who punched out a cop and was arrested while a shocked Elmo looks on. I am not sure Mickey & Minnie Mouse weren't the instigators because they can be seen snickering in the background.

So, let's have an open forum. What do you want to discuss today? There's so much happening around the world - Hamas v. Israel, Russia v. Ukraine, ISIS v. Christians, Syria v. Al Qaeda and then there's our border issues. Oh, and the House is preparing for a showdown today on some kind of immigration package. So we shouldn't want for a topic. I am expecting breaking news sometime in the afternoon that.

The floor is now open...

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Get Thee Behind Me, Satan....er...Walmart.

Let's see, I know that you have all been waiting with baited breath to know what's been happening in NYC since we elected our new Mayor. Let's see...oh, yeah, this is fun. The Walmart Family Foundation announced a few weeks ago that they were making a $3 million donation to be distributed amongst several charities in New York City. You know, food banks, job training programs for low income women and the like.

Now you'd think that this would be met with applause and back slapping or at least a thank-you card. But no, this is New York City, where we do things "our way". So, when met with this generous charitable donation, what do we do? We, as in our city council, had a total liberal freak-out. Now you'd think that Walmart was maybe donating tons of recalled, tainted meat or expired milk or maybe even a bunch of 32 oz. sugary sodas or something. Not really, it was just cash money. Well, anyway, last week 26 of our 51 newly elected city council members decided in their infinite wisdom to send a cease-and-desist letter to Walmart. Yes, they demanded that Walmart stop making multi-million dollar donations to our local charities. Their letter went something like this:

“We know how desperate you are to find a foothold in New York City to buy influence and support here. Stop spending your dangerous dollars in our city. That’s right: this is a cease-and-desist letter.”

Yes, you read that right. And not only did they send this letter to Walmart, but the city council demanded that the charities that received these "toxic" donations give...the...money...back! You can imagine how that went over with the charities. With a giant "Have you lost your liberal freakin' minds??" You'd think that they would have learned since it was exactly the same reaction the liberal freak-out brigade got when they liberally freaked out over the New York/Presbyterian Hospital announcement that the evil David Koch was donating $100 million for a new ambulatory care wing. Apparently, to these idiots multi-million dollar donations will only be tolerated if they come from the right people.

Of course, there is a back story to the whole Walmart thing. For over 10 years, Walmart has been trying to move into our area. But they have been held back by any and all the excuses the city fathers could muster. The most ridiculous being how Walmart will put the "little mom and pop stores" out of business. That line of attack was seen through pretty quickly since we already have Target, Costco, K-Mart, Gaps and Starbucks on every corner, and just about every other chain store already. Of course, the real reason is that Walmart refuses to unionize. And no one is more beholden to the unions than the our city council especially in the new era of Marxist Mayor de Blasio.

Oh, btw, apparently not all of New York is so intolerant since Walmart has donated about $22 million to other charities around the state. And not to put too fine a point on it, but they were the first in after Hurricane Sandy with truck loads of water and blankets. Man, I miss Bloomberg...

Anyway, feel free to comment or change the subject.

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Don't Mess With Texas...Even in New York.

What fun we've had this week in New York City! Texas Governor Rick Perry showed up again to try and lure businesses to the Great State of Texas. It's really entertaining to watch heads explode here. The speaker of our City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito (D/Marxist) had this to say about Perry's visit:

“Rick Perry’s traveling circus isn’t going to persuade New Yorkers who know a sideshow when they see one. The truth is Rick Perry has pushed a textbook right-wing agenda that is anti-middle-class, anti-women and something New Yorkers will overwhelmingly and easily reject...”

Yeah, except the facts are on Perry's side in this. The fact is that Texas is No. 1 in job growth and in having a business-friendly climate, and New York is...well, embarrassingly No. 49 in both categories. New York is only one step above New Jersey which I guess is something that Mark-Viverto can hang her hat on, I guess. Perry went so far as to challenge our Governor Andrew Cuomo to a duel...no, I mean, a debate on which state has the better business climate. As expected, Gov. Cuomo declined, but not before pointing out Perry's debate disaster in the last Presidential cycle. Now granted, Perry deserved that slap, but he also has the facts overwhelmingly on his side and Gov Cuomo knows he has no legs to stand on in that debate. Still, it made me laugh because it is such a Texan thing to do - being boastful and prideful of the Great State of Texas. It's what Texans expect from their Governor and why...well, Texas is No. 1 in job growth and in business-friendly climate-ness. At least, Mayor de Blasio stayed out of it.

Speaking of Mayor de Blasio, he has finally relented in his quest to shut down the carriage-horse trade in New York City. You may remember that one of his campaign promises was that on his first day in office, he was going to shut down those horse-carriages that clop through Central Park. He insisted that the horses were being mistreated and were no longer appropriate. Well, something happened on his way to the signing. 65% of New Yorkers didn't want the carriage-horses to be shut down. Actor Liam Neeson, a long-time resident of New York and friend to the mostly Irish carriage owners/operators, waged a heated public campaign to stop the stopping. He challenged the Mayor and anyone on the City Council to come to the stables and meet the men and women who take care of these beautiful animals to see how really well they are treated and regulated. The Mayor and most of the City Council members declined the offer and kept pushing for a ban. Mr. Neeson just pushed harder. The daily papers surprisingly supported Neeson and the pro-carriage trade people.

This week at the New York International Auto show, the old-timey electric car that is supposed to replace the carriages was revealed. Well, let's just say it didn't go well. Perhaps is was when Steve Nislick [see photo], a parking lot magnate and founder of anti-horse carriage group NYCLASS, threatened to punch out a female New York Daily News reporter. Or when the big reveal ended with a resounding thud. Or maybe it was when it was revealed that this whole issue had nothing to do with the plight of the poor horses, but with the proposed development of the very valuable property where the horses are stabled. Wouldn't you know it? See, this is why you don't threaten a reporter, especially a female reporter. It turns out that Mr. Nislick was not only a very deep-pocketed donor to the de Blasio mayoral campaign, but he also has a very lucrative stake in the development of the property that the stables now occupy. Whoopsie, Mayor de Blasio quickly reined in his stand on the carriage horses and conceded that he would have to put this on the back burner because there were more pressing issues that needed his attention like raising taxes. [Calling Governor Perry... Governor Perry, are you there? Can you tell him why this might not be a good idea?]

As an aside to the whole horse carriage issue and the plight of the poor horses, here are two issues that have not been raised:

#1 - We have an entire battalion of mounted police where the horses are all over the city in the same traffic as the carriages;
#2 - We have Belmont Park, a horse racing track in Queens and host of the third leg of the triple crown horse race - Belmont Stakes - where dozens of horses die every year as a result of the sport.

Not once has NYCLASS or PETA tried to shut either of these down on the same grounds which leads me to agree this is about a lucrative land deal more than the plight of the horses...

Well, as always, feel free to comment on these or any topic.

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Stupid Liberal Tricks That Are Stupid...Really, Stupid.

So things just get weirder and weirder in New York. Frankly, my forehead is getting a permanent dent from beating my head against the nearest hard surface. So, here are just two examples of the strange and fascinating world of liberal stupidity from this week...

Number 1 - Let's call it "The Perfidy of the Koch brothers" - Their crime - donating too much money to the worthy cause of medical treatment for the poor...damn them! Who the hell do they think they are with all their money and voluntary donations of huge chunks of it for worthy causes! Damn, I say...where can I get some. I mean, they haven't reimbursed me one red cent all my political activities. And the liberals promised...PROMISED me that they did and would!

Okay, let me stop being snarky and explain. David Koch, cancer survivor and serial giver who is known to give freely of his own vast fortune to worthy causes like cancer research, New York State Theatre in Lincoln Center, museums, and many other worthy causes, had the unmitigated gall to donate $100 million (that is not a typo) to New York-Presbyterian Hospital to open a ambulatory care unit. This is the largest donation to this hospital in its history.

From the reaction from the anti-Koch groups in New York, one would think that they took money from the hospital to open their own private hospital for themselves or that Mr. Koch demanded to be PAID $100 million and that the hospital's entire staff be fired just for his evil pleasure. Joining in the protest were the New York State Nurses’ Association, the NAACP New York State Conference and SEIU Local 1199. They are outraged that the hospital would accept such a gift from such a person who is known for his personal "War On Women"! So outraged that they spent the weekend protesting in front of the hospital and Mr. Koch's residence to show their outrage. As one person commented on The Blaze - "They don’t want them to give it to us of their own free will, they want to take it from them." That seems about right.

Now, I realize the government is supposed to be supplying our ambulatory care now, but this is...well, I don't know what this is.

Number 2 - "The War On the Carriage Trade" - So, Mayor de Blasio who is fast becoming the most hated man in New York City, has set his sights on the quaint tourist attraction in Central Park. If you've ever been to New York, you may have seen the horse-drawn carriages lined up along Central Park South near the famous Plaza Hotel. They have romanced New York City lovers and tourist for over 150 years. Well, de Blasio made a campaign promise (to PETA) to shut the carriages down and replace them with electric cars. The reasoning is that live horses have no business on the busy streets of New York with all the cars and people and noise and the horses are being mistreated and some other stuff. And dang it, de Blasio has mandate from the election in which he won 75% of the vote and the people have spoken.

Who would imagine that the carriage-drivers, stable hands, and other related trades could get a bit out of sorts that someone wants to put them and their horses out of business. Some of the carriage owners/drivers and their families have been doing this for generations. But mostly they are outraged that they are being falsely accused of mistreating their animals. Fortunately, Liam Neeson, star of stage and screen, has taken up their cause. Many of the carriage owners/drivers are his personal friends. I know, can you imagine that someone of Neeson's stature has regular friend who do regular stuff? He is personally outraged that the city wants to shut down a long standing piece of living history for no rational reason.

This week Mr. Neeson invited the Mayor and City Counsel members to come to the stables to see for themselves how the horses are treated. The Mayor and most of the City Counsel members regretfully declined citing "their minds are made up"..er..I mean, scheduling issues. Now, I do not know much about the horses (I know I'm from Texas), but from what I have read and personally seen, they are treated much better than most humans who work in New York City. Heck, these horses do not have to work in inclement weather or snow and get an 8-week vacation every year to frolic on an upstate farm. This is a highly regulated industry and there have been a steady stream of testimonials from veterinarians, equestrians, and pretty much anyone who knows horses, that they are healthy and happy. If only the people who live in public housing were treated as well!

Oh, the Mayor said that he will be happy to meet with the carriage people to discuss what they could do after he shuts them down and they are forced to sell their horses to the knackers...abattoir...glue factory...slaughter house whatever. Oh, did PETA not know that was a possibility? Oops...

Bonus Number 3 - Remember my rant last week about the charter schools? Well, first of all, the School Chancellor Carmen Farina, who last week told the very successful Harlem Success Charter school that they were losing their space and that they were on their own, has done a one-eighty. Realizing that she might just be an idiot and a tool, relented and said she would of course help the school find an alternate space. Oh, but as a consolation prize, Eva Moskowitz, founder of the charter school will have to submit to a grilling by the City Counsel and New York State Comptroller Tom Di Napoli informed her of his intention to audit its financial records. Nah, that's not political at all.

Oh, and one more thing. De Blasio blathers on about how he won by a huge majority and "the people have spoken". The reality is that only 24% of the registered voters actually voted in the last election which means by my math-challenged brain, that comes out to only 19% of the available votes. Which also means that there are another 81% of us who did not vote for him. That is hardly a "mandate". That should explain why de Blasio has been in office for 10 weeks and has an approval rating of 39% with 59% giving him a "poor" rating. That has got to be a some kind of record...

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Rant of the Day - The NY Progressives' "War on Education"

I have to rant here for a minute or two. We have a war waging in NYC. You may remember that we have a new mayor in NY - Bill de Blasio - Marxist Progressive. He made all sorts of promises to make everything better for the poor, downtrodden of NYC. One of his promises was in the field of "public school education". Yes, our children were going to fare better if only he would be elected mayor. And his war will be waged against the scourge of charter schools.

Whatever you may think about charter schools, by all accounts, they are doing an amazing job in NYC. Under Bloomberg (remember him?), charter schools grew by leaps and bounds. The children who have been lucky enough to win a seat by lottery at one of our charter schools in NYC that are co-located within public school facilities, are getting the best public school education that our tax dollars can fund. These charter schools are filled with dedicated non-union affiliated administrators and teachers. The top school in the state right now is Success Academy Charter Schools founded by former City Council member and apparent de Blasio nemesis Eva Moskowitz. The students of the Success Academy, mostly poor minority students, scored the highest in math in the state of New York last year and fifth in language. That is all the schools across the state including the all of the tony, upper class school districts outside of New York City where all the upper crust, ivy leaguers moved to for "better schools" for their children. And inexplicable our new mayor is trying to shut them down. He is demanding that they move out or pay rent or, if possible just go away. It's just not right that they the charter students should be allowed to hog all the empty space and all that oxygen that should otherwise go to union teachers...I mean, regular public school students. It's not fair, it's not right, it's not equitable that any student should be learning when they do not have a union teacher to teach them.

The charter school concept seems pretty simple - set a high standard to achieve and challenge the students to meet that standard - no excuses. Understand that this is a kind of "Stand and Deliver" kind of goal. Remember that movie about Jaime Escalante, the teacher in California who decided to take otherwise underachieving minority students and challenging them to pass the AP Calculus test? All the administrators and teacher thought he was crazy and wasting his time. He and his students proved them all wrong. For almost 20 years, his students aced the AP calculus exam and went on to college when no one expected them to be able to do more that count change at a fast food joint.

This week our dear Mayor de Blasio announced that he was rescinding any further expansion of the otherwise successful charter schools mostly to appease his union buddies in the UFT. Let's just say that the otherwise compliant minority constituency of our Mayor are, as we say in the South, "loaded for bear". A huge rally by the parents and sympathizers of charter schools was held in Albany to object to the Mayor's decree. Governor Cuom, who is at odds with Mayor de Blasio for other reasons attended the rally to show his support. Fifteen thousand angry parents with their children in tow and in the snow and cold, descended on our capital to voice their strong opposition to the wrong-headedness of de Blasio's stubborn adherance to his campaign promises. They are not happy that their kids who are finally getting a real chance to break out of poverty and get the education that they deserve are being thwarted by the very people (and party) that purports to want to "help" them and are doing everything they in their power to halt their childrens' education! It was beautiful thing to behold.

For all the complaints that have been leveled at these overachieving charter school [which, btw, includes better lunch hours, better lunches, better gym hours etc], not once have I heard one union teacher, one union administrator, one union-sympathizing talk show pundit, or even the pro-UFT Mayor (see a pattern here?) ask "What are these charter schools doing so RIGHT that their students are scoring so high?". Call me crazy, but shouldn't that be the ONLY question being asked? Isn't this the point? These kids, mostly minority, who, by all that we are lead to believe, shouldn't be able to learn anything because of whatever aggrieved [fill in the blank] reason the unions can come up with, are surpassing not only their inner city, regular public school, union-teacher educated counterparts but ALL student in the state, and no one is asking "How are they doing this and how can we emulate what they are doing?". It makes me crazy...

Any thoughts?

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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.

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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.

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New York State of Mind - Inauguration Edition

AS of January 1, New York has a new mayor. Bill de Blasio was sworn in and outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg was almost literally sworn out. Yeah, the incoming Mayor de Blasio and his roster of speakers did not have much nice to say about the Bloomberg Administration. Now, don't get me wrong. I have spent many years railing against Nanny Bloomberg, but there is one thing that in indisputable. In the twelve year that Mayor Bloomberg was in charge, he and his Administration left New York City a much better place to live. Maybe too much better, but you wouldn't know if from de Blasio and his "friends". His ongoing campaign theme was "Tale of Two Cities". You know where the rich just get richer and the poor get poor and never the twain shall meet.

It started off okay. Bill Clinton (yes, that Bill Clinton) was chosen to swear Mr. de Blasio in as the New Mayor and he was about the only one who didn't swear at outgoing Mayor Bloomberg. Clinton spoke glowingly of Mayor Bloomberg and how he improved the city since taking office in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. And he was only one to say "Thank You" to Mayor Bloomberg for his "incredible commitment" and stewardship. The rest of the speakers spent the remainder of their valuable time...well, let me just give you some of the more choice quotes.

First up, Harry Belafonte - He should have sung a song, but sadly he did not. First, he called the Bloomberg Administration "Dickensian" and he did not mean it in a good way either. He stated that "New York alarmingly plays a tragic role in the fact that our nation has the largest prison population in the world." He could have been referring to the many New York City elected officials who have been arrested, but sadly that is not what he meant. He was referring to that evil, yet highly effective "stop, question, and frisk" policy of the New York City police department which oddly has brought the murder rate down to historic lows and incarceration rates down 36% since 2002. But why let facts get in the way of "speaking truth to power", right?

Next up, Sanitation Department Chaplain Fred Lucas Jr. (who knew the Sanitation HAD a chaplain!) - He referred to New York City as "a plantation" and but not before he asked God to free New York from the "shackles of partisan politics" and "political correctness". Needless to say, many are calling for him to resign. Not only because of his tasteless remarks, but the more pressing question as to why the Sanitation Department needs their own dedicated Chaplain.

Then came Letitia James, newly elected Public Advocate (the most pointless position in our city government) who trotted out a 12 year old girl recently profiled in the NYT as the face of poverty and homelessness in New York. (more on that later, maybe) Here is what Ms. James had to say - “The policies that made us voiceless must give way to a government that works for them, that speaks for them, that cares more about a child going hungry than a new stadium or a new tax credit for a luxury development that a majority of New Yorkers can’t ­afford.” and added that “we live in a gilded age of inequality [see: Tale of Two Cities] where decrepit homeless shelters and housing developments stand in the neglected shadow of gleaming multimillion-dollar condos.” Ironically, in the seven day since the inauguration, Ms. James has been called out as a liar for falsely taking credit for bringing the plight of the 12 year old to the attention of the NYT, and that, even better, she owns a few of those "decrepit" housing developments that stand neglected. Oopsey...

Interestingly, Al Sharpton was not invited to speak. I am pretty sure that it was because he wasn't really needed as the grievance lobby was well represented.

Mayor Bloomberg who was sitting on the dais right behind all of the speakers and sat stone-faced the entire time. It was reported that he made a brief appearance at the post-inauguration reception inside City Hall, but did not linger. The fallout has been amusing. Though New Yorkers loved to whine about Mayor Bloomberg (me included), they...we give him credit for making the city better and safer and the inauguration speakers have been universally condemned as insulting, "smug", and "graceless". It does not bode well for New Yorkers that Mayor de Blasio declared that he was "very comfortable" with what his speakers had to say.

Issues for NY'ers to look forward to with our new Mayor de Blasio - higher crime rates, higher taxes, and a more entrenched Big Labor on the public payroll...yey!

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New York Race to the Bottom...

There is just so much going on in the world, I just can't focus. It's because of the NY mayoral race. The two candidates are going at it like cats and mice. So when I am not trying to glean non-existent information from the New York insurance exchange website, I have been trying glean information about the candidates. Here is what I have learned so far:

Bill de Blasio, the Democrat (photo above on the left) who is married to a African-American former lesbian is promising everything but the kitchen sink (well, that too):

1. Tax "the rich" to pay for stuff like free universal kindergarten for all.
2. Fire Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and end that evil "broken window" policing and the infamous "stop & frisk" policing made so popular by the last two mayors. It doesn't matter that the murder rate is down to less than 400 a year. It targets high crime areas that just happen to be high minority areas too...it's racist.
3. Bunches of "affordable" housing (that's the kitchen sink)
4. He will continue the appeal that Bloomberg filed to strike down the state court judges decision that found the his mandatory "16 oz soda ban" arbitrary and capricious.
5. He pal'ed around with the Sandinista's and honeymooned in Cuba with his former lesbian bride.
6. Oh, and his son has a big 'fro.

Joe Lhota, the Republican candidate (photo above on the right) who was Deputy Mayor under Rudy Guiliani and is the former head of the MTA, is...well...who knows. He hasn't really shown up yet. Seriously, he has made almost no impression on anyone except he swears he is NOT the "Tea Party" candidate and is definitely NOT a Washington Republican.

Honestly, there have been two televised debates with one more left and I just can't bear to watch them. I have watched just long enough to want to destroy my television or fear that I will suffer a massive stroke. I just have to walk away. It's not a big stretch for me to call this race now. Bill de Blasio will be our next mayor. He is leading Lhota by high double digits, so no one has any grand illusions that Lhota has a prayer of winning. Not because de Blasio is the better candidate, but because of "regime change".

We have had Republican mayors (well, Bloomberg was a Republican after he was a Democrat and before he was an Independent) for 20 years and the city has improved in just about every way one can gauge. New York is certainly safer and cleaner than it has ever been. So safe and clean that tourism is booming and real estate prices are unaffordable for just about anyone but the wealthy. People are tired of all that good stuff and long for the bad old days where rents were were low and crime was high. It was fun. It was challenging. So now it's time to let the Democrats take over to restore the balance of the universe and put that challenge back in.

Oh, here's something interesting. You know how Mayor Bloomberg has spent the last 12 years trying to save us from ourselves? Apparently it didn't work. We are not any healthier and are actually 25% heavier than in 2002...

And speaking of 25% heavier, it looks like Chris Christie will be reelected as New Jersey's Governor by an overwhelming margin.

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More Fun With Obamacare - New York Style!

The week the exchanges went online, I challenged you to find out information about the exchanges in your state. And at the time, I reported that it was almost impossible to find out the information on the New York insurance exchanges. Someone in New York must have read my tale of woe because more information has been dribbling out. Honestly, one has to be pretty tech savvy and very patient to find it and use it. The information provided without having to sign up is there, just not in one place.

Just for fun, let's start at the beginning. The Alpha of New York Health Insurance Exchanges:

Here is a link to the New York State of Health website: New York Health exchanges!

Here is a link to the basic plan for each precious metal category: Basic plans

Here is a link to the premium and subsidy estimator: Tax Credit and Premium Estimator [Look hard and you will find it. There is a link at about the middle of the page. Yeah, right there so small you'd miss it if you weren't looking for it.]

Now if you've made it THIS far, here is a link to the insurance providers that are available in each county: Insurance Providers by County

Last week, there was a link to a lovely EXCEL spreadsheet that had links to all of the providers and even sometimes the providers had basic information about what each of their plans provided, but that seems to have disappeared.

The bottom line is that there is no one place where you can get information on plans (deductibles, out-of-pockets etc) and premiums in the same place. I tried to develop my own spreadsheet that married the premium ranges with the basic plans, but it was becoming a full-time job, so I gave up. I am not sure why this is supposed to be such a chore. I am worn out and I am not even signing up!

Here are some basic premium ranges and plans for the "silver" plans which are supposed to be the plan one has to buy to receive any subsidies:

For a single person living in Manhattan with a yearly income of $45,000, there are nine "silver" plans from which to choose with monthly premiums that range from $360 to $645 minus $9 monthly advance subsidy. Each plan has a deductible of $2000 plus $5,500 out-of-pocket expenses and $30-$150 co-pays.

Upstate New York in Onondaga County, there are five plans with monthly premiums that range from $285 to $462 (no subsidy) which presumably have the same deductible/out-of-pocket expenses/co-pays.

I can see why they are trying very hard to keep this all a big secret for as long as possible. For someone living in Manhattan who is earning $45,000, that is NOT any great bargain. Andrew quoted that upwards of 80K people have signed up in New York, however it has been reported in the local papers that 40K have signed up. I have a sneaking suspicion that the high number includes people who have "created an account" which does not mean one has actually purchased insurance yet.

Anyway, play around with the estimators and find out how much you would pay if you live in New York. Have fun, but not TOO much fun!

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