New York State Budget: More Regressive Ideas From Gov. Paterson

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Friday November 14, 2008 · 3:20 AM PST

2008/11/14 · 03:20

Two days ago I wrote about the proposal to jack up NYC transit fares by 28% and how that was in effect a regressive tax on the sort of New Yorkers whom could least afford it—and how this was being done at the same time New York State Governor David Paterson has refused to consider what’s come to be called the “millionaires’ tax.”

Well, just to add insult to injury, here’s another winner of an idea: New York State has started collecting a $25 child support enforcement fee from those that needed government help to recover child support payments.

Red Wind

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Thursday November 13, 2008 · 2:11 AM PST

2008/11/13 · 02:11

Last week, I looked at the AP exit poll on California’s Proposition 8; this week, Nate Silver looked at the CNN exit poll. . . and we come to similar conclusions. Cool!

Red Wind

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Wednesday November 12, 2008 · 12:44 PM PST

2008/11/12 · 12:44

Tell me you didn’t see this one coming. MTA Chief Elliot Sander announced this week that economic times being what they are, the Transit Authority’s deficit was going to balloon to $1.2 billion, and so service cuts and substantial fare hikes were now inevitable.

The MTA had already slated eight percent fare increases for next year; they now say they will need an additional 20% to make up shortfalls caused by increased fuel costs and decreasing property values (the MTA gets a good chunk of its budget from property and property-related taxes). If an increase like that is approved, the price of a single ride on a New York City subway or bus would climb above $2.50.

Red Wind

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Tuesday November 11, 2008 · 3:00 PM PST

2008/11/11 · 15:00

Last Thursday, I wrote that Obama’s path to victory in this election—a strategy that embraced core Democratic values instead of pandering to the center-right—had left me feeling validated if not vindicated for two decades of advocating just such an approach.

Well, thanks to Stanley Greenberg, writing in today’s <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span>, you can now color me vindicated, too. Greenberg, who was Bill Clinton’s chief pollster and one of the men most responsible for reinforcing the notion of “Reagan Democrats,” has decided to finally lay that frame to rest. . . .

Red Wind

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Thursday November 06, 2008 · 5:29 AM PST

2008/11/06 · 05:29

It’s been a long time coming.

The first time that I ever voted was the first time that I was eligible—the 1980 general election. And if that’s not enough of a humbling admission, I’ll go a step further: I voted for Barry Commoner. It was a protest vote in non-competitive state, but the reasons for that protest formed the foundation of my complaints about Democrats—or, if not Democrats, Democratic strategy—for the rest of my political life.

At least until today.

Red Wind

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Friday October 31, 2008 · 4:31 AM PDT

2008/10/31 · 04:31

If you are a regular reader, then I expect that you can guess what I’m going to say when it comes to choosing the next president of the United States. If you call yourself a liberal, or a progressive, or a lover of individual liberty and reproductive choice; if you want quality, affordable healthcare to be accessible to all Americans, if you want to restore some modicum of equity to the tax code, and some degree of sanity to our foreign policy; if you want to approach energy independence and global warming with the seriousness and the urgency those matters deserve; if you want a government staffed with experts instead of ideologues that is led by a man who trusts his intellect enough to be intellectually curious—or even if you just want some portion of all this—then there is only one way to vote on Tuesday: Barack Obama for president.

BUT, if you live in New York, there are actually two ways you can vote for Obama—you can go the old, stodgy, predictable route, and pull the lever or mark your box for Barack Obama (D), Democrat, or, if you really, really believe in all that I laid out above, you can vote for Barack Obama (WFP), Working Families Party.

Red Wind

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Tuesday October 28, 2008 · 4:23 AM PDT

2008/10/28 · 04:23

In the last 48 hours, I have received a couple of interesting emails from a friend. My friend has been a supporter of Barack Obama since early on, and she has two siblings—one who stands outside McCain-Palin rallies with a sign that says “I AM a real American,” and then posts YouTubes of the experience:

Red Wind

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Friday October 24, 2008 · 4:21 AM PDT

2008/10/24 · 04:21

Now that our great and glorious leader Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine ~~Quinn~~ Quisling have succeeded in their power play, here’s a little question to consider this fine fall weekend: at what cost?

Red Wind

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Tuesday October 21, 2008 · 4:25 AM PDT

2008/10/21 · 04:25

And, while you’re at it, impeach Quinn, Markowitz, Felder, Recchia, Valone, Dilan, and Sears, too.

I know I should learn more about the rules and bylaws that govern New York City’s impeachment process—and maybe I’ll get to that later—but right now I don’t care. All I know is that there is already a stack of stories on how Mayor Michael Bloomberg has used both personal and public funds in a covertly choreographed attempt to buy the support he needs to override the city’s term limits law, and he can no longer be trusted as an honest steward of our interests.

He has also used our tax dollars for his master plan, so, beyond being forced from office, he probably belongs in jail.

Red Wind

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Monday October 20, 2008 · 7:57 AM PDT

2008/10/20 · 07:57

. . . and vice-versa.

It is paragraphs like this one that make it hard to get all dewy-eyed over the predicted death of the dead-tree media:

So are we a centrist country, or a right-of-center one? I think the latter, because the mean to which most Americans revert tends to be more conservative than liberal. According to the NEWSWEEK Poll, nearly twice as many people call themselves conservatives as liberals (40 percent to 20 percent), and Republicans have dominated presidential politics—in many ways the most personal, visceral vote we cast—for 40 years. Since 1968, Democrats have won only three of 10 general elections (1976, 1992 and 1996), and in those years they were led by Southern Baptist nominees who ran away from the liberal label. "Is this a center-right country? Yes, compared to Europe or Canada it's obviously much more conservative," says Adrian Wooldridge, coauthor of "The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America" and Washington bureau chief of the London-based Economist. "There's a much higher tolerance for inequality, much greater cultural conservatism, a higher incarceration rate, legalized handguns and greater distrust of the state."

Red Wind

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Friday October 17, 2008 · 7:00 AM PDT

2008/10/17 · 07:00

OK, I’ve put it off long enough. . . I suppose it is time for me to give up my copper on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s little plan to ~~abrogate~~ ~~override~~ extend term limits, allowing him to ~~run for~~ buy another four years in office.

I probably have more than two cents to add. . . I probably should have been down at the City Council hearings on Thursday, watching the goings on in the packed, stuffy room, impatiently waiting the 10, 12, 14 hours it might have taken for them to get to my two minutes of “fame.” But, truth be told, I had to spend 20 hours fighting with Time Warner about my dead internet connection, and, truth be told again, I was afraid that if I went, I would wind up with my own set of plastic bracelets. . . .

Red Wind

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Monday October 13, 2008 · 5:50 AM PDT

2008/10/13 · 05:50

When last we spoke, the Dow was starting Friday in freefall while all eyes turned to a meeting of the G7 called by the chief executive of the United States, ~~George W. Bush~~ Henry Paulson. During the course of Friday, the Dow did a bit of a rollercoaster rebound, but I am not going to tell you it was because investors were expecting x or y from the G7 or the US Treasury Department, or because there was some bargain hunting, or because Mercury was in retrograde. (I utterly despise this kind of Stock Market analysis—it’s post-hoc hooey—so when you catch me doing it, and I assure you I will, take it with appropriate measures of sodium.)

What happened next? Well, the G7 released an abysmal document pledging future efforts, sunshine and lollipops, etc., but when it came to the details of actually doing something, one can sum it all up with, “splunge!” The next day, the IMF mostly followed the G7’s “lead.”

That was all very bad news. . . .

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