Assembly Will Consider Term Limits Bill Next Week

Making good on his promise to deal with Mayor Bloomberg, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries is sponsoring a bill to rescind the Mayor and Council's action that extended term limits from eight to twelve years. Next week, the bill will get its shot at moving through the Legislature, even if it is a slim one.

From PolitickerNY:

On February 25, the day Michael Bloomberg meets with Republican County leaders, members of the Democrat-controlled Assembly will consider a bill to block the term-limits extension that allows Bloomberg to run for a third term.

The bill is sponsored by Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn.

Here's info on that bill, courtesy of a helpful reader in Albany:

Election Law (DIAZ)

9:00 AM, Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Room 715 LOB

1224-A JEFFRIES, COLTON, MOLINARO, JAFFEE, DIAZ, PEOPLES, KOLB, MILLMAN, BENJAMIN, KAVANAGH, PERRY, PERALTA, BOYLAND, LANCMAN, WEPRIN, WRIGHT, TOWNS, POWELL, ROBINSON, P. RIVERA--

An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring voter approval for the abolition or modification of term limits for certain elected offices.

While there are a few names attached to the bill (including my own Assemblyman Mr. Kavanagh), it isn't hardly enough to ensure passage. The CW on this is that the chances of actually blocking Bloomberg's re-election camapaign is somewhere between nil and none. While the bill is likely to fail and my hopes of it succeeding are near the CW, getting press on the action is the most crucial part of this.

When Bloomberg pressed Council Members to vote his way, he said that voters will forget that they did an end-run on the democratic process. With actions such as Mr. Jeffries, we will continue to remind New York City that Mr. Bloomberg and twenty-nine Council members disrespected the will of the voters when they passed term limits not once, but twice. Mike may think he is a shrewd politician and an omnipresent one with the backing of his billions, but with enough force, even King Bloomberg can be dethroned.

Obama: Stimulus Act Was Just The Beginning

President Obama never said that the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act was a panacea. It was just the beginning of a long journey to restore our country to greatness. Next up is to deal with the mortgage crisis and while we can expect a tough fight from the Party of No, if we work hard enough we will prevail and help families get out from under the personal crises they're in. That's what this week's Presidential Address is all about.

The Gang Of Three Adopts New Moniker

Thinking perhaps that the "Gang of Three" sounded a little too sinister, Sens. Kruger, Espada and Diaz are lightening things up a bit with something more latin....the Three Amigos! Of course in the movie, they were all white comedians but that's besides the point. The three deviant Senators, still rich from success by threatening the new Democratic majority, want to keep the good times going. In Albany, that means raising cash...and lots of it.

From The Daily Politics:

The three met today at the Montezuma Mexican Restaurant on Knightsbridge Road in the Bronx. There were two main topics of conversation: The budget and a new political action committee called - what else! - the Three Amigos PAC - that is the brainchild of the group's ringleader, Sen. Carl Kruger.

Kruger, who is a prodigious fundraiser, said he plans to seed the PAC himself and then hopes that from this seed a "forest of trees will grow."

The money will be used to support likeminded candidates, he said. When pressed on whether he and his fellow amigos are looking to grow their swing vote club, given the fact that they are painfully aware that as soon as Smith manages to elect some more Democrats, their clout will disappear.

Finding slimy politicians such as themselves should not be too hard. When those three "Democratic" Senators managed to strike a deal with Smith, they proved that the stench of Albany is still alive and well, and anyone that wants a piece of the financial action within can try and sit at the table, as long as they play by the "Amigos'" rules. You can count on Diaz, Espada and Kruger to be searching for them to hold onto that clout.

Neo-Con Fred Kagen Shows Us How To Win The Hearts And Minds Of Iraqis

Now that George Bush has gone to Texas, the neo-cons left in his stead or trying to remain relevant in the political discourse. It's hard when the majority of America rejects them for the eight years of destruction that they brought upon us, but try, try, try they might. Take for example, Mr. Fred Kagen of the American Enterprise Institute, who had something rather brilliant to add to the discussion about Iraq.

From ThinkProgress:

At an AEI panel Wednesday, Kagan drastically overplayed Iraqis’ tolerance for “collateral damage” resulting from U.S. military incursions. Comparing Afghanistan and Iraq, Kagan said that a notable difference between the two wars is that Iraqi civilians “were not bitching” when civilians were killed:

KAGAN: The interesting thing is that when we were fighting those battles and doing that damage, on the whole the Iraqis were not bitching about collateral damage. You had nothing like the degree of upset about how many civilians were being injured and how much damage was being done to the infrastructure in Iraq at a much higher level of destruction than you have in Afghanistan at a much lower level of destruction.

Kagan then attributed the differences between Iraqis’ so-called tolerance for civilian deaths — and Afghan’s intolerance — to “cultural reasons”:

KAGAN: I think there’s a cultural reason for that: Afghans don’t fight in their cities. Iraqis do. For good or ill, Iraqis expect to fight in their cities. That’s where the insurgents dug in, Saddam Hussein planned to dig in to the cities or lure us into an urban fight. It’s sort of understood that the battlefield is going to be there, that doesn’t mean that they don’t complain about it, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a problem, but it does mean that when the insurgents dig in and we root them out, the Iraqis don’t on the whole say “darn it, you shouldn’t have blown up all of our houses.” They sort of accept that. Afghans do not.

It is thinking like this that has gotten nearly 5,000 of our troops killed, gunned down or bombed by thousands of insurgents created by the massacres we inflict on their civilian population. Kagen is an idiot, pure and simple. If the Republicans follow this type of heartless and nonsensical rationalizations, they beatings they took in 06' and 08' are just the beginning of their permanent minority status.

"Al Gore Lives On My Street"

Sung by famous "slacker" Robert Ellis Orrall:

Seven Months Later, NYPD Finally Cans Cyclist-Hating Cop

The New York Police Department and the city's cyclists have never really gotten along very well. The systemic hatred of the NYPD Blue towards the two-wheelers was displayed quite graphically this past July when one rookie cop, Patrick Pogan, decided to get in the way of one cyclist and billy-club the in-motion victim to the ground. The outrage over the incident was enough to get the brass to listen, but still, it took several months to get rid of the officer.

From The Gothamist:

The NYPD officer caught on tape bodyslamming a cyclist to the curb during a group Critical Mass ride through Times Square last July has been fired. Though charges of assault, harassment and filing a bogus police report are still pending against rookie cop Patrick Pogan, a spokesman for the NYPD confirmed that he was dismissed ten days ago and that the termination was directly related to the Critical Mass incident. But Stuart London, a lawyer for Pogan, tells the Times the NYPD didn't fire his client—he quit in order to "concentrate his efforts on fighting the criminal charges that are against him, so that when he is ultimately acquitted he can reapply to the Police Department." Referring to the NYPD's claim that Pogan was canned, London says, "They make errors all the time." Indeed! A spokesperson for advocacy group Times Up had this to say: "The NYPD is taking a heavy hand on dealing with this police officer, but we hope that Mayor Bloomberg will direct the higher-ups at the NYPD to discontinue their pattern of dangerous tactics and selective enforcement against cyclists."

Pogan's lawyer sounds like he's full of it, but then again he is a lawyer, so he's paid to spin the truth into pretzel-shaped loads of garbage. Though London is right about the NYPD making errors, and that would be the enduring written or unwritten policy of picking fights with Critical Mass cyclists and subsequently arresting and/or injuring them. Pogan should definitely be made an example of, but the higher-ups that condoned the behavior, or encouraged it, need to be fired as well.

Jesus Would Not Be On Your Side

Yeah I know, Jesus doesn't have sides, he loves us all, even a fellow Jew like myself. However, you can still love someone when disagreeing with them. Based on the world-famous prophet's teachings, I am bound to assume that Jesus would be in favor of helping those in need. On the flip side, making a disingenuous statement(s) about spending more than a million dollars a year since the Holy Son has been alive on the bill would not be so good in Jesus' book.

From Politico:

After watching liberal allies of President Barack Obama flood the airwaves in support of the stimulus bill, a conservative third-party group is countering with a provocative new commercial using Jesus Christ to emphasize the scale of the $787 billion package.

The American Issues Project, which briefly aired a TV spot in last year's presidential race, will go up on Friday with a TV spot that marks the dollars spent with the passage of time.

“Suppose you spent $1 million every single day starting from the day Jesus was born — and kept spending through today,” says the announcer as an image of the three wise men flashes on the screen. “A million dollars a day for more than 2,000 years. You would still have spent less money than Congress just did.”

According to Chris LaCivita, an AIP consultant, they are spending just under $1 million on the ad, which will be aired on national cable.

The quotes from the CBO are also misleading, since they had not done a full report on the bill and subsequent reports show that the stimulus would add a much needed boost to the economy. As for Schumer's statement deriding critics of the bill, he made the error of reaching out to Americans beyond the GOP's spin to ensure that vital infrastructure programs commence as soon as possible to put people back to work. Yes, that is change I can believe in Mr. LaCivita.

Meet Utah State Senator And Bigot Chris Buttars

It still amazes me that people like this can be elected to hold any type of office, whether it be State Senator or Dog Catcher:

The NY Post's Non-Apology Apology

Last night, after significant pressure for nearly two days, the NY Post issued a statement on their website addressing the racially-stigmatized cartoon. The image, depicting a chimp being shot dead by two white cops while they talk about the stimulus bill has drawn considerable outrage from nearly every group except for white conservatives. Al Sharpton even led a protest of hundreds in front of the paper's offices. So to sweep things under the rug after getting their desired amount of free publicity, they came out with this:

Wednesday's Page Six cartoon - caricaturing Monday's police shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut - has created considerable controversy.

It shows two police officers standing over the chimp's body: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," one officer says.

It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill.

Period.

But it has been taken as something else - as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism.

This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.

However, there are some in the media and in public life who have had differences with The Post in the past - and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback.

To them, no apology is due.

Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon - even as the opportunists seek to make it something else.

So for those that were offended but didn't say anything, you can thank those that did because their apology is directed at you. The response above is written by someone with the mentality of a five year old, who is resentful at various people for daring to call them out on their approval of a cartoonist's veiled use of racism. This wasn't about payback, it was about being shocked and horrified at a major New York daily paper that would print a cartoon that follows in the path of a long history of comparing blacks and chimps/monkeys/apes, etc.

This was no apology, it was meant as a childish swipe at people of our community that have protested the actions of the Post, and who will continue to do so until they take full responsibility for condoning that type of racially-insensitive material.

Unfortunately though, I seriously doubt the Post will take any additional steps. They are known as a rag in this city for a reason. Yet I am a little uncomfortable even using that description, because I wouldn't want to tarnish the good name of the many rags out there by elevating the Post to their level.

Update: A nearly identically titled post from The Zoo also explains why this isn't an apology, starting with what's written in the dictionary.

Hypocritical Money Quote Of The Day, Brought To You By JP Morgan Chase

This is one of those moments where you laugh out loud or start ripping your hair out. When it comes to money management and Wall Street, chances are someone talking about it these days is setting up a joke, not for actually trusting your money to the crooks that dwell below Chambers St. So when JP Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon opened his mouth to lend his "expertise" concerning Obama's homeowner plan, I wasn't sure whether to chuckle at the joke or kick him in the face for his sincerity.

From The Huffington Post:

"I don't think just because someone's underwater they say I don't have to stay there. But they're supposed to pay the mortgage, and we should teach the American people, you're supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them. Because you have a mortgage doesn't mean you should run away as it goes down."

Click here for the video.

Oh yeah, this is the same guy that took $25 billion in TARP money for his company that had mismanaged their own funds and helped contribute to the economic meltdown we've been experiencing. Dimon is in charge of a failed lending enterprise that made risky bets with no regard to their fiscal solvency and that of their many clients. He is one of the absolute last people to talk about fiscal discipline of any sort.

Explaining The Recovery And Reinvestment Act To A Five Year Old

If your young child asks about what the President is doing with that stimulus, or you know a Republican that just can't understand that Obama is creating jobs and revitalizing the economy, then this is the first video to show them.

Times-Union Raps Tedisco For Not Taking A Stand On The Stimulus

Earlier this week Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco went on for what seemed like hours (really five minutes) about how terrible the process was in how Congress passed the stimulus bill. He said he couldn't take a stand on it because it was a lot to read in a short amount of time, comparing it to another long book that was taking him more than a week to read. Perhaps he resembles George Bush a little, who also doesn't like to read things that are too long either. Well the Bush era is over and Americans are expecting a little bit more from their leaders these days. Being able to read and take a position on a bill (especially the most important piece of legislation our country has seen in a while) is essential when you are a Member of Congress and the Albany Times-Union is calling Jimmy out on his inability to say yea or nay:

That Mr. Tedisco would suggest that his position on what just might be the most contentious issue in Washington is a "hypothetical question" raises serious questions about his qualifications to serve in Congress. Economic policy couldn't be more critical in a congressional race.

Mr. Tedisco needs to understand that he's no longer in Albany, where he's the leader of the Republican minority in the state Assembly. Congress, he needs to learn, is a place where legislative debate tends to actually matter.

Scott Murphy, Mr. Tedisco's Democratic opponent, says he would have voted for the stimulus. So, which way, Mr. Tedisco? Up or down?

Is spending all this money — in a bold, some might say desperate, effort to keep the economy from plunging into a depression — a sensible way to create jobs and prevent more mortgage foreclosures?

If the issue here is Mr. Tedisco's unfamiliarity with what's a lengthy and complicated piece of legislation, he might start by reading it.

I couldn't have said it better myself. If Mr. Tedisco wants the honor and privilege to represent the 20th Congressional District of New York, he had better get a clue as to what is going on in the world outside of the State Capitol building.

Now, chances are he does have an opinion on it, but he is just too cowardly to come out and say it. Simply put, New Yorkers are heavily in favor of the stimulus bill and that probably puts him at odds with the most of the state. He's willfully stuck in the mud and muck created by the Republican Party's attempt to drown and starve the government and wishes to stay there.

Meanwhile, his opponent Scott Murphy is firmly behind President Obama and would have voted for the stimulus had he been in office at the time. Kristin Gillibrand did her very best to stand up for NY-20 and the candidate to fill her shoes is Mr. Murphy.