Tasini For Senate, Part Deux

While the potential candidates to primary State Senators Monserrate and Espada are sorted out, it looks like we have a definite primary challenge to the recently appointed Senator Gillibrand. Jonathon Tasini has jumped in the race to be, as he claims, the progressive candidate. The press release, or shall I say diary is strong and to the point.

From DailyKos:

I believe New York voters deserve a choice. We live in a democracy, and elections should be about addressing the issues, not about party insiders "clearing the field" for a favored candidate. If party insiders had "cleared the field" in 2008, Barack Obama would not be president today.

New York--and the nation--are at a critical point. We are living through the most unprecedented financial crisis in our lifetime--and, at the same time, I see a great opportunity to change the country.

There are great choices to be made--whether and how we will unburden Americans and businesses from the crushing costs of obscene health care costs (I have been an unwavering supporter of single-payer, "Medicare for All"), whether workers will truly share in the great productivity they have created over the past three decades, whether workers will have the right to join a union, and whether we will live up to the promise of "equal justice under the law" by granting marriage equality throughout the land.

I am the only progressive in the race. And I believe, as do my supporters, that we have a chance to move the Democratic Party in a progressive direction. New Yorkers will have a very clear choice in 2010--a choice of values and principles.

Of course that all sounds great, but can a guy that won 17% of the Democratic primary vote take on another establishment candidate? The answer is probably not. Of course anything can happen, and as Tasini notes, Obama did overtake Clinton about a year ago today. Yet Tasini is no Obama and as much as his ideas warm the hearts of progressives everywhere (or not), what anti-Gillibrand forces need is a strong challenger and at this point, the consensus is for Carolyn Maloney to spearhead the effort.

Fun Facts Of The 2nd Ave Subway

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (my rep by the way), with all the talk of economic stimulus via infrastructure bouncing off the halls of Congress, has decided to get in the game. The massive project underway in her district is none other than the infamous 2nd Ave. subway and guess what, it needs money. Maloney took the time to spout off some facts about how it helps the local economy, but forgets about how it hurts in the short-term.

From The Gothamist:

Yesterday, Representative Carolyn Maloney released a report detailing how construction for the Second Avenue Subway, as well as the East Side Access plan, have helped out the economy. According to the findings, the Second Ave Subway has created 16,00 jobs, generated $842 million in wages, and produced $2.87 billion in economic activity, while East Side Access has created 22,000 jobs, generated $1.176 billion in wages, and produced $4 billion in economic activity. And by the endShe said, “The stock market may be slumping, but these two transit megaprojects are delivering a very healthy return on the federal and state investments in them... While these projects won’t cure everything that ails our economy, they are a huge help in getting us back on track.” Read the report (PDF). Last month, NY1 focused on 2nd Avenue businesses that have taken a hit since the dig—Second Avenue Business Association says, "Within the first six months of the construction process commencing, business declined between 15 and 20 percent."

The jobs and wages are great, the impact on local businesses is not so great, but the long-term impact of having a second subway line on the eastside is essential for NYC. Back when the project was initially started in 1929, the city was so eager for it that they tore down the El lines in anticipation of the underground route. Of course as we know now, eighty years later and we still do not have a working T train. So basically I feel for those suffering businesses, but then again thinking long-term is key here.

Charlie Rangel, Give Back That Wal-Money!

WalMart has been the scourge of liberals and progressives for a long time now. They've angered us so many times over, whether by low-paying, poverty-inducing jobs, no health insurance, union-busting, decimating small businesses in the communities they spread into....I could go on and on here. Well for years and years the corporate behemoth has given the majority of its campaign and lobbying dollars to Republicans, they are even directing their store managers towards McCain.

Yet they aren't stupid, they know change is happening and the Congress is solidly Democratic and that is why they are starting to give more to Democrats than Republicans. We as concerned citizens, must act and force/shame/tell our elected officials not to take that money. That is why I am telling Charlie Rangel to give back that money made off the backs of the working poor.

From Working Life:

Wal-Mart has at least 80 class-action lawsuitsin 41 states pending against it.

Wal-Mart illegally denied full rest or meal breaks in violation of state wage and hour laws--a violation that may cost the company $2 billion.

Wal-Mart abuses women, and is the defendants in the biggest sex discrimination case in history.

Wal-Mart is a habitual tax-dodger.

Wal-Mart's heirs buy expensive paintings but won't give their workers decent health care.

Wal-Mart sued a disabled women, demanding she give back money she won in a settlement.

Wal-Mart exploits children in Mexico.

Wal-Mart lead a global corporate lobbying campaign to block a very modest improvement in Chinese labor laws--because Wal-Mart's business model depends on exploiting cheap labor, here and abroad.

And that's just a sample. Why would any political leader, who represents him or herself to be a defender of the working person, want to be affiliated with such a company?

The answer is clear: money. The Democratic Party is almost even with the Republican Party in the money it receives from Wal-Mart, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Center's data, published in an article in today's Wall Street Journal (I'll come back to that article in a moment), shows that 12 years ago, Wal-Mart's PAC gave 98 percent of its money to Republicans. In the current cycle, Democrats have received 48 percent of Wal-Mart's PAC expenditures.

In that article above, the list of Democrats is atrocious. All of them should stand up for the principles of the party that represents workers, if those aren't part of their own moral compass to begin with. That is why I call on New York's most powerful Congressman to give back that $5,500 contribution....and my own Congresswoman, Carolyn Maloney to give back the $1,000 they gave her as well.

Congresswoman Maloney On The Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert's "Better Know A District" didn't have to travel far for this week's segment. Crosstown from the Colbert studio is the 'fightin 14th' and is represented by my very own Congresswoman. Stephen's shtick is to embarrass the interviewee, but even with his pumping, Carolyn stayed cool (unlike me who couldn't stop laughing):

2nd Avenue Subway Gets Huge Boo$t

Congress has come through for Manhattan's East Side in a big way. Though they suck in general, providing $1.3 billion for the future T line is a tremendous boon for the city. Like many Eastsiders, I hate having to use the Lexington local at rush hour. If you are so lucky, you have to pack yourself in with the herd to get a spot on the 4, 5 or 6 trains. If not, its another couple of minutes wait to try again with the next cattle car. The line has been overcrowded for years and is only getting worse.

The promise of a Second Avenue line has been a dream for nearly eighty years now. Funding woes have been the primary reason that we haven't been able to wake up to the T line. Little things like the Great Depression and the bankruptcy of the city in the 70s have hampered the effort. Now with federal funding, all we need to do is get it built.

As a selfish New Yorker, I would love to have it started down here in the Murray Hill/Gramercy area, but I am glad progress is being made. Perhaps by the time I am eighty it'll work its way down here.

9/11 Claims More Victims

The death toll was recently upped by one after officials determined that Felicia Dunn-Jones died as the result of the collapse of the World Trade Towers. She had been consumed by the smoke and debris that poured through the streets of Manhattan. Physically she came out of that fateful day but the damage done was internal. A few months later she died of sarcoidosis, which inflammed the heart muscle due to damaged lungs. So what does this case mean? A whole lot.

From The New York Times:

By making a formal connection between Mrs. Dunn-Jones’s death and her relatively brief exposure to the dust, the medical examiner’s decision could have a wide impact on how the city deals with the growing number of illnesses and deaths linked in some way to ground zero.

The city is already under pressure to re-examine the deaths of people like James Zadroga, 34, a New York police detective who worked at the debris pile in the months after the towers fell. Although a New Jersey pathologist who conducted an autopsy last year concluded that Detective Zadroga’s death was linked to trade center dust, city officials have not accepted that finding.

“The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly,” said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney.

I am proud to say that Carolyn Maloney is my Congresswoman. She is speaking truth that the city still refuses to accept. Many more than Dunn-Jones and Zadroga succumbed to the effects of the dust. There are countless more that are sick and possibly dying. Meanwhile the city and especially then EPA chief Christine Whitman want to deny the reality. By doing that they can escape blame for not adequately protecting the rescue workers from the toxic air.

New York City and the entire nation deserves more than this. It is time for the various responsible factions of our government stand up and take responsibility for their negligence. And if they try to avoid it, they will be pulled into the glare of the spotlight so everyone can see their callous disregard for the brave men and women that helped rescue survivors and begin to repair Lower Manhattan.