More Fare Increase Talk From MTA

As anyone without a car in New York knows (and there are many), we are dependent on the MTA to get somehwhere in the city that is more than a few blocks away. Buses and subways carry millions of people everyday and frankly, the service is shoddy and sub-par. Not enough money is invested in repair crews nor those that build projects like the Second Avenue line. Despite all that, we are looking at another fare increase to be "debated" this year and enacted in 2009.

From The NY Daily News:

The hike, affecting more than 8 million daily subway, bus and commuter railroad riders, would go into effect next July, an official briefed on the proposal said. If implemented, straphangers and drivers would be hit with the second increase in as many years.

Officials have not worked out specific changes to the various MetroCard options and prices.

It's widely expected the $2 base fare, which has remained stable for several years, would be targeted for a 25-cent rise.

"It's ridiculous," James Josie, 35, a laid-off security guard from the Bronx, said Monday as he waited for a subway train in Times Square. "Every year they seem to raise the fares."

Yes James, it is ridiculous and especially unfair. The MTA makes one false promise after another, only to interject these damned fare increases in between a lie here and there. This time though, they might just forget about making improvements along with a possible $2.25 fare and just shove that up our collective asses with no lube whatsoever.

Of course, Albany could help us out. Governor Paterson and the legislature could tell the MTA to STFU and tell the Authority how things are going to be. They can fund them at the level necessary to keep things going and improving and pay for it by holding Wall Street's hand through this difficult time for the nation's economy. We need to stop bailing out the rich and start helping people who think know making $200,000 a year or more is a lot of money.

Siegelman Speaks At Netroots Nation

Don Siegelman knows what Karl Rove did (illegally) to him and isn't afraid to talk about the abuse of power used by Rove and the White House to go after the former Governor.

Newsflash! George Bush Heard About YouTube!

And he is afraid of the Internets too! George Bush, as well evidenced by his policies both foreign and domestic in the last eight years, is completely out of touch with the American people. Inside his bubble, everyone loves him and he can do no wrong. Yet the outside is starting to reach in to his cozy little nest at 1600 Pennsylvania, because he has heard about what YouTube can do to him.

From The Arizona Daily Star:

So sensitive were Republicans about information getting out about the goings-on at the Tucson fundraiser hosted by President Bush Friday morning, even W. himself made sure to ask the 400 or so people at the event to turn off any recording devices.

"I don't know a lot about technology," the president said, according to one insider, "but I do know about YouTube."

Held in a tent outside a nearly 9,000-square-foot Foothills palace, the president's speech to raise money for Republican congressional candidate Tim Bee was one that would surely get Democrats' blood boiling had cameras really been rolling.

Wow, well Mr. President, welcome to the modern world. I wonder what he knows about YouTube anyways?

Gas Tax Holiday Is Dead! Long Live The Gas Tax!

When John McCain and then-candidate Hillary Clinton proposed a holiday on the federal gas tax, most observers laughed their proposal up into the fodder of Presidential politics. A temporary repeal would only serve a small temporary relief while the price of oil could easily eat the benefit by trading up a few more dollars on Wall Street. Now the effort for a temporary repeal has met it's demise in Congress, but that isn't all.

From RawStory:

WASHINGTON -- The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel will have to go up if they go anywhere.

Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded - with a prod from the construction industry - that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.

Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel.

With gas prices setting records daily, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and former Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a 90-day suspension of the federal fuel tax to give drivers a little relief at the pump. The fuel taxes go into the Highway Trust Fund, which is used for road construction and repair and mass transit.

When McCain and Clinton made the proposition, they forgot about where that tax money goes. Since much of our general fund seems to be going to the military-industrial complex, a tax on gasoline goes right back to helping Americans get around, whether it be by road or rail. Ideally the money should come via the main budget and focused on mass transit, but we can not allow our roads to fall apart in the manner that they are currently.

Iraq Continues To Stick With Obama Timeline

Despite the White House's best efforts, the Iraqi government is making it clear they want the United States' occupying force out of their country within two years. Neither Bush or McCain can do anything to stop it, other than lying their asses off to the American people.

Colin Powell Helping Obama Campaign

John McCain may be the Republicans' only hope at holding onto the Presidency, but quite a few in the GOP have no desire to see him in office. They see him as a continuation of the failure that Bush brought upon our country and the destruction of the conservative brand. Plenty of conservatives will stay home this year, but a few prominent ones, people like Colin Powell, are doing a heck of a lot more.

From TPM:

This was reported a few days ago, but it got surprisingly little attention, and it seems worth flagging in light of Obama's trip abroad. Check out this little nugget buried in that New York Times piece on Barack Obama's cast of 300 or so foreign policy advisers:

Another person who has contributed outside advice is former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, whom Mr. Obama has been wooing. Mr. Powell, a Republican, has a friendship of decades with Mr. McCain, but friends say he has felt excluded from Mr. McCain's foreign policy operation and was impressed when Mr. Obama called on him in June. Mr. Powell also met around the same time with Mr. McCain.

Powell recently met with Obama and has made it clear that he won't let any endorsement be dictated by party allegiance, so neglecting him seems like a pretty big oversight on the McCain camp's part. Could Obama's wooing of him eventually pay off?

A little bit of work can go a long, long way. Barack Obama's appeal transcends party lines. Though the most bitter of GOP partisans will never cross that line, many moderates are taking a close look at the Democratic nominee.

Obama Raised More In A Single Day Than McCain Did In A Month

After John McCain released his June fund-raising numbers, I heard the media talk about how he is getting on his game and that Obama better watch out, basically the crap that they spew to make the race seems as if it were close. Well that came to a screeching halt when Obama released his June numbers and people saw he raised $52 million, more than double McCain's $22 million haul. But there's an even more impressive story within that number.

From Politico:

After locking up his party’s presidential nomination, Barack Obama’s fundraising operation came roaring back to life in June, generating more than a million dollars on five days, including a whopping $25 million that came in on the last day of the month.

His one-day haul represents nearly half of his monthly total and more than Republican rival John McCain generated for the entire month. During the month, McCain did not have a single day in which he raised a million dollars.

Now of course McCain counts on the RNC to raise him the big money that skirts the campaign finance rules (the ones that McCain supposedly loves so much). When you combine the candidates with their party committees, McCain still has a little more cash on hand than Obama. That is why we must continue to raise money and volunteer for the campaign to get his message out so that we can start to change America for the better. Eight years of George Bush was eight years too much, we certainly do not want another four.

Going After Henry Kravis

People like Henry Kravis is one wealthy bastard that would rather not be seen or heard. The decisions he makes helps to spread the gap between the rich and the poor. Personally he earns more money in an hour than most Americans make in an entire year. So that is why the SEIU got together this past Thursday to send him a letter and protest outside of his offices at KKR here in Manhattan:

How Shelly Silver Really Feels About Switching The Senate

In a perfect world, one would think that a Democratic leader in the Assembly would want to see a Democratic State Senate. The bills they have passed to help New Yorkers failed in Bruno's Senate, so having the upper hand in both houses would be considered a good thing. Unfortunately, that isn't how Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver sees things. He'd much rather keep things the same so he can have his fiefdom while leaving his constituents (and the rest of the state) out in the cold. Now it isn't his statements that say all that, it is his checkbook.

From The Albany Project:

Looking at the public info of expenditures of Shelly's two committees, Friends of SIlver and
SPEAKERPAC, I have crunched the numbers. Here are my findings, minus the numbers for a handful of committees that are defunct and I could not figure out what office they are for. [...]

So despite spending all these thousands of dollars on the whole gamut of Democratic politicians, committees, and clubs all around the state, Sheldon Silver has not given a single dime to a Democratic Senate Candidate other than Marty Connor in a primary fight. Democratic Senate challengers in recent years, like Albert Baldeo and Nora Marino in 2006 (when Silver ally, Denny Farrell was heading the state party) were left hanging without sufficient funds to defeat otherwise vulnerable Republican Senators. Even ones that did manage to win, like Andrea Stewart-Cousins, had to do so without Shelly's help.[...]

With Shelly, it's all about him and his power. On the night of Darrel Aubertine's vitcory, I wrote about an anonymous Assembly Democrat who had this to say to Azi about Aubertine's victory:

"Losers are democratic assembly members in districts with democratic senators who by this fall will no longer be the only Dems that can pass legislation. Don't cite me as the source for that one."

Like that unnamed Assemblymember, Shelly probably wants to be the Democrats' top dog in the legislature. A Majority Leader Smith would eclipse a lot of his power. Additionally, with a Democratic Senate, Shelly can no longer hide behind Senate Republicans for excuses on why he doesn't pass rules reform, campaign finance reform, redistricting reform, or all other types of reform.

And that is exactly what Silver does, he hides. Other favorite activities include dodging, weaving, obfuscating, lying, cheating constituents and covering for his buddies (that commit rape) in the Assembly.

Politicians are supposed to be good at talking and trying to convince an audience. That is why we have to keep them in check when the words do not match up with the actions. Sheldon Silver's actions have nothing in common with his empty promises of wanting a Democratic State Senate....and that is why he needs to go.

Paul Newell for Assembly

Luke Henry for Assembly

New Hampshire Accepts Free Venezuelan Heating Oil

When Hugo Chavez first offered free heating oil to New Hampshire for their chilly winters, the state turned him down. Instead of making George Bush look bad, they declined the opportunity to reduce the economic cost for New Hampshire residents during the bitterly cold nights of December through March. Now that heating oil is expected to be nearly double the cost this coming winter, the times, they are a'changin.

From The Huffington Post:

With the state's blessing, New Hampshire residents will be receiving some of the fuel this winter.

New Hampshire becomes the last state in the Northeast to embrace the offer.

"A lot of people have said, `We need help and we value any help we can get,'" said Amy Ignatius, director of New Hampshire's office of energy and planning.

The oil giveaway will be managed by Citizens Energy, a nonprofit organization set up by former Massachusetts Rep. Joseph Kennedy to help the poor stay warm. But the state energy office plans to help Citizens publicize the aid and sign up fuel-oil dealers.

New Hampshire may be one of the more conservative states in the Northeast, but in 2008 and the coming winter of 2009, they aren't stupid. When you have a chance to keep people warm....and alive when the bitter elements of nature arrive, it is far more important to make sure the supply is there and it is affordable than to stand on false pride.

Steve Behar At Netroots Nation

Most of the netroots candidates are running in elections that will occur this year. However, Steve Behar is not most candidates...he is running in 2009 for New York City Council in 2009 out in NE Queens. Here he is at the candidate's mixer on this past Friday night, video care of yours truly:

Netroots Nation Day 3...And Into 4

So here I am, sitting two tables from the podium of the main stage here at Netroots Nation on a beautiful (and not so hot yet) morning. People are filing in for the Van Jones Keynote speech, the last of many great speakers over the course of four days. Like last year, the convention was an incredible experience for me. Perhaps not so much in the way of learning new things about the netroots, but certainly getting more in touch with the people that make up our wonderful progressive web. As I type, Mayor Gavin Newsom is walking by with his entourage (he'll be speaking this morning as well), pictures are filing by on the monitors, showing politicians, activists and friends (certainly not separate entities) from the course of the last few days.

That is really what this place is all about. There is such a wealth of information online and many of us are voracious readers, both online and in print. The online part is self-explanatory, but the incredible amount of progressive authors with books on a diverse array of issues is a testament to the growing power and spread of information that we are putting out there to counter the spin and lies of the right.

Sure, it is far from where we need to be to overcome the many obstacles that Republicans (and some Democrats) throw in our way with the mighty power that corporate money affords them. But as I munch on my scone and drink my coffee at my table for the morning, I see tremendous hope for our progressive and yes, 'liberal' quest. It is time to put an end to the free reign of the conservative message machine and the way words like 'liberal' are co-opted. After the speeches and 'blogger brunch' this morning, we will fan out to our respective cities, towns and rural locales and continue to fight for what we believe in. So much has been accomplished in the last few years...and the potential we have to effect the change we desire is ready to be converted into pure, raw, activist energy.