Josh Skaller Goes After Bloomberg For His 400,000 Jobs Claim

Chances are if you live in New York you have received anywhere from one to a dozen pieces of campaign literature in the mail from Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Nearly all of them make the claim that if we re-elect him to a (unethically manufactured) third term then he will miraculously save or create 400,000 jobs. Even in NYC, that is a big eye-catching number. Yet so far the only jobs that have come from that number are the printers, pollsters and campaign staff of Michael Bloomberg that have been espousing the number.

I am tired of the Mayor getting away with making claims of being our city's savior while his Executive budget says the exact opposite. My fellow Democracy for New York City organizer Josh Skaller, who happens to be running for Bill de Blasio's current City Council seat is sick of Bloomberg's propaganda too:

“The truth is clear. Bloomberg’s so-called plan is glossy smoke and very expensive mirrors,” Skaller said. “He is re-selling the ideas we have all supported in the past and offering few new ones. When I join the City Council, the City will take clear and transparent actions to fix our economy by generating new ideas, creating good jobs, and becoming the center of America’s new green economy.[...]

“The Mayor’s Executive Budget cannot stretch the truth, or investors who have taken out municipal bonds can sue the City for fraud. But Bloomberg’s glossy campaign mail is bound by no such constraints - and the numbers they use represent the fuzziest math.

“According to the Executive Budget issued May 1, 2009, New York City is projected to lose 328,000 jobs between August 2008 and the third quarter of 2010. Employment will be flat until 2012. The peak period for these projected job losses? The second quarter of 2009 - also known as now. So where is the leadership that Mayor Bloomberg would like us to believe in? What is the rationale for a third term in office?

The truth is there is no rationale. Bloomberg is spending millions to drill a false sense of security in his Administration when there is no reason to feel safe (unless you are a developer or just plain rich). Whenever someone tries to confront the Mayor on the disconnect between his message and the facts, he blows a fuse.

As City Hall News reports, there are no details and no specifics for Bloomberg's claim. As I'm sure his cadre of consultants have told him, just keep drilling meaningless and empty numbers into the heads of voters and he'll coast to victory. Unfortunately for those highly paid politicos, the more we hear from people like Josh Skaller, the less people are going to believe the distortions and half-truths that come out of the Bloomberg campaign.

Sean Hannity, Master Word Manipulator

Jed Lewison over at DailyKos punches holes in Hannity's arguments about what Barack Obama did not say before they even began. It wasn't hard though, all you have to do is see what the President said, then compare it to what Hannity thought he heard.

Shelly Silver Goes Regressive On Ethics Reform

Reform is something that Albany desperately needs, yet like the end of a rainbow, it seems impossible to get to. Sure, there are some attempts at it but getting a handle on the core problems of our state government is like grasping at straws. The case in point here is Majority Leader Smith and Governor Paterson's call for an independent ethics commission. Those two leaders seem to be on board but to get anything done in our state capitol all three men in the room have to sign off, and the other one isn't willing to budge.

From The NYT Cityroom:

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unveiled a complex proposal at the meeting that appeared to doom any chance of swift action. His plan would create three commissions charged with ethics and lobbying oversight of the executive branch and the Legislature. The governor and Senate Democrats have proposed creating a single, independent ethics and lobbying commission with jurisdiction over both branches of government.

At the heart of the differing approaches is Mr. Silver’s unwillingness to cede the Legislature’s control of its own ethics oversight. He proposed recreating the current, much-maligned Legislative Ethics Commission along the lines of the Office of Congressional Ethics in the House of Representatives.

He also proposed breaking up the integrity commission into separate commissions overseeing lobbying and ethics, reviving a structure that existed before 2007.

And of course, things were just as bad before 2007 under the old system. The reality is that Congress and the New York Legislature cannot police themselves, since they've shown time and again that the best they can do is slap each other on the wrist. Currently we have two indicted men serving in the State Senate and an unknown number of dubious characters, yet Smith does next to nothing to reprimand them, for fear of losing his majority. Speaker Silver, in the other chamber, is definitely a dubious character and knows it, that is why he isn't favoring this bill. Don't expect him to put his name on anything that would resemble real reform. The only way that would happen is with another Speaker, preferably not connected to the current one.

Sen. Diaz Goes On An Ant-GLBT Tirade Against Sen. Duane

Senator Diaz showed his true inner homophobe this afternoon with an angry press release directed at Senator Duane. Duane has been claiming that he has more than enough votes to pass same-sex marriage but the anti-equality groups think he's bluffing. So Diaz picked up the baton for his side and lashed out at the westside Senator, demanding he show everyone who the "yes" votes are.

From The Daily Politics:

"If Senator Tom Duane has the necessary Senate votes to pass the homosexual marriage bill in New York State, then he should release the names of those Senators who are supporting the bill. If not, he should shut up.

"If any member of the State Senate is so ashamed to have their names released or to release their own names for this or for any pending legislation, then they clearly feel ashamed of their position."

"If any Senators are unwilling to release their names prior to voting for the homosexual marriage bill, they are sending a clear message to the gay community and to the whole State of New York that these Senators are unwilling to let the public know and that they are ashamed to be publicly associated with the gay community."

"Any Senator who commits himself or herself to something, should be man or woman enough to take a stand and stand by his or her convictions. If they give their word to support something that they are ashamed of, then that is a hypocrisy, and could be interpreted as not wanting to be associated with the matter."

"It is a disgrace that Senator Duane is playing this mind game with his colleagues and with the public. If Senator Duane has the votes, he should release the names. If not, then he should be ashamed of himself.”

Whether or not Duane is playing games (this is politics isn't it?) is besides the point. The hate and vitriol in that statement is disgusting. If Duane wants to hold the names, if there are enough names, then it is his right to do so up until the moment everyone votes on the bill. The only person that should be ashamed is Senator Diaz for his ridiculous outburst and of course, admitting in his words that he is ashamed to be publicly associated with a significantly large community in the city he calls home.

Thompson Decries Mayor Bloomberg's Child Care Credit Slash

Michael Bloomberg may not like to be "political" in his official Mayoral press conferences, but that isn't stopping Comptroller Thompson from taking shots at the current Mayor for cutting child care credits with the official city seal on his podium.

Grandeau Slams Public Integrity Commission For Not Doing Their Job

When David Grandeau sees the corruption at the ethics commission, he sees "the ultimate indictment of Albany." Grandeau used to sit on the commission, but was not kept on by then newly-elected Governor Spitzer. He blames them for not keeping tabs and subsequently being tainted by the corruption in Albany. He told a Senate Committee as much at a recent hearing.

From WXXI:

The Inspector General charged the Integrity Commission's executive director with violating the public officers law, for passing on information about a probe to a key member of the Spitzer Administration. The report accused the commission members of doing nothing to stop the corruption.

Grandeau was testifying at a Senate hearing on ethics reform. The Senators were examining Governor Paterson's recent proposal to reform the ethics panel, which was designed to address the flaws enumerated in the Inspector General's report. Senate Democrats have their own proposal for a new ethics commission. But Grandeau told them that simply reconfiguring the panel yet again is not the key to creating an independent, fair ethics policing unit. He says it's the people put in place to run the entities that matters. Grandeau's recommendation to lawmakers; chose an executive director and commission members that make politicians squirm.

"Look for someone that makes you uncomfortable," sad Grandeau. "Not the go-along, get-along crowd."

Who that may be, Grandeau did not say but it would probably not be anyone that many Senators know. In Albany, the way you succeed is by immersing yourself in the go-along, get-along crowd. For a majority of 62 Senators (or one State Assemblyman), to choose someone with real power to combat the ills of our state government would be a remarkable feat. Until we climb that mountain, we need people like Grandeau speaking out against the powers that be.

Yankees' Lonn Trost Claims Poverty To Hide Documents

The New York Yankees have been, are and most likely will continue to be baseball's richest team with enough cash to buy an unending stream of talent. Money has never been an issue for Steinbrenner's team and with billions in public aid (whether the public knew about it or not) the Yanks cut costs on their new stadium. Yet when Assemblyman Brodsky questioned Lonn Trost about the communiques surrounding the deals made with city and state officials, Trost complains that it would be too expensive to get everything together.

From The Times-Union:

Lonn Trost, chief operating officer of the New York Yankees, dug in, so to speak, under questioning from state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky. The ball club itself was in Cleveland on Monday. The New York action took place in state Supreme Court in Albany.

Mr. Trost went for the bottom line, uttering the figure $5.5 million. That, he says, would be the cost of gathering all the documents Mr. Brodsky is trying to obtain about the publicly subsidized construction of the new Yankee Stadium.

More casual fans, less intensely interested in the inside baseball of stadium construction and other off-the-field arcanum, can be forgiven for wondering of Mr. Trost: Your point, sir?

There should be no point, because mentioning $5.5 million is nothing to that ballclub. With a team payroll of $201.5 million dollars (not to mention the front office or those that work in the stadium), providing those emails to Brodsky and the people he represents should not be a problem. Then when you factor in the billion(s) that the Yankees took from the taxpayers, we as New Yorkers have every right to see exactly how the deal was done.

Olbermann And Huffington Discuss Cheney's Backtracking

Arianna joins Keith as they talk about Cheney's latest statements concerning torture and interrogations. Cheney has been busy talking quite a lot and the commentators believe, as I do, that the ex-V.P.'s remarks are a sign of revisionist history and possibly even a way to justify his actions before a war crimes tribunal. Of course that tribunal is a ways off, but the court of world public opinion is now open.

Smith Only Wants One Job For Legislators

Limiting outside jobs for Albany's top pols? Now that is something I can get behind Malcolm Smith on. The Majority Leader told reporters this yesterday at a press conference along with wanting those that do to disclose what they do and how much they make from it. It almost sounded too good to be true.

From PolitickerNY:

"I believe, at this point in time, the paradigm needs to shift on how state government manages its members," Smith said after speaking at a luncheon. "There are enough circumstances and cases where it's gotten us in trouble, and it'd be better for everybody if we make sure that there's enough clarity in what we do and how we do it so we can be more focused on the business of the state."

He said he favors "very liberal" disclosures. Currently, the Legislative Ethics Commission releases disclosure forms that show outside employment, but do not detail income received. State Senator Daniel Squadron is poised to introduce two bills, his aide John Raskin told me, which would mandate more disclosure for legislators and create an independent government watchdog.

Smith went on to say that he has closed down his real estate business and receives no outside income.

An independent government watchdog? Can my ears be deceiving me?

Well, that of course is merely talk at this point in time, but I'm glad to hear the Majority Leader is focusing on the business of the government and not the sour real estate market. Especially with this narrowly divided Senate, Smith has had his hands full trying to get his caucus to vote for legislation, sometimes succeeding and other times not.

Smith mentioned that there is a conflict of interest when it comes to outside jobs. Of course that is obvious to those that watch the state legislature, but I wonder if Shelly Silver heard Smith's sound advice.

NPO Developers Should Pay The Prevailing Wage

Apparently there is a little fight going on up in Albany over whether developers who build non-profit housing should pay their workers what they're worth. Developers argue that paying a union wage is bad for their costs, the rents of future low-income tenants and they even claim minority construction workers won't be able to do the building because unions don't like them. They also claim that there'll be less affordable housing units available. There seem to be plenty of marks against a bill mandating public works labor be at a union rate, but this is a matter of principle.

From The NY Times:

Under state law, laborers on public works projects must be paid the prevailing wage, which varies according to the trade and location. The proposed legislation would expand the definition of public works to include all government-subsidized building projects by for-profit and nonprofit developers. Most workers who build subsidized low-cost housing in New York City are not currently required to be paid the prevailing wage. Projects receiving federal subsidies are required to pay it, under federal law.[...]

The New York State Building and Construction Trades Council of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., an influential labor group that represents the state’s major construction unions, has been pushing lawmakers to expand the prevailing-wage requirements for years.

“Is the cost of construction higher? Yes it is,” said Edward J. Malloy, president of the group. “But I think we deliver a better product, on time and in budget.”

On time and in budget are just two bonuses, not to mention the fact that more construction workers will be paid a healthy hourly rate. The fact of the matter is, these jobs are propelled by government subsidies. When the Federal government is paying for it, union wages are paid. Now it is time for the state to do the same thing. The state legislature should encourage higher wages in this arena just as it does in other arenas.

Ed Schultz Talks Obama At Take Back America Conference

Many progressive stars and activists alike are attending this week's Take Back America Conference. One of them, radio host and recent MSNBC addition Ed Schultz sat down with "the Real News network" to talk all things Obama:

Cheney Admits No Iraq-Al Qaeda Link, Sorta

Dick Cheney has been a busy talker these past few weeks, and to continue the trend, he had no short supply of comments yesterday. Apart from the pro-gay marriage statement, there was also a mention of the supposed link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Back before the war the Bush Administration and Cheney specifically made heavy use of a purported connection between Hussein and the terrorists that attacked us as a rationale to go to war with Iraq. Several years later, he has finally begun to acquiesce on that point, just a little bit.

From Bloomberg:

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney disavowed intelligence he once cited to suggest that then-Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein collaborated with al-Qaeda to stage the Sept. 11 attacks.

Cheney said today that information by the Central Intelligence Agency of collaboration between Iraq and al-Qaeda on Sept. 11 “turned out not to be true.” Still, Cheney said a longstanding relationship existed between Hussein and terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, that justified the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I thought it was strong at the time and I still feel so today,” Cheney said at a National Press Club lunch in Washington. “There was a relationship between al-Qaeda and Iraq that stretched back 10 years. That’s not something I made up.” Citing 2002 Senate testimony by George Tenet, then the CIA director, he said, “We know for a fact that Saddam Hussein was a state sponsor of terrorism."

We also know for a fact, that Dick was using false intelligence to make claims that were simply not true. We knew it then, he knew it then, but only now is he beginning to admit that there was no smoking gun, even if he still tries to push that there was a valid reason to invade and occupy Iraq.