MESSAGE
| DATE | 2008-04-04 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Fighting back and keeping our unity
|
Friday, April 04, 2008
Hammond's Political Atlas: No Guide to Democratic Practice Bill Hammond
of the NY Daily News is outraged by the power and control exercised by
Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver over the Bloomberg congestion tax. He's
shocked that one man can stymie what he sees as the will of the people:
"Never mind that the welfare of millions of New Yorkers hangs in
the balance. Silver will determine behind closed doors whether Mayor
Bloomberg's plan lives or dies. Never mind that the City Council and
civic leaders agree congestion pricing is the right way to relieve
traffic, clean the air and funnel billions into mass transit. Silver
could declare the plan DOA with no public debate."
Please Bill, save your indignation for another issue; this one defies
the attempt to Tar Baby Shelly after the display of arm twisting and
hubris at the City Council this week. As for the welfare of millions
of New Yorkers hanging in the balance, we think it's best to consult
these folks directly before giving the mayor and the speaker the right
to arrogate to themselves the definition of what's in the public interest.
Does Hammond believe that this tax would pass a city referendum (even one
where the mayor money would impact the results)? Check out the NY Post
letters section today-"Congestion Indigestion;" a better expression of
the popular will than the suborned vote on Monday down in the council
chambers. After all, there wasn't a single City Council nay vote from
the Bronx where public opinion polls have shown the greatest skepticism
and opposition to the mayor's tax plan exists.
So what we have here is one speaker who exercises her political clout in
one direction, and another wilier speaker who does the opposite. It's not
as if Shelly is doing what Quinn did-reverse the judgment of opponents
through time-honored pork barrel politics. In fact, as the NY Sun reports
this morning, Assembly Dems are overwhelmingly opposed to the Bloomberg
tax: "Yesterday, Assembly Democrats resumed discussions of the bill in a
private conference meeting at which the overwhelming majority expressed
opposition."
In this morning's NY Post the level of Assembly discontent was expressed:
"There are a number of members who have serious concerns about who will be
paying the fees, how they will be paying the fees, and whether this is,
among other things, a regressive tax," Silver said. At a closed-door
meeting, only 17 of 73 Assembly Democrats supported the plan, sources
said."
And of course Bill Hammond fails to adequately-and/or critically-go
into the details of the mayor's $500,000 contribution to the Senate
Republicans. Here's how he describes the Good Joe's actions: "Senate
Majority Leader Joe Bruno exercises pretty much the same dictatorial
control in his house. Bruno and his Republican majority - eager to stay
on the good side of Bloomberg, one of their biggest political donors -
have already gone on record in favor of congestion pricing.
Doesn't this, however, seriously undermine the argument against Shelly? It
all comes down to whose ox is being gored-and Hammond likes the congestion
tax so its Silver who becomes the undemocratic bad dude.
We'll leave all this with a comment from the Vox Popular in the
Post. As Malcom MacKinnon of Woodside wrote: "The City Council passed
the congestion pricing plan, and what does Bloomberg say? "The people
of New York City have spoken." Bloomberg misspoke. The residents of New
York City didn't vote; 50 well-paid City Council members did. New Yorkers
are adamantly opposed to this plan, which amounts to nothing more than
another tax on the middle class - a huge financial burden as we slide
into a recession. Once again, the mayor demonstrates how clueless he is
about what real life is like in the city..."
# posted by Neighborhood Retail Alliance -at- 8:00 AM
--
http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
"Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
"The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in our own society."
"> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be damned.<
You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and technology have been attached at the hip since the 1st dynasty in Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
© Copyright for the Digital Millennium
|
|
