Banking and Politics: As Old As the Republic

Many economists are now blaming the deregulation of the banking industry by congress as the cause of the nation’s economic crisis. It is important to understand that the intimate relationship between politics and banking policy is not new, nor is its economic influence now unique. Since the nation's beginnings banking regulations have been intimately connected to politics, and the politics of banking is a high stakes game not well understood by the public. It is clearly not understood by today's elected officials who have destroyed Wall Street and the economy of New York City. A review of New York's economic history and banking policy from 1784 to the Civil War clearly shows that banks and banking policy were central to the state's economic development (and closely entwined with politics). It also shows that intelligent banking policy can further economic development while bad policy inevitably causes economic havoc.  read more »

(Note: The following is the text of my testimony to the New York State Assembly's Education Committee on the question of mayoral control of New York City's schools.)

In 2003, beset by anger over school board corruption, the state of New York gave virtually complete control over New York City's public school system to the mayor in a six-year experiment. As the end of that experiment nears, the question of how to move forward moves to the forefront.

By the time I graduated from high school, I had attended schools in seven different school districts in five different states. I therefore have a rare opportunity not only to compare and contrast different approaches to the many aspects of how a school, and a school system, can be organized, but also how well each separate aspect works and how well they work together.  read more »

Amid signs of deepening GOP-Bush developed depression , GOP Congress Members want what? Tax cuts for the rich? Of course. Should they worry? Will we remember them? GOP congressional leaders want to be remembered for their opposition to the stimulus From the people who brought you wage stagnation, predatory lending, job export, unemployment and depression – they just don’t care. Peter King, Christopher Lee – we will remember you. And Obama political allies are already looking at Senate stimulus opponents.

If there's a GOP or Blue Dog who doesn't face serious challenge in 2010, shame on us

More on getting worse? Try here  read more »

Been saying for ages that Bruce Ratner's proposed Atlantic Yards over-development plan was too big, too expensive and would never bring the benefits he promised. Been saying it ever since it was supposed to be a "done deal." Slowly, as indeed promises have been broken by Ratner, costs spiral and, of course, the economy collapsed under the watch of Bush nationally and Bloomberg locally, more and more people are jumping ship.  read more »

Thanks to the efforts of mass transportation advocates led on the ground by Transportation Alternatives, Streetsblog, and, nationally by Transportation For America and in Congress by NYC's own Congress Member Jerrold Nadler , the House of Representatives has voted to increase the mass transit portion of the stimulus package by $3 billion (check here for a blow-by-blow of the debate & vote)

Update. So much for Bipartisanship The stimulus package passed the House Tuesday night 244-188. Not one Republican voted for the stimulus, 11 Democrats voted against. The Times added a great map which identifies the 11 Democratic nay-sayers and GOP allies by district. Moveon seeks ad cash to soften GOP Senators' stimulus opposition.  read more »

Dear Bank of America,

I am a customer. That's right. I have a couple of Bank of America credit cards. My wife and I are also looking for a bank for some accounts. But you know, your ingratitude leads me to refuse to bank with you and to consider cutting up those credit cards.

First off, you never thanked us for that bail out. Yeah. WE bailed you out. That was OUR money that you so eagerly grabbed from the government.

Okay, so I was willing to overlook that little act of ingratitude on your part. But now I find out that your ingratitude goes even further. You see, after eagerly grabbing a government hand out (paid for by us taxpayers!) you then turned around and stabbed us in the back. You took the money and used part of it to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act, a labor bill that is supported by a large majority of Americans.

From the Huffington Post:  read more »

Anyone who has loyally followed my columns over the past three years -Room Eight New York Politics (www.r8ny.com) and the Daily Gotham (www.dailygotham.com) -will be aware that I have been considering another run for public office for some time now. And if you missed part one of these columns then you need to go back into my archives on either website. It should be of no surprise to any of you that I gone beyond the exploratory stage, and has now formed a fundraising committee (Friends of Rock Hackshaw). Yes, I am still angry enough about the term-limits extension vote (amongst other factors), to make another run for public office: this time for city council and not the Assembly (as I did in 1998).

I am intent on running for a seat on the New York City Council later this year. I am a Democrat, and as such I will be entering the Primary Election (Tuesday 15th September, 2009) against the incumbent of the 40th council district (Mathieu Eugene). So far there seems to be about six or seven other potential challengers, and although conventional wisdom will suggest that this is favorable to the incumbent, there are no real candidates until the Board of Elections and/or the court rule(s) one on the ballot.

Very often, names are floated as potential candidates to discourage others from getting into the race: this could be happening in the Brooklyn’s 40th district. Thus I intend to move my candidacy forward, despite my earlier prognostication that I don’t want to be a candidate when there are four or more challengers to the incumbent. That may not be the ideal situation for a challenger, but in my estimation it isn’t fatal to one’s hopes and aspirations: especially if the tactics for voter-persuasion are solid as a rock.

When Eugene initially ran and won this seat in a special election, there were more than a dozen names floating around as potential candidates; when it was time to file petitions only eleven did. After the court challenges were expedited there were ten names on the voting machine. In that election he garnered about thirty percent of the low turnout; only twelve per cent of the registered voters turned out to vote in someone to replace Yvette Clarke (Congress).  read more »

A lot of discussion has taken place on liberal blogs following the brutal death of Djimytai Damour at a New York store on Black Friday.

At MyDD, folks asked what the event meant about our culture, or pondered what Wal-Mart might have done to prevent the man's death, while over at Daily Kos there was a spirited debate over whether Wal-Mart was even responsible.

I do some work with Wake-Up Wal-Mart-- what they did was raise money to relieve Damour's family. We've been following this story pretty closely. Now it's taken another turn.

Now Leana Lockley, the pregnant woman whom Jdimytai Damour died saving, is telling her tale:

"There were so many people on top of me it just went silent," Lockley said. "I started hearing my teeth grinding in my mouth and my body being crushed. I really thought I lost my baby."  read more »

This comes from a district I am not so familiar with so have so far stayed neutral on. I know Rock Hackshaw has been critical of Al Vann (the incumbent) and that Vann was part of the Bloomberg Putsch. Saquan Jones is one of several primary opponents for the 36th district and has sent the following call for debates to all the primary candidates:

During my pursuit for Brooklyn’s 36th District City Council Seat, I have experienced a number of twists and turns, but the one constant I have come to realize is that there are still GOOD PEOPLE out there. Regardless of presentation…good people listen, regardless of strife…good people still create opportunities and regardless of conditions…good people persevere. Recently, I started the door-to-door portion of my campaign and during this process; I have been embraced with open arms, so I will add another facet:

GOOD PEOPLE DESERVE GREAT LEADERSHIP  read more »

(Note: Again, cross-posted from my website, from which you can also download the 7-page PDF file.)

For the next few weeks, much of the news emanating from Washington will be about whatever "economic stimulus package" Congress eventually passes. Naturally, everyone has gripes about the package as it is reported to stand currently, and everyone will have gripes about the final version of the package, whatever it is. Rather than gripe like all the others, however I thought I'd try something positive - outlining what a good, effective stimulus package should look like.  read more »

From the United Kingdom via The New York Times.

Hahaha, those crazy Brits

I, along with many others, reported on the Israeli ban on Arab political parties for the 2009 elections. This ban was almost universally criticized, including by myself.

What has not gotten any attention is the fact that the Israeli Supreme Court reversed this ban quite rapidly. This is an example both of how a government with proper checks and balances works, and an example of how everyone who loves to criticize Israel ignores it when Israel does something right. I saw lots of diaries on Daily Kos criticizing the ban but none that I came across reporting on the reversal.

From Ynet news:

The High Court of Justice overturned Wednesday the Central Elections Committee's decision to disqualify the Arab parties, Balad and United Arab List-Ta'al from taking part in the next Knesset race.

The Central Elections Committee explained its decision by saying that since neither party recognized Israel as the Jewish homeland, they were not eligible to bid in the nearing general elections...  read more »

Truly shocking:

Joseph L. Bruno, the former State Senate majority leader, was indicted on Friday in Albany on charges that he reaped millions of dollars from companies seeking business from the state or from labor unions, capping a long-running investigation into one of New York’s most powerful political figures.

In an eight-count indictment, federal prosecutors accused Mr. Bruno of collecting more than $3 million over a 13-year period, beginning in 1993, from a handful of companies seeking state contracts and grants, as well as contracts to manage pension fund investments for at least 16 labor unions.

Betcha nobody saw that coming, eh? Except, perhaps, for Eliot Spitzer.

In the December issue of Vanity Fair, Maureen Dowd frets in re: Fey/Palin:

Still, the debate raged about the politics of Sarah Palin’s appearance on S.N.L. Did it help her? Did it hurt her? Was it demeaning to politics? Were late-night shows determining the election?

Obviously, Miz Dowd lacks clairvoyancy, otherwise she would have known that in New York, no comedy show can trump our actual government in demeaning politics. A senator gets arrested for smashing a bottle into his girlfriend's face. Our City Council overturns voter-imposed term limits without sanction. And now, of course, there's the debacle about the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Ben Smith:

The loser, of course, is Paterson, whose strong choice is overshadowed by a process that deeply alienated one of America's most powerful political families, humiliated a friend of the president of the United States, and generally appeared utterly, needlessly chaotic -- at a time when the accidental governor is struggling to demonstrate that he has a firm grip on his power and can stand up to a powerful legislature. When the headline is "Blago Did Better," you know you have a problem.

The process could badly damage Paterson in 2010, and the risk for Gillibrand that she be tarnished by the process that chose her -- it's a different (and lesser) version of Roland Burris's problem -- and yoked to a governor who is in serious trouble.

But then again, it's not as if the state is in crisis or anything like that. We have plenty of bandwidth for soap operas.

From the source that tipped me off about Gillibrand's appointment, here's a few quick stats about the potential electoral world of fundraising pain that would occur if  Gillebrand vacates her post at CD-20 :  read more »

Now that the nanny and taxes have convinced Carolyn Kennedy of dropping her ridiculous bid for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, PIX News is confirming that Governor Patterson's choice to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate is Kirsten Gillibrand, Congresswoman to New York's 20th District. She is what I call a right-wingish Democrat for her opposition to gun-control. It's because of her support of the NRA that Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy has vowed to primary Gillibrand in 2010 if Paterson appoints her to the Senate. Yet it's Wayne Barrett who plunges the knife and kills the Congresswoman's "fairy tale" political ascent, which is often times used to explain her political currency :

The irony is that Paterson may be swinging from the nation's most prominent Democratic family to one with strong Republican ties. Gillibrand's father, Doug Rutnik, is an Albany insider and lobbyist whose ties to former GOP powerhouses Joe Bruno, George Pataki and Al D'Amato are legendary. In fact, Gillibrand won her seat when a state police domestic violence report about the GOP incumbent, John Sweeney, was mysteriously leaked, ostensibly with the acquiescence of the Pataki administration, which had its own reasons to oppose Sweeney. Bruno is under federal investigation now, and some of the subpoenas in the case involved a real estate deal that partnered Rutnik with Bruno and another lobbyist. Rutnik dated, and eventually lived with, a top Pataki and D'Amato aide for many years, until he broke up with her in 2006 to marry a cousin of his, Gwen Lee, who'd worked in high-paying state jobs secured by the same aide. Rutnik and D'Amato have been registered lobbyists for some of the same clients.

Yet my favorite bit of trivia about the woman is that, if indeed she will be appointed, she would have beaten her former boss, Andrew Cuomo, for the open seat. A low blow for a guy that should have had it in the basket with his solid Democratic "political dynasty" pedigree vis-a-vis her Republican background.  read more »

Having downloaded the filings of 12 candidates* for citywide office, it is still obvious that the current campaign finance system fails in its goal of making small donations important.

Under current rules, the first $175 donated from any single donor is eligible for matching funds, while anything above that is not, so it stands to reason that $175 is the break point between "small" and "large" donations. According to data available from the Campaign Finance Board website, these candidates have raised a total of $21,659,521. As of the January filings, over 97.8% of the $21 million-plus is in the form of donations greater than $175.

Candidates whose "large donation" numbers are well below the average are generally those you would expect -- those who haven't raised that much money. The four with the lowest percentages of large donations are the same four lowest fundraisers -- in the same order! Similarly, the candidate with the highest percentage of large donations is also the largest fundraiser.  read more »

Reports are circulating that Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her request for Paterson to consider her for Clinton's Senate seat. This may well be because of Ted Kennedy's health problems. I am not a fan of Caroline Kennedy for Senate, but this is not the reason I would have wanted for her withdrawal. And I have to admit the realization that if Ted Kennedy becomes to sick to serve, it will be the first time in my life without a Kennedy in the Senate.

Best of luck to the Kennedy family and I am hoping this doesn't mean Cuomo will be our next Senator. There are better people out there.

[Update MB]: Kennedy has apparently released a statement denying this story.

[Update DM]: Apparently she HAS withdrawn despite rumors to the contrary. From MSNBC:

"I informed Governor Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate," she said in a one-sentence statement released after midnight. Her spokesman, Stefan Friedman, wouldn't comment further.

For once, the NY Post got it right.

The United States Senate voted today, 94-2, to confirm Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

The senator was sworn in as secretary at 5:29 p.m., her office said, and immediately resigned her Senate seat, sending identical one-line letters to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is president of the Senate; to the office of the secretary of the Senate and to New York Gov. David A. Paterson, who has said he will name a replacement soon.

In other words, we have another two days or so to speculate on who it's going to be. So here's some speculation, as completely without foundation as anything you can read anywhere.

It won't be Cuomo. If it were to be him, Shelly would pick the replacement, and while Paterson has had an astonishingly tin ear of late, he probably doesn't want the Speaker to have that much extra power. Caroline Kennedy, despite conflicting poll numbers, remains a good bet; New Yorkers like glamorous electeds, as little as we're actually blessed with them. The dark horse is probably Jerrold Nadler; eminently qualified, and a retail politician you can sell in Oneonta. Carolyn Malonwy might have a shot, if she learned to smile with the upper half of her face. Gregory Meeks, meanwhile, has been in office for over two decades, and nobody knows who he is or why they should care.

At the end of the day, and I stress I have no strong feelings on the subject, my money would be on Kennedy (though the Post reports she's out). She would just be too cinematic to pass by. But Paterson has a sense of mischief, so he may surprise all of us.

Update: Well then, perfect timing: The New York Times says Kennedy is "said to withdraw" her bid (and note that "is said to withdraw" is not "withdraws"), due to her uncle's precarious health. Some say that Paterson was going to name her to the seat tonight.

Generally crime goes up the worse the economy gets. This is a pretty simple relationship: people who have a stake in society tend to follow society's laws more than people who feel they have been left behind by society. I also know from experience that at least in Brooklyn the criminal courts are packed with cases. On grand jury duty you might hear as many as 40 cases in 2 weeks. And that is just ONE of 6 grand juries (if my memory and math is correct) that is sitting at any given time.

But Bloomberg claims crime is still down. If true, that is good news, but I have wondered how true it is. So, it appears, does Marq Claxton, a retired NYPD detective and co-founder of the 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care who is running for the City Council seat in the 31st Council District.

This comes from Marquez Claxton's website:  read more »

DanCantor emails over the highlight of Saturday's concert at the Lincoln Memorial: Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen performing "This land is your land".

Forty minutes to go; we're almost there.

Is The New York Times in trouble?

Some signs clearly point in that direction. The newspaper mortgaged its new tower on Times Square, and accepted an investment of $250 million from a Mexican investor. Ad revenue is down - as it is everywhere - and the paper's experiment with generating online revenue from their TimesSelect subscription program was abandoned a few months ago.

Elsewhere, the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times are bankrupt - not through their own failings, but because they were bought by an investor who threw the cost of purchasing their parent company on its books, causing it to fail. An act of supreme vandalism of the public interest? Of course.

The irony lies in the fact that more people than ever before read the Times. No newspaper has managed to develop a successful revenue model based on their online properties, but if they ever do, they will be very rich companies - not, mind you, that the business is unprofitable to begin with. It's just not profitable enough for the money vultures.

So, what to do? Given how we're throwing money at banks brought low by their own greed, shouldn't we consider some kind of rescue, maybe comparable to the Swedish model? The New York Times is a national jewel, however irksome their editorial board may sometimes be. Without it, our national discourse would be immeasurably poorer.  read more »

Once everything goes right, the world will witness a coronation of sorts next Tuesday, when Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president (yes/Grover Cleveland counts only once) of the USA; and without doing a formal survey, I can safely say that most people in the world -who will be aware of this event- will be pleased. I can also safely say that this will be the most communicated event ever: whether by radio, internet, television, telephone, text messaging or whatever. The potential for this event -in terms of national and international human interaction- is proverbial; it will probably even surpass the attention paid to the coverage of the 9-11 cataclysms on that tragic day itself.

And yes, Negroes all over this planet will be extra happy. And yes, so too will be millions of human beings of other races; as well as millions of others of mixed races (like Obama). And of course millions of Caucasians too -who in the tradition(s) of William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, the early Quakers, Nat Turner, and others of those ilks- will also be pleased: given that they all will be -at least minimally- aware of the symbolic significance of this impending event.

This event is so historic in national and international dimensions that many still don’t get it; especially some of those journalists and commentators over at the Fox News Network. But later for them, since it is obvious that they just don’t understand how profound the impact of racism has been on the history of this planet; and they are not alone. Thus, to this day, there are many who are probably still trying to figure out why there was so much dancing in the streets (all over the world) accompanying Obama’s victory-night.

Despite the euphoria of these times, there are various warning signs that shouldn’t be ignored. Too many of us seem to be always awaiting messianic deliverance, and Barack Obama isn’t Yehuda (Jesus Christ). He is only a man. He is as flawed and mortal as everyone else; he is no demigod. Of course there are aspects to his character and abilities that just happen to be brilliant, but for him to succeed at dealing with the myriad problems facing this country, this hemisphere, this region and the world at large, Barack Obama is going to need our help: big time. He is going to need the help, the ideas, the contributions, the good-wishes and the prayers of all us who wish him well.  read more »

Change is in the air! Today, one of the worst eras in American history will come to a close (lasting legacy of economic depression aside), and a new, almost certainly MUCH better era will begin. It is time to celebrate.

How will you celebrate the end of the Bush regime and the beginning of the Obama Presidency? With the passing of one very depressing era, and the start of a new, very hopeful one, I am considering several ways to commemorate the event.

Perhaps it is time to show my pride as a liberal American. Be PROUD to be a liberal American. Our nation was founded on liberal principles and we should remind everyone around us that it is PATRIOTIC to be liberal.

 read more »