What Obama’s State of the Union Means for New York
By Alan S. Chartock
In politics, there is an old saying: “First you have to win.” A corollary is “Winning is everything.” Another companion idiom in American politics is “There are no co-winners.” Read more
Draining the Swamp
Political resolutions for 2012
If I were these people, I would make the following resolutions:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo: I resolve to clean up the Democratic conference in the State Senate by backing good, progressive, honest Democratic candidates rather than collaborating with the Republicans. I vow to remember that in 2016 I will be running for president of the United States, and some Democrats will have long memories and accuse me of being a bad Democrat. I will keep my distance from Rupert Murdoch—people are beginning to talk. Speaking of talking, before my run for president, I really have to get some coaching about my regional dialect. Read more
Charters Meet Economic Reality
Will the state supply charters with space in tough financial time?
As belts tighten in New York state government, the question of whether to continue New York’s charter schools becomes even more controversial. Those who favor charter schools argue that too often, in the state’s inner cities, children receive inferior educations. A lot of people, including many of the state’s conservative thinkers, have embraced charter schools as a way out of the cycle of substandard, regimented education.
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Wall Street Rallies Foreshadow Things to Come
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the world’s richest men, recently warned about the possibility of demonstrations and riots in the United States. In fact, this country has made it known that it would not countenance interference with peaceful protests occurring in places like Libya, Egypt and Syria. We supported the demonstrators in those countries and read with horror the Twitter and Facebook reports of police beatings and shootings of young protestors who said they’d had enough; they were willing to demonstrate and die for their principles and the opportunity to make democratic change.
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9/11 Balancing Act
The events of 9/11 proved that New York really is the center of the universe. The miserable thugs who were behind the attack knew that. They didn’t choose Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles for their despicable attack. They chose New York because they wanted to inspire as much fear and terror as possible. They hijacked another plane and sent it to Washington, the seat of government, to make a different kind of point. They succeeded in creating the kind of reaction that the Japanese inspired among the American people after Pearl Harbor. They brought Americans and, for a brief time, the rest of the world together.
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The Governor’s Next Big Push
Cuomo should get in front of the medical marijuana debate
I’ve met an awful lot of people who say that they smoke marijuana. They laugh when I tell them that I never have. Nevertheless, a lot of people smoke or have tried it and have created an underground economy, sort of a prohibition do-over, that has helped criminals in our country maintain their elevated style of life.
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What Charters and Public Schools Have in Common?
Unions will need to analyze role, charters will need to adhere to rigorous standards
There has been a spate of articles recently about alleged wrongdoing in specific charter schools in New York. These instances mirror the inevitable wrongdoing that we hear about in our old-style public schools. In both cases, it is almost inevitable that some rotten apples will spoil a good idea. Public education, be it in charter schools or in the old-style schools, is our best hope. The charter schools model was established as one way to challenge our earlier model public schools to do better; in some cases, this is already happening.
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Placing a Sure Bet
Arrogance and corruption are the downfall of tainted state legislators
Around the first of every year, I write my annual predications. Inevitably, I predict a sure thing: that a member of the New York State Legislature will be indicted. I have not yet been wrong. Now that everyone from the governor to the FBI is working hard to clean up the cesspool known as Albany, I should up the ante and predict that several legislators will be indicted. I have good reason to suspect that there are a lot of nervous people around Albany, who are painfully aware that the FBI was listening in on their telephone conversations with State Senator Carl Kruger and lobbyist Richard J. Lipsky.
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Standing at Calamity’s Edge
The American people are being fleeced; how long will they take it?
As state and federal governments continue drowning in a sea of red ink, we are reminded of Johnny Carson’s old edict, “Buy the premise, buy the bit.” There is no doubt that from Wisconsin to New York to Massachusetts, the premise is that we are broke. The narrative continues that we have spent too much on our schools, our hospitals and our bureaucrats. As a result, things are getting uglier. We are beginning to see scenes reminiscent of Egypt, with civil servants gathering in large numbers in peaceful protest.
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You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours
New ethics report should disclose who buys and sells legislators
The New York State Bar Association recently delivered a report on governmental ethics in New York. Before anyone makes unfair jokes about lawyers and sharks or lawyers and ethics as an oxymoron, one should read this good but imperfect report.
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