Mokka mit Schlag » 2006 » September

State-level New York politics usually isn’t very interesting. Decades of redistricting have essentially locked in a system where the Democrats control the assembly and the Republicans control the Senate. Most seats are safe, and most voters don’t pay much attention except when the rent control laws come up for renewal every few years. The net result is a system in which the governor, the speaker of the house, and the president of the senate get together in a smoke-filled room¹ and decide what they’re going to do. Then the sheep in the two houses go along with the deal their leaders have endorsed. If they don’t, they’ll be cut out of various perks and committee assignments, which is the only thing they get out of their office since they don’t have any real power.

One of the things this triumvirate has lately decided (with the active collusion of the New York City mayor, the Brooklyn Borough president, and other officials) is that Brooklyn is going to have a basketball stadium paid for by taxpayer dollars, along with a humongous residential complex, whether we want it or not. Any homeowner who refuses to sell out will have their home stolen by eminent domain. After all, people can’t be allowed to stand in the way of the NBA and their desire to move the Nets across the river to the more lucrative new York market.

The Atlantic Yards Projects sits in the middle of the 11th Congressional District, the 57th Assembly District, and the 18th Senatorial District; and within the district where it’s planned opposition is high. Sadly a lot of the decisions about it are being made in Albany or Manhattan without any realistic public participation. I’m not optimistic about our chances to stop it; but if we’re to have any hope we need someone who’s going to stand up in Albany and oppose it, even if it means he doesn’t get a nice committee assignment or Sheldon Silver won’t take his calls. Bill Batson is our best hope to do that. On September 12th, I urge you to vote for Bill Batson for Assembly.

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¹ Well, at least it used to be a smoke filled room. These days, it’s probably a non-smoking building and they have wine and cheese instead.

Major Owens’ retirement has opened a seat in New York’s 11th Congressional District, which covers a large swath of central Brooklyn. This is an unusual and diverse district. However it’s also a staunchly Democratic one, so Tuesday’s primary will almost certainly decide the winner of the general election. Four candidates are contesting it–Chris Owens, Yvette Clarke, Carl Andrews, and David Yassky. In much of the country, any one of these people would be considered a left-wing liberal commie, but three of them would likely change their politics to fit their district. Only one of the four stands out as a committed progressive who wants to oppose the status quo rather than become a part of it. That candidate is Chris Owens, and he gets my unqualified endorsement.
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It’s no secret that in what passes for a political spectrum in this country I qualify as a left-wing radical. Therefore it’s no surprise that I’m supporting Jonathan Tasini for Senate. Nonetheless, there’s good reason for less radical Democrats to support him too. In short, Hilary must be stopped.
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Tuesday is primary day in New York, and it’s an interesting one. Local term limits, combined with extreme dissatisfaction with incumbents at all levels of government have led to an unusual number of contested elections. Furthermore the continued implosion of the New York State Republican party means that a lot of offices are going to be decided on Tuesday. Registered Democrats should be sure to get out and vote.

The first election is for U.S. Senate, and here the choice is an easy one for all progressives and libertarians: Jonathan Tasini. Tasini’s a labor activist and former National Writer’s Union president with a long record of commitment to progressive causes. He’s been directly involved in protecting the rights of writers and readers from the copyright englobulators of the corporate media. He’s a staunch opponent of the Iraq war, and can be counted on to oppose the national security state that’s been imposed on us by successive administrations, both Democrat and Republican.
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Today I was supposed to be on a pelagic expedition out of Freeport seeing wonderful new life birds like skuas and jaegers. Instead I’m sitting at home blogging and clearing old email. It seems the seas were too high for safety–5-9 foot swells and 10-15 knot winds–so the captain called off the trip. The next New York trip isn’t till December. I’ve already done a winter trip this year so I’ll probably skip that one. Maybe there’ll be another trip next September.
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The server migration at IBiblio broke something I still don’t quite understand. The net effect is that I can’t update anything there or at Cafe con Leche right now. I have a trouble ticket open. Hopefully I’ll get this fixed soon, whatever it is. E-mail does seem to be working, though.