Politicians Being Politicians

For it's impressive distillation of nauseating backslapping, mawkish self-celebration, and dubious factuality into one hugely lame quote, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's comments in a Governor Spitzer press release on New York's self-imposed Kyoto Protocol could go down as a politicians-being-politicians quote of the year:

“Bravo to Governor Spitzer for striking this blow against global warning and greenhouse gas emissions—and for recognizing that with a little courage, being ‘green’ is much easier than people think. Here in cutting-edge Brooklyn, we’re proud of our solar-powered subway terminal at Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, our co-gen co-ops in Clinton Hill, our huge new green roof in Red Hook, our food justice efforts in East New York—the kinds of sustainable initiatives that have the rest of the country saying ‘Brooklyn, NYC, and New York State — How green it is!’”

Yes, that's exactly what everyone's saying.

Around the Web

-- The New York Times is no johnny-come-lately on climate change. One of its first distress signals was printed way back in '95 -- 1895, that is!

-- Here's something as rare as a "smoking permitted" sign: The Wall Street Journal's Hugo Restall spends an entire column waxing rhapsodic on the joys of smoking.

-- The birthplace of Ebenezer Scrooge moves to ban Santa Claus.

-- Be proud: Your tax dollars are financing post-Thanksgiving congressional vacations to Brazil.

-- Councilman James Oddo, fresh from his long, lonely and hard-fought battle to ban metal baseball bats, has another big idea.

This Should Solve It

Responding to a recent proliferation of nooses, New York lawmakers are proposing "to make it a felony to etch, paint, draw or otherwise place or display a noose on public or private property."

From the press release:

"This is a vile act that must be dealt with harshly," said New York State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos [who sponsored the legislation]. "There is no place for racism and intimidation in America and this rash of incidents clearly demonstrates the need for tough new penalties. The Senate will act today to make displaying a noose a felony and I encourage the Assembly to reconvene and pass this legislation as soon as possible."

"This legislation recognizes that a noose continues to be a powerful symbol of racism and intimidation towards African Americans, and that it is solely meant to harass and threaten another person or a group of people. Today the Senate Majority will take decisive action to protect all New Yorkers from the menacing and disturbing actions of a few," [Republican] Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said.

Yes, banning the drawing of nooses (even on private property) certainly does qualify as "decisive action." Whether it's a decisive in the direction of common sense is, alas, quite another question.

TREND WATCH: Proposed NY Bans

Note: I'm now including a category for New York state. I'm sure I've missed a bunch, so don't hesitate to bring others to my attention. I'm also including older proposed bans, too.

The latest ...

New York City:

2007:

1. City Councilmembers using public funds for personal ads
   
2. Styrofoam containers in food services
   
3. Various contributions to city politicians
4. Etching acid
5. High rises in the Upper West Side
   
6. 'Stealing' recyclables
   
7. Peeping toms
8. Videotaping in public without a permit
   
9. Smoking in cars with minors
   
10. The word "bitch"
11. The word "ho"
12. Free formula samples for new mothers at city hospitals
13. Teenage possession of spray paint
    
14. Businesses from leaving their windows or doors open while air conditioners are on inside
    
15. Dogs from being tied up three-plus hours
    
16. Talking/listening/playing while walking crosswalks
17. Skinny models
18. The "N-word"
19. Electric-assist pedicabs
20. Public pension investments in companies with business in Sudan

2006:

1. pit bulls
2. trans-fats
3. aluminum baseball bats
4. the purchase of tobacco by 18- to 20-year-olds
5. foie gras
6. pedicabs in parks
7. new fast-food restaurants (but only in poor neighborhoods)
8. lobbyists from the floor of council chambers
9. lobbying city agencies after working at the same agency
10. vehicles in Central and Prospect parks
11. cell phones in upscale restaurants
12. the sale of pork products made in a processing plant in Tar Heel, N.C., because of a unionization dispute
13. mail-order pharmaceutical plans
14. candy-flavored cigarettes
15. gas-station operators adjusting prices more than once daily
16. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
17. Wal-Mart
18. the process that makes steaks pink
19. subway ads poking fun at outer boroughs

2004:

1. Loud car alarms
2. Vendors from Ground Zero
   

2003:

1. Cell phones during public performances

2002:

1. Toy guns
2. Soft drinks and snacks in city public schools
   

New York:

2007:

1. Using I-pods/cell phones while crossing the street
2. Plastic bags
3. Nooses
   
4. Spectating dog fights
   
5. Smoking in cars with minors
   
6. Plastic water bottles
7. Styrofoam used in food services
8. Thin models

NOTE: List updated again as of 12:12 PM, October 16th.

Councilman Oddo Threatens to 'Beat the S**t Out of' a Female Reporter; Daily News Cheers

Councilman James Oddo would appear to want nothing more than to go down as the guy who pried metal baseball bats from the hands of New York City's little leaguers. The Staten Island councilman, a self-described "conservative Republican," insists wooden bats are far safer.

It's a good thing bats of either variety were absent from his recent interview on Ricket's Rost, a Colbert Report-type fake-news show in Norway. After Oddo quickly realized he was to be made the butt of a joke, he called in his assistant and demanded an explanation. Anger then morphed into rage: "Get the fuck out of my office!" Sixteen f-bombs later, fully inebriated by his own rage, Oddo threatens "to beat the shit out of" the interviewer, a cute 26-year-old Scandinavian comedienne.

Today The Daily News editorializes in favor of Oddo's outburst. "We salute the man as a genuine Stand-Up New Yorker," the editorialists write. "Our compliments."

Here's the video -- judge for yourself whether his behavior is commendable:


Oddo's mistake was his own, in that he believed European media was actually interested in seriously interviewing him. While it's certainly understandable that he was upset his time was being wasted on a prank, it takes a righteous sense of self-importance to fly off the handle so quickly. A classier, cleverer man would have turned the joke back around on his interlocutor -- "May I ask you something? Is it true that only left-handed Norwegians know how to read?" Or, "On what day does Thor's birthday fall? Or are there other holidays you pagans celebrate?"

A great statesman Oddo is not. At least as compared to masters like Winston Churchill. When Lady Astor huffed, "If I were married to you, I'd put poison in your coffee," Winston curtly replied, "If I were your husband, I'd drink it!" My colleague John Wilson reminds me of another: Once at a dinner party, a woman at the prime minister's table angrily accuses him of being drunk, to which Winston responds, "This may be well and true, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

These of course require being quick witted and bright. Oddo instead is just your stock school-yard bully.

Full disclosure: I am eminently biased on this subject. As part of my day job I was once required to call up Mr. Oddo to ask whether his bat-banning bill included a school-budget supplemental to finance the costs of replacing the wooden bats that would inevitably break throughout the season. Oddo was displeased The Post's editorial page would be weighing in against the ban yet again, shouting words to the effect of, "You f*cking think I'm going to f*cking give you the bullets to shoot me down. You've already shot me down three f*cking times. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid." It was pretty much like the video, except that it went on for about 10 minutes. Here's the editorial.

The Lengths Pols Will Go To Take Your Money

Someone please explain to me what America is coming to.

People being imprisoned for a minimum of one year for possession of cigarettes? Cars being impounded for possession of just three cartons? In Tennessee?? I mean, here in New York, sure -- but Tennessee??

Quote of the Day

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

-- Mark Twain

Meet Wikipedia's Newest Editors

... New York's City Council, which obviously has too much free time on its hands.

What Are Politicians Going To Do With Themselves?

Poll: 94 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with their lives

Well, they could fall back on their stock-in-trade: creating new headaches.

Higher Taxes Never Pay

Virginia Republicans have proven too clever by half. Thinking they could hike taxes by calling it by another name -- in this case, "abuser fees" -- Democrats, who, of course, went along with the plan, are now hammering away at the tax-hiking GOP.

The Washington Post reports how regret is quickly spreading among the ranks:

On doorsteps, in e-mails and in phone calls, candidates are hearing from thousands of voters that the fees, which apply to the state's most egregious driving offenses and in some cases reach $3,000, must be repealed. The GOP-controlled legislature and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) supported the fees to finance road and transit improvements. [...]

The fees are expected to raise $65 million a year for transportation improvements.

"I think the fact that we are only penalizing Virginia drivers is patently unfair," said O'Brien, who voted for the fees but now wants a special session before the election, as does Devolites Davis. Kaine has said he will not call a special session.

Just last week, Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William), who had supported the fees, joined a growing list of legislators calling for repeal, saying the measures are "beyond repair."

"Scott is listening to his constituents," said House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). "I guess it's fair game for challengers."

The Post says Republicans are now in danger of losing the state legislature. Hard to see how this would be a fate undeserved.

And Reid Blames Bush for Congress's 14 Percent Approval ...

One week before Election Day, 2006:

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “On taxes, you heard the Vice President, he said Democrats come in to control, taxes are going to go up?”

DNC Chairman Howard Dean: “That’s just Republican National Committee propaganda. Nancy Pelosi has said they’re will not be a middle class increase ... [I] have not heard one person in the leadership, Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi, talking about tax increases except unwinding tax breaks that were put in the middle of the night for the oil companies and insurance companies.”

With just six months of leadership under their belt, congressional Democrats have already proposed higher or brand-new taxes on cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, university endowments, pension funds, people earning $250,000-plus annually, private-equity managers, American workers oversees, American exporters, energy companies ...

Next thing you know, we'll find out they weren't even serious about reining in pork! (Oh wait ...)

Bush Sounding Like a ... Conservative?!

On the matter of whether to massively expand a program that began as a small "safety net" for low-income, health-insurance lacking children but has slowly evolved in the entitlement de rigeur, President Bush says over his dead veto hand:

"I support the initial intent of the program," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post after a factory tour and a discussion on health care with small-business owners in Landover. "My concern is that when you expand eligibility . . . you're really beginning to open up an avenue for people to switch from private insurance to the government."

"I'm not going to surrender a good and important idea before the debate really gets started," Bush said. "And I think it's going to be very important for our allies on Capitol Hill to hear a strong, clear message from me that expansion of government in lieu of making the necessary changes to encourage a consumer-based system is not acceptable."

Also, Bush gets brave, sticks up for Big Tobacco:

About 3.3 million additional children would be covered under the proposal developed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), among others. It would provide the program $60 billion over five years, compared with $30 billion under Bush's proposal. And it would rely on a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, to $1 a pack [plus a 20,000 percent tax hike on high-end cigars], which Bush opposes.

Bush said he is opposed to a bipartisan legislation that would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products, which could lead to stronger warning labels and limits on nicotine and other ingredients.

"We've always said that nicotine is not a drug to be regulated under FDA," Bush said.

For more on SCHIP, see Kimberly Strassel.

What Awaits Vitter

From today's Political Diary:

The 46-year-old [Senator David Vitter] seemed to be on track after his 2004 election to the U.S. Senate and his shrewd positioning this year as Rudy Giuliani's top Southern supporter. But all that ended last night as Mr. Vitter admitted that he was involved in the so-called "D.C. Madam" prostitution ring scandal. As the phone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, alleged owner of the Beltway prostitution service, were posted on the Internet, Mr. Vitter issued a statement acknowledging "a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible.... I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Mr. Vitter doesn't come up for re-election until 2010 and political handicappers say it's likely he can weather the storm given his current 70%-plus approval ratings. But any hope of being a vice presidential pick is gone. His marriage to wife Wendy may also be in a precarious state. Mr. Vitter has acknowledged seeking marriage counseling and Mrs. Vitter is on record in a 2000 interview with Newhouse Newspapers about her attitude toward marital fidelity. When asked if she would be as forgiving as Hillary Clinton, Mrs. Vitter said: "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me." Mrs. Vitter added: "I think fear is a very good motivating factor in a marriage. Don't put fear down."

Albany Reform Update

"Gov. Spitzer may replace MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow with another real estate mogul -- a financial backer of Democrats who once headed the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission," The Daily News reports.

Dale Hemmerdinger is a leading candidate for the position, sources said. [...]

Hemmerdinger is the president of Atco Properties and Management, which owns and manages more than 2 million square feet of residential, commercial, industrial and retail space.

While he was chairman of the Citizens Budget Commission the group made recommendations on how to balance the MTA's budget, including higher fares for riders and more tolls and fees for motorists.

Hemmerdinger's wife has given $40,000 to Spitzer campaign committees since 2000, and the governor's wife hosted a Democratic Party fund-raiser at the Hemmerdingers' Central Park South penthouse in May.

An editorial in yesterday's New York Post weighs in on other Spitzer reforms underway:

Does Gov. Spitzer want to clean up Albany's well-earned reputation for political sleaze -- or just mock efforts to do that, including his own?

New Yorkers may find out later this year -- when the powers-that-be move to overhaul thoroughbred-horse racing in New York, perhaps selecting an operator for a slot-machine megaplex at Aqueduct and expanded gambling operations at Belmont.

The clear front-runner for the mechanical-gambling franchise appeared last week to be a company called Excelsior Racing Associates -- whose main investors include one Richard Fields -- a, let's say, generous donor to the gov.

Fields contributed some $200,000 to Spitzer's 2006 campaign through his various limited-liability companies -- the same kind of donations the gov says he wants to end through campaign-finance reforms, but which he continues to accept.

According to a report in yesterday's Albany Times Union, NYRA's directors have already agreed to a Spitzer plan where Excelsior "would get the rights to operate a video lottery terminal casino now earmarked for Belmont Park."

The Post editorial also touched on Spitzer's campaign-finance reform push:

Consider: The gov demands the elimination of LLC donations, which are exempt from the $5,000 donation cap on other corporations - and from which he personally benefited during his campaign (see above).

Meanwhile, he had his wife hosted a cocktail party at which the state Democratic Party eagerly accepted LLC donations of up to $94,200.

Earlier, Spitzer solicited re-election campaign funds from "bundlers" - megabucks put together by individual fund-raisers - with goals of up to $1 million.

In return, the bundlers get private access to the governor, including quarterly meetings with Spitzer and periodic conference-call updates from him and his staff.

The New York Sun's Jacob Gershman has more on this here.

New Yorkers Are in Good Hands

With less than a week before the latest legislative session wraps up, Albany is taking care of the important business first, The Albany-Times Union reports:

Assemblyman Thomas O'Mara wants to name this noble cultivar the official state grape. Moreover, O'Mara, a Republican from Horseheads, wants to designate grape juice the official state juice.

And other important matters await debate:

Audrey Pheffer, a Democratic Assemblywoman from Queens, wants to let medical doctors care for "orangutans, chimps, gorillas and other great apes."

Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Felix Ortiz wants a hot line allowing people to report violations of an earlier law he spearheaded that makes it illegal to talk on cellphones while driving. Presumably, tipsters will use hands-free devices if they're driving, or pull off the road to call in infractions.

Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, would ban pickup trucks from the Bronx River Parkway, citing the road's narrow, curvy nature and its scenic beauty. The law, though, doesn't propose banning ugly, rusted cars, or behemoth SUVs, which can dwarf some pickups.

A flurry of measures are pending to add more personalized or official-sounding license plates to the state's roster of more than 250 specialized tags. Proposals include special plates for members of the U.S. Power Sqaudron, a boating safety club; those who have been stationed in the military in Korea (their spouses, too); Kiwanis club members; African-American veterans; osteopathic physicians; nurse practitioners; and disabled volunteer firefighters.

I suppose one would have to be supremely optimistic to hope these bills will help stem the tide of young people fleeing New York.

An Easy Way To Cut the Deficit

End this baloney: