Thursday, February 17, 2011

Bloomberg's Budget Put Pressure on Cuomo and Legislature

65.6 Billion Budget Albany's Move

Bloomberg's austere forecast will also serve a political purpose, given the mayor’s desire to wring more money out of the Legislature and to abolish a law that protects veteran teachers.  The City Council with Quinn more to separate from the mayor will also demand a say on what goes where. Bloomberg’s Budget to Include Teacher Layoffs (NYT)NYC mayor's prelim budget plan: Cut teaching jobs(WSJ) * Sources: Mayor To Move Ahead With Thousands Of Teacher Layoffs (NY1) * Budget Bloomberg: “His budget is far from final: it must still be negotiated with the City Council, and it is subject to the whims of Albany.” (The New York Times) *  Budgeting NYC: “Over 6,000 teaching jobs are headed to the chopping block. That’s one in every 12 public school teachers in the Big Apple.” (CBS New York) * NJ Gov. Chris Christie sees common ground between himself and “the son of a liberal icon” who’s in charge across the Hudson.

Pink Slip Threats to Teachers  Largest teacher layoff since the 70's

Threaten to eliminate 6,166 teaching positions in total: 4,666 through layoffs and 1,500 through attrition. * More than 4,600 teachers may be fired to balance the budget: officials (DN) * Ms. Black Goes to Albany (Gotham Gazette) * "We pay roughly $18K per pupil" in public schools Bloomberg.

 

Albany Decides Which Teacher Go

The only thing worse than laying off teachers would be laying off the wrong teachers. *New Tenure Rules Proposed WSJ) * NJ joins NYC war on LIFO (NYP)


UFT Plays Defense

Union officials have dismissed the mayor’s warnings as political jockeying meant to help him further his political agenda.

Establishment Attacks UFT

UFT top guy in Albany Paul Egan played into the hands of the NYP and Daily News who have been banging the drums to change the LIFO state law. Meet Paul Egan -- chiseler, cheat and UFT honcho Michael Mulgrew's main man in Albany.(DN Ed) * Fat-cat feeding frenzy UFT official's knuckleheaded restaurant snit fit shows just what the union is made of (NYP Ed) * Paul Egan: As a teacher, he reportedly told students, “Don’t tell anyone that I helped you.” (New York Post) * Cheating Scandal: Current teacher union rep accused of helping students cheat in 2000. (nydailynews.com) * The UFT big tossed from an Albany restaurant had a role in a 2000 student cheating scandal. 

 

True News PM News Update

All the News Since the Morning Papers


Morris Gets 1 1/3 to 4 Years Behind Bars (Updated) (YNN) * Political Consultant Hank Morris Receives Maximum Prison Sentence (NY1) * Hevesi Aide Sentenced to Up to Four Years in Prison *Gov. Cuomo On Hank Morris Lockup: Good * Advisor to ex-NY comptroller gets prison sentence*New York pension scammer is heading to prisonFortune * City Room: Hevesi Adviser Is Sentenced in Pension Scandal (NYT)*  Document Drop: Hank Morris Sentencing * Family weeps as Morris gets 1 1/3 to 4 years for role in pension fund scandal (NYP)

The NYP and DN Say Crack Down on Workers Pension What About Wall Streets Cut?  The state pension plan, 15% of the money going into it each year is paid out to Wall Street to manage the money.


If you have money, Wall Street and political connections like Steve Rattner Hank Morris partner in the Pension Crimes, You Walk

Steve Rattner TimeLine True News

Pack Your Bags Hevesi

 Where are the Reforms Comptroller DiNapoli and Liu? Will any of the reporters ask them if this can happen again?

Jail Has Not Stop Corruption in Albany Comptroller Tom DiNapoli: Hank Morris Sentence Should Serve As A Deterrent For Pension Schemers

DiNapoli: Morris Sentence ‘Fitting’

“Last month, I proposed a bill that would strip convicted former public officials of their pensions. Public officials who commit a felony related to their duties shouldn’t be rewarded. There are better ways to spend New York’s tax dollars than to support retired felons who ripped off the public.” Comptroller DiNapoli. For the record, Morris was never an elected official or a public employee (at least not to my knowledge), and therefore doesn’t have a pension. (YNN)
 

Mayor Bloomberg unveils $68.8 billion city budget; fire dept., senior centers, teachers face cuts: Mayor Bloomb * NYC mayor to only cut capital spending by 10 pct (Reuters) * Cuomo proposes NY independent redistricting bill (NYP) * Bill Thompson Named Head of Cuomo's MWBE Task Force To expand minority and women owned business(NYO) * The Madness of City Property Taxes (NYO) * Albany and DC budget cuts mean we have to use City tax dollars to make up the difference * Espada Spent $1.2M On His Office in Six Months (Gannett Albany) * Grand jury indicts woman accused of kidnapping baby from Harlem in 1987 - NBC NewsHey big (Senate Democratic) spenders

  


Will Cuomo Be Able to Break Skelos on Redistricting
City @ introduces bill that would create an independent redistricting panel. Ball now officially in Dean Skelos's court (Twitter 10AM) * What Will Silver Do On Redistricting? (Gannett Albany) Dean Skelos just issued this statement, basically saying redistricting reform is important, but not as important as the budget, tax relief and job creation right now. Klein Agrees With Sampson, On Redistricting At Least (YNN) * Redistricting Reaction Roundup (DN)




NYT Reports Madoff Met with Lawyer Irving H. Picard, Never Happened
Picard who has lawsuit against the Met owners and others who many $$$ off of Madoff Ponzi Scam.   Madoff victims' trustee disputes report of meeting‎ (WSJ) * Trustee denies he met with Madoff- Boston Globe * 




Old Gray Lady Damage Control Today

Weighing Madoff’s Claims of Complicity (NYT) * Sewell Chan has been named The NY Times' Deputy Op-Ed Editor. 


Was Madoff Also lying when he said that the Wilpons did not know about his ponzi scam?

 How Many Mothers Will Have to Leave Their Jobs?

Day-Care Service Faces Deep Cuts in Mayor's Budget (WSJ) No childcare for 16,624 children*

 

 

More Budget Battles Mental health care is emerging as a battleground in the effort to cut Medicaid.* NYC lawmakers want to save state funds for senior centers.

 

True News Bum of the Day: Liz Krueger

State Senator Krueger elected in 2002 has voted for the last eight state budgets which has destroyed the state's economy.  She is directly responsible for all the coming cutbacks in child care.  The press is not doing their job if they allow Krueger to cry in press about the tragic effects of the cutback when she caused the need for the these drastic actions  Senator Krueger Discusses: Fears About How the City’s Budget Will Affect Child Care

 


What Does Speaker Quinn Who Has 24 Hour City Drives Know About Driving and Finding A Parking Space in NYC?


Newsflash: driving in New York is really obnoxious. Just askCouncil Speaker Christine Quinn joined City Hall for an On/Off the Record breakfast to expand on many of the proposals from her State of the City address — but steered clear of details on several issues that were left out of her annual speech. (CHN) Christine Quinn. *



 Budget Ray of Hope

Mayor's Budget Sees a Windfall New York City tax revenue this year is expected to be $2 billion higher than budget officials anticipated, a windfall that obviates plans to slash teaching positions beyond the 6,166 slots Mayor Bloomberg proposed cutting in November. (WSJ) *  City's $2B in found money (NYP) * Joan Grolla: “The city’s mayors have for years conservatively estimated how much tax revenue they can rely on, a policy that pleases fiscal monitors and curbs how much extra money the Democratic-led City Council can add to the budget. So the $2 billion revised revenue forecast might be an under-estimate.” (WPIX.com)

 


 NYT To Bloomberg: Tell Us When You Leave

When the Mayor’s Away The president, the governor and other mayors share their travel plans with the public and press. Mayor Michael Bloomberg should do the same. (NYT Ed)


Will Hank Morris Be the Only One to Go to Jail for the Pension Pay to Play Scandal?

AG to demand prison time for disgraced political consultant Hank Morris in pension pay-to-play scam (DN) * Reducing Pensions:(columbiaspectator.com) “something that was created 40 years ago just doesn’t work anymore,” says Bloomberg spokesman.* Hank Morris faces sentencing in NY pension fund scheme (NYP)


911 Lost in Space
Thousands of Communities Have Good Working 911 Systems.  Why Not NYC? 
How Many Outside Contracts Does It Take?

City hopes NASA can fix 911 system It may take a rocket scientist to fix NYC's sputtering 911 system. The city wants to hire a NASA lab to evaluate its Emergency Communications Transformation Program (DN)

 






 

 

 

Can it kids! Ridgewood, Glendale top the city for graffiti complaints despite lower total numbers (DN)

 

  


 

Obama demands Egypt round up thugs who brutalized CBS reporter (NYP)

Anderson Cooper Interrogates A Disgraced Nir Rosen Over Lara Logan Twitter ‘Jokes’ (video)

 

 

Black Oil

Andrea Peyser likens Bloomberg’s hiring of NYC Schools Chancellor Cathie Black to tapping “a BP executive to explain an oil spill.”

 

 

 

  

 NYS Water Peace

State officials have brokered a peace agreement between NYC and the communities living near its upstate drinking water system.

 

New Security Plan for Statue of Liberty Is Delayed (N YT)

 

 

Prosecutor to Review Ex-Chief’s Expense Account at Abortion-Rights Group (NYT)

Why No Criminal Indictments of Signalgate? 

Internal charges of faking MTA inspections filed in 'Signalgate;' workers contend they're scapegoats (DN)


 

Neighborhood once considered untouchable

A Stickup on Arthur Avenue. Where? On Arthur Avenue?(NYT)

 

 

Law and Order  

FBI's most wanted bank robber strikes for seventh time, with no sign of stopping (DN) * FBI: "Holiday Bandit" Strikes Again (DN) * Bloodbath slasher too crazed for court date (NYP) * A 'crack' salesman (NYP) * Hero clerk foils robbery by riding hood's hood (NYP)A New Crackdown Yields 14 Indictments Against a Youthful Harlem Gang(NYT) * Gang Case Arrests Are Made(WSJ)Freed Man’s Suit Accuses Brooklyn Prosecutors of Misconduct (NYT) * Freed Prisoner Alleges Prosecutorial Misconduct(WSJ)Wife of NYPD deputy inspector lied when she said masked black man beat her up, cops say (DN) * Teens pick wrong man to rob - an ex-cop (DN)Paper clips, no staples for ex-mob boss Vinny Gorgeous - Jail Officials (DN)Manhattan hedge funder charged with $4M Ponzi scheme may be on lam in Italy (NYP)NY tax preparer gets prison for fraud(WSJ) * FBI believes same man robbed 7 NYC banks * A former top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton was indicted *

 

TerrorismDaily News' Terror Scribe Joins Peter King's Court; 'It's Kind of Like Working In a Think Tank'

 Life Sentence For JFK Cargo Handler Convicted Of Terrorist Plot: A former cargo handler at John F. Kennedy Airport... 

Cargo handler sentenced to life for JFK fuel tanker plot

   

Twitter Me %7Fu*!#  You

Rahm Emanuel wants his mystery tweeter exposed(DN) Chicago mayoral hopeful offers up $5G to charity if person behind @MayorEmanuel comes forward. (DN) * Apparently Donald Trump gave $50,000 to Rahm Emanuel's mayoral campaign. 

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Tea Party Successes In Congress Will Hurt NYC
The $100 billion in federal spending cuts proposed by House Republicans would disrupt school district finances, lay off police officers and cut nutrition programs for the poor as early as next month, Democrats in New York's congressional delegation say. (IJ)



Jon Stewart: Even Jeopardy's Supercomputer Can't Solve Our Budget Woes (VIDEO)

 

 Donald Trump is now pro-life- or so he says, after years of supporting abortion rights. Seems a little coincidental given his recent hints at a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, no?


 

Wisconsin Fightback to Cut Backs

Wisconsin Workers Protest Budget Fix(WSJ) * 'Day of Rage' Hits Wisconsin...  *Wis. lawmakers flee state to block anti-union bill (AP)

 

Media and New Tech

How Goldman Killed A.I.G. The financial crisis commission's much-overlooked big story. (NYT Op-Ed) * J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon received a 2010 stock bonus valued at $17 million, the biggest bonus for a big-name Wall Streeter so far this year. (WSJ)

An End to Fannie and Freddie? Any phasing out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the biggest players in the housing market, must be done very carefully. (NYT Ed)