Friday, March 31, 2006

For this we need a panel discussion?

This past Wednesday the other Young Republican Club (don’t ask) and a respected group of individuals from various think tanks held a panel discussion on the state of the GOP to ask why we continue to have difficulties gaining traction in New York. I wasn’t there but from comments of people who were and an article by New York Times columnist Patrick Healy, it’s no surprise that it became a, blame the governor party. What I find most ironic about these attacks on Governor Pataki is that the same groups continuously like to attack and blame the one Republican who consistently has been elected statewide for over a decade in a state heavily Democrat. Never mind studying and learning how he did it so we can copy his format, it’s much easier to just blame him for not making his coattails long enough to be held onto.

The panel discussion proposed three questions that were:

How did we get to this point?
Is it too late to change our fate?
What can we do to fix our party?

Personally I don’t think you need to have a discussion on such questions. The idea is as funny as a bunch of Democrats sitting in Kentucky trying to have the same debate as why Republicans always win there. However for fun I’ll answer the questions for you.

How did we get to this point?

To begin, New York as a state is heavily controlled by unions whether they be the Teachers Union or TWU. Like a sheep following their shepherded the union workers have bought into their leaders call to vote democrat. New York has also become a large immigrant state and frankly Democrats have done a good job exploiting those groups and neighborhoods. The districts are drawn to be in favor for Democrats as they are for Republicans in Texas. As an example Flushing has become one of the largest Asian communities in the country and growing. John Liu has become the first Asian elected to the City Council and is no surprise a Democrat. We as a party have to ask why did John Liu become a Democrat instead of a Republican. Unfortunately he became a Democrat and now will control Flushing for decades to come, how that is Governor Pataki’s fault is beyond me. This scenario is being played out all over the city and state, as Democrats have become pros at brainwashing minority communities into voting for them.

Other problems are that the Republicans in this state continue to move away particularly down South, which is why New York has lost congressional seats over the last several decades while states in the South have gained and grown more Republican. Those that have stayed have been those married to the system of handouts New York has created that vote unsurprisingly Democrat. Basically our base has moved while we still stay wondering why we’re not getting votes.

Finally it also doesn’t help that the media in New York is as liberal as they come so anyone reading the New York Times, Observer, Daily News, NY1 or Eldario are getting their daily dose of subliminal messages that Democrats are good and Republicans bad.

Is it too late to change our fate?

I think one thing that can change our fate is if Democrats continue to tax us into submission, which they are getting close. There has already been some backlash in Long Island over unaffordable property taxes, which are issues as a party candidates need to jump on. In my opinion getting elected is like selling a product to the consumer. It’s never to late to transform and turn yourself around. As a party in New York we need to find our Ipod.

What can we do to fix our party?

To the fix the party we need to start from the ground up. We need to be patient and look for long term success not immediate gratification as many of our candidates want. I look at people like Emily Csendes who has been building a brand name for herself and knows one day it will pay dividends despite her lumps today. In an article this week in the Economist about the scarcity of black Republicans, the Economist points out how it’s amazing considering most of the things the black community believes in are similar to the Republican creed like being socially conservative (banning partial birth abortion and gay marriage) and school choice, two things elected black democrats consistently have voted against. The Economist points out despite those connections Democrats get a head start in the communities with the youth, who only see Democrats helping with coaching sports leagues and other good works. When was the last time anyone on that panel discussion, rolled up their sleeves and volunteered at organizations like Harlem RBI.

Finally I don’t think our party needs fixing, unless you believe our Republican creed needs to be changed. What needs to be fixed is how we convey that creed to the citizens of this state when we have monumental forces against us like the media and unions. We also should remember that it was not to long ago, where Republicans thought we would never gain control of the government nationally and look where we are today. If Governor Pataki is anything, it’s a symbol that the Republican Party can get elected in New York not the problem.

Taxing votes away

In the latest issue of Forbes, Steve Forbes, makes an interesting observation in his Fact and Comment section regarding state taxes and it affects.

Mr. Forbes points out how states with high taxes like Vermont, New York and Maine are crushing growth while low tax states like New Hampshire, Texas and South Carolina are stealing people and businesses away.

He states, as I have many times, that the proof is in our country’s census that takes place every ten years. Mr. Forbes says, “since 1950 New York State has lost 14 congressional seats, and in the next census it will lose several more.” The reason for the loss in seats is because people are fleeing for the more tax friendly confines of the South and Midwest. With the 2010 census right around the corner the shift will only get worse with even California as Forbes puts it ready to see “tens of thousands of native-born Americans moving out of the state instead of moving in. For the first time since becoming a state 155 years ago, California will not gain, and may actually lose, congressional representation…”

For Democrats this shift in congressional representation has been disastrous as it’s allowed and will continue to allow Republicans to pick up seats in the House as the shift has been completely from states heavily Democrat to states heavily Republican.

It continues to amaze me how despite the numbers, Democrats still just can’t get away from the idea of high taxes. Maybe the 2010 census will be the final hit over the head that does it for them when they see Republican states like Texas gain even more seats.

With New York set to get a new governor and spending by the state growing more and more - the economist this week in an article about Governor Pataki’s battle to reign in our drunken sailors of a state senate and fight over a ruling by NY Supreme Court justice Leland DeGrasse to increase school spending, who as the Economist notes “does not have to answer to taxpayers” and thinks New York is a “neverland of unlimited resources” - it seems our representatives have yet to catch on to why New York continues to loose representation. The question is will they ever?

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

One Day Left Until the Spring Fling!

Tomorrow is our annual Spring Fling, which means today is the last day you can purchase your ticket online and save $10.

Response to the event as expected has been great, which means so will the event.

Remember the Spring Fling includes three hours of open bar, food and good company, so don’t miss it!

For location and pricing visit our website and hopefully we’ll see you there!

Vice President Rice?

While reading my FT this morning I came across an interesting comment while reading about President Bush’s move to replace Andy Card with Josh Bolten. The author of the article, Ed Alden, mentioned how the President has been under pressure to clean house and that even Fred Barnes (who the NYYRC had as their guest speaker last month) has “urged the president to undertake an overhaul that would include replacing Mr. Cheney with Condoleezza Rice”.

This got me thinking. Up until know I have been in the camp that Cheney and his ego would never step-down as vice-president. I also could never imagine President Bush asking him to, considering his respect for the man. For arguments sake though what if the stars aligned just right that both Vice President Cheney and President Bush thought it would be a good move?

Considering Cheney has had his share of medical issues (I heard they have a special parking space for him at the hospital) he could easily address the nation and say he can no longer serve do to his medical condition. This would give him the chance to step-down gracefully and President Bush a chance to bring someone in who does plan on running in 2008.

Strategically it would make sense because it would give the American people time to get comfortable with someone like Condoleezza Rice in a position of power. In 2008 it would give Republicans a head start on any potential challenger, especially Hillary Clinton. It also might save Republicans from having a messy and dirty primary on the idea that maybe many will step aside out of respect to the new Vice President.

This is all just hypothetical thinking and odds are that the only way Cheney is leaving before his term is up is if he is abducted by aliens and taken away in a spaceship. Further if aliens do come, Rice may be not the only option. If President Bush is really looking out for the party he could pick from a long list of candidates from McCain to Senator Brownback. It’s definitely fun to ponder but I don’t believe in aliens.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Let Them Eat Cake:



From the BBC

No Fight on Bush Judges

Behind all the big name legislation, like renewing the Patriot Act and approving Supreme Court nominees, there are a lot of smaller things that don’t usually show up on the radar but also have a lasting affect.

Knowing how concerned liberals are with the conservative direction of our courts, I would like to just take a moment to point out how Democrats are voting on the issue.

On March 6th, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved two new U.S. District court judges in Georgia and West Virginia nominated by President Bush.

The first was Timothy C. Batten Sr. of Georgia who was approved 88-0 with the missing 12 votes being no votes.

The other was Thomas E. Johnston of West Virginia who was approved 89-0 with the missing 11 votes being no votes.

These two gentlemen are no lightweights when it comes to Republican ideas with Johnston being the former head of the Ohio County Republican Party. What I want to know is what’s up with the Democrats not having one nay among them. The liberal base must feel great that their elected leaders are giving President Bush such an easy time in making our courts more conservative.

For Democrats this seems to be a trend when it comes to President Bush court appointees. On March 16th the Senate voted 96-0 with the missing 4 votes being no votes for Jack Zouhary, who will be the new District Court Judge for the Northern District of Ohio. Zouhary is again no moderate and a former appointee of Ohio Governor Bob Taft.

For our Senators, Schumer gave a thumbs up on all three and Hillary gave a thumbs up on Zouhary, while being absent on the other two.

Creating Millionaires:

Democrats like to argue that under Republicans only the rich get richer. However a new study by TNS Financial Services reported in the New York Times, has found that “for the third consecutive year, the number of households with more than one million dollars in net worth has risen”. The survey found that the number of millionaires in the U.S. increased to a record 8.9 million in 2005 or 8% from 2004. This follows a 33% increase in 2004 and a 13% increase in 2003.

What makes the study even more impressive is that the numbers excluded primary residence. That means that the record 8.9 million people only include liquid assets. Though the study doesn’t give a number, we could only imagine based on the latest housing boom how many millionaires there are when you include residences.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Our intern, Vanessa, in the New York Times

NICE JOB Vanessa!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/nyregion/27scholarship.html?_r=1&oref=slogin



March 27, 2006
Students With Grit and Courage Are Awarded Times Scholarships
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
Some teenagers work to buy an iPod or a cellphone. Anna Umanskaya works to pay the rent.
At 18, Ms. Umanskaya has been leading a kind of double life. She is a soft-spoken, energetic student at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn, a Russian-born girl with stellar grades, a love of acting and an acceptance letter from Brandeis University. Yet she is already more of an adult than many of her classmates: she is raising herself.
Ms. Umanskaya lives alone in an apartment in Brooklyn and spends much of her time after school at work, serving lattes at cafes. The bill from Con Edison on her kitchen table has her name on it. No one wakes her in the mornings to tell her to go to school. No one reminds her to turn in her English paper on the playwright Henrik Ibsen. She does all of that on her own.
Her grandmother brought her to New York from Moscow when she was 10, and she has moved from place to place ever since, living with her father in Montreal, at a group home on Staten Island, with a friend of her mother's in Brooklyn. A rocky family life eventually prompted her to live on her own.
She said she felt abandoned, but never hopeless, filling her high school days with honors classes, volunteer work with the elderly, leadership training in Manhattan, mock City Council debates, essay and poetry writing and small parts in plays.
"I had to have more," said Ms. Umanskaya, who plans to study international relations at Brandeis. "To make my dreams come true, to get into Brandeis, to be where I want for a change."
She recently added another achievement to her three-page résumé: winning a college scholarship from The New York Times.
As part of the annual program, Ms. Umanskaya and 18 other high school seniors will each receive a four-year scholarship of up to $30,000, a six-week summer job with The New York Times Company and a laptop computer. The students are also paired with a mentor from The Times and are offered advice and assistance through their college years from Roger Lehecka, an educational consultant and a former dean of students at Columbia College, Columbia University's undergraduate liberal arts school.
Nearly 1,400 students from 250 of the city's public, private and parochial high schools sent scholarship applications to the newspaper. A group of Times reporters, editors and managers picked 36 finalists, and a smaller committee selected the 19 winners.
They are, like Ms. Umanskaya, a resilient lot, chosen as much for their accomplishments inside the classroom as for their grit and courage outside it. Some have managed in a few years to settle in a new country, learn a new language and master their studies, while their parents - often just a single mother or father - struggled with bills, unemployment, family conflicts or addiction. Several of the families make less than $20,000 a year.
Another of the scholarship winners, Justin Jimenez, lived for about a year in a homeless shelter in the Bronx in 2001 after his mother lost her job. He recalled it as prisonlike: they had a curfew at night and slept in a space that was more a cubicle than a room. He did his homework on the bed. "I strove to do well academically to avoid the life that I lived," said Mr. Jimenez, 17, who now lives in an apartment in the Bronx with his mother, a clerical worker.
Mr. Jimenez receives financial aid to attend Cardinal Hayes High School, where he leads community service projects as the spiky-haired, Thoreau-reading president of the school's National Honor Society chapter. He has tutored struggling freshmen, helped the school raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims and coordinated the cleanup of a Harlem playground, all while earning the second-highest grades in the senior class.
Another winner, Sayeeda Ahsanuddin, 17, an India-born Muslim whose father runs a newsstand near Yankee Stadium, flourished in an unlikely place: an all-girls Catholic high school, Preston High School in the Bronx. There, she overcame her shyness and discovered her love of neuroscience, winning a regional Brain Bee competition last year. Her older sister, Sadia, who attends Harvard, was also a Times scholarship winner.
Vanessa Salazar has one clear memory of her father, Carlos Julio Salazar. She had tumbled down the spiral staircase at home in Cali, Colombia, when she was 3 or 4 and hurt her head, and he swept her up in his arms. He was murdered soon after, in 1990. "When I see kids playing with their fathers, I remember that my dad was like that once, that he played with me once," she said.
Mr. Salazar loved politics, and his daughter, now 18 and a senior at the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies in Manhattan, has become fascinated with it as well. After moving to the United States with her mother and her younger sister, she learned English, developed an interest in Republican politics and, one April, sent an e-mail message to the New York Young Republican Club, asking about an internship. She has since volunteered at the 2004 Republican National Convention in Manhattan and with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's re-election campaign.
She dreams of becoming secretary of state, and of earning enough money so her mother no longer has to sell jewelry at a small shop in Queens, where she, her 8-year-old sister, Camila, and her mother share a two-bedroom apartment. Her mother sleeps on a bed near the kitchen so each of her daughters can have her own bedroom.
"There will be a day when my mom is not going to have to lift a finger," said Ms. Salazar, who is waiting to learn if she has been accepted to Harvard. She wears a Harvard sweatshirt in the meantime. Camila wears one, too.

Soma Golden Behr, the scholarship program's director, said: "There are so many wonderful kids in New York who have enormous adversity in their lives, and who somehow manage to survive in brilliant fashion. What we want to do is help give those remarkable young people a helping hand, a boost over the fence."
The New York Times College Scholarship Program started in 1999 with six students. Since then, it has helped pay for the college educations of 160 young New Yorkers.
Past winners include Anahad O'Connor, 24, who scrapped his dreams of becoming a nuclear chemist but found something else to do after graduating from Yale. He is now a reporter for the Metro section of The Times.
Phillip Marcus, 18, a freshman at Wesleyan University, is already considering a career as a political strategist. Rebecca Deng, 24, is a media planner at an Asian American advertising agency called A Partnership. Last year, one previous winner gave back to the program, sending in two checks, each for $1,000.
The scholarships are paid for by The New York Times Company Foundation, contributions from readers and an endowment started with a grant from the Starr Foundation, a charitable group created by Cornelius Vander Starr, founder of the American International Group, the insurance company. The program also recognizes the teachers who inspired the students. A group of teachers nominated by the scholarship winners will be given $3,000 each in June, awards provided by the Charles H. Revson Foundation.

Sorry Mr. President but I must correct you.

During a speech this morning by President Bush on immigration he made the statement that “this country was founded by immigrants”. That however is not correct.

As critically acclaimed political scientist Sam Huntington points out:

“In its origins America was not a nation of immigrants, it was a society, or societies, of settlers who came to the New World…”

“Settlers and immigrants differ fundamentally. Settlers leave an existing society, usually in a group, in order to create a new community, a city on a hill, in a new and often distant territory.”

“Immigrants, in contrast, do not create a new society. They move from one society to a different society.”

I think Huntington does a great job of pointing this fact out. To many times in the battle over immigration politicians like to claim that people are being hypocrites since this country was “founded by immigrants”. As Huntington points out this is not correct as settlers founded America not imigrants. Our founding fathers came and created something out of nothing drafting our laws and constitution around their own beliefs and visions, something today’s immigrants cannot do.

This is not to say that immigration is bad, personally I think it’s a vital component to economic growth and the continued reason why we outshine all other developed economies. I just think it’s important for any leader to get it right and to not add more disinformation into a topic that is plagued by it.

Survey says!

Ok I admit I’ve been hard on France when it comes to their economic policies and its affect on the country. Unfortunately for France they have become so engrained in the idea of getting more for less that reform is almost impossible. Though many of the politicians understand what’s needed to save the country economically, it’s evident by the mass protests that despite all their education the French people will continue to live in denial.

But what about the rest of the Euro area? I’m always comparing France to the U.S and that just isn’t fair. France is part of a much larger European Union that is attempting to create an economic zone similar to the United States. So comparing France to the U.S. would be like trying to compare Michigan to Australia. So how about we compare the U.S. to the Euro zone as a whole?

Today the Economist has latest statistics on the two, lets take a look shall we at whose system is more successful.

GDP: U.S. 3.2% E.U 1.7%
Unemployment: U.S. 4.8% E.U. 8.3%
Retail Sales: U.S. 6.1% E.U. 0.9%
Industrial Production: U.S. 3.3% E.U. 2.5%
Wage Growth: U.S. 3.5% E.U. 2.4%

And my favorite:

Trade Balance: U.S. (792.6 billion) E.U. 18.1 billion

Numbers don’t lie and hands down the U.S. and our system of limited protectionism (at least for now), low taxes, flexible labor laws and the ease to start a business is the proven way to go. Hopefully these numbers will also squash the argument that France is just an anomaly. Also I would like to point out the trade balance number. Again I will stress that trade deficits don’t matter (Chuck Schumer) and that trade surpluses historically have not correlated with economic growth in developed nations and actually have been present in countries with economic stagnation.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Left holding the bag:

With the Governor race heating up, Spitzer with the Dem nod pretty much locked up and several Republicans looking to take him on, it would seem being Governor of New York would be a great job to have next year. But is it?

Earlier in the month I placed a post, titled “Getting setup for failure”, where I offered the idea that our new Governor might be taking over at the top making for an unfriendly honeymoon. Today, based on another disappointing home sales number, I think I’m ready to predict that being Gov. of New York this next time around is going to be one sorry job.

Markets move in cycles with times of acceleration and times of contraction, though politician can give the cycle little kicks in either direction to get it going, like lower interest rates for the fed and lower taxes by President Bush, when things reach their peak, they reach their peak.

Currently it’s definitely safe to say things are reaching their peak. Interest rates have gone back up making it more expensive to buy a home and with that harder to sell one. As a result the average price for homes have started to come down over the last few months and builders are starting to report cancellations. GDP has been growing at 4%, which is a crazy number for an economy of our size, which makes the likelihood of falling back to 2-3% probable. Lastly unemployment is under 5%, another crazy number and will most likely not move much from here and maybe even slip back. With President Bush tax cuts in jeopardy of not being extended and millions of Americans estimated to fall into AMT next year, the risk for a slowdown is even greater.

If a slowdown does play out it probably will most likely not show up in the number and felt by the people until the middle of next year when our new Gov has had enough time to take the blame similar to what happened to President Bush when he took office in 2001.

In 2001 President Bush was left holding the bag of the dot com crash and still till today is paying for it despite the economy getting itself right again. In 2007 New York’s new Governor should get to know how he feels.

Store for rent:

Looking at this picture of a Paris street below, it’s really hard to believe how France could have 10% unemployment overall and 25% unemployment for people in their 20’s.

More and more I’m starting to think that the U.S. version of capitalism is overrated with its crazy idea of flexible labor markets and the protectionist social welfare state is the real way to go.

Court jesters to the world.

I don’t think the current entertainment coming out of France could get any better. I’m at a point where I can’t wait to open the paper to see what they could possibly do next.

First French youth and trade unions take to the streets causing destruction and violence because of a proposed law that would actually increase employment.

Then yesterday a French court tells Apple that their I-Tunes service is illegal and that they have to let people download music from their site to any Mp3 player. That’s a great way to spur innovation, tell a company they have to invent something and then let everyone else use it. Apple will most likely do the right think and just close down their French website. Maybe the French can next bring back eight tracks.

Finally today Jacques Chirac stormed out of a European Union summit because the head of his industry lobby started speaking English to the crowd. Considering they had 25 different nations and languages present, wouldn’t it make sense that he spoke the official language of business?

Chirac shouldn’t feel so bad though, at least with his negative opinion on english he can always get a job on the New York City Council.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Spring is here!

Spring is here, which means so is the New York Young Republican annual Spring Fling. It’s one of our top four events and is always a great time.

This year Gail Allen and her crew are bringing us back to Turtle Bay after the success of last year’s event.

The even will be held on Thursday March 30th between 7-10pm.

Turtle Bay is located on 2nd Ave. between 52nd and 53rd.

As always a ticket to the event will include open bar and food for three hours.

Remember, club members get discounted tickets and can even save $10 off the door price of $50 if they prepay online at the clubs website by march 29th.

For those looking to join the club, it’s a great time to do so as the club is offering a special ticket price of $70 that includes club membership for the year and like our current members you can also save $10 by prepaying online before March 29th.

Finally, club members who are either a Red White and Blue, Bald Eagle or President Club member, your membership includes FREE entry to the Spring Fling so don’t miss it.

Want to know how you can become a Red White and Blue, Bald Eagle or President Club member and get free entry to this and other great events? Just ask one of the clubs officers or check out our website.

I thought parents didn’t want more charter schools?

Here I been listening to opponents of Governor Pataki, mainly the teachers union, and believing them when they said parents didn’t want charter schools or tuition tax credits. Then today I open the paper to read that yesterday in Harlem a new charter school set to open had to have a lottery to see who would get to attend because there were more applicants then seats. One parent even went as far as to tell a reporter that “it’s like American Idol. I got my gold ticket to Hollywood”, after his daughter won a spot.

So lets look at the facts. Parents are for charter schools, Gov. wants to raise the current cap on charter schools.

Teachers union against charter schools because the schools are shielded from rules and union contracts.

So who should I be supporting on this issue and more importantly for parents in New York, who will Elliot Spitzer be supporting? I wonder?

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Graham-Schumer…The new Smoot-Hawley?

Those who fail to read history are doomed to repeat it, so the saying goes.

If there is one way to derail the current stellar U.S. economy with its 4% GDP growth and less than 5% unemployment, it’s to make sure that we try and make things as expensive as possible and deter entrepreneurs from selling their products here in the states by creating price floors.

This is exactly what two of our senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are trying to do by threatening to slap 27.5% tariffs on goods imported in from China. History has shown that tariffs never work and only end up costing the consumer and slowing down the economy as the higher prices limit the amount of goods that can be consumed, as was the case during the Great Depression.

It’s amazing how every so many years we are faced with people in government trying to become protectionist. I know the 1930’s were a long time ago but the 1980’s with our hysteria over Japan imports is close enough for us to remember. That hysteria proved nonsense as since then our economy has continued to grow while Japan, despite their big trade surplus that everyone here thinks is necessary for a strong economy, has continued to struggle.

At least when our economy tumbles we’ll know who to blame.

You have to love the double standard:

In case you haven’t been paying attention, currently there is a case going on in Afghanistan where a man by the name of Abdur Rahman is on trial for converting to Christianity from Islam. The idea of converting from Islam to any religion is considered such a crime under Sharia or Islamic Law, that it can be punishable by death.

Weren’t we just watching millions of Muslims protest around the world for the satirical depiction of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper?

So let me get this straight. Muhammad can’t be drawn in a cartoon with a bomb on his head because it’s offensive but a Christian convert can be executed? Though it would never happen, I would enjoy seeing millions of Christians around the world come in mass to protest as an answer to their cartoon protests and see what the reaction would be.

Talk about elitism!

One favorite past time of left wing is to accuse Republicans of being bigoted elitists. What will be interesting now, will be to see if those left wing diehards will play fair and attack their night in shining armor Elliot Spitzer.

According to an article in today’s NY Sun and comments by Governor Pataki scolding Spitzer, ten days ago during a speech at a Manhattan synagogue Elliot Spitzer to the amusement and chuckle of his liberal audience took a shot at people living upstate. In his comments he stated how “you’ll see an economy that is devastated. It looks like Appalachia”.

Appalachia? Was Elliot aware that the term Appalachia refers to geographic regions in the country that contain many English and Scottish settlers who have a culture of strong oral tradition, self-sufficiency, and strong religious faith who are generally viewed as Hillbillies with a low IQ?

Talk about being an elitist bigot! The left wing of the party must be up in arms considering their compassion and tollerance for all those who are discriminated against.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Democrats are the real warmongers.

This should keep the Dems busy for a while on the anniversary of the Iraq War.

Who started the Vietnam War? Democrat (Can you say Gulf of Tonkin)

Who started the Korean War? Democrat

Who was behind the Bay of Pigs? Democrat

Mogadishu? Democrat

Who is the only person to drop an atomic bomb and kill hundreds of thousands? Democrat

Wako? Democrat

Japanese Internment Camps? Democrat

Minorities do poorly under Republicans? Don’t tell that to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Current data is showing that in 2002 Hispanics owned approximately 1.6 million businesses. That would be a 31% increase from 1997. This growth was 3 times the national average, with the businesses generating over $222 billion in revenue.

And here I thought the Republican Creed of creating an environment that promotes entrepreneurship and the ability for anyone to become successful who wants too, wasn’t working.

Ignorance is bliss. French ignorance is down right entertaining!

As we speak thousands of youths and other trade unions are tearing up the streets of France in protest over a policy proposed by the French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin. The idea behind the policy is to allow companies to lay off workers under the age of 26 within the first two years of employment if they are not working out. The goal is to entice French companies to take a chance on young inexperienced workers in a country where unemployment is 10% and double that for the youth.

Companies currently won’t hire young workers because French laws require employers to protect employees with expensive contracts. As I have said before, there is a reason why the U.S. has an unemployment rate of less than 5% with 4% GDP growth and France has 10% unemployment with 1% GDP growth. Labor flexibility! Giving companies the ability to react quickly to ever changing economic environments allow companies to come out of recessions quicker and grow stronger during times of prosperity.

The fact that twenty-year-old kids would be fighting for long-term employment I think really says a lot about their ambition as a whole.

Friday, March 17, 2006

I’m not Irish but I love any day that sticks it to the terrorists:

My office is located in midtown near Fifth Avenue and every year on St. Patrick’s Day I love going outside to feel the energy of not only the Irish but also everyone else having a grand old time.

This year I took an extra moment to reflect and think how great it is to see everyone out and about enjoying themselves, our great city and nation despite the constant threat of terrorism. To look at their faces you can see it’s the farthest thing from their mind despite the constant reminder by the media and events around the world.

Whenever I see days like today, March Madness, the Super Bowl and any other event that brings large groups of Americans together I can’t help but to think of that classic Christmas story the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.

The nations resolve to not allow the terrorist to ruin the day reminds me of when the Who’s down in Who Ville wake up to find their tree gone. Instead of canceling their celebration they circle and hold hands to show that they are united.

Happy St. Pats Day!

Ha Ha! They're Still Not Fonda You, Jane




I love it. Georgia Democrat Senator Steen Miles wanted to honor Fonda her "charitable work" and the measure was defeated 38-1 yesterday. Turns out, Miles wasn't even the 1 to cast the vote in favor...

Does that make her For the resolution before she was Against it? heh....

Gas prices will most likely rise this summer but don’t blame the oil companies:

The FT currently has an interesting article on where gasoline prices could be going this summer that I would like to share along with my take.

The summer driving season is almost upon us and with that an increase in demand for gasoline. Historically the price of gasoline always goes up in the summer because of the increase demand and the usual hurricanes. This year though gasoline prices will most likely go up more than normal but not because of greedy oil executives. The rise instead will come from our attempt to move to energy dependence and cleaner fuel sources.

As many are aware last year President Bush pushed hard to get his energy bill passed as an answer to our growing dependence on foreign oil. Part of the bill states that companies will now be liable for ground contamination by an old additive used in gasoline called MTBE. The concern of large fines is forcing oil companies to move to a replacement to MTBE, which is environment friendly ethanol. The problem is that ethanol is still fairly new when it comes to its use in gasoline and is already running a full production capacity. This means investment is going to be needed to increase production, which will raise prices of refining fuel in the short term. Then when you add the fact that ethanol costs more to transport because of its limited availability it means that prices will need to raise just at the height of the driving season as or government made sure to make the new rules effective starting in April.

Somehow though, being an election year, I’m sure Hillary and the rest of the crew will find a way to blame the oil companies.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

John Faso Tonight:

Just a reminder that tonight John Faso will be addressing the New York Young Republican Club at the Union League.

The meeting will start at 7:00PM and is open to the general public. The rules are that you come dressed in business attire and check your coat at the door. Oh and shut those cell phones off.

The Union League is located at 38 East 37Th St. off of Park.

Hey Lieberman, our door is open.

Despite being a democrat, most Republicans have nothing but respect for Senator Lieberman. Al Gore's decision to make him his running mate in 2000 was purely to try and steal the moderate vote considering Gore's hard left stance. It seems though that Democrats no longer feel the need for moderates in their party and are looking to take down the longtime senator from Connecticut.

On Monday Ned Lamont a cable TV entrepreneur announced his decision to run against Lieberman in a primary for the Democrat nomination. Whether successful or not, the fact that someone in the party would even consider it, is nothing short of insubordination and an insult to the Senator.

I say if Democrats no longer want Lieberman, the Republican Party should let him know he can come over to the side of reason. Hell most of the time he votes like a Republican so it would make sense he makes it official.

Paid for by the New York City Council and its taxpayers:

We all know the City Council is loaded to the brim with Democrats and every other group that aligns themselves to the left of Karl Marx. They have had no shame in attacking Republicans and demonizing them as the scourge of the earth. It doesn’t matter that when Rudy Giuliani, a Republican came into office, crime was at all time highs and you couldn’t tell the difference between Fishkill’s and some parts of Queens. Nor does it matter that when Governor Pataki came into office, businesses in the state were running away and the value of everyone’s homes were a fraction of what they are today. Yesterday’s Empire State index, which measures manufacturing activity by the New York Federal Reserve, showed further signs of New York’s economic strength performing better then what analysts had expected showing strengthening activity.

Despite the great job Republicans have done over the last decade we still shouldn’t expect a City Council that is loaded by Democrats 48-3 to be shy in looking to have complete control over every elected position in the state but should they use a taxpayer funded website to do it?

Below are two banner ads on the City Council’s website. These ads are a blatant attack on the Governor and though don’t use the term Republican anywhere, reek of a subliminal message that people in this state and city must vote Democrat. These ads purely cross the line and are nothing short of campaign ads for the Democrat Party in the name of our children who don’t even know better. Could you imagines going to the website of the United States Senate to see blatant attacks on the other party. No you wouldn’t and you don’t, instead you find current legislation and the history of the country.

These ads and the City Council’s website just shows how out of control they’ve become. They’re a cowboy group with three token Republicans who are probably locked in a cage while the council is in session. What’s really sad is how our media, which killed itself in making sure there was always checks and balances in government since its beginning, has allowed itself to ignore the blatant abuse of power by the City Council. Doesn’t papers like the Observer and the New York Times think that it would be in the best interest of the City to have more then three Republicans on the Council? Are they saying that Democrats are perfect? Even though Republicans control the House and Senate nationally, they still don’t have the power to override vetoes and Democrats have enough that they can stall legislation they think is out of line, which is a good thing. The City Council has none of that and the papers in this city are showing their ignorance and bias in not endorsing Republican candidates to keep Democrats honest. When they don’t this is what happens at the taxpayer’s expense.



Tuesday, March 14, 2006

As Governor Pataki battles it out with the State Senate and Assembly for our children’s future: Where are our candidates?

Two things that Governor Pataki wanted to have accomplished before he left office was to make sure the cap on the number of charter schools is lifted from its current 100 and put in place a tax-credit plan for parents who want to send their kids to private school.

Obviously the Governor’s plan is a good one. Charter Schools have proven to be a great success and parents in the state love them. Tax Credits also are a great idea as it brings equality to the state. Democrats always argue for the redistribution of the wealth and tax credits do just that giving lower income families who would like to send their children to private school, which is currently reserved for those in a higher income class, the chance to do so.

These plans have always been a hard sell because of one group that goes by the name of the teachers union. The union feels such plans, especially tax credits, are a threat to their existence and have lobbied hard against them. The problem though is that parents in this state support the Governor’s plan overwhelmingly yet our local representatives ignore it because their scared of the machine that is the teachers union and the effect they may have when its their turn for reelection.

GOP candidates for Gov have had very little to jump on so far and are making a mistake if they don’t come out swinging supporting the Gov. on the battle currently raging. Spitzer is forced to keep quiet because of the teacher’s union support, leaving him sitting there like a duck in a pond during hunting season. Weld, Faso and even Daniels should be falling over themselves seizing the issue to remind parents in this state why electing a Republican is so important. With Democrats in control of pretty much everything else a Republican governor will keep them honest and not allow groups like the teachers union to get a free ride on issues like Spitzer would undoubtedly give them. The recent raid on Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin office over concerns that the electricians union was given inflated city contracts shows what can happen when you have a kid minding the candy store and proves that we need someone to keep them honest.

Currently Governor Pataki has been leading the charge alone with members of his own party in the Senate giving him a hard time. Hopefully he’ll have some reinforcements soon.

Hypocrites 'R Us

Isaac Hayes has decided to quit supplying the voice of Chef on South Park because suddenly he's offended at the way the show's creators poke fun at religion. Actually, the show pokes fun at everything and everyone, which is part of its crude charm. But why did Hayes decide after ten years that the show was too much? He claims that it was because the program went from parody to intolerance in its depiction of religious values and ideals. What that really means is that the show crossed the line from parodying real religions to cults like Scientology, which happens to be Hayes's faith of choice.

Hayes had no problem with Terrence & Philip singing "Uncle F----r" or with Jesus getting in a bloody showdown with Santa Claus or with Saddam Hussein's homosexual relationship with Satan, but throw a couple of low blows at Tom Cruise, the Moses of Scientology, and he's offended. Come on, Isaac. You're cooler than that. Or at least I thought you were. Grow up, man.

Hayes's reaction to Matt Stone and Trey Parker's material is reminiscent of a soft bigotry (to co-opt a Bush phrase) that is increasingly prevalent in our society. Many of us like to pretend that we have a very high tolerance for other views and values, or lack thereof; that we are forgiving and are not easily offended by things like South Park. There is an elaborate ruse among these people that they themselves buy into about their big hearts and their open minds, but that only lasts until something rubs them the wrong way. Then it's all about boycotts and lynch mobs. For Hayes, it's okay when it's happening to the other guy, that's when it's about art and free speech and free thought. But when that crude humor was turned in his direction, suddenly it was filthy and intolerant.

Fine, Isaac, quit South Park. And just for you, I'm going to take my Shaft LP to the pawn shop and sell it, because you're just not as cool as I thought. And that's the most offensive thing of all.

Monday, March 13, 2006

The Political Box Score:

We all turn to the sport pages everyday to see the box scores of our favorite teams but how about the box score of our local representatives. I always say if papers had a box score everyday of how our representatives are voting, people would be more aware on how they should vote. Here is my latest.

National Uniformity for Food Act:

This bill in the house was voted on 3/8/2006 to allow companies to use a uniform label on food products. Since a state can require a warning on a label that no other state does, it can be expensive for companies. The bill aimed to bring some uniformity to the issue to make the process more efficient and cost effective for the company. The bill passed 283 to 139 with 10 no votes. Here is how your New York Rep did compliments of www.congress.org.

How the U.S. House from New York voted:

• Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-5) N
• Rep. Tim Bishop (D-1) N
• Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-24) Y
• Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-7) Y
• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-17) N
• Rep. Vito Fossella (R-13) Y
• Rep. Brian Higgins (D-27) Y
• Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-22) N
• Rep. Steve Israel (D-2) Y
• Rep. Sue Kelly (R-19) N
• Rep. Peter King (R-3) Y
• Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-29) Y
• Rep. Nita Lowey (D-18) N
• Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-14) N
• Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-4) N
• Rep. John McHugh (R-23) Y
• Rep. Michael McNulty (D-21) N
• Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-6) Y
• Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-8) N
• Rep. Major Owens (D-11) N
• Rep. Charles Rangel (D-15) N
• Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-26) Y
• Rep. Jose Serrano (D-16) N
• Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-28) N
• Rep. John Sweeney (R-20) NV
• Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-10) Y
• Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-12) Y
• Rep. James Walsh (R-25) Y
• Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-9) N

Here is another interesting one. On 03/2/2006 the senate agreed to extend the Patriot Act. You know that evil George Bush policy that Democrats attack. Well it passed 89 to 10 with 1 no vote and guess how New York’s two Democrat Senators voted.

How the U.S. Senators from New York voted:

• Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) Y
• Sen. Charles Schumer (D) Y

Friday, March 10, 2006

Oh by the way. We added another 243,000 jobs in February:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting this morning that the U.S. added another 243,000 jobs last month. That is now 2.1 million jobs added in the last year and almost 4 million jobs in the last three.

With this type of job growth, GDP at 4% and IRS tax receipts at all time highs, Democrats must be scratching their head wondering how could this all be considering we cut taxes, our trade deficits are at record levels and outsourcing of jobs overseas is suppose to be an epidemic.

It’s easy, tax cuts fuel economies and trade deficits are good not bad. Also outsourcing is overrated as these same people fail to look at the jobs replacing those leaving like the $1.2 billion dollar factory Hyundai just announced it’s going to build in Georgia. I’m sure most people would be surprised to know that last month the U.S. added more factory jobs then lost.

Instead of worrying about the UAE, Peter King and the rest of his band of merry men should focus on making the tax cuts permanent to keep this economy rolling.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Look at Me!! I Need More Time in Front of the TV!

Okay, so we all expect Chuck Schumer to be out there yapping away in front of the cameras, sneaking legislation into completely unrelated bills (Bring back line item veto, bring back line item veto). But Pete King? What is he doing? In case you're one of the many who are on the fence or are trying to decide what you really think about this whole Dubai Ports thing, think about this: "Conservative" Congressman, Pete King is not only in the middle of playing "Who's the Bigger Dancing Monkey" w/ Chuck, he's playing chicken with the President.

As you know, George Bush said he would veto any bill blocking the ports deal that came across his desk. So, the House Appropriations Committee attached legislation that would block the transfer to a $91 billion bill that provided funds for hurricane recovery and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let me spell this out for you: Pete King dared the President to deny not only hurricane victims, but to put our men and women overseas at risk by vetoing the bill. And his threat was very clear when he said, "[by vetoing the bill] he would be putting the United Arab Emirates in front of the welfare of American troops."

Are you kidding me? That's tantamount to blackmail. Is this the sick level the Congressman has stooped to? Using the welfare of the military and innocent hurricane victims as political pawns? Shame on him. I hardly think this was Congress' last and only option to block the ports deal. What happened to the 45-day cooling off period, anyway??

Whether the ports pose a threat to national security or not, threatening to block funding to our troops is, and using them to muscle your way around is a despicable act.

Buh Bye, Dubai

BREAKING:

CNN is reporting that Dubai Ports World will divest itself of US interests. "Dubai Ports World to transfer operations of US ports to US Company"

Getting setup for failure:

If there is a bright spot to Democrats maybe winning the governorship in November, it’s that the incoming governor is going to have a hard act to follow.

As governor one of the biggest things you will be judged on is how many people are out of a job and their sense of net worth. If the economy slows and unemployment is high, like the President on the national level, you’re going to get the blame.

Yesterday the New York State Department of Labor released its latest data on the state of our job market. It reported that as of the end of the year, New York averaged an unemployment rate of 5% for 2005. This was an improvement from 5.8% in 2004 and is at a rate that economists consider full employment.

What these current numbers mean is that with the economy running at GDP rates of over 4% and interest rates nearing 5%, a slowdown is looking more and more likely. For the new governor it means being in the uncomfortable position of taking over at the top. It will be interesting to see how Spitzer or anyone will handle the likelihood of home prices coming down and the unemployment rate increasing as they are being sworn in. Even more interesting will be to see how much fun the loosing party will have blaming them for it.

Why Hillary will beat John Spencer:

Now obviously I’m a Republican but that doesn’t mean that as a Republican I can’t make certain observations when it comes to our respective candidates. Anyone who knows me well knows I live to play devils advocate. I’ve learned early, that groups and businesses that don’t play devils advocate are doomed to fail.

Looking at John Spencer you have to respect his dedication. The search for a GOP candidate against Hillary has so far been like a carnival with a “step right up and take your chance” attitude. His survival so far, unlike Cox and Pirro, definitely deserves him some credit. However just because he has been able to continue to land his ping pong ball in the goldfish bowl doesn’t mean he is going to win the grand prize against Hillary.

The reason I think Spencer is setting himself up for failure in New York can be found on his website. On his site he offers visitors to “compare and decide” with a photo of him and Hillary with a list of issues. The idea is great but the issues are completely out of touch with New York, hurting not helping his chances of winning.

Out of the five issues he has listed I can’t find one that will help his cause. The list is as follows:

Border Security: Spence supports, Hillary doesn’t. The problem with this one is that though Spencer can try and shape it to mean against terrorism, being New York, Dems will spin this as an attack on immigration which is a vote killer in the State.

Gun Control: Spencer opposes, Hillary favors.

Abortion Rights: Spencer Pro-life, Hillary Pro-abortion.

Affirmative Action: Spencer opposes, Hillary favors.

Special rights for Gays: Spencer opposes, Hillary favors.

Looking at this list these are five great leading positions if you’re running for Senator of Kentucky not New York. I’m not saying he should not believe in these issues or change his stance. What I’m saying is that if you’re John Spencer your goal is to win, which means putting yourself in the best position possible. Running in New York, Spencer should throw a blanket over these issues and focus on things that the majority of people in this State can relate too.

I would prefer his list to have things that included, the war on terror, low taxes, school vouchers (which most people in this State favor and would put Hillary in a bad spot because of her support from the teachers union), social security, I would even have a column that said “running for President in 2008 and abandoning my State”, with Spencer opposing and Hillary favoring.

These are just a couple and could think of more if I had time but my point is if Spencer plans on winning with that current list when its go time, he and the party are mistaken.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

In case you didn't hear. KT McFarland is running for NY Senate:

Is it me or is the KT buzz just a little out of control?

I do feel a little bad for Spencer and can see his annoyance over the whole situation. Here he is spending months positioning himself to be the Senate challenger, thinking he has the upper hand, when out of nowhere KT comes along and steals all his press.

I have to laugh at KT’s website though. When you click on endorsements, it says “under construction”.

What’s left to be seen, is if she can build a one family duplex or a 100-story high-rise.

If the left wants to raise wages for the lower class, they need to choke the supply:

People on the left always love to attack businesses and lobby the government to find a way to get wages for the lower end of the labor force higher. The problem with their efforts is that the same market forces that affect the higher end, supply and demand, decide wages for the lower end. The reason doctors in this country command such salaries and charge what they do, is because the supply of them to the rest of the population is small. The medical association doesn’t allow new medical schools to be built and fills any holes with doctors from overseas. The effect it has is similar to that of OPEC with oil. By having a tight control on supply, they are able to keep prices high.

When looking at the lower end of the pay scale, the causes are no different. Today it is being reported that a new survey has found that the U.S. is currently taking in almost 500,000 unauthorized immigrants a year, brining the total number to almost 12 million.

The search for labor by businesses and what they pay is determined no differently then the price of oil. The bigger the pool they can pull from the lower they can pay. The large supply of these immigrants over the years has kept prices low as they take every unskilled job imaginable, many of which people in this country wont do.

If the left really wants to see wages rise for the lower class the best thing they could do is try and choke the supply of immigrants coming into the country. If the number of unauthorized immigrants were cut to even 300,000 from 500,000 wages would most likely increase, as the pool of unskilled labor would shrink, creating competition between employers. For proof that this would work, we can look to China. Most of the economic activity and growth that has taken place in the country has come in its large economic zones like the Guangdong Province. The Chinese government grows these zones with labor that migrates from the inner countryside. To move from the countryside to the city to work you must get approval because of various reasons including healthcare. Though hard to believe, in the last couple of years there has been the problem of actual labor shortages in China. These shortages have occurred because the flow of migrant workers to the economic zones has not been enough to keep pace with labor demand. The result unsurprisingly, has been an increase in wages and a lot more help wanted signs as manufacturers are being forced to compete for workers.

It all comes down to market forces. If the left really wants to raise wages the best solution is not to raise minimum wage or impose ridiculous taxes but instead to lower the labor pool that our unskilled businesses are picking from. Do that and you will se how fast wages will go up.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Randy, you forgot one thing:

In today’s New York Sun, Randy Daniels, writes an op-ed discussing “why apartments are so expensive”. He attempts to argue that the root of the problem is a lack of supply of units to meet all the demand. He explains that to solve the problem it’s important that we reshape legislation to encourage construction. The legislation he looks to change is some of our State zoning laws as well as exempting smaller builders from a 1975 environmental law. Daniels believes that by increasing the supply of apartments it would bring down the cost of existing ones, as residents will have more to choose from.

Based on the laws of supply and demand, Randy Daniels is correct in saying that increased construction should make things cheaper. The key word there though is should. Part of the housing problem in the city is that there is many more people looking for apartments then there is currently available, which is why many people in the city have roommates. The hard reality is that even with more liberal legislation, there just isn’t enough space to build to meet the constant inflow of people into the city looking for apartments unless you plan on ripping up quaint towns like Fresh Meadows in Queens to build huge apartment buildings, which would never happen. To solve the problem, the city really needs to learn to work with the current buildings it has, which in reality leads to the real problem of why rental prices are high and my problem with Daniel's Op-ed.

The problem I have with Daniel’s editorial is not his idea of liberal legislation and increased construction, it’s him conveniently omitting one big detail that is the biggest cause behind high apartment costs, rent control and stabilization. Most of us either know someone or have heard the stories about people in the city paying $500 for their rent while they make salary’s in excess of $50K or even $100K a year. Current statistics show that over 1/3rd of the apartments in New York City are either rent controlled or rent stabilized. When Randy Daniels talks about a lack of supply that is driving up prices, the real culprit is that out of all the apartments in the city only 2/3rd are actually trading on the free market.

Economists have argued and built scientific models for decades showing how rent control drives prices higher for the majority and creates housing shortages, the kind Daniels is referring too, over time. Every microeconomics book has a section or case study on the topic. As Harvard Economist Greg Mankiw states in his own microeconomics book:

“When rent control depresses rents below the equilibrium level, the quantity of apartments supplied falls substantially, and the quantity of apartments demanded rises substantially. The result is a large shortage of housing”.

Being an election year, I don’t blame Randy Daniels for dodging this well known fact in his Op-ed. Coming out against rent control, despite its proven failures, is not a good way to get people to vote for you when 1/3rd of the city is benefiting from it, even if most who are don’t need it. However this doesn’t mean he shouldn’t talk about it as a cause of the effect. Randy Daniels could have easily pointed out how rent control affects prices in the city, while still claiming it a necessary evil, even if its not.

Monday, March 06, 2006

If the NY City Council is really worried about health care for the poor and better wages, they should forget Wal-Mart and go after the real culprits.

As we are all aware, after numerous attempts, Wal-Mart has been unsuccessful at bringing jobs and cheaper prices to our much-needed city despite its success in New Jersey and Long Island where many NYC residents go to shop in their stores. BJ’s, another discounter, has also had a hard time opening a store in the Bronx despite the company’s success on 20th Avenue in Whitestone.

The argument against these companies from our City Council has been that they don’t offer good enough healthcare, if any, for their workers and offer pay that is not suitable to their liking. However based on business in this city, is it really about healthcare and increasing the quality of life for the lower income earners or is it payback by our City Council for all the money donated to their campaigns by the city’s unions? I’ll argue it’s the latter for if the City Council was really concerned about increasing the standard for workers, they would be much better off going after the thousands of small businesses in the city instead who hire 100 times more workers then Wal-Mart could.

As a teenager growing up in the city, my friends and I had every job imaginable. For me my work experience started at 16 where I took a job at a local candy store where I would wake up 6 days a week at 5:30 am to go set up the papers and coffee. I would then go home, take a shower, go to school then come home and work back at the store until 8:00 pm. Then I went home, had some dinner, did my homework and went to bed. The owner I worked for, which changed hands twice, broke every labor and child labor law in the book. I worked about 40 hours a week off the books. I had no healthcare and the owner paid no taxes on my pay since I never showed up on his books. This theme was endemic among my friends who all worked similar jobs in deli’s, flower shops, pizza boys, jobs for various local contractors etc…

There are thousands of small businesses in this city that violate labor laws everyday without a peep from the same people who attack Wal-Mart and BJ’s for treating their workers poorly. At least Wal-Mart pays income taxes on their workers. Wal-Mart last year paid $10 billion in local city taxes alone in the U.S., none of which went to New York City. The small businesses, which generally transact in cash, skim the top and cheat the city in billions of dollars. Any City Council member could walk down Roosevelt Avenue and walk into dozens of businesses to find employees off the books, including kids that violate child labor laws but they don’t because it’s not about creating higher standards like they claim.

In the end the attack on Wal-Mart, BJ’s and others is about doing the bidding for the unions in the city who feel their existence being threatened by a more efficient business model and a labor force that frankly doesn’t care if they join a union or not. The City Council will continue to attack Wal-Mart on the grounds of being the champion of the under class but until they aim their efforts at everyone and not just the target of unions, I wont believe it.

Friday, March 03, 2006

NYYRC OPPOSES PASSAGE OF THE HEALTH CARE SECURITY ACT

For Immediate Release: 3, 2006
Contact: Jen Saunders
Email: pr@nyyrc.com

THE NEW YORK YOUNG REPUBLICAN CLUB, INC.
OPPOSES PASSAGE OF THE HEALTH CARE SECURITY ACT

New York, NY: The New York Young Republican Club, Inc. (NYYRC) supports Mayor Bloomberg's opposition to the Health Care Security Act and expresses disappointment at the New York City Council for overriding the veto.

The NYYRC believes that the passage of such a bill will not save taxpayers money as the City Council states it will, but instead it shifts the cost of healthcare in the city from the taxpayer to the consumer. NYYRC President Dennis Cariello stated, "For maybe a small decrease in city funded healthcare costs, the City Council forced through a bill that will hurt low income New Yorkers significantly in the form of higher grocery costs." President Cariello continued " This proposal is actually counterintuitive to the typical liberal agenda. The progressive tax system in New York City places the majority of the burden on higher income earners, to the delight of liberals. This bill affects those who live paycheck to paycheck the most by increasing the costs of their basic necessities."

The NYYRC agrees with Mayor Bloomberg's assertion that this bill violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a law meant to limit states' involvement in setting employee benefits. President Cariello commented "This is an attack on business and the free enterprise system. New York already has a reputation as one of the least business-friendly states because of our high taxes, and now the city has interfered in the operations of private businesses." President Cariello continued, "How are we supposed to attract businesses when they have to worry that our City Council will inflict unfair regulations on their legal practices?"

The New York Young Republican Club, Inc., is a not-for-profit political organization that exists to bring Republicans aged 18-40 together to discuss the Republican Party platform and aid the Republican Party in the education of the public about the Republican agenda and the promotion of Republican candidates for office. To find out more about the New York Young Republican Club, Inc. please visit the Website at http://www.nyyrc.com.

Here is one country not worried about Middle East investment:

The Bolivarian News Agency in Caracas, is reporting that Venezuela and Iran have agreed to a joint project that would build 10,000 homes in Venezuela by an Iranian construction company for over $400 million.

This is no doubt a further attempt by Chavez to get closer to Iran, using the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” theory. Chavez should be careful though. If by some chance Chavez hopes of Islamic extremists beating America comes to fruition, he could be their next target. Lets remember that al-Qeada’s call to the West is for not only us to leave the Middle East but also to renounce our ways and convert to Islam. Considering Venezuela is made up of infidel Christians, it would make sense that they would be on the same list as us for destruction even if their at the bottom.

Nothing to see here! Move along. Nothing to see here!

Well, well, well. What do we have here? An FBI raid on the offices of both, Queens Democrat Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin and the New York City Central Labor Council, which is an organization that represents almost 400 unions.

The raid is part of an FBI investigation into whether or not millions in contracts for electrical work in the city were bid on illegal or in other words rigged.

Obviously everyone is innocent until proven guilty but I don’t think anyone would be surprised that a Democrat who gets huge campaign contributions from labor unions aided them in closing inflated contracts at the expense of the taxpayer.

What I want to know is how can Brian McLaughlin be both a Queens Assemblyman representing taxpayers like me and the elected President of the Central Labor Council? That’s a conflict of interest if I ever saw one!

Republicans have been wondering how you gain seats in the Council and Assembly. Well there you go.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Good old family entertainment:

As is the case every year at the Oscars, artists up for best song in a motion picture get to sing their tune on stage. This year one of the songs nominated is “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp” which unsurprisingly contains lyrics that are lets just say, not very family friendly.

The artists in order to perform the song have agreed to go line by line and replace the profanity with other lyrics. One word that has been allowed to stay in the song though will be the word “bitches”, which though is really not a curse word is not something that I would ever hear on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel.

Personally I think this is a mistake. Considering more people watched American Idol than the Grammy’s a couple of weeks ago, you think the Oscars would try to do things to get more people to watch, not give parents a reason to sit down with the family and watch something else.

My last observation though, is if the Three 6 Mafia could rewrite the song to take out the curses, why can’t they just write the song that way in the first place? Somebody in connection to the story commented how the group worked hard to clean up the song while trying not to compromise their “artistic integrity”. I didn’t know that cursing showed integrity or that you were artistic.

NYYRC March Social Update

Thank you to everyone who came out last night to join us at Third and Long. It was a great turnout -- another packed house!

We hear that Matt is still in the hospital; he has good days and bad days, but sent his thanks to everyone.

We ask that you keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

You have to love it:

The FT is reporting on their front page this morning that former President Bill Clinton advised top officials from the UAE about how to get the port deal approved amidst all the controversy.

In response to the report the FT states that President Clinton’s spokesman said that Bill still supports Hillary’s attempt to block the deal.

Yeah of course he does. That however is like me telling my son he can’t have a toy and then my wife instructing him on how to convince me to buy it, while she stands there and says ask your father.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

NYYRC March Social to Support Matt Long -- TONIGHT


Please join us tonight from 7-10 pm at Third & Long (523 Third Ave @ 35th Street) in support of Firefighter Matt Long, who was hit by a chartered bus while riding his bike to work during the illegal transit strike last December.

For more information, please contact me at events@nyyrc.com.

Thanks to our special election candidates:

If elections were a war, and most times they are, it could be said that choosing to run for lower office in New York City as a Republican is like being that dedicated soldier who jumps on a hand grenade to save his comrades. It can be said a portion of their life has been drained not to mention their pockets but the cause, like jumping on a grenade, is not to win the war right there but to give motivation for others in the platoon to carry on and win the day in the future.

I have been critical in the past but not of our candidates personally but more of the overall strategy of the GOP in the state. If anything, I think the GOP of New York helps show that candidate’s like Emily Csendes and Frank Scala are the quiet heroes in the war for the city.

It really takes character to know that despite all your efforts you will still most likely go down in defeat, especially when you could have decided to view the battle from afar safe on a hill like most of us do.

Emily and Frank may have lost the battle yesterday but because of their courage and sacrifice to jump on the grenade, they give the rest of us hope and the motivation to carry on, get out of our foxholes, charge ahead and face the enemy in the future.

Ash Wednesday

For most Western Christians we know today is Ash Wednesday and not that we ran out of soap.

The ashes we receive are meant to be a symbolic expression of our dependence and trust in God as well as the start of Lent where we should examine our lives and renew our faith.

I personally always take Lent seriously. Thanks to the many distractions present on earth everyday, Lent gives me that reminder to “turn our minds and hearts back” to God. Something that even non-Western Christians can appreciate during such troubling times.

"I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3).