Saturday, March 13th, 2010, isn't quite St. Patrick's Day. This matters not to the people of the City of Albany. They hold not two parades each year.
As luck would have it, the parade coincided with the Coffee Party's National Kickoff this year. I don't doubt them for not seeing this one coming. In fact, nobody saw this movement coming. From a single Facebook comment in to nearly 150,000 members in just a month, the Coffee Party was kicking off in over 300 meetings yesterday thanks to dedicated grassroots organizers...
...such as myself. I organized the Albany County Coffee Party that met at Uncommon Grounds nearby the SUNY Albany campus. Navigating the parade traffic from the Noon meeting of the Downtown Coffee Party meeting earlier, I found that luck was on my side...on our side as the Coffee Party kicked off in our state's historic capital.
Below the fold, this edition of Soundpolitic Sundays gives the whole scoop for those of you who wish to go beyond the media coverage of National Coffee House Day and get to story straight from the horses mouth...
Blogger Colin Abele, aka Soundpolitic organizer of the Albany County Coffee Party is interviewed on the highest-rated morning radio show in the Capital Region
This morning, I appeared on the Don Weeks Show on News Talk Radio 810 WGY to talk a little bit about the Coffee Party. The movement has grown from a small Facebook comment to nearly 120,000 members as of tonight.
Tomorrow, the movement will have it's National Coffee House Day as the nationwide kick-off to reboot our democracy through citizen initiated civil discourse, with the mission of getting our democracy out of gridlock and back on track to express the collective will of the people.
But enough extra typing. You can listen to the interview right here in streaming MP3. Or, you can click below the fold to read the transcript.
Today, I had a Letter to the Editor appear in my local newspaper, the Altamont Enterprise regarding my organization of the Albany County Coffee Party as part of the National Coffee Party Kickoff to take place this Saturday, March 13.
I feel compelled to re-post the the letter in its entirety here for two reasons. First, because the Enterprise never puts its Letters to the Editor on it's website.
Second, because the final few paragraphs of my 1,776 word letter were cut off, along with any byline to attribute the letter to me. You can discern it was written by me in a small story deeper in the paper. I don't hold it against them; the Enterprise is a top-notch, independently owned local paper that gives a huge forum to letter writers every week, so a mistake here and there is forgivable.
Without further adieu, here's what I wrote, along with the headline:
It seems like everywhere you look these days, someone's trying to spread...The Fear.
All around us...in every town...on every corner...a massive Army Of Fear is standing by, according to the Messengers, ready at a moment's notice to obey the dictates of some unappointed Czar or another.
Just ask Glenn Beck: concentration camps for the white people, jackbooted stormtroopers ready to snatch the guns from your cold dead fingers...Socialist Government-Controlled Healthcare That Threatens Your Not Socialist Medicare...it's all coming, my friends-and unless we organize, as a community, to return to the values of the Founding Fathers, The Government, meaning that awful Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and George Soros and all the other Evil Community Organizers, will win.
There's no government, we're told, like no government.
You know who would find all of this fear of self-government just entirely bizarre?
The Founding Fathers.
In today's conversation we'll consider the fundamentals of American patriotism, we'll ask one of those Founding Fathers how he saw the role of Government-and we'll toss in a few words from Abraham Lincoln, just for good measure.
In less than two months, the Coffee Party movement has grown to over 100,000 members nationwide. And in three days, National Coffee House Day will officially kick off the movement to reform our political culture in all fifty states.
New York is playing its part in about a dozen fledgling organizations that will meet in the afternoon of Saturday, March 13, 2010. From Downstate to Upstate, the Empire State is set to become one of the hot spots of the movement to cool down the rhetoric so we can once again speak to our common goals as Americans.
I organized the Albany County Coffee Party to make sure Albany itself wasn't left out; within a matter of days, one for the city of Albany sprouted up as well.
But this movement is about more than just one blogger, or one city. A complete list of all the New York Coffee Parties are linked to below the fold. And since this movement is bigger than just one state as well, then if you've just heard of the Coffee Party Movement or are not really sure what we'll be doing on Saturday or what we're about, the video directly below makes it clear and simple:
Looks like fun, huh? Click "There's more" to see if there's a New York Coffee Party organizing in your neck of the woods.
Just got back from a day of canvassing for Assemblyman Jose Peralta. His organization seemed very motivated and not taking anything for granted, and it was a great experience on a beautiful day. The feedback from the voters was almost completely pro-Peralta, but the Slasher did have his organization on the ground and appears to be making an effort. Below is a photo of a Monserrate worker talking to voters. Twice when I passed her, I yelled "Don't vote for a criminal!" The second time, she yelled back "vote for somebody in the community!" Yeah, like the local Assemblyman is a real carpetbagger...
Also notice the Obama-type logo on the sign. Shameless.
This photo is inside Peralta HQ- everyone there was really motivated and made me feel confident that soon we will no longer have to worry about having the slashing shame of the state in our legislature ever again.
ALBANY, N.Y. - The National Organization for Women on Tuesday urged New York Gov. David Paterson to resign because of a report he directed two staffers to contact a woman about a domestic violence case involving one of his top aides.
The group is highly influential in Democratic politics and called for the governor's resignation despite what it considers Paterson's "excellent" record of strong support for women's issues and in combatting domestic violence.
"It is inappropriate for the governor to have any contact or to direct anyone to contact an alleged victim of violence," said Marcia Pappas, president of NOW New York State. "This latest news is very disappointing for those of us who believed the governor was a strong advocate for women's equality and for ending violence against women."
"It is now time for the governor to step down," she said in the written statement.
There was no immediate comment from Paterson's office. Some leading Democrats have said he should resign to avoid further damage to the party in the 2010 elections. Paterson has said he did nothing wrong and won't resign.
Yeah...Paterson also said he'd run for election. That lasted less than a week...
The two-year anniversary of Spitzer's resignation is March 17. With powerful organizations like NOW calling for Paterson to step down, he may not last long enough to mark the occasion.
With another nail-biting House vote approaching, with the futures of 30 million people lying in the balance, what New York house members are not on this list?
In interviews with the AP, at least nine of the 39 Democrats - or their spokesmen - either declined to state their positions or said they were undecided about the revised legislation, making them likely targets for intense wooing by Pelosi and Obama. Three of them - Brian Baird of Washington, Bart Gordon of Tennessee and John Tanner of Tennessee - are not seeking re-election this fall.
The others are Rick Boucher of Virginia, Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Michael McMahon of New York, Scott Murphy of New York and Glenn Nye of Virginia.
Some of us saw this coming when he delayed his potential campaign announcement for the umpteenth time, but it's nice to see it made official. What hasn't been said already? Goodbye, good luck, and don't come back.
But Ford's timely demise isn't just a win for Senator Gillibrand, or liberals, or the netroots. It is, in fact, a win for the fledgling pro-reform movement in New York State politics.
New York politics operate on money. That's no secret, and it's not exactly different from politics anywhere else. But New York's almost total lack of campaign finance laws on the state level allow a disturbing amount of power to be wielded by a relatively small number of people who have money to burn.
Billionaire coup architect Tom Golisano is a perfect example. Golisano spent a lot of money in 2008 supporting candidates he liked. Some of them were good candidates, and good people. But when Malcolm Smith wasn't deferential enough, Golisano used his power to try and overthrow the state government.
Another example is Mike Bloomberg, the man who personified the corrosive force of money in American politics when, faced with a voter-approved limit on his term of office, simply bought all the votes he needed to stay in power.
Here's where Ford comes in. Make no mistake about it, Ford's base of support (such as it was, consisting mostly of the upper east side of Manhattan, but only above the 30th floor) was centered in and around the same kind of big money contributors who own and operate much of the dirtier side of the New York state legislature.
One of the ringleaders of this behavior (and one of Ford's major backers) is Mike Bloomberg. Another is Steve Pigeon, the "Democrat" whose most undemocratic ideas and total lack of anything resembling the human emotion of shame landed him the seat as the man behind the curtain to Pedro Espada, and the operator of the massively corrupt Independence Party.
The power that Pigeon and those like him wield is, without a doubt, the biggest single opponent to fixing what's broken in New York State government. Why? Because the privileged power brokers like the concentration of control into their own hands.
What kind of power? The power to direct state money, yes. To bend and break laws, sure. To lie, cheat, steal, and get away with it. But moreover, it's just about raw power. The power to bring the state government screeching to a halt because Malcolm Smith checked his Blackberry during a meeting with you. The power to push elections one way or the other. The power to take home a seven figure salary without paying the taxes that the plebes have to.
In a system with no campaign finance laws, no term limits, and no demand by the people that the legislature do the public business or else, power has collected around the lowest common denominator--the people most shameless in their exploitation of that broken system to reward corruption and punish underdogs.
Call it whatever you want--the center, big business, the DLC, corruption--Ford's candidacy represented a money-first view of politics, that the guys on Wall Street mattered more than what was right for New York State as a whole. And New Yorkers rejected that: in the polls, in contributions, in their participation online and across the state.
Because of that, a strong ally of reform, populism, and a fighter for New York State has sent Ford packing. Now it's time to do the same for our legislature, and get this great state back on track.
LANGUAGE WARNING: Today's story is uncharacteristically blunt, and from this moment forward we will be using lots of inappropriate language in making our points.
It is by now fairly well known that Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, had a bit of a blow-up with liberals who were ready to start running ads against "blue dog" Democrats who were working very hard to shut down the health care reform effort.
Now we're not gonna get in the middle of that argument today; instead, since we're finally getting a chance to talk, I figured me and Rahm could get a few other things out of the way that have been on everyone's mind for the past year or so.
Winter has struck again in Upstate New York. If the roads themselves don't do the trick, then just digging will make you feel like you've just stepped off a rollercoaster. It's dizzying, this much snow! The storm just sat there all week, swirling above Manhattan and spinning the weather around and around. One second the snow was going left, then it was going right...
Wait. This isn't a rollercoaster. It's the Tea Cups! How fitting...since this edition of Soundpolitic Sundays sees the author taking a wild ride at a local Tea Party meeting. I attended the get-together on Saturday of last weekend.
My excuses for not getting this up earlier is twofold. First, there's a lot of back-story to what's going to be said here that I used last week's edition to take care of. Not a very good excuse, but check it out if you missed it.
My second excuse? It's the best and most obvious one: it took a week for my head to stop spinning.
Cross-posted at RebootNY . Check us out and get involved!
Hat tip to an interesting piece by the New York Times for a thought-provoking dialogue between academics, good government experts, and politicians on Friday. It's important that many people from both sides of the aisle recognize the problems of our dysfunctional government and debate solutions on curing the culture of corruption eating away the heart of Albany.
One person who definitely gets it is Kenneth Sherill, a Professor of Political Science at Hunter College. He writes:
The Legislature's core problems can be solved by changing its members and its rules - and sadly for the many good members, it increasingly seems as if you can't change its rules without changing its members. We need independent, nonpartisan apportionment of districts, serious campaign finance reform, and a liberalization of the rules of each house.
We agree entirely. We know that New York State government has the potential to work. It's worked in the past. New York used to be a model of effective government throughout the country, responsible for some of the brightest government programs around. Through strong leadership and a culture of responsibility, our politicians stood up for us. It's only in the recent era that we the people have been subverted by corruption and dysfunction by those who claim to represent us.
The answer is to kick out the trash currently occupying our state government and elect those who will stand up for our interests. With better leaders, we can change the way the state is governed and promote transparency, efficiency, and fairness. With a fair system of government, we can finally get back to a government that works for the people and responds to our needs.
Gerald Benjamin, a Professor of Political Science at the State University of New York, reminds us that some in the state have been down this road before.
The governance system needs serious fixing, as I've elsewhere argued. But ungovernable? Remember, we used to say that about New York City. No more. We found leaders that could make the city work. Now we have to use this election to do the same for the state. And then follow with the hard work of fixing the system itself.
We can change our state. It starts by booting out those who have failed us and electing those who will pus us first.
There is a word out there that I can use to unequivocally and quite comfortably describe myself. It stems from my longtime hobbies: Ever since I was a little bitty baby boy I always had my nose in a book or my fingers tapping at a typewriter or clutching playing cards.
Well, not since I was a baby boy. I'm no whiz-kid, especially not at age twenty-six. But I'll confess that I have no problem describing myself as completely, utterly, and happily...uncool.
I mean, who does stuff like this? Who at my age - or at any age - wakes up early on Sunday mornings to write politically-charged and Zen-infused rants on something that sounds so dweeby as a "blog?" This is totally uncool.
For that matter, who the hell else my age wakes up early on a Saturday morning as a progressive Democrat to hang onto every word of...the local Tea Party? And then, instead of going home to write about it immediately (and there will be lots to write about in the coming days) decides it's time to fiddle around with some of those nerdy playing cards?
No more games, folks. Soundpolitic Sundays continues below the fold...
The annual circus surrounding the NYS budget took another step up in absurdity this year when Paterson decided that:
"In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and social services, no area of state spending, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions," (Buffalo News 2/20/10)
This is just business as usal NYS governement style. None of the areas Paterson listed have been chopped the 18% that he is proposing for this year alone. Cuts to the parks woud be even higher if you add in reductions to the DEC. Its chop where it hurts the most, so public outcry covers up the fact that are significant savings to be had else where.
Where can we find $29 million to keep the parks open?
The number of State buracrats earning over $100,00 jumped 16% from 2008 - 2009 an is 4 times as high as it was in 2000. (Jim Heaney, Buffalo News)
The State subsidizes athletics spending, at UB alone, to the tune of $17 million a year.
Eliminating state subsidies for athletics at all SUNY schools would more than pay for the parks and a few other programs. If a kid picks a college because of the football team, maybe he isn't quite ready for college yet, ya think?
The UB Middle States Accredidation report indicates that is costs at least $22,800 about a year to educate a student. Tuition for out-of-state students is $15,000. Simply eliminating the State subsidy for foreign students (Currently 15% of UB or 4300 students are foreign) would raise $33.5 million. Even more if you reduce the State subsidy for out-of-state students. Multiply that across all SUNY schools.
Judge Pauley decided that two of the main arguments made by Monserrate's lawyers did not hold water. He determined that Monserrate's right to due process was not violated by the expulsion process, since the senate gave the him fair warning that expulsion might be an option when it created a special committee to investigate the incident. The committee gave Monserrate amply opportunity to testify or otherwise defend himself through his lawyers. Monserrate declined to participate.
Further, Judge Pauley says "the power of a body to determine the fitness of its members is embedded in American democracy."
Monserrate's legal argument in this case was extremely tenuous and this ruling was widely expected in the legal community, but it's nice to have this seemingly obvious issue settled. Monserrate's lawyers will probably appeal, but I don't expect the outcome of the appeal to be any different.
However, this is not the end. The Slasher is going to run for the special election against Assemblyman Jose Peralta, so Peralta needs all our support. He is having a free meet-and-greet tonight:
Friday, February 19
6:30pm-8:30pm
DL21C welcomes
Jose Peralta
NYS Assemblyman and candidate for NY State Senate (D-Corona, Jackson Heights, Queens)
Mr. Dennehy's Pub (lower level)
63 Carmine Street (at Houston; 1 to Houston; B/D/F/V/A/C/E to W 4th)
This event is free!
I'd be there but I'm leaving for a vacation in the Caribbean tonight. But if you can make it, Peralta needs you. Can you imagine the horror if Slasher wins his old seat back? I just might quit politics if that happens.
And a very Happy Valentine 's Day to all you lovers out there. That's lovers of things like music and politics and words and such. See, I tend to feel like Good Ol' Charlie Brown these past few Valentine's Days. I've been too focused on things like writing and thinking and looking for work to actually work up the courage to ask for a date...not that I could pay the tab, anyway!
Then again, whose fault is it for me not "having" a Valentine? It's all me, of course! I'm the one walking about labeling or not labeling other people with the same title we'd give a piece of mail. So I realized earlier this week that I certainly did have a Valentine and, better yet, I'd been getting ephemera from her every week for the past two years!
This is just a fancy way of saying I have a subscription to Newsweek as gifted to me by my dear old Grandmother.
Pitiful, right? I don't think so. I do love that magazine. Every week, I take a break from the job hunting and freelancing to enjoy that what I might be purchasing for myself: the best political commentary, interviews, and journalism on shiny paper with a dab of humor and art criticism. If I had the time, I'd praise or rebut everything in it.
Which brings me to the current February 15, 2010 issue. Set aside the fact that the issue is dated one whole day in the future (I never quite understood this trick) but within the magazine's pages were a couple of conflicting articles that could really do for a kiss-and-make-up this Valentine's Day. So below the fold, we'll try to get that done for them, considering they have less than 24 hours to come to terms with yourselves.
Ending the undemocratic practice of prison-based gerrymandering is, technically, a two-part process. When redistricting happens, first, people in prison must be removed from the Census population data because the Census counts them as residents of the district in which they are incarcerated. Second, people in prison must be added back to their home districts.
Earlier this week, the US Census Bureau announced they will move up the release of local prison population data to May 2011, making it possible for states that hold their redistricting process in the year after the Census is taken to remove prison populations from district counts.
As the New York Times editorialized this morning, this is a critical step in the right direction toward ending prison-based gerrymandering.
The bills currently before the New York State Legislature (S6725/A9834) that I wrote about
last week would take the second step - adding people in prison back into the population of their home communities.
The legislation would require the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment to amend Census data with data provided by the Department of Correctional Services about the last home of people in prison, to make sure all communities in New York are represented fairly and equally in the legislature - as our State constitution intended.
While the Census Bureau is too far along in the process to change how people in prison are counted for this year's count, this action marks a growing national movement toward ending the age-old injustice, and, until the next Census, puts the ball in the courts of states and counties to fix the problem.
So, New York State Legislature: will you step up to the plate?
Now that Hiram "Slasher" Monserratte is gone, we can turn our sights on the next glaring waste of flesh in our legislature- Pedro Espada Jr.
While potential challenger Lilliam Perez has waffled on whether she plans on jumping into the ring, the Bronx News Network is reporting that community organizer Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter is considering a challenge:
Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a Bronx activist who became the face of last year's strong community push for living wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory, is exploring the possibility of making a run at the state Senate seat occupied by Pedro Espada, Jr.
In the past two weeks, in preparation for a possible run, Pilgrim-Hunter has begun assembling a team of advisors and has quietly reached out to potential donors and supporters.
"The next few weeks will basically be a stress test to see what kind of support is out there for me," Pilgrim-Hunter, 53, said in an interview over the weekend. "But I am taking steps to prepare myself should I decide to run. Because one thing is for certain: if I get in, I'm getting in to win. And it's as simple as that."
So far, Pilgrim-Hunter said she has received positive feedback, including this accolade from the head of the retail workers' union.
I like that fire in the belly. Pull the trigger, Desiree- the State needs you.
UPDATE: Jackbx notes in the comments:
There are signs that the trigger will be pulled (4.00 / 1)
Things are looking very positive here in the 33rd District. A committee has been created -- "Friends of Desiree Hunter". At least one fundraiser has been held. More are planned.
The word I am hearing is that an an official announcement will be made before the end of February.
If you want to be in contact with the campaign to let them know you support Desiree, you can email them at friendsofdesireehunter@gmail.com
I was supposed to begin the long-delayed series of PTSD stories I've been planning, but before we begin, I need to tell y'all about something that just happened in my house.
For us it wasn't a matter of life or death, but it is the kind of story that explains, perfectly, why we need to reform the health care system we have today-and for that matter, it's also a great explanation of why a single-payer system would be a giant step forward for everyone in this country, whether you're insured today or not.
It's also hilarious and sad and frustrating, all at the same time-which makes today's story a pretty good allegory for the current American way of doing health care.
So follow along, have a good laugh...and at the same time, take a minute to consider what could be, and how much less irritating things should be.
Last years NYS tax increases on the richest New Yorkers was met with the gnashing of millionaire teeth and threats to move. How many of them actually moved?
