About
The Albany Project seeks to return New York State Government to its rightful owners - the people.

Getting Started at the Albany Project

New York Blogwire



This belongs to you. Take it back...

Our Choice for NYC Mayor: Bill Thompson

by: Charles Lenchner

Mon Nov 02, 2009 at 15:27:00 PM EST




How can we make a City that works for everyone?

That's the question the Working Families Party asks when deciding which policies and candidates to support in NYC.

And that's why, on Tuesday, we're backing Bill Thompson for Mayor.

Our current mayor has his own ideas about how New York City should work, but it has become increasingly clear that many New Yorkers are left out of his vision.

After eight years under Mayor Bloomberg, we are concerned that homelessness in the City is actually on the rise, the achievement gap for black and Latino kids hasn't closed, and many development projects have become boondoggles that drain tax dollars and divide communities instead of creating new jobs and affordable homes.

Charles Lenchner :: Our Choice for NYC Mayor: Bill Thompson
The Mayor says he just needs more time to deliver -- but the way he has tried to get that time offends our basic democratic values.

First the Mayor ignored New York City voters and extended his own term limits. Then, when he realized the backlash from that move might still cost him the election, he began burning through unheard-of amounts of campaign cash -- spending in just three hours what the average New Yorker makes in a year.

As a great political leader once said, we need a change -- and Bill Thompson has what it takes.

Bill was born and raised in Brooklyn and has dedicated his life to improving New York City, serving as a strong City Comptroller for the past eight years.

Bill has proposed clear, compelling plans to put NYC on a better path through these tough times. He will make our tax system fairer, cut class sizes and give parents back a voice in our children's education, and actually deliver on a vision of truly sustainable development that empowers middle- and working-class New Yorkers, not the super-rich.

But most importantly, when Bill Thompson goes to work for New York City, he's going to ask the same question the members of the Working Families Party ask every day:

How can we make a City that works for everyone?

With your support on Tuesday, Bill Thompson will have the chance to answer that question, and we will start to see a City that puts working families first again.

On November 3, we can make a brighter future for New York. We urge you to vote for Bill Thompson on the Working Families Party ballot line.

Tags: (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email

Whack Fusion Voting! (0.00 / 0)
Vote on the Dem line!

(sorry Charlie)


Some Unconvincing Arguments (0.00 / 0)
"we are concerned that homelessness in the City is actually on the rise"

Me too. The worst economy in 80 years couldn't possibly have anything to with that, could it?

"The Mayor says he just needs more time to deliver -- but the way he has tried to get that time offends our basic democratic values.

"First the Mayor ignored New York City voters and extended his own term limits."

Well, if he gets reelected with a majority, what does that say about New York City voters' commitment to their purported support for term limits? Anyone who thinks no one should serve more than two terms can vote for another candidate and impose term limits in that manner in any election. But if a candidate wins a third term, then there are some people out there who apparently support term limits in theory but not in practice. Why should a referendum be taken as expressing "the will of the voters" any more than a specific contest?

"he began burning through unheard-of amounts of campaign cash"

That much I agree with. Less would have been more. But I suspect his spending has hurt more than it has helped (because it's just gotten annoying), so I'm not sure which way that argument cuts.


You miss the point (0.00 / 0)
The fact is, New York City residents, right or wrong, voted on 2 separate referendum to limit the time a public official can serve in office. Overturning those votes without another public vote is betraying the peoples' trust.
The argument is not about term limits, it is about respecting the voters' wishes.

Bloomberg chose to ignore those wishes and effectively executed a coup of the City government, backed by the ability to bankroll (in obscene amounts)another term. If he was so confident the people wanted him to remain, why need to spend over $100 million; is that a leveraged or unleveraged takeover of City Hall?

What replaces democracy? Tyranny, that's what.

Tax the Church.


[ Parent ]
I Didn't Miss The Point (0.00 / 0)
"The argument is not about term limits, it is about respecting the voters' wishes."

Yes. And the "voters' wishes" can be evaluated in every single election. If a majority of voters really want to prevent anyone from serving a third term, then they won't vote for Bloomberg. There is nothing stopping them from voting for someone else if that's what they really believe in, even if there is no term limits law.

But if Bloomberg is reelected with a majority, then it seems to me that "the voters" don't really wish for term limits after all. Why should a referendum be any greater signifier of the "voters' wishes" than what voters actually do when given a choice between a candidate who has served two terms and other candidates who have not?

If someone else gets more votes than Bloomberg, then he won't be mayor anymore. But if more people want him to be mayor, then he'll stay as mayor. Seems to me that that's "respecting the voters' wishes."

"If he was so confident the people wanted him to remain, why need to spend over $100 million"

He spent it because he could. I don't think it helped him; the annoyance factor probably turned off more people than those ads attracted. And there are plenty of examples of self-funded candidates who outspend their opponents and lose (in fact, they do not have a great track record). Fact of the matter is that he has not been a bad mayor, and that record, more than his money, is the basis for his support. That's not to say that Thompson would or would not have been better.

"What replaces democracy? Tyranny, that's what."

Ah, didn't we just have an election today? People who really like term limits, or who don't like how Bloomberg spent his money, can vote him out. If there aren't enough motivated to do so, they they won't. That's hardly tyranny. I call it democracy.


[ Parent ]
In Addition.... (0.00 / 0)
To take the liberty of quoting myself: "And there are plenty of examples of self-funded candidates who outspend their opponents and lose (in fact, they do not have a great track record)."

See, e.g., Corzine. If people don't want a candidate, they are free to vote for someone else. Money helps, and a certain amount is essential, but claiming it's a path to tyranny is a bit of an overstatement. (For the record, I'm a strong supporter of public campaign financing.)


[ Parent ]
Shockingly close (0.00 / 0)
its 49-47 with 78% in. Keep an eye on this.

The Albany Project

Please take my Blog Reader Project survey.

Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?


Search




Advanced Search


NY blogs

Politics

Adirondack Almanack
Buffalo Geek
Buffalo Pundit
Capitol Confidential
Daily Gotham
Daily Politics
DMI Blog
DragonFlyEye
Empire Page
Empire Zone
Gothamist
Gotham Gazette
Group News Blog
Jason Gooljar
Left of the Hudson
Living In Dryden
Lost In The Ozone
McHugh Watch
Nassau GOP Watch
Planet Albany
Politicker NY
Politics on the Hudson
Reform NY
Rochester Turning
Room 8
Simply Left Behind
Take19
The Community Alliance

Think Tanks

Brennan Center for Justice
Citizens Budget Commission
Citizens Union
Drum Major Institute
Fiscal Policy Institute
New Democracy Project
Progressive States

Organizations

Citizen Action
Citizens for Better Government in New York
Common Cause
New York Citizens for Clean Elections
Progressive States Network
>
National Blogs

Politics

AmericaBlog
Crooks and Liars
DailyKos
Digby
Eschaton
Firedoglake
MyDD
Political Cortex
Senate Guru
Skippy
Swing State Project
Talk Left
Talking Points Memo
The Right's Field

LBAN Network

Agonist
All Spin Zone
AlterNet
AMERICAblog
American Street
ArchPundit
BAGNewsnotes
BartCop
Big Head DC
Blogging of the Pres
BlogACTIVE
Bluegrass Report
Bluegrass Roots
Blue Indiana
BlueJersey
Blue Mass. Group
BlueOregon
BlueNC
Bob Geiger
Booman
BRAD Blog
Brendan Calling
Buckeye State Blog
Burnt Orange Report
Calitics
Capitol Annex
Carpetbagger Report
Chris Floyd
Clay Cane
Cliff Schecter
Comments from Left Field
Confined Space
Corrente
Cotton Mouth
Crooks and Liars
culture kitchen
Cursor
Daily Gotham
Daily Kos
David Corn
Democrats.com
Dem Bloggers
Deride and Conquer
Democratic Underground
Digby
DovBear
Drudge Retort
Ed Cone
ePluribus Media
Eschaton
Ezra Klein
Feministe
Feministing
Firedoglake
Fired Up
First Draft
Frameshop
Greatscat!
Green Mountain Daily
Greg Palast
Hoffmania
Horse's Ass
Hughes for America
In Search of Utopia
Is That Legal?
Jesus' General
Jon Swift
Juan Cole
Keystone Politics
Kick!
KnoxViews
Las Vegas Gleaner
Latino Pundit
Lawyers, Guns and Money
Left Coaster
Left in the West
Liberal Avenger
Liberal Oasis
Loaded Orygun
Mahablog
Majikthise
Make Them Accountable
Matthew Yglesias
MaxSpeak
Media Girl
Michigan Liberal
Minnesota Campaign Report
Minnesota Monitor
MyDD
My Left Nutmeg
My Left Wing
My Two Sense
Nathan Newman
Needlenose
Nevada Today
News Corpse
News Dissector
Newshoggers
News Hounds
Nitpicker
Oliver Willis
onegoodmove
OpenLeft
PageOneQ
Pam's House Blend
Pandagon
People's Rep. of Seabrook
PinkDome
Politics1
Political Animal
Political Wire
Poor Man Institute
Prairie State Blue
Progressive Historians
Raising Kaine
Raw Story
Reno Discontent
Republic of T
Rhode Island's Future
Rochester Turning
Rocky Mountain Report
Rod 2.0
Rox Populi
Rude Pundit
Sadly, No!
Satirical Political Report
Seeing The Forest
Shakesville
SirotaBlog
SistersTalk
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Slacktivist
Smirking Chimp
SquareState
Suburban Guerrilla
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
Talk Left
Tapped
Taylor Marsh
Tattered Coat
Texas Kaos
The Albany Project
The Blue State
The Democratic Daily
The Hollywood Liberal
The Reaction
The Talent Show
This Modern World
Town Called Dobson
Turn Maine Blue
Uppity Wisconsin
Wampum
War and Piece
WashBlog
Watching the Watchers
West Virginia Blue
Young Philly Politics
Young Turks

Register to Vote: Rock the Vote, powered by Working Assets Wireless

blog radio

Get the albany project in your inbox! Just enter your email address

Delivered by FeedBurner

____________________


Active Users
Currently 0 user(s) logged on.

Powered by: SoapBlox