Tuesday, December 31, 2013

C'est fini ; c'est fini la comedie

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Deborah Lee James CityTime

Who is Deborah Lee James ?

She worked at SAIC during that company's $600 million theft from New York City taxpayers, and now she's President Barack Obama's pick for Secretary of the Air Force.

But what has been her role with CityTime ? What does Rose Gill Hearn know about her ?

Deborah James Biography

Who are the corporate officers at SAIC, who are going to process the $600 million refund to New York City taxpayers ?

(Originally Posted : Thursday 07 July 2011 9:48 p.m.)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Bloomberg : Let Them Eat Cake

Rachael Sacks : NYPost Spoiled Brat Essay Covergirl photo mean-little-rich-girl-front3_zps88dd3777.jpg

From True News From Change :

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city's lack of affordable housing is a 'good sign' of a vibrant economy, because 'more people want to live here.' Advocates slammed the mayor's comments as 'absurd' -- and insensitive toward people being squeezed out of their homes by rising rents. 'OUT OF TOUCH' : Bloomberg under fire for calling city’s lack of affordable housing a 'good sign' of Big Apple's vibrant economy (The New York Daily News) * Critics called his housing comment out of touch. Mayor : Homelessness a ‘good sign’ (The New York Post) * Pity rich Rachael Sacks, who, in the style of some in her generation, blogs every last thing that’s in the folds of her brain, including how a cashier at Gristedes looked like she was judging her because “I grew up with a decent amount of money in a decent rich area.” Her parents must be proud (The New York Daily News Editorial) * I’m Not Going To Pretend That I’m Poor To Be Accepted By You (Rachael Sachs) * Bloomberg : I'd Walk A Mile In Rachael Sachs's High Heels (The New York Post)

Monday, September 2, 2013

Christine Quinn and Michael Bloomberg File for Divorce

For 15 years, voters had to suffer through Christine Quinn's self-interested dealings as she hitched her political wagon to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Speaker Quinn's close working relationship with Mayor Bloomberg is turning off voters from supporting her mayoral campaign. Now that Speaker Quinn is desperate to rescue her political future, she is about to throw Mayor Bloomberg and his legacy under the bus. Her efforts to divorce herself from Mayor Bloomberg may be too little, too late.

Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn - Copyright 2013 by Louis Flores - Uncorrected Proof Not... by Connaissable

Term Limits research from "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn" reaches The Guardian newspaper

Christine Quinn Term Limits Flip-Flop Chronology

The Guardian reporter Harry Enten tweeted a link to the free Scribd preview of the book, Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn.

His tweet was in connection to a five-part series of tweets sent by the book's author, Louis Flores, that document Christine Quinn's series of flip-flops on term limits.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Christine Quinn 2006 Backroom Deal To Compromise Her Commitment To Abortion Rights

Christine Quinn Compromised On Reproductive Freedoms For Women

A passage from Chapter 8 of ''Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn'' about Christine Quinn's ascension into the speakership of the New York City Council :

For Christine to make these giant leaps in power after less than six years in the City Council, she had to cut deals. The winners weren’t going to be the voters, who were still naively waiting for Christine to be a source of top-down support for bottom-up community empowerment. Instead, the winners were going to be the power brokers, the insiders, the lobbyists, and the political operatives on whose backs Christine climbed to further her own position in government. For example, in the weeks leading to the formal announcement that Christine had clinched the speakership, Christine co-hosted a fundraiser for Rep. Joe Crowley, a weak supporter of reproductive freedom for women. Rep. Crowley had succeeded Tom Manton in Congress, and Mr. Manton expected his subjects, which now included Christine, to express loyalty to the members of his political machine. Even though Christine kept brandishing her myth as an advocate for, among other things, abortion rights, the LGBT activist and social critic Bill Dobbs told The Village Voice that Christine was motivated to help Rep. Crowley “solely to win Manton’s support and the Queens delegation.” It was no coincidence that the higher up the totem pole that Christine climbed, the more glaring the betrayals to her own political ethics became. The rationalizations of Christine’s supporters became all the more bold, as well. Michael McKee, the controversial tenants’ rights activist, who was called on to provide more and more political cover to Christine, expressed his support to Christine for her contradictory support of Rep. Crowley. “Does it bother me ? No,” he told The Village Voice.

Roosevelt Institute Fellow Endorses Christine Quinn. Lord Jesus, Are the Roosevelts Turning In Their Graves ?

Christine Quinn Roosevelt Institute FDR Teddy Roosevelt - Ending Progressive Political Sensibilities Values photo fdr-triple-panel_zpsc560bc8c.jpg

Several weeks ago, I was Tweeting at the Roosevelt Institute, supposedly one of the last hold-outs of progressive political values anywhere in New York State, the way that things are going. I even sent them an e-mail, or filled out the e-mail Web form, or something, I might have even left them a voice mail, but I moved on, because I can't even begin to think about how much outreach I have done to try to roll up my research for Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn into a larger narrative about the corruption of progressive politics sensibilities in New York City. Meanwhile, fast forward to today, and what do I happen to see on Huffington Post ? A fellow from the Roosevelt Institute writing a blatantly shallow, identity politics piece, advocating for Christine Quinn's campaign. I jammed my arms up into the air and asked God, "Why ? God, Why ?" We're talking about a City Council speaker, who unilaterally overturned term limits, which were adopted by voters twice through voter referenda. Voter referenda were one of the primary gains made during the turn of the last century during the Progressive Era. This gave voters a way to directly participate in a government that had, back then, become beholden to industrialists and was prone to corruption. Remember learning about meat packing scandals ? Remember learning about corporate trusts ? Remember learning about crack downs on union organising ? Sound familiar ???

One of the other important gains during the Progressive Era, one that we can all appreciate right here in New York City, was the passage by the state legislature of the Tenement House Act, which regulated the size and conditions of apartments. Prior to its enactment, slum lords were putting up apartment buildings that skimped on windows, livable space, and other necessities, like indoor toilets and fire escapes. In the last year, you might remember Mayor Bloomberg trying to give us poor folk a hard sell on trying to live in new micro apartments as small as 250 square feet ! Christine Quinn, a former advocate for affordable housing and tenents' rights, remained mum as Mayor Bloomberg violated the very essence of the Tenement House Act. I could go on and on about how Quinn has been undermining the progressive political advances we made during the turn of the last century. Eventually, according to the history books, progressive political sensibilities gave way to Roosevelt's New Deal, which gave way to LBJ's War on Poverty and his vision of a Great Society. Fast forward to today, during the last vestiges, we hope, of the Bloomberg-Quinn era, and you see what's left of our progressive heritage is now in tatters, and somehow Ellen Chesler, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, would have you believe that Christine Quinn deserves your vote, just because she's a woman. Ms. Chesler had the audacity to write, "Chris Quinn has been a powerful agent of progress and change." How do progressive political sensibilities get to the point that they are openly undermined by Bloomberg and Quinn today ? By the corruption of those last standard-bearers of this ideology.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

When did Christine Quinn sell out to real estate developers ?

Real Estates Donations To Christine Quinn Escalated in 2004

From Chapter 8 of "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn," available now on Scribd :

The unmistakable spike in real estate donations to Christine’s political campaign as early as the 2005 election cycle meant that real estate interests and lobbyists were intending to compromise Christine’s independence on real estate issues. The sizeable donations from Gary Barnett, Douglas Durst, George Arzt, James Capalino, and some of the donations from the Meilman family dated back to 2004, an early sign that the fix may have already been in on the speakership from a year prior to the 2005 election. It’s not uncommon for real estate interests to begin making heavy campaign donations over a year in advance to their approved political candidates. The sizeable donations to Ms. Katz’s campaign account also reflected her own contention for the speakership. Christine’s campaign for the speakership began early, as measured by the flood of real estate donations, and, Christine followed Speaker Miller’s pattern of reaching out to the county bosses for their support. This county boss strategy was confirmed by Brooklyn councilmember Bill de Blasio, as told to New York magazine. “She understood, better than I did, that a lot of this ball game revolved around the county Democratic leaders,” he said, adding, “She did a better job in developing those relationships, presenting a personality they were comfortable with, finding out how not to be threatening to them.” In 2002, the Queens County Democratic boss, Tom Manton, had negotiated from Speaker Miller the City Council Land Use committee chair appointment for one of his delegation’s members, Melinda Katz, in whom the real estate industry had already invested multiple and sizeable campaign donations. In the run up to the 2005 campaign season, Mr. Manton was interested in maintaining the status quo for his own power base, as well as for real estate interests, who did not want to take a loss on the money that they had spent to finance Ms. Katz’s appointment to the Land Use committee. Upon Christine’s assumption of the speakership, Ms. Katz kept her leadership post on Land Use, and David Weprin, another member of the Queens City Council delegation, kept his appointment as chair of the powerful Finance committee. He, too, was well-financed by real estate interests and lobbyists. The permanent establishment that spends so heavily on reelecting approved incumbents does not like insurgents of any kind.

Read more on Scribd : "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn"

Friday, August 23, 2013

Who is Stephen Berger ?

Who is Stephen Berger ? Medicaid Redesign Team Hatchetman photo Stephen-Berger_zpsbf8b7980.png

From Chapter 8 of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn

Of all people, why was Mr. Berger selected by Gov. Pataki to lead a commission charged with closing New York hospitals ? During the aftermath of the 1970’s fiscal crisis that gripped New York City, Mr. Berger served as the executive director of the New York State Emergency Financial Control Board for the city. To carry out the severe austerity cuts demanded by Wall Street bankers and big business interests, Mr. Berger, among other actions, slashed the subsidies that New York City paid to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. One consequence of Mr. Berger’s cuts to the MTA has been the dramatic and relentless increases in subway and bus fares endured by users of the city’s mass transit system. A calculating political insider, Mr. Berger had also served as the executive director of the Port Authority ; as chairman of a private equity firm, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC ; and as a political campaign consultant for each of Senate candidate Richard Ottinger, Representative Jonathan Bingham, and Representative and one-time Republican mayoral candidate Herman Badillo. During Mr. Berger’s supervision of the city’s budget during the financial crisis of the 1970’s, he was accused of trying to “destroy” the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the city’s public hospitals. His management style was alternatively described as “sarcastic, plaintive, caustic, philosophical and hortatory.” Since Mr. Berger had proven himself under Gov. Hugh Carey to be predisposed to be a “hatchetman” for hire, Mr. Berger could be counted on to carry out ruthless budget cuts with a sense of moral and ethical impunity. Therefore, he was a natural pick for Gov. Pataki to lead the charge to indiscriminately close down hospitals. Mr. Berger was comfortable reviving the role of the bad cop to Gov. Pataki’s good cop in the 2000’s, an arrangement he had successfully played opposite Gov. Carey during the 1970’s fiscal crisis.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

SUNY Took Over LICH To Sell the Real Estate - Where Is the Criminal Investigation ?

SUNY Took Over LICH To Sell the Real Estate - Where Is the Criminal Investigation ? (True News)

Judge Carolyn Demarest has found that SUNY may have taken over Long Island College Hospital with the intention of "a more sinister purpose to seize its assets and dismantle the hospital." If the 2011 SUNY takeover of LICH was encumbered by fraud, then Stanley Brezenoff, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the SUNY Board of Trustees, Carl McCall, and Stephen Berger need to be investigated.

2013-08-20 LICH Demarest Decision and Order

Monday, August 12, 2013

The $25,000 Century Coverage William Rapfogel Donations Christine Quinn Wants To Return Not Listed On Campaign Finance Board

Joseph Ross admitted that William Rapfogel, the former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, told him to make contributions to various politicians and political organizations using money from their $7 million kickback scheme, The Daily News reports.

Christine Quinn William Rapfogel Met Council Discretionary Funds New York City Council Slush Funds Corruption Investigation photo christine-quinn-william-rapfogel-crop_zps2d228203.jpg

Daily News Daily Politics : Christine Quinn Returns $25,000 In Donations To Firm Tied To William Rapfogel Scandal

Hours after we blogged that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had allotted New York City Council discretionary funds to the Metropolitan Council, Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign announced that they were returning $25,000 in campaign donations at the center of the William Rapfogel scandal.

Mr. Rapfogel was terminated today as executive and president of the Met Council after revelations of financial irregularities. Initial reports showed that Met Council might have been using city or state funding to funnel money to an insurance company named Century Coverage Corporation, which would, in turn, funnel that money through employees to a/some 2013 New York mayoral candidate(s). But then later reports alleged that Mr. Rapfogel was taking kickbacks from an insurance company, which he would then funnel as campaign donations to a/some 2013 New York mayoral candidate(s). But a Campaign Finance Board report run today for all election cycles showing employers beginning with Century Coverage turned up no 2013 campaign donations.

2013-08-12 Century Coverage All Election Cycles CFB Advanced Search - New York City Campaign Finance Board by Connaissable

Three glaring problems exist with Speaker Quinn's announcement that she is returning $25,000 in campaign donations tied to the William Fogel-Met Council-Century Coverage scandal :

(i) The previous Campaign Finance Board doesn't show $25,000 in recent disclosed campaign donations to Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign ;

(ii) The following Campaign Finance Board report shows all Rapfogel donations made for all election cycles, and Mr. Rapfogel is not shown as having made any campaign donations to Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign ; and

2013-08-12 RAPFOGEL All Election Cycles Donations Quick Search - New York City Campaign Finance Board

(iii) In a Crain's report, it was reported that "Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political operative and prominent member of the city's Jewish community, said Mr. Rapfogel's legal predicament will likely make more trouble" for New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. (Met Council head fired amid probe) If Speaker Quinn was returning $25,000 in untraceable donations, does this mean that Speaker Silver is going to be expected to return tainted donations, too ? And why did Mr. Sheinkopf say that political backsplash was going to splish splash only on Speaker Silver, when within hours of our first blog post it was Speaker Quinn, who was rushing to unload $25,000 in undocumented campaign donations ?

Christine Quinn Slush Fund Met Council William Rapfogel Missing Campaign Finance Board Records Corruption

Christine Quinn William Rapfogel Met Council Discretionary Funds New York City Council Slush Funds Corruption Investigation photo christine-quinn-william-rapfogel-crop_zps2d228203.jpg

BREAKING : The leader of yet another charity group that receives discretionary funds from Christine Quinn's political slush fund has resigned today from an organization due to an impending investigation into financial improprieties. This morning, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty issued a statement announcing the immediate termination of its chief executive and president, William Rapfogel. (Attorney General Investigating Power Broker William Rapfogel) Under Mr. Rapfogel, Speaker Quinn has consistently funneled money to the Met Council, even when those allocations came under scrutiny for their regularity. (Christine Quinn Grants Slush Funds to Metropolitan Council) According to WNBC, "Sources familiar with the investigation said the probe is examining what happened to some of the organization’s funds and whether any of that money might have been improperly funneled into the political campaigns of some New York City mayoral candidates." (William Rapfogel Jewish Charities Metropolitan Council Investigation) We know from prior reports from the Daily News that Speaker Quinn has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in discretionary funds to nonprofit groups that have helped her mayoral campaign. (Christine Quinn Grants Slush Funds To Nonprofits Which Donated Campaign Contributions To Her Political Campaign)

Indeed, just last month, when Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign was in trouble because of Anthony Weiner's ascendant, insurgent campaign, Speaker Quinn's closest political advisers were invited to an emergency strategy meeting to help fluff up her then-troubled mayoral campaign. The invitees to this emergency strategy session included Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty CEO William Rapfogel. (Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty CEO William Rapfogel Participated In Emergency Secret Strategy Session To Fluff Christine Quinn's Struggling Mayoral Campaign) What kind of role was Mr. Rapfogel and the Met Council playing as a result of Speaker Quinn's emergency campaign strategy session ? How could there be an arm's length distance between Speaker Quinn and the Met Council if the charity group was helping her strategize her electioneering strategy ? Were slush funds payments or kickback campaign donations part of this emergency strategy ? Hmmmmmmmm......?

According to The New York Times, "Investigators are, among other angles, looking at the relationship between Mr. Rapfogel and Century Coverage Corporation, an insurance company based in Valley Stream, N.Y., according to people familiar with the investigation. Investigators are focusing in particular on generous contributions that the company’s chief executive, Joseph Ross, and other employees have made to candidates for New York City offices. The company’s employees have given almost $120,000 to various candidates since the late 1990s, including $26,175 to several candidates in 2013. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment."

But a report generated today from the Campaign Finance Board shows no campaign donations from 2013. This report was generated from a search by employer that begins with, "Century Coverage." Were the 2013 campaign contributions deliberately not fully disclosed to the Campaign Finance Board ?

2013-08-12 Century Coverage All Election Cycles CFB Advanced Search - New York City Campaign Finance Board by Connaissable

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Christine Quinn Preschool Student Loan Plan Strike Debt Response

Separately, The New York Observer were skeptical that more student loans was the right policy for debt-burdened families. "Student loan debt may be crippling everyone from recent college grads to senior citizens, but now New York parents will be able to start piling on the educational debt when their children are mere toddlers (the inverse, we assume, of saving for college?)," The Observer reported last week. (Should Upper Middle Class Tots Get Subsidized Student Loans for Pre-School ?)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Commissioner Ray Kelly Police Brutality - VIDEO : Christine Quinn Hypocrisy

Christine Quinn Supports Ray Kelly.
Does She Endorse Police Brutality ?

A new video posted on YouTube shows New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn heaping praise on NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, even though the NYPD has had a record of racism and brutality under Commissioner Kelly. The new YouTube video shows six real examples of how law enforcement officers have a pattern of using excessive force.

Links to examples of excessive force used by NYPD and by peace officers :

Chapter 7 of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn, which is being serialized this summer, addresses the NYPD’s history of violating the civil rights and civil liberties of activists. The conversation around reforming the NYPD needs to be enlarged to also address the police department’s persistent violations of civil rights and civil liberties. A task force should be empaneled with subpoena power and charged with investigating and issuing binding recommendations to finally overhaul the NYPD.

Since its debut on Scribd, a free preview of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn has generated over 16,000 combined reads, and research from Volume I inspired Michael Grynbaum to write a front page article in The New York Times : Quinn’s History of Mastering the Insiders’ Game.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Quinn Bloomberg Thenardiers Master Of The House Les Mis

Friday, June 28, 2013

Bill Thompson Sr. To Be LICH Monitor

Last week-end, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn closed on the 2014 city budget without making any provisions to save Long Island College Hospital (LICH). Because she has abdicated all sense of municipal leadership over the collapse of strategic public resources, such as hospital closings, to a laissez-faire belief that she's adopted from her close associations with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the right wing group Partnership for New York City, she is creating opportunities for other leaders to step forward in this political and leadership vacuum.

And that's exactly what happened yesterday, when the father of one of her challengers for this year's Democratic mayoral primary election, Bill Thompson, was appointed by a court to serve as a monitor over LICH.

Let's see if the Thompson family's political ambitions will be strong enough reason for New York City's leaders to perform the political triage necessary to save LICH. If the Thompson family succeeds, it will only draw attention to how Speaker Quinn has stood idly by and allowed 10 New York City hospitals to close or downsize during her speakership, including the spectacular 2010 closure of St. Vincent's Hospital in Speaker Quinn's very own City Council district.

As a side note, what does it say about Speaker Quinn's drive to overturn term limits in 2008 to allow Mayor Bloomberg to run for a third term ? The reason we were given was that Mayor Bloomberg was going to help us with the economy. What has the Bloomberg-Quinn administration done to save any of the 10 New York City hospitals that have closed or downsized since 2006 ?

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Bloomberg terminal phone hacking ?

After news broke that Bloomberg News is spying and tracking and collecting and analysing personal information from Bloomberg data terminals on Wall Street, one wonders how do the mobile Bloomberg apps work in connection with the Bloomberg data terminals ?

Here is information about mobile apps, which work in connection with Bloomberg data services : "With Bloomberg Anywhere®, you can log in to your Bloomberg Professional service account from an Internet-ready PC or mobile device, with the same reference-quality, real-time data, security and access to personal files you have on your regular computer."

Mobile Apps Work With Bloomberg Data Terminals - Computer Tracking Concerns

There's no way yet to independently confirm whether Bloomberg News was able to access trading, portfolio, monitor, blotter, or other related systems, confirms, or private messages from the Wall Street data terminals. But it is known that several hundred people employed by Michael Bloomberg had access to information about what Wall Street terminal users did on their computers. For example, the secret data being collected included who logged into which data terminal and when, and what kinds of functions data terminal users performed.

Bloomberg Data Terminals - Hacking - Spying - Inside Information - Photo Illustration

Is it a valid concern to wonder what kind of information the mobile Bloomberg apps tracked or collected ? This latest scandal has people on Wall Street worried about how secure their data really is, if they use Bloomberg data terminals and the mobile Bloomberg apps.

Bloomberg data terminal spying

Bloomberg Data Terminals - Hacking - Spying - Inside Information - Photo Illustration

By how many billions has Michael Bloomberg's personal wealth grown during his many years as mayor ? Now that we find out that his company is spying and tracking and collecting and analysing personal information from Bloomberg data terminals on Wall Street, one must wonder what is Michael Bloomberg doing with that information ? How is he using that kind of very powerful, very lucrative, very profitable information ? Is there any way to confirm whether Bloomberg News was able to access trading, portfolio, monitor, blotter, or other related systems, confirms, or private messages from the Wall Street data terminals ? According to a report in The New York Times, several hundred people employed by Michael Bloomberg had access through a shadow information gathering technique that gave these Bloomberg employees access to information about what Wall Street terminal users did on their computers. For example, the secret data being collected included who logged into which data terminal and when, and what kinds of functions data terminal users performed. This latest scandal has people on Wall Street worried about how secure their data really is, if they use Bloomberg data terminals. But the worries and accusations of computer tracking and information collecting also extended to Bloomberg data terminals used by the Federal Reserve, as well, according to The Times report. Left unsaid is whether there are any mobile Bloomberg apps that work in connection with the Bloomberg data terminals that may facilitate phone hacking ? Is any of this any different from how Mayor Bloomberg might be using inside government information to make money at Bloomberg Government ? Hmmmmmmmm...????

Mobile Apps Work With Bloomberg Data Terminals - Computer Tracking Concerns

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Bloomberg: "No One Is Sleeping On The Streets"

Mike Bloomberg is blind to the homeless problem. No surprise.

Homeless advocates are criticizing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's assertion that "no one is sleeping on the streets," after he was asked today about a report that the city shelter system is turning away families during cold winter days. (NY1)

How can anybody take Mike Bloomberg seriously, if he is so blind to his own elitist worldview ? Will anybody take him seriously when he makes an endorsement in the mayoral campaign ?