For years, decades even, New York has been dithering about an impending budget catastrophe: the ever-escalating cost of offering gold-plated and utterly outdated pension benefits to public employees. Everybody knew something had to be done. There were some brave attempts to create a fix here and there, but unions made it clear that they would Read More
After Mayor Bloomberg released his bad-news budget several weeks ago, we argued in this space that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn—another mayoral aspirant—had to do more than complain about cuts to popular programs. If she wanted to be taken seriously, we argued, she had to provide an alternative vision.
She did just that the other Read More
According to City Comptroller John Liu, all those warnings you’ve been hearing about the escalating costs of public employee pensions and health benefits are wrong. Mr. Liu recently put out a report that argues that the cost of pensions and benefits actually will go down beginning in 2016.
Did we mention that Mr. Liu is Read More
Through his own actions, Congressman Anthony Weiner has become a national punch line. It’s hard to imagine that he can effectively represent his constituents in Brooklyn when he is more likely to be seen on TMZ than on C-SPAN, more likely to be cited in a David Letterman monologue than in a news report from Read More
“Israel has no better friend than America, and America has no better friend than Israel,” the prime minister said. “We stand together to defend democracy. We stand together to advance peace. We stand together to fight terrorism.”
These are indisputable facts, but they bear repeating from time to time. Mr. Netanyahu reminded Americans that as Read More
Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver held a celebratory news conference last week during which they announced an agreement on implementing a 2 percent cap on property tax increases. Welcome though that announcement was, it’s clear that the work of achieving real property tax reform is far from over. Read More
The teachers’ unions continue to resist the notion of accountability in the classroom, even as it becomes more and more clear that teacher performance is just as important as financial resources and parental involvement in creating a true learning environment in our public schools.
Earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced a series of proposals Read More
There is good economic news to report: The unemployment rate in New York City has dropped to 8.6 percent. That’s a two-year low. And the good news on jobs comes despite a continued lull in construction, a traditional source of well-paid, blue-collar work.
Now the bad news: Washington is considering new banking rules that could Read More
In demanding that Israel retreat to its pre-1967 borders as a starting point for negotiations with the Palestinians, President Obama confirmed what many have suspected for some time: he is not a friend of Israel.
No friend, no true ally, would ask another state to put its very existence in jeopardy. But that is precisely Read More
Say this about Mayor Bloomberg: Whatever missteps have befallen him early on in his third term, he continues to push cutting-edge technology as the key to the city’s renewed and continued prosperity.
Of course, given the Mayor’s private-sector success, his interest in technology and information shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nevertheless, he is making good, even Read More
