As America approaches the deadline for increasing the statutory national debt–or risking a catastrophic default on our obligations to creditors and citizens–there is no shortage of stupid ideas to restore fiscal order.
Near the top of the list is the balanced budget constitutional amendment, a durable fake pulled out of mothballs by Republicans and Read More
Reading and listening to the immediate euphoric response to the protests in Egypt, I realized that America’s proverbial optimism and its legendary escapism were beginning to look more and more like each other.
Remember the earthquake that struck Haiti almost one year ago? At the time, the airwaves and print-byways were full of voices hailing Read More
Complaints about President Obama’s State of the Union address on both sides of the political divide (which was obscured but not obliterated by the evening’s novel seating arrangements) seemed to miss its point and purpose. Like every successful speech of its kind, Mr. Obama’s message resonated on more than one level. So while he conceded Read More
No sooner had the blood dried in that Tucson parking lot and the body of 9-year-old Christina Green been lowered into the ground than “a large slice of educated America,” as David Brooks put it with his usual flair for evocative language, immediately switched its attention to one of the great issues of our day: Read More
In hard times, government support for the arts often seems like an unaffordable luxury, a matter of concern only to cultural elites who are out of touch with economic realities.
But that’s simply not true. Study after study has shown that the arts are an economic boon to world-class cities like New York. People come Read More
As Andrew Cuomo delivered his somber inaugural address on New Year’s Day, some political observers with keen ears detected the cadence and rhythm of his father, Mario Cuomo, who soared to national prominence on the strength of his speechmaking and gift for language. Others heard in the younger Mr. Cuomo’s dropped r’s the well-practiced sounds Read More
To understand the depths of shame and cynicism in the partisan stalling of health legislation for 9/11 first responders, it is only necessary to recall how eagerly Republican politicians once rushed to identify themselves with New York City’s finest and bravest. Nothing was easier, during the months and years that followed the terror attacks of Read More
When the 2010 midterm election is looked back on by politicians and historians, it will be remembered for three stories: the impact of a bad economy, the rise of the Tea Party and the invisible undertow of anonymous special-interest money drowning many Democrats. Democracy, too.
Until recently, the most repeated narrative was that slow growth and Read More
In New York there is a traditional name for the kind of anonymous cash now cascading into the American electoral process. It’s called sewer money.
Political observers in the Empire State know that sewer money is generally nonpartisan, but in the national midterm contest, the largest amount by far is going toward the election of Read More
The nonprofit community and the real estate industry, two key segments of New York’s economy, are suffering as a result of the financial crisis. So it is essential that the New York State Attorney General’s Office, which oversees both, does everything possible to assist them. As New York’s next attorney general, I plan to build Read More
