Thursday, May 28, 2009
How the Federal Reserve actions impact the economy
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Is the recession/depression recovering, or turning into an inflation, or deflation, or stagflation? Are the bailouts and stimulus effective? Has the stock market recovered? As to the latter, Michael M. Thomas in The Observer has found that the stocks rise led by banks claiming modest 1st quarter gains was fueled by Goldman, JPMorgan, Citicorp and such, stuffing risk free funds (now under by FDIC expanded coverage) and bailout money into treasury notes and bonds, sold by the US Treasury to provide bailout, sort of circular action (why didn’t the Fed give the funds directly to the Treasury Department? Why pay the interest to banks? Actually, it is part of the Fed’s tricky way of strengthening the economy.)
As to inflation etc, in a NYTimes early May issue, two op-ed articles on the same page contradicted each other. Allan H. Meltzer, who teaches economics at Carnegie Mellon, a historian of Federal Reserve, claims that the Fed always does too little or too much. In the 1970s when real estate bombed an the OPEC blackmailed us into huge oil prices, Chairman Volcker stopped the Carter age money presses and tightened interest, with double-digit inflation and 10% unemployment in 1981, then inflation naturally dropping to 4% and full employment arriving by 1983. He sees stimulus supporting social actions – health, roads, bridges, infrastructure, state budgets – not adding much to productivity, while green environment- clean energy, cap and trade for carbon exchange – add taxes and costs. Productive investment is slowed, as is industry’s growth rate, while inflation rises. The 1st quarter gross domestic product deflator rose 2.9% a sure sign of inflation. He states that, for eventual recovery the Fed must regain its independence. Inflation is coming, and the Fed cannot neglect it.
The NYTimes own Nobelist, Princeton’s Paul Krugman, sees deflation as the big danger. The paradox of thrift, or saving as a virtue, is lowering demand. Reducing your debt and cleaning up the balance sheet is creating a financial crisis. Lowering prices does not work if everyone is doing it, and cutting wages to accomplish this is putting less money into the economy. The example is Japan, where an annual wage decrease of 1% from 1997 to 2003 was an object lesson in how wage deflation can result in economic stagnation. Krugman sees the vicious circle still growing, although some indicators are showing that the plunge is leveling off... While the National Bureau of Economic Research may declare later this year that the recession is over, the jobs plunge is continuing. To break out of the vicious circle, he sees the need for more – more stimulus, more decisive action on the banks, more job creation. He finds that President Obama and his advisors have steered the economy away from the abyss, but there’s the risk that the US will become another Japan, with years of deflation and stagnation.
Nearly two weeks later Princeton’s Allan Blinder, and a former vice chairman of Federal Reserve, reminded us of the errors of the Fed earlier, during the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover’s laissez-faire Fed ignored the depression, until the FDR Fed managed a spectacular GDP climb, 11% per year in 1933-36, until the large volume of excess reserves created scared them into fears of inflation, and in 1937 they tightened the reserves, President Roosevelt tried to reduce the federal budget deficits, going from a deficit of 3.8% of GDP in 1936 to a surplus of 0.2% in 1937. The consequences were tragic, and the so-called recession within a depression by 1938 dropped the GDP by 3.4%, ending in mid 1938 with even larger losses. Changing courses can be very dangerous. As of now, the Fed reserves are up to $775B, worrying the critics into fears of inflation, just like what goaded the Fed into action in 1936. Fortunately Chairman Bernanke is a close student of the Great Depression, and will not allow the Fed repeat the errors. The budget hawks are showing their talons, but they should not be allowed to have their day, not just yet. President Obama must stay the course, and not be influenced into addressing the Federal budget deficits until the results of stimulus are palpable.
What does all this mean to us, the ordinary citizens who will pay for all of the expenses through taxes? It seems the spenders have strong evidence that President Obama must stay the course to rescue the economy. He says that, for instance, green industry will create five million jobs in 10 years. Some outside facts may help. It seems Germany wants to make its green sector grow, by 2020 surpassing its Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen-led auto industry. They have already created 250,000 green jobs in five years, including 50,000 in the wind power industry. The new technology generates exports, and already creates $240B in annual revenues.
One of the US bailout/stimulus results is that the mortgage rescue plan has finally taken off the ground. While Moody’s estimates that 2.1M homeowners will be foreclosed in 2009, administration is confident that 3-4M will be helped by the program, Let us move on.
Is the recession/depression recovering, or turning into an inflation, or deflation, or stagflation? Are the bailouts and stimulus effective? Has the stock market recovered? As to the latter, Michael M. Thomas in The Observer has found that the stocks rise led by banks claiming modest 1st quarter gains was fueled by Goldman, JPMorgan, Citicorp and such, stuffing risk free funds (now under by FDIC expanded coverage) and bailout money into treasury notes and bonds, sold by the US Treasury to provide bailout, sort of circular action (why didn’t the Fed give the funds directly to the Treasury Department? Why pay the interest to banks? Actually, it is part of the Fed’s tricky way of strengthening the economy.)
As to inflation etc, in a NYTimes early May issue, two op-ed articles on the same page contradicted each other. Allan H. Meltzer, who teaches economics at Carnegie Mellon, a historian of Federal Reserve, claims that the Fed always does too little or too much. In the 1970s when real estate bombed an the OPEC blackmailed us into huge oil prices, Chairman Volcker stopped the Carter age money presses and tightened interest, with double-digit inflation and 10% unemployment in 1981, then inflation naturally dropping to 4% and full employment arriving by 1983. He sees stimulus supporting social actions – health, roads, bridges, infrastructure, state budgets – not adding much to productivity, while green environment- clean energy, cap and trade for carbon exchange – add taxes and costs. Productive investment is slowed, as is industry’s growth rate, while inflation rises. The 1st quarter gross domestic product deflator rose 2.9% a sure sign of inflation. He states that, for eventual recovery the Fed must regain its independence. Inflation is coming, and the Fed cannot neglect it.
The NYTimes own Nobelist, Princeton’s Paul Krugman, sees deflation as the big danger. The paradox of thrift, or saving as a virtue, is lowering demand. Reducing your debt and cleaning up the balance sheet is creating a financial crisis. Lowering prices does not work if everyone is doing it, and cutting wages to accomplish this is putting less money into the economy. The example is Japan, where an annual wage decrease of 1% from 1997 to 2003 was an object lesson in how wage deflation can result in economic stagnation. Krugman sees the vicious circle still growing, although some indicators are showing that the plunge is leveling off... While the National Bureau of Economic Research may declare later this year that the recession is over, the jobs plunge is continuing. To break out of the vicious circle, he sees the need for more – more stimulus, more decisive action on the banks, more job creation. He finds that President Obama and his advisors have steered the economy away from the abyss, but there’s the risk that the US will become another Japan, with years of deflation and stagnation.
Nearly two weeks later Princeton’s Allan Blinder, and a former vice chairman of Federal Reserve, reminded us of the errors of the Fed earlier, during the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover’s laissez-faire Fed ignored the depression, until the FDR Fed managed a spectacular GDP climb, 11% per year in 1933-36, until the large volume of excess reserves created scared them into fears of inflation, and in 1937 they tightened the reserves, President Roosevelt tried to reduce the federal budget deficits, going from a deficit of 3.8% of GDP in 1936 to a surplus of 0.2% in 1937. The consequences were tragic, and the so-called recession within a depression by 1938 dropped the GDP by 3.4%, ending in mid 1938 with even larger losses. Changing courses can be very dangerous. As of now, the Fed reserves are up to $775B, worrying the critics into fears of inflation, just like what goaded the Fed into action in 1936. Fortunately Chairman Bernanke is a close student of the Great Depression, and will not allow the Fed repeat the errors. The budget hawks are showing their talons, but they should not be allowed to have their day, not just yet. President Obama must stay the course, and not be influenced into addressing the Federal budget deficits until the results of stimulus are palpable.
What does all this mean to us, the ordinary citizens who will pay for all of the expenses through taxes? It seems the spenders have strong evidence that President Obama must stay the course to rescue the economy. He says that, for instance, green industry will create five million jobs in 10 years. Some outside facts may help. It seems Germany wants to make its green sector grow, by 2020 surpassing its Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen-led auto industry. They have already created 250,000 green jobs in five years, including 50,000 in the wind power industry. The new technology generates exports, and already creates $240B in annual revenues.
One of the US bailout/stimulus results is that the mortgage rescue plan has finally taken off the ground. While Moody’s estimates that 2.1M homeowners will be foreclosed in 2009, administration is confident that 3-4M will be helped by the program, Let us move on.
How the Federal Reserve actions impact the economy
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Is the recession/depression recovering, or turning into an inflation, or deflation, or stagflation? Are the bailouts and stimulus effective? Has the stock market recovered? As to the latter, Michael M. Thomas in The Observer has found that the stocks rise led by banks claiming modest 1st quarter gains was fueled by Goldman, JPMorgan, Citicorp and such, stuffing risk free funds (now under by FDIC expanded coverage) and bailout money into treasury notes and bonds, sold by the US Treasury to provide bailout, sort of circular action (why didn’t the Fed give the funds directly to the Treasury Department? Why pay the interest to banks? Actually, it is part of the Fed’s tricky way of strengthening the economy.)
As to inflation etc, in a NYTimes early May issue, two op-ed articles on the same page contradicted each other. Allan H. Meltzer, who teaches economics at Carnegie Mellon, a historian of Federal Reserve, claims that the Fed always does too little or too much. In the 1970s when real estate bombed an the OPEC blackmailed us into huge oil prices, Chairman Volcker stopped the Carter age money presses and tightened interest, with double-digit inflation and 10% unemployment in 1981, then inflation naturally dropping to 4% and full employment arriving by 1983. He sees stimulus supporting social actions – health, roads, bridges, infrastructure, state budgets – not adding much to productivity, while green environment- clean energy, cap and trade for carbon exchange – add taxes and costs. Productive investment is slowed, as is industry’s growth rate, while inflation rises. The 1st quarter gross domestic product deflator rose 2.9% a sure sign of inflation. He states that, for eventual recovery the Fed must regain its independence. Inflation is coming, and the Fed cannot neglect it.
The NYTimes own Nobelist, Princeton’s Paul Krugman, sees deflation as the big danger. The paradox of thrift, or saving as a virtue, is lowering demand. Reducing your debt and cleaning up the balance sheet is creating a financial crisis. Lowering prices does not work if everyone is doing it, and cutting wages to accomplish this is putting less money into the economy. The example is Japan, where an annual wage decrease of 1% from 1997 to 2003 was an object lesson in how wage deflation can result in economic stagnation. Krugman sees the vicious circle still growing, although some indicators are showing that the plunge is leveling off... While the National Bureau of Economic Research may declare later this year that the recession is over, the jobs plunge is continuing. To break out of the vicious circle, he sees the need for more – more stimulus, more decisive action on the banks, more job creation. He finds that President Obama and his advisors have steered the economy away from the abyss, but there’s the risk that the US will become another Japan, with years of deflation and stagnation.
Nearly two weeks later Princeton’s Allan Blinder, and a former vice chairman of Federal Reserve, reminded us of the errors of the Fed earlier, during the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover’s laissez-faire Fed ignored the depression, until the FDR Fed managed a spectacular GDP climb, 11% per year in 1933-36, until the large volume of excess reserves created scared them into fears of inflation, and in 1937 they tightened the reserves, President Roosevelt tried to reduce the federal budget deficits, going from a deficit of 3.8% of GDP in 1936 to a surplus of 0.2% in 1937. The consequences were tragic, and the so-called recession within a depression by 1938 dropped the GDP by 3.4%, ending in mid 1938 with even larger losses. Changing courses can be very dangerous. As of now, the Fed reserves are up to $775B, worrying the critics into fears of inflation, just like what goaded the Fed into action in 1936. Fortunately Chairman Bernanke is a close student of the Great Depression, and will not allow the Fed repeat the errors. The budget hawks are showing their talons, but they should not be allowed to have their day, not just yet. President Obama must stay the course, and not be influenced into addressing the Federal budget deficits until the results of stimulus are palpable.
What does all this mean to us, the ordinary citizens who will pay for all of the expenses through taxes? It seems the spenders have strong evidence that President Obama must stay the course to rescue the economy. He says that, for instance, green industry will create five million jobs in 10 years. Some outside facts may help. It seems Germany wants to make its green sector grow, by 2020 surpassing its Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen-led auto industry. They have already created 250,000 green jobs in five years, including 50,000 in the wind power industry. The new technology generates exports, and already creates $240B in annual revenues.
One of the US bailout/stimulus results is that the mortgage rescue plan has finally taken off the ground. While Moody’s estimates that 2.1M homeowners will be foreclosed in 2009, administration is confident that 3-4M will be helped by the program, Let us move on.
Is the recession/depression recovering, or turning into an inflation, or deflation, or stagflation? Are the bailouts and stimulus effective? Has the stock market recovered? As to the latter, Michael M. Thomas in The Observer has found that the stocks rise led by banks claiming modest 1st quarter gains was fueled by Goldman, JPMorgan, Citicorp and such, stuffing risk free funds (now under by FDIC expanded coverage) and bailout money into treasury notes and bonds, sold by the US Treasury to provide bailout, sort of circular action (why didn’t the Fed give the funds directly to the Treasury Department? Why pay the interest to banks? Actually, it is part of the Fed’s tricky way of strengthening the economy.)
As to inflation etc, in a NYTimes early May issue, two op-ed articles on the same page contradicted each other. Allan H. Meltzer, who teaches economics at Carnegie Mellon, a historian of Federal Reserve, claims that the Fed always does too little or too much. In the 1970s when real estate bombed an the OPEC blackmailed us into huge oil prices, Chairman Volcker stopped the Carter age money presses and tightened interest, with double-digit inflation and 10% unemployment in 1981, then inflation naturally dropping to 4% and full employment arriving by 1983. He sees stimulus supporting social actions – health, roads, bridges, infrastructure, state budgets – not adding much to productivity, while green environment- clean energy, cap and trade for carbon exchange – add taxes and costs. Productive investment is slowed, as is industry’s growth rate, while inflation rises. The 1st quarter gross domestic product deflator rose 2.9% a sure sign of inflation. He states that, for eventual recovery the Fed must regain its independence. Inflation is coming, and the Fed cannot neglect it.
The NYTimes own Nobelist, Princeton’s Paul Krugman, sees deflation as the big danger. The paradox of thrift, or saving as a virtue, is lowering demand. Reducing your debt and cleaning up the balance sheet is creating a financial crisis. Lowering prices does not work if everyone is doing it, and cutting wages to accomplish this is putting less money into the economy. The example is Japan, where an annual wage decrease of 1% from 1997 to 2003 was an object lesson in how wage deflation can result in economic stagnation. Krugman sees the vicious circle still growing, although some indicators are showing that the plunge is leveling off... While the National Bureau of Economic Research may declare later this year that the recession is over, the jobs plunge is continuing. To break out of the vicious circle, he sees the need for more – more stimulus, more decisive action on the banks, more job creation. He finds that President Obama and his advisors have steered the economy away from the abyss, but there’s the risk that the US will become another Japan, with years of deflation and stagnation.
Nearly two weeks later Princeton’s Allan Blinder, and a former vice chairman of Federal Reserve, reminded us of the errors of the Fed earlier, during the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover’s laissez-faire Fed ignored the depression, until the FDR Fed managed a spectacular GDP climb, 11% per year in 1933-36, until the large volume of excess reserves created scared them into fears of inflation, and in 1937 they tightened the reserves, President Roosevelt tried to reduce the federal budget deficits, going from a deficit of 3.8% of GDP in 1936 to a surplus of 0.2% in 1937. The consequences were tragic, and the so-called recession within a depression by 1938 dropped the GDP by 3.4%, ending in mid 1938 with even larger losses. Changing courses can be very dangerous. As of now, the Fed reserves are up to $775B, worrying the critics into fears of inflation, just like what goaded the Fed into action in 1936. Fortunately Chairman Bernanke is a close student of the Great Depression, and will not allow the Fed repeat the errors. The budget hawks are showing their talons, but they should not be allowed to have their day, not just yet. President Obama must stay the course, and not be influenced into addressing the Federal budget deficits until the results of stimulus are palpable.
What does all this mean to us, the ordinary citizens who will pay for all of the expenses through taxes? It seems the spenders have strong evidence that President Obama must stay the course to rescue the economy. He says that, for instance, green industry will create five million jobs in 10 years. Some outside facts may help. It seems Germany wants to make its green sector grow, by 2020 surpassing its Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen-led auto industry. They have already created 250,000 green jobs in five years, including 50,000 in the wind power industry. The new technology generates exports, and already creates $240B in annual revenues.
One of the US bailout/stimulus results is that the mortgage rescue plan has finally taken off the ground. While Moody’s estimates that 2.1M homeowners will be foreclosed in 2009, administration is confident that 3-4M will be helped by the program, Let us move on.
Samantha Jeffreys Debut at Carnegie Hall
LLOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Samantha Jeffreys, a young lyric soprano and an authentic child of the T&V country, who grew up and still lives on East 17th Street, gave her debut recital in Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, on Friday, May 15, to the delight of her friends and neighbors and opera lovers, some traveling from afar. The sold -out performance was the culmination of successes in auditions that brought her to soprano in residence status at Nashville Opera (not to be confused with another, more venerable institution) asPanina in Magic Flute, and in other stellar roles, as Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Martina Arroyo Foundation, Mimi in La Boheme at Queens Opera Association, a heady set of principal performances. She has won the DeCamera/Guido Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Operas National Council Auditions, a giant first step to the nationals in NYC, the beginning point of many illustrious careers.
Her program was unique, a combination of lesser known arias from Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, her opera guiding stars, with Lieder by Franz List, Erich Korngold, a Viennese opera prodigy who spent his refugee years as a composer in Hollywood, and Joaquin Turina, portrayer of Iberian culture and Andalusian emotion. The concer closed with contemporary songs by Leonard Bernstein and Ricky Jay Gordon, who combines art song and Broadway musical comedy aura, “caviar for a world of pizza,” (that NYTimes' bon mot, wish I could write like that).
The listener approval was impressive.The comments from the music lovers cited Samantha’s lustrous tone and clarity, rich voice and extensive range with easy movement up and down the scale. The emotional range in the Gordon songs was noted, as was the sincerity and intensity in the Liszt “Comment disaent-ils,” with a high B in the final cadenza shimmering and reaching all the way to the back of the house. Other listeners remarked about the strength of her voice, holding up during the two-hour performance, and mastery of five languages. A non-fan of opera went home converted, impressed with tunefulness of classical music and determined to look for more.
Samantha, who is going back to Nashville Opera and Carnegie Hall later in the year, lists as her personal singing favorites Mirella Freni and Barbara Fritolli, and considers Kornhold’s “Marietta’s Lied” from Die tote Stadt one of her signature arias. She is a 2005 graduate of SUNY Purchase Conservatory, with a 2007 Masters Degree from Manhattan School of Music, and also has won Connecticut Opera Guild and Florida Grand comperitions. One senses that much more is to come.
The piano accompanist was Djordje Nesic.
‘ .
Samantha Jeffreys, a young lyric soprano and an authentic child of the T&V country, who grew up and still lives on East 17th Street, gave her debut recital in Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, on Friday, May 15, to the delight of her friends and neighbors and opera lovers, some traveling from afar. The sold -out performance was the culmination of successes in auditions that brought her to soprano in residence status at Nashville Opera (not to be confused with another, more venerable institution) asPanina in Magic Flute, and in other stellar roles, as Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Martina Arroyo Foundation, Mimi in La Boheme at Queens Opera Association, a heady set of principal performances. She has won the DeCamera/Guido Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Operas National Council Auditions, a giant first step to the nationals in NYC, the beginning point of many illustrious careers.
Her program was unique, a combination of lesser known arias from Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, her opera guiding stars, with Lieder by Franz List, Erich Korngold, a Viennese opera prodigy who spent his refugee years as a composer in Hollywood, and Joaquin Turina, portrayer of Iberian culture and Andalusian emotion. The concer closed with contemporary songs by Leonard Bernstein and Ricky Jay Gordon, who combines art song and Broadway musical comedy aura, “caviar for a world of pizza,” (that NYTimes' bon mot, wish I could write like that).
The listener approval was impressive.The comments from the music lovers cited Samantha’s lustrous tone and clarity, rich voice and extensive range with easy movement up and down the scale. The emotional range in the Gordon songs was noted, as was the sincerity and intensity in the Liszt “Comment disaent-ils,” with a high B in the final cadenza shimmering and reaching all the way to the back of the house. Other listeners remarked about the strength of her voice, holding up during the two-hour performance, and mastery of five languages. A non-fan of opera went home converted, impressed with tunefulness of classical music and determined to look for more.
Samantha, who is going back to Nashville Opera and Carnegie Hall later in the year, lists as her personal singing favorites Mirella Freni and Barbara Fritolli, and considers Kornhold’s “Marietta’s Lied” from Die tote Stadt one of her signature arias. She is a 2005 graduate of SUNY Purchase Conservatory, with a 2007 Masters Degree from Manhattan School of Music, and also has won Connecticut Opera Guild and Florida Grand comperitions. One senses that much more is to come.
The piano accompanist was Djordje Nesic.
‘ .
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
In memory of Madame Jarmila Novotna, who gave Stuyvesant Square Park the Dvorak statue
Jarmila Novotna, the Czech lyric soprano who sang major roles at the Meropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1956, passed away on February 9, 1994, at the age of 86.
She debuted in the US at San Francisco in 1949 in Madame Butterfly, and at the Met in 1940, in La Boheme, with Jussi Bjoerling. Some 193 performances followed, including tour, as Donna Elvira, Euridice, Manon, Melisande, Antonia and Marenka, and, in trouser roles, as Orlowsky in Fledermaus, Cherubino in Nocce and Octaviano in Rosenkavalier.
Her debut at 17 was in Prague National opera, after study with Emmy Destin, then in Milan. She was member of the Vienna Statsopera 1933-1938, and sang in all major European houses, opera and concerts. She married Baron George Daubek, the Central European representative of IBM, in 1931 . Toscanini brought her to the Met's attention in 1937, after she sand Pamina for him in Salzburg in 1937.
A friend of Ambassador Jan Masaryk, she recorded Czech songs with him. When he passed away in 1948, his protection ceased and the Daubeks' 3700 acre estate and castle were nationalized.
The bronze statue of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) by Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962) was given by the Czech National Council of America to the NY Philharmonic in 1963, and it rested on the roof of Avery Fisher Hall for three decades, exposed to the elements. When Dvorak's old house at 327 East 17th Street lost its landmark status and became an AIDS residence for Beth Israel Hospital, Madame Jarmila Novotna persuaded the Philharmonic to give it a spot in the Park just oacross from the house where the composer created his New World Symphony (No.9), a Going Home moment for the four-foot statue, now freshly recovered with a new patina, on a pedestal created by the Czech-American architect Jan Hird Pokorny, a cooperation of the Dvorak American Heritage Association and the Stuyvesant Square Neighborhood Association, coordinated by Jack Taylor, the indefatigable preservationist.
She debuted in the US at San Francisco in 1949 in Madame Butterfly, and at the Met in 1940, in La Boheme, with Jussi Bjoerling. Some 193 performances followed, including tour, as Donna Elvira, Euridice, Manon, Melisande, Antonia and Marenka, and, in trouser roles, as Orlowsky in Fledermaus, Cherubino in Nocce and Octaviano in Rosenkavalier.
Her debut at 17 was in Prague National opera, after study with Emmy Destin, then in Milan. She was member of the Vienna Statsopera 1933-1938, and sang in all major European houses, opera and concerts. She married Baron George Daubek, the Central European representative of IBM, in 1931 . Toscanini brought her to the Met's attention in 1937, after she sand Pamina for him in Salzburg in 1937.
A friend of Ambassador Jan Masaryk, she recorded Czech songs with him. When he passed away in 1948, his protection ceased and the Daubeks' 3700 acre estate and castle were nationalized.
The bronze statue of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) by Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962) was given by the Czech National Council of America to the NY Philharmonic in 1963, and it rested on the roof of Avery Fisher Hall for three decades, exposed to the elements. When Dvorak's old house at 327 East 17th Street lost its landmark status and became an AIDS residence for Beth Israel Hospital, Madame Jarmila Novotna persuaded the Philharmonic to give it a spot in the Park just oacross from the house where the composer created his New World Symphony (No.9), a Going Home moment for the four-foot statue, now freshly recovered with a new patina, on a pedestal created by the Czech-American architect Jan Hird Pokorny, a cooperation of the Dvorak American Heritage Association and the Stuyvesant Square Neighborhood Association, coordinated by Jack Taylor, the indefatigable preservationist.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
No, no, Michelle !
We love you dearly, Michelle Obama, you are most the most beautiful person, both physically and spiritually, but please show less skin. You are now a symbol of America, whether you like it or not. While Barak Hussein Obama is talking cultural equality and principles with the Abraham/Ibrahim cousins of ours, you must not let our enemies use your photographs to prove that Americans, regardless of racial origin, are corrupt, and will corrupt their women.
You may unintentionally further a mindset that persists, that women must not be permitted to be exposed to the West and to our culture that will liberate them. Women's liberation is the main hope for ending the clash of cultures in the Arabian world.
Do not be an unwitting tool of the radical mullahs and the TV stations that want to sow unrest in the Middle East.
Your devoted admirer
Wally Dobelis
You may unintentionally further a mindset that persists, that women must not be permitted to be exposed to the West and to our culture that will liberate them. Women's liberation is the main hope for ending the clash of cultures in the Arabian world.
Do not be an unwitting tool of the radical mullahs and the TV stations that want to sow unrest in the Middle East.
Your devoted admirer
Wally Dobelis
T&V community loses devopted activist, Jon Schachter
LOOKING AHEAD
By Wally Dobelis
The East Midtown community will be sad to hear of the passing of Jonathan Schachter, a community activist who for decades volunteered his expert knowledge in the bettering of the city’s police, transit and water supply services and in keeping the many local nightclubs under control. He died at 9:11 a.m. on December 22, 2007 in Bellevue Hospital, after several weeks of operations and care. The funeral services were private, and there will be a memorial service in February, to be announced. The bereaved include wife Carol, president of the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association and former chair of Community Board 6; mother Miriam, sister Jill and niece Jody. Jon was 60 years old.
Jon, a graduate of Bayside High School, NY Institute of Technology with a BS in Accounting and graduate credits from St. John’s University. had an early career in corporate auditing and fraud investigation before turning to furniture manufacturing, upholstery. and most recently, upholstery leather brokerage. His work for NYC Human Resources Administration, Penn Railroad and major corporations built his interest and knowledge base in public transportation. As a member of the Committee For Better Transit and chair of its New York Task Force, he had worked on the subway map design, Limited bus stops methodology, and co-authored the Goodman-Siegel Bill.
As a consultant to the NY Transit Authority and PCAC (Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the MTA) he also had been responsible for having some 200 trains removed from service for mechanical failures, eliminating certain window blackouts on R-68 cars and stopping the expenditure of millions of dollars on marble tiles wasted because of incorrect water pressure .He was also vice president of Manhattan South CPAA, member of the 13th and 17th Precinct Community Councils, a CB5 and CB6 public member, and was active on the boards of Bellevue Hospital Advisory Board and Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association, also chairing the Planning Committee of the Midtown—East Stuyvesant Community Emergency Response Team (CERT.) Jon’s energy and enthusiasm for community affairs was boundless. I remember him walking around with a heavy suitcase telephone in the early days of portable communications, as much to be in touch with the transit people and police as for business reasons. He could always be counted on having the latest news on subway problems, Transit Authority failures, wasted expenditures and staff problems, and bus travel system improvements. I heard from him about proposed TA bus access speedup solutions, such as the doomed effort of holding areas ofprepaid passengers at major bus stops imagine doing that on busy 14th Street where boarding the crowded double buses can take several minutes at each stop. Then there was the closing of token booths at satellite entrances of major subway stations, with Union Square being a constant example. He spotted the tricksters who would break the MetroCard dispenser machines and stand at the turnstiles, offering the use of their unlimited day passes for a fee of two dollars, until the TA installed assistants at such entrances, which broughi up the next problem — how can such a redundant system save money?
Concerned about environment and safety on the streets, Jon raised the question of late-night noises and dangers of the bars and strip clubs abounding in the West 20s and other areas of our neighborhood. He and others reported violations and had stories of street crime that kept the police alert, raised licensing questions at the Community Boards and Liquor Authority and forced the owners to cut don on music, install sound-proofing and use guards to curb their patrons’ late night street activities. This neighborhood is going to miss our star activist, Jonathar Schachter.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jon may be sent to the Midtown East-Stuyvesant CERT, c/o Carol Schachter, 201 East 17th Street, Apartment 3B, New York NY 10003.
By Wally Dobelis
The East Midtown community will be sad to hear of the passing of Jonathan Schachter, a community activist who for decades volunteered his expert knowledge in the bettering of the city’s police, transit and water supply services and in keeping the many local nightclubs under control. He died at 9:11 a.m. on December 22, 2007 in Bellevue Hospital, after several weeks of operations and care. The funeral services were private, and there will be a memorial service in February, to be announced. The bereaved include wife Carol, president of the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association and former chair of Community Board 6; mother Miriam, sister Jill and niece Jody. Jon was 60 years old.
Jon, a graduate of Bayside High School, NY Institute of Technology with a BS in Accounting and graduate credits from St. John’s University. had an early career in corporate auditing and fraud investigation before turning to furniture manufacturing, upholstery. and most recently, upholstery leather brokerage. His work for NYC Human Resources Administration, Penn Railroad and major corporations built his interest and knowledge base in public transportation. As a member of the Committee For Better Transit and chair of its New York Task Force, he had worked on the subway map design, Limited bus stops methodology, and co-authored the Goodman-Siegel Bill.
As a consultant to the NY Transit Authority and PCAC (Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the MTA) he also had been responsible for having some 200 trains removed from service for mechanical failures, eliminating certain window blackouts on R-68 cars and stopping the expenditure of millions of dollars on marble tiles wasted because of incorrect water pressure .He was also vice president of Manhattan South CPAA, member of the 13th and 17th Precinct Community Councils, a CB5 and CB6 public member, and was active on the boards of Bellevue Hospital Advisory Board and Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association, also chairing the Planning Committee of the Midtown—East Stuyvesant Community Emergency Response Team (CERT.) Jon’s energy and enthusiasm for community affairs was boundless. I remember him walking around with a heavy suitcase telephone in the early days of portable communications, as much to be in touch with the transit people and police as for business reasons. He could always be counted on having the latest news on subway problems, Transit Authority failures, wasted expenditures and staff problems, and bus travel system improvements. I heard from him about proposed TA bus access speedup solutions, such as the doomed effort of holding areas ofprepaid passengers at major bus stops imagine doing that on busy 14th Street where boarding the crowded double buses can take several minutes at each stop. Then there was the closing of token booths at satellite entrances of major subway stations, with Union Square being a constant example. He spotted the tricksters who would break the MetroCard dispenser machines and stand at the turnstiles, offering the use of their unlimited day passes for a fee of two dollars, until the TA installed assistants at such entrances, which broughi up the next problem — how can such a redundant system save money?
Concerned about environment and safety on the streets, Jon raised the question of late-night noises and dangers of the bars and strip clubs abounding in the West 20s and other areas of our neighborhood. He and others reported violations and had stories of street crime that kept the police alert, raised licensing questions at the Community Boards and Liquor Authority and forced the owners to cut don on music, install sound-proofing and use guards to curb their patrons’ late night street activities. This neighborhood is going to miss our star activist, Jonathar Schachter.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jon may be sent to the Midtown East-Stuyvesant CERT, c/o Carol Schachter, 201 East 17th Street, Apartment 3B, New York NY 10003.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
How to be Governor and keep friends- Pt.3
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
David Paterson the accidental Governor had turned into a major problem solver for the ailing New York State. Now the public has turned against him, giving him a 19% approval rating. What happened?
A year ago he started like a house on fire, recognizing that his budget would be $16B short and asking for sacrifice from all of us, accepting limitations and spending cuts in government, hospital and school services, and higher taxes from higher income earners. He subscribed to an ambitious NYC transit rescue plan, with higher fares, tolls on bridges, employer taxes and access fees, important for the 8 million New Yorkers (of 18 million) who live in the city and pay most of the state’s taxes. He was also for gay marriage and an ambitious political campaign reform program. The November 2008 election gave Democrats 32 of the 62 state Senate seats, and his program had a great start.
But things happened. Three Democratic Senators wanting more control and, rebelling against gay marriage, threatened to sink Paterson’s choice for Senate leadership, Malcolm Smith, and had to be bought off. The municipal and hospital unions rebelled against service, (i.e. payroll} cuts and had to be satisfied. Westchester and Bronx drivers wanted no access fee, and Long Island legislators objected to East River bridge tolls, leading to a MTA rescue standstill. Taxpayers objected to increases and, consequently, turned against the Governor.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton resigned her Senate seat, and the Governor waited too long to appoint a successor, the upstate Congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand, an ambitious ex-Wall Street lawyer with deep Albany family roots, against Caroline Kennedy and several downstate legislators. Paterson was looking for upstate support from neglected voters, since the state house and Assembly, and now state Senate, have been led by New York cityites.
Senator Schumer’s support for Gillibrand is also in the interests of such a balance.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been making great strides, Spitzer-like in investigating ties of state politicos, in selling access to investing the NYS $100B-plus pension fund. Two aides to the former NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Hank Morris and David Loglisci, were indicted in March, and the private equity and hedge funds vying for fund management include the Carlyle Group and Riverstone Capital. Subpoenaed are also Ray B Harding, former leader of the Liberal party, and firms run by Peter Powers, one of Rudolph W.Giuliani’s deputy mayors, Susan Toricelli, wife of the former Senator of N\J, Kevin McCabe, former chief of staff to Peter Vallone, former NY City Council speaker, .and H. Carl McCall, former NYS Comptroller. Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx BP has been mentioned as representing Arvco Capital (ex-Calpers people), a contact brokerage firm, working in 2007 with the current NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, to whose campaigns Ferrer and Arvco related names have contributed multi-$thousands. Arvco is mentioned in dealing with City Comptroller William C. Thompson‘s office, and Speaker Sheldon Silver is known to introduce a former Ranger goalie now brokering investment services (no deal, no fee). Several NYS legislators are in jail, of two dozen known to have been 21st century lawbreakers (mostly driving violations) and former Republican State Senate leader Joseph Russo has been indicted for accepting $2.3M consulting fees from recipients of NYS largesse.
While it is perfectly obvious that not all of the abovementioned political leaders, well distributed among three political parties, are not into scams, it is truly frightening to contemplate the full extension of the implications of these actions. Where does using the donor’s name – e.g. in Bill Clinton collecting funds for malaria and AIDS-struck Africans – cease to be laudable, vs. opportunistic vs. personal enrichment? Where do the Bill Clinton donors start crossing the line from being humanitarian benefactors to looking for approval and kind words and remembrance in history, to introduction seeking, then influence – peddling?
This is where the Spitzer/Paterson campaign funds reform legislation becomes a potentially significant step towards taking politics back to the ideals with which all young office-seekers initially begin. Campaign finance through public funds will not happen in this generation, though a British system of limited campaign period and funding could be considered. We are certainly living in a period of campaigns growing obscenely full-time. Reforms would bring howls of dismay from Michael Bloomberg, Jan Corzine, Frank Lautenberg and Mitch McConnell, but there’s got to be a limit.
Getting back to Governor David Paterson, his last shot at breaking the gridlock over keeping the Metropolitan Transit Authority going for the next two years has resulted in a patchwork compromise that kills new bridge tolls and access fees but results in a payroll tax and a taxi surcharge, with a minimal fare increase, a temporary solution that all the players were willing to sign. He is also trying to fix other taxpayer complaints and spending cuts with the aid of Washington’s stimulus money. It may well be that he is trying to fix the ails of New Yorkers by doing what is attainable, without constant reference to his popularity and reelection chances, in full sight of the Cuomo dreadnought advances. Not a winning styrategy, but we may remember him fondly.
David Paterson the accidental Governor had turned into a major problem solver for the ailing New York State. Now the public has turned against him, giving him a 19% approval rating. What happened?
A year ago he started like a house on fire, recognizing that his budget would be $16B short and asking for sacrifice from all of us, accepting limitations and spending cuts in government, hospital and school services, and higher taxes from higher income earners. He subscribed to an ambitious NYC transit rescue plan, with higher fares, tolls on bridges, employer taxes and access fees, important for the 8 million New Yorkers (of 18 million) who live in the city and pay most of the state’s taxes. He was also for gay marriage and an ambitious political campaign reform program. The November 2008 election gave Democrats 32 of the 62 state Senate seats, and his program had a great start.
But things happened. Three Democratic Senators wanting more control and, rebelling against gay marriage, threatened to sink Paterson’s choice for Senate leadership, Malcolm Smith, and had to be bought off. The municipal and hospital unions rebelled against service, (i.e. payroll} cuts and had to be satisfied. Westchester and Bronx drivers wanted no access fee, and Long Island legislators objected to East River bridge tolls, leading to a MTA rescue standstill. Taxpayers objected to increases and, consequently, turned against the Governor.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton resigned her Senate seat, and the Governor waited too long to appoint a successor, the upstate Congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand, an ambitious ex-Wall Street lawyer with deep Albany family roots, against Caroline Kennedy and several downstate legislators. Paterson was looking for upstate support from neglected voters, since the state house and Assembly, and now state Senate, have been led by New York cityites.
Senator Schumer’s support for Gillibrand is also in the interests of such a balance.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been making great strides, Spitzer-like in investigating ties of state politicos, in selling access to investing the NYS $100B-plus pension fund. Two aides to the former NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Hank Morris and David Loglisci, were indicted in March, and the private equity and hedge funds vying for fund management include the Carlyle Group and Riverstone Capital. Subpoenaed are also Ray B Harding, former leader of the Liberal party, and firms run by Peter Powers, one of Rudolph W.Giuliani’s deputy mayors, Susan Toricelli, wife of the former Senator of N\J, Kevin McCabe, former chief of staff to Peter Vallone, former NY City Council speaker, .and H. Carl McCall, former NYS Comptroller. Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx BP has been mentioned as representing Arvco Capital (ex-Calpers people), a contact brokerage firm, working in 2007 with the current NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, to whose campaigns Ferrer and Arvco related names have contributed multi-$thousands. Arvco is mentioned in dealing with City Comptroller William C. Thompson‘s office, and Speaker Sheldon Silver is known to introduce a former Ranger goalie now brokering investment services (no deal, no fee). Several NYS legislators are in jail, of two dozen known to have been 21st century lawbreakers (mostly driving violations) and former Republican State Senate leader Joseph Russo has been indicted for accepting $2.3M consulting fees from recipients of NYS largesse.
While it is perfectly obvious that not all of the abovementioned political leaders, well distributed among three political parties, are not into scams, it is truly frightening to contemplate the full extension of the implications of these actions. Where does using the donor’s name – e.g. in Bill Clinton collecting funds for malaria and AIDS-struck Africans – cease to be laudable, vs. opportunistic vs. personal enrichment? Where do the Bill Clinton donors start crossing the line from being humanitarian benefactors to looking for approval and kind words and remembrance in history, to introduction seeking, then influence – peddling?
This is where the Spitzer/Paterson campaign funds reform legislation becomes a potentially significant step towards taking politics back to the ideals with which all young office-seekers initially begin. Campaign finance through public funds will not happen in this generation, though a British system of limited campaign period and funding could be considered. We are certainly living in a period of campaigns growing obscenely full-time. Reforms would bring howls of dismay from Michael Bloomberg, Jan Corzine, Frank Lautenberg and Mitch McConnell, but there’s got to be a limit.
Getting back to Governor David Paterson, his last shot at breaking the gridlock over keeping the Metropolitan Transit Authority going for the next two years has resulted in a patchwork compromise that kills new bridge tolls and access fees but results in a payroll tax and a taxi surcharge, with a minimal fare increase, a temporary solution that all the players were willing to sign. He is also trying to fix other taxpayer complaints and spending cuts with the aid of Washington’s stimulus money. It may well be that he is trying to fix the ails of New Yorkers by doing what is attainable, without constant reference to his popularity and reelection chances, in full sight of the Cuomo dreadnought advances. Not a winning styrategy, but we may remember him fondly.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
How to be Governor and keep friends- Part 3
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
David Paterson the accidental Governor had turned into a major problem solver for the ailing New York State. Now the public has turned against him, giving him a 19% approval rating. What happened?
A year ago he started like a house on fire, recognizing that his budget would be $16B short and asking for sacrifice from all of us, accepting limitations and spending cuts in government, hospital and school services, and higher taxes from higher income earners. He subscribed to an ambitious NYC transit rescue plan, with higher fares, tolls on bridges, employer taxes and access fees, important for the 8 million New Yorkers (of 18 million) who live in the city and pay most of the state’s taxes. He was also for gay marriage and an ambitious political campaign reform program. The November 2008 election gave Democrats 32 of the 62 state Senate seats, and his program had a great start.
But things happened. Three Democratic Senators wanting more control and, rebelling against gay marriage, threatened to sink Paterson’s choice for Senate leadership, Malcolm Smith, and had to be bought off. The municipal and hospital unions rebelled against service, (i.e. payroll} cuts and had to be satisfied. Westchester and Bronx drivers wanted no access fee, and Long Island legislators objected to East River bridge tolls, leading to a MTA rescue standstill. Taxpayers objected to increases and, consequently, turned against the Governor.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton resigned her Senate seat, and the Governor waited too long to appoint a successor, the upstate Congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand, an ambitious ex-Wall Street lawyer with deep Albany family roots, against Caroline Kennedy and several downstate legislators. Paterson was looking for upstate support from neglected voters, since the state house and Assembly, and now state Senate, have been led by New York cityites.
Senator Schumer’s support for Gillibrand is also in the interests of such a balance.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been making great strides, Spitzer-like in investigating ties of state politicos, in selling access to investing the NYS $100B-plus pension fund. Two aides to the former NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Hank Morris and David Loglisci, were indicted in March, and the private equity and hedge funds vying for fund management include the Carlyle Group and Riverstone Capital. Subpoenaed are also Raymond B. Harding, former leader of the Liberal party, and firms run by Peter Powers, one of Rudolph W.Giuliani’s deputy mayors, Susan Toricelli, wife of the former Senator from NJ, Kevin McCabe, former chief of staff to Peter Vallone, former NY City Council speaker, .and H. Carl McCall, former NYS Comptroller.
Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx BP has been mentioned as representing Arvco Capital (ex-Calpers people), a contact brokerage firm, working in 2007 with the current NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, to whose campaigns Ferrer and Arvco- related names have contributed multi-$thousands. Arvco is mentioned in dealing with City Comptroller William C. Thompson‘s office, and Speaker Sheldon Silver is known to introduce a former Ranger goalie now brokering investment services (no deal, no fee). Several NYS legislators are in jail, of two dozen known to have been 21st century lawbreakers (mostly for driving violations) and former Republican State Senate leader Joseph Russo has been indicted for accepting $2.3M in consulting fees from recipients of NYS largesse.
While it is perfectly obvious that not all of the abovementioned political leaders, well distributed among three political parties, are not into scams, it is truly frightening to contemplate the full extension of the implications of these actions. Take charity donations. Where does using the donor’s name – e.g. in Bill Clinton collecting funds for malaria- and AIDS-struck Africans – cease to be laudable, vs. opportunistic vs. personal enrichment? Where do the Bill Clinton donors start crossing the line from being humanitarian benefactors to looking for approval and kind words and remembrance in history, to introduction seeking, then influence – peddling? Extending this into thinking about campaign donations can really drive one into total cynicism.
This is where the Spitzer/Paterson campaign funds reform legislation becomes a potentially significant step towards taking politics back to the ideals with which all young office-seekers initially begin. Campaign finance through public funds will not happen in this generation, though a British system of limited campaign period and funding could be considered. We are certainly living in a period of campaigns growing obscenely full-time. Reforms would bring howls of dismay from Michael Bloomberg, and, nationally, from Jan Corzine, Frank Lautenberg and Mitch McConnell, but there’s got to be a limit. Billionaires may claim 1st Amendment rights, but buying offices and ruling regally, without need for responding to constituent pressures, has its own dangers.
Getting back to Governor David Paterson, his last shot at breaking the gridlock over keeping the Metropolitan Transit Authority going for the next two years has resulted in a patchwork compromise that kills new bridge tolls and access fees but results in a payroll tax and a taxi surcharge, with a minimal fare increase, a temporary solution that all the players were willing to sign. He is also trying to fix other taxpayer complaints and spending cuts with the aid of Washington’s stimulus money, and pass the gay marriage bill. It may well be that he is trying to fix the ails of New Yorkers by doing what is attainable, without constant reference to his popularity and reelection chances, in full sight of the Cuomo dreadnought advances. Not a winning strategy, but we may remember him fondly.
David Paterson the accidental Governor had turned into a major problem solver for the ailing New York State. Now the public has turned against him, giving him a 19% approval rating. What happened?
A year ago he started like a house on fire, recognizing that his budget would be $16B short and asking for sacrifice from all of us, accepting limitations and spending cuts in government, hospital and school services, and higher taxes from higher income earners. He subscribed to an ambitious NYC transit rescue plan, with higher fares, tolls on bridges, employer taxes and access fees, important for the 8 million New Yorkers (of 18 million) who live in the city and pay most of the state’s taxes. He was also for gay marriage and an ambitious political campaign reform program. The November 2008 election gave Democrats 32 of the 62 state Senate seats, and his program had a great start.
But things happened. Three Democratic Senators wanting more control and, rebelling against gay marriage, threatened to sink Paterson’s choice for Senate leadership, Malcolm Smith, and had to be bought off. The municipal and hospital unions rebelled against service, (i.e. payroll} cuts and had to be satisfied. Westchester and Bronx drivers wanted no access fee, and Long Island legislators objected to East River bridge tolls, leading to a MTA rescue standstill. Taxpayers objected to increases and, consequently, turned against the Governor.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton resigned her Senate seat, and the Governor waited too long to appoint a successor, the upstate Congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand, an ambitious ex-Wall Street lawyer with deep Albany family roots, against Caroline Kennedy and several downstate legislators. Paterson was looking for upstate support from neglected voters, since the state house and Assembly, and now state Senate, have been led by New York cityites.
Senator Schumer’s support for Gillibrand is also in the interests of such a balance.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been making great strides, Spitzer-like in investigating ties of state politicos, in selling access to investing the NYS $100B-plus pension fund. Two aides to the former NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Hank Morris and David Loglisci, were indicted in March, and the private equity and hedge funds vying for fund management include the Carlyle Group and Riverstone Capital. Subpoenaed are also Raymond B. Harding, former leader of the Liberal party, and firms run by Peter Powers, one of Rudolph W.Giuliani’s deputy mayors, Susan Toricelli, wife of the former Senator from NJ, Kevin McCabe, former chief of staff to Peter Vallone, former NY City Council speaker, .and H. Carl McCall, former NYS Comptroller.
Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx BP has been mentioned as representing Arvco Capital (ex-Calpers people), a contact brokerage firm, working in 2007 with the current NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, to whose campaigns Ferrer and Arvco- related names have contributed multi-$thousands. Arvco is mentioned in dealing with City Comptroller William C. Thompson‘s office, and Speaker Sheldon Silver is known to introduce a former Ranger goalie now brokering investment services (no deal, no fee). Several NYS legislators are in jail, of two dozen known to have been 21st century lawbreakers (mostly for driving violations) and former Republican State Senate leader Joseph Russo has been indicted for accepting $2.3M in consulting fees from recipients of NYS largesse.
While it is perfectly obvious that not all of the abovementioned political leaders, well distributed among three political parties, are not into scams, it is truly frightening to contemplate the full extension of the implications of these actions. Take charity donations. Where does using the donor’s name – e.g. in Bill Clinton collecting funds for malaria- and AIDS-struck Africans – cease to be laudable, vs. opportunistic vs. personal enrichment? Where do the Bill Clinton donors start crossing the line from being humanitarian benefactors to looking for approval and kind words and remembrance in history, to introduction seeking, then influence – peddling? Extending this into thinking about campaign donations can really drive one into total cynicism.
This is where the Spitzer/Paterson campaign funds reform legislation becomes a potentially significant step towards taking politics back to the ideals with which all young office-seekers initially begin. Campaign finance through public funds will not happen in this generation, though a British system of limited campaign period and funding could be considered. We are certainly living in a period of campaigns growing obscenely full-time. Reforms would bring howls of dismay from Michael Bloomberg, and, nationally, from Jan Corzine, Frank Lautenberg and Mitch McConnell, but there’s got to be a limit. Billionaires may claim 1st Amendment rights, but buying offices and ruling regally, without need for responding to constituent pressures, has its own dangers.
Getting back to Governor David Paterson, his last shot at breaking the gridlock over keeping the Metropolitan Transit Authority going for the next two years has resulted in a patchwork compromise that kills new bridge tolls and access fees but results in a payroll tax and a taxi surcharge, with a minimal fare increase, a temporary solution that all the players were willing to sign. He is also trying to fix other taxpayer complaints and spending cuts with the aid of Washington’s stimulus money, and pass the gay marriage bill. It may well be that he is trying to fix the ails of New Yorkers by doing what is attainable, without constant reference to his popularity and reelection chances, in full sight of the Cuomo dreadnought advances. Not a winning strategy, but we may remember him fondly.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
A follow-up on Chrysler
After the first exuberance over a potential settlement of the Chrysler crisis, the facts came in;
Of the 46 Bondholders, 17 did not find the $2B settlement of the $6.9 debt adequate, They were mostly vulture funds, who bough the bonds at 30 centsto the dollar, and wanted more, hang the US economy and industry. Some of the names are Oaktree Cap Management, Oppenheimer Fund ( sub of Massachusete Mutual Life, which should know better), Stairway Cap
gt., Schultze Asset Mgt, Group G Cap Partners and the TCW Group. Elliott Mgt, Perella Weinberg and its Xerion Fund decided ti stay with the leaders. The vulturs' beef includes the fact that JPMorgan Chase, Cit group, Goldman and x received bailout, they did not. Comon, sharks, you double dipped with subpar mortgages, bailed out by CDS coverage paid by the taxpayers.
Equally painful is that UAW gets 55% of the reconstructed Chrysler shares, and Ron Gerttelfinger gloats, his political power and some 260 Chrysler/UAW votes swung the deal Did he give up the ridiculous UAW retirement clause ained by the 1970 strike that permits retirement after 30 years at full benefit? Several age 48 retirees are out there, complaining that their middle-class status is being violated by bad managemewn (see Ed McCain, shop stewart who retired at 48, in Peter Boyle's article in The New Yorker , 4/27/2009). Also see the UAW job corp that puts Chrysler workers on 95% salary if their factory work is stopped ( Robert nardelli testimony ditto). Are those contract provisions still chewing up bailout funds?
Of the 46 Bondholders, 17 did not find the $2B settlement of the $6.9 debt adequate, They were mostly vulture funds, who bough the bonds at 30 centsto the dollar, and wanted more, hang the US economy and industry. Some of the names are Oaktree Cap Management, Oppenheimer Fund ( sub of Massachusete Mutual Life, which should know better), Stairway Cap
gt., Schultze Asset Mgt, Group G Cap Partners and the TCW Group. Elliott Mgt, Perella Weinberg and its Xerion Fund decided ti stay with the leaders. The vulturs' beef includes the fact that JPMorgan Chase, Cit group, Goldman and x received bailout, they did not. Comon, sharks, you double dipped with subpar mortgages, bailed out by CDS coverage paid by the taxpayers.
Equally painful is that UAW gets 55% of the reconstructed Chrysler shares, and Ron Gerttelfinger gloats, his political power and some 260 Chrysler/UAW votes swung the deal Did he give up the ridiculous UAW retirement clause ained by the 1970 strike that permits retirement after 30 years at full benefit? Several age 48 retirees are out there, complaining that their middle-class status is being violated by bad managemewn (see Ed McCain, shop stewart who retired at 48, in Peter Boyle's article in The New Yorker , 4/27/2009). Also see the UAW job corp that puts Chrysler workers on 95% salary if their factory work is stopped ( Robert nardelli testimony ditto). Are those contract provisions still chewing up bailout funds?
Ray Roberts, editor, ex-Viking, Henry Holt and Little Brown, is very ill
Ray Roberts, editor of John Fowles, Thomas Pynchon nd Martha Grimes, has pulmonary fibrosis. Your letters , sent to him at 201 East 17 Stret, NY NY 10003, will be forwarded
Chrysler leading in car industry recovery drama
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Following the news recently has been like living in history, and I could not stop reading the NYTimes, more exciting than a tabloid. There were two days of pictures of President Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez and listening to Latin dictators lambaste the US, for which he was shamed by the WSJ and by Patrick Buchanan, normally an understanding observer, in Human Events. The defenders of America may be forgetting that Barack Hussein Obama was doing his job, as he did in Turkey and Europe, the job that he may be the only person capable of doing on this Planet Earth – attempting to bring everybody together for economic recovery and peace.
There is one set of continuation stories this reader has been pursuing step by step, in guessing the eventual outcome, the collapse of the deeply indebted US automotive industry. The Chrysler repayment negotiations involve the Treasury (which has already loaned them $4B, and will loan a further $6B if the outcome of the negotiations is satisfactory), the company owner (Cerberus Capital Management), the bank lenders, UAW, Canadian CAW and a potential rescuer, Fiat of Italy. This day-to-day drama is slowly reaching its deadline, April 30. It is a day beyond my deadline, so we will have to leave the issue guessing at the outcome.
Washington obviously does not want a Chrysler bankruptcy, which would shut off essential Chrysler parts used by all US-, based car manufacturers, and has given $3.5 B to Chrysler and G.M., to support their part makers.
As Chrysler itself, the UAW, to whose health care trust Chrysler owes $10.6B, will accept repayment, half in company stock, without further concessions. UAW president Ron Gettelfinger knows that Chrysler will have to contribute $5B cash over next 10 years, a stretch. Gettelfinger has thousands of retirees, their spouses and other voters in the affected communities to back him in objecting to a bankruptcy solution that would decimate the health trust.
But other creditors, 45 banks and funds led by JPMorganChase and Citigroup, whom Chrysler owes $6.9B, might want bankruptcy, which puts them at the head of the creditors’ line. The Treasury is asking them for a major concession, to accept 15 cents on the dollar. Their counteroffer is to concede 35 cents, in exchange for 40% of the restructured company’s stock. The sides must reach a decision by April 30, or the company goes to bankruptcy court, with liquidation a prospect. The UAW counts on its 26,000 hourly rated workers, 86,000 retirees and living spouses, and a total Chrysler-based membership of 255,000 – a figure that seems a magnitude too large, though the Times also mentions a G.M. membership of 450,000.
Another issue is Chrysler’s potential agreement with Fiat, whereby for 20% interest in the company the Italians will provide small car design and technology but no cash. The idea is to get Chrysler back into the market with small cars offering high gas mileage, valuable in the expectation that fuel costs will go up. More issues involve the fate of the Canadian plants with 8,000 CAW workers, who are not tied to UAW and US elections. The Canadians appear to have agreed to reduce costs.
As of four days before the deadline, the UAW board claims to have improved its offer and will put it to membership vote on Wednesday before the Thursday, April 30 deadline. Unofficially, they will accept 55%of the reconstituted company’s stock for $5M of the debt, and expect a repayment of $8.8B by 2023, at 9% annual interest. To this reader, the debt has inexplicably grown to $13B+, but so be it, let this puzzle unravel later.
The stock situation is more complex, and if it were not for Daimler, the German owner of Chrysler from 1999 to 2007, at the last minute giving up its remaining 19.9% share in Chrysler, plus $600M to the UAW pension trust, to wash their hands of the deal, there would not be enough shares for all players. As is, the UAW’s 55%, plus 20% for Fiat, 10% to be retained by Treasury, leaves only 15% available to repay the banks.
The latest Treasury offer to the banks is to take 22 cents to the dollar, or $1.5B for the $6.9B owed to them, plus stock shares. The threat has been, from the getgo, that the banks, with such a meager offer would opt for bankruptcy court awards giving them more than the Treasury’s cash. Was the government’s reward of $3.5B enough to protect the US car makers from a disruption in parts flow, if bankruptcy were to ensue? Will the UAW risk the uncertainties of the union benefits and healthcare falling to the rehabilitators? With no offer from the 45 lender consortium, and barring a last minute deus ex machina, it appears that a bad conclusion is unavoidable.
P.S. Two hours after the T&V deadline, Wally Dobelis caught the news that the bondholders informed the Treasury of their willingness to accept 29 cents on the dollar ($2B for $6.9B). The drama continues.
Following the news recently has been like living in history, and I could not stop reading the NYTimes, more exciting than a tabloid. There were two days of pictures of President Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez and listening to Latin dictators lambaste the US, for which he was shamed by the WSJ and by Patrick Buchanan, normally an understanding observer, in Human Events. The defenders of America may be forgetting that Barack Hussein Obama was doing his job, as he did in Turkey and Europe, the job that he may be the only person capable of doing on this Planet Earth – attempting to bring everybody together for economic recovery and peace.
There is one set of continuation stories this reader has been pursuing step by step, in guessing the eventual outcome, the collapse of the deeply indebted US automotive industry. The Chrysler repayment negotiations involve the Treasury (which has already loaned them $4B, and will loan a further $6B if the outcome of the negotiations is satisfactory), the company owner (Cerberus Capital Management), the bank lenders, UAW, Canadian CAW and a potential rescuer, Fiat of Italy. This day-to-day drama is slowly reaching its deadline, April 30. It is a day beyond my deadline, so we will have to leave the issue guessing at the outcome.
Washington obviously does not want a Chrysler bankruptcy, which would shut off essential Chrysler parts used by all US-, based car manufacturers, and has given $3.5 B to Chrysler and G.M., to support their part makers.
As Chrysler itself, the UAW, to whose health care trust Chrysler owes $10.6B, will accept repayment, half in company stock, without further concessions. UAW president Ron Gettelfinger knows that Chrysler will have to contribute $5B cash over next 10 years, a stretch. Gettelfinger has thousands of retirees, their spouses and other voters in the affected communities to back him in objecting to a bankruptcy solution that would decimate the health trust.
But other creditors, 45 banks and funds led by JPMorganChase and Citigroup, whom Chrysler owes $6.9B, might want bankruptcy, which puts them at the head of the creditors’ line. The Treasury is asking them for a major concession, to accept 15 cents on the dollar. Their counteroffer is to concede 35 cents, in exchange for 40% of the restructured company’s stock. The sides must reach a decision by April 30, or the company goes to bankruptcy court, with liquidation a prospect. The UAW counts on its 26,000 hourly rated workers, 86,000 retirees and living spouses, and a total Chrysler-based membership of 255,000 – a figure that seems a magnitude too large, though the Times also mentions a G.M. membership of 450,000.
Another issue is Chrysler’s potential agreement with Fiat, whereby for 20% interest in the company the Italians will provide small car design and technology but no cash. The idea is to get Chrysler back into the market with small cars offering high gas mileage, valuable in the expectation that fuel costs will go up. More issues involve the fate of the Canadian plants with 8,000 CAW workers, who are not tied to UAW and US elections. The Canadians appear to have agreed to reduce costs.
As of four days before the deadline, the UAW board claims to have improved its offer and will put it to membership vote on Wednesday before the Thursday, April 30 deadline. Unofficially, they will accept 55%of the reconstituted company’s stock for $5M of the debt, and expect a repayment of $8.8B by 2023, at 9% annual interest. To this reader, the debt has inexplicably grown to $13B+, but so be it, let this puzzle unravel later.
The stock situation is more complex, and if it were not for Daimler, the German owner of Chrysler from 1999 to 2007, at the last minute giving up its remaining 19.9% share in Chrysler, plus $600M to the UAW pension trust, to wash their hands of the deal, there would not be enough shares for all players. As is, the UAW’s 55%, plus 20% for Fiat, 10% to be retained by Treasury, leaves only 15% available to repay the banks.
The latest Treasury offer to the banks is to take 22 cents to the dollar, or $1.5B for the $6.9B owed to them, plus stock shares. The threat has been, from the getgo, that the banks, with such a meager offer would opt for bankruptcy court awards giving them more than the Treasury’s cash. Was the government’s reward of $3.5B enough to protect the US car makers from a disruption in parts flow, if bankruptcy were to ensue? Will the UAW risk the uncertainties of the union benefits and healthcare falling to the rehabilitators? With no offer from the 45 lender consortium, and barring a last minute deus ex machina, it appears that a bad conclusion is unavoidable.
P.S. Two hours after the T&V deadline, Wally Dobelis caught the news that the bondholders informed the Treasury of their willingness to accept 29 cents on the dollar ($2B for $6.9B). The drama continues.
