Thursday, February 18, 2010
It’s still the jobs, Washington
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
You still got trouble, in Washington City, and it still starts with J. Even such a level-headed observer as David Brooks of the NYTimes believes that for the first time a third party might gain national control. After the 1932-64 Democratic/GOP reign during which Americans believed their leaders, Vietnam and succeeding events turned their faith into anger against all politicians. Now, Obama’s inheritance of wars, recession and deficits is sinking him. Presumably Brooks is not talking of the Tea Party flying solo; Ross Perot’s Independence people tried that and failed, letting Clinton prevail. The rational way for the TP would be to elect some of their candidates now, then make the Reps knuckle down in 2012 to accept the TP’s program, whatever that might be.
In NYS, on the right- wing side, we had a similar revolt - the Conservative Party of New York, which predates the national party, was founded as a reaction to the liberal policies of the GOP Governor Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1951-73). The new party supported William J. Buckley Jr. for Mayor in 1965, collecting substantial votes, and had its first real success with the election of Bill’s brother James Lane Buckley (b. 1923) as US Senator in 1981-7 (he lost to Daniel Patrick Moynihan). Fiscal tax cutters, they have been largely supporting Republicans, and had their most recent shock emergence in the 2009 run for 23rd Congressional District, when Douglas Hoffman elbowed aside Republican Assemblyperson Dede Scozzafava to challenge Democrat William Ovens, and lost, after the popular Dede did not support him.
In the nearly six decades since founding, the Conservatives have lost steam, withholding support for liberal Republicans. Thus, they rejected Rudy Giuliani for Mayor in 1989, 1995 and 1997, and in 2006 they rejected Jeanne Pirro's bid for Senate. The Conservatives did support Pirro for Attorney General, but she lost to Andrew Cuomo. Their candidate for Governor in 1990, economist Herb London ran strongly against the Republican Pierre Rinfret, but lost to Mario Cuomo. John Faso, a former Majority Leader and Comptroller General, was the 2006 joint R&C candidate, but lost to Eliot Spitzer. In 2008 they backed John McCain and Sarah Palin nationally, and in 2009 their Mayoralty candidate Stephen Christopher garnered 1.7% of the popular vote. Whether they cooperate with the 2010 Tea Party now is not clear.
Coming back, how did the strange little upstart party managed to capture a US. Senatorship in 1981? Why this reaction to Governor Rockefeller (1908-79), who held the office for 24 years and subsequently was appointed Vice President of the US under President Gerald Ford, 1974-77? A distinguished civil servant, he held policymaking offices under five Presidents, from FRD on. As special assistant to the Eisenhower he advocated development of foreign economies as essential to national security, and proposed an Open Skies policy, proposing exchange of military plans with the USSR. This ran counter to the Cold War directions led by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Leaving federal service in 1956, he returned to NYS politics, and chaired two commissions, that revised NYS constitution, and led to his election as Governor in 1958, defeating W. Averell Harriman, another multi-millionaire.
As Governor, he was a strong proponent or conservancy, supporting parkland development. In transportation he was material in developing 22.000 of roads, including LIE, Northway, creating MTA by merging the NYC subway system with Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, LIRR, Metro North (a purchase). A strong advocate of expanding mass public transportation, he conflicted with Commissioner Robert Moses. In housing, he organized Urban Development Corporation, later Empire State Development Corporation, building 88,000 housing units for limited income people, and prohibited discrimination. He also cut welfare, and implemented state Medicaid. A strong supported of arts, collector of paintings and sculpture and director of MOMA, he built the Empire State Plaza in Albany, state museum and initiated the State Council on the Arts, a prototype for the subsequent National Endowment for the Arts, another controversy. Originally a supported of death penalty, he eventually abolished it, except for murders of police officers. His strong-arm effort to get rid of drug abuse by establishing the "Rockefeller drug laws" turned unsuccessful, the strong penalties are not diminishing drug trade and use, and the social effects have been found to be negative.
Rockefeller also sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 1960, 1964 and 1968, unsuccessfully. He did attain the vice presidency, but his effectiveness was much stifled by the then White House Chief of Staff, Douglas Rumsfeld. Looking at Rockefeller’s accomplishments, what negatives stopped his further success and caused the founding of the conservative protest movement? It was certainly not his wealth; New Yorkers have trusted their super rich to this day to be acting in public interest. In Nelson Rockefeller's case, there was a hint of artsy flightiness, internationalism, and most important, morality. The Conservative party, a creation with religious and ethnic outlooks, may have well been prompted by hints of the Governor's extramarital affairs, eventually resulting in a divorce and remarriage, with further clandestine affairs suspected.
We will explore parallels to NYC in 2010 and 2012, anon.
You still got trouble, in Washington City, and it still starts with J. Even such a level-headed observer as David Brooks of the NYTimes believes that for the first time a third party might gain national control. After the 1932-64 Democratic/GOP reign during which Americans believed their leaders, Vietnam and succeeding events turned their faith into anger against all politicians. Now, Obama’s inheritance of wars, recession and deficits is sinking him. Presumably Brooks is not talking of the Tea Party flying solo; Ross Perot’s Independence people tried that and failed, letting Clinton prevail. The rational way for the TP would be to elect some of their candidates now, then make the Reps knuckle down in 2012 to accept the TP’s program, whatever that might be.
In NYS, on the right- wing side, we had a similar revolt - the Conservative Party of New York, which predates the national party, was founded as a reaction to the liberal policies of the GOP Governor Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1951-73). The new party supported William J. Buckley Jr. for Mayor in 1965, collecting substantial votes, and had its first real success with the election of Bill’s brother James Lane Buckley (b. 1923) as US Senator in 1981-7 (he lost to Daniel Patrick Moynihan). Fiscal tax cutters, they have been largely supporting Republicans, and had their most recent shock emergence in the 2009 run for 23rd Congressional District, when Douglas Hoffman elbowed aside Republican Assemblyperson Dede Scozzafava to challenge Democrat William Ovens, and lost, after the popular Dede did not support him.
In the nearly six decades since founding, the Conservatives have lost steam, withholding support for liberal Republicans. Thus, they rejected Rudy Giuliani for Mayor in 1989, 1995 and 1997, and in 2006 they rejected Jeanne Pirro's bid for Senate. The Conservatives did support Pirro for Attorney General, but she lost to Andrew Cuomo. Their candidate for Governor in 1990, economist Herb London ran strongly against the Republican Pierre Rinfret, but lost to Mario Cuomo. John Faso, a former Majority Leader and Comptroller General, was the 2006 joint R&C candidate, but lost to Eliot Spitzer. In 2008 they backed John McCain and Sarah Palin nationally, and in 2009 their Mayoralty candidate Stephen Christopher garnered 1.7% of the popular vote. Whether they cooperate with the 2010 Tea Party now is not clear.
Coming back, how did the strange little upstart party managed to capture a US. Senatorship in 1981? Why this reaction to Governor Rockefeller (1908-79), who held the office for 24 years and subsequently was appointed Vice President of the US under President Gerald Ford, 1974-77? A distinguished civil servant, he held policymaking offices under five Presidents, from FRD on. As special assistant to the Eisenhower he advocated development of foreign economies as essential to national security, and proposed an Open Skies policy, proposing exchange of military plans with the USSR. This ran counter to the Cold War directions led by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Leaving federal service in 1956, he returned to NYS politics, and chaired two commissions, that revised NYS constitution, and led to his election as Governor in 1958, defeating W. Averell Harriman, another multi-millionaire.
As Governor, he was a strong proponent or conservancy, supporting parkland development. In transportation he was material in developing 22.000 of roads, including LIE, Northway, creating MTA by merging the NYC subway system with Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, LIRR, Metro North (a purchase). A strong advocate of expanding mass public transportation, he conflicted with Commissioner Robert Moses. In housing, he organized Urban Development Corporation, later Empire State Development Corporation, building 88,000 housing units for limited income people, and prohibited discrimination. He also cut welfare, and implemented state Medicaid. A strong supported of arts, collector of paintings and sculpture and director of MOMA, he built the Empire State Plaza in Albany, state museum and initiated the State Council on the Arts, a prototype for the subsequent National Endowment for the Arts, another controversy. Originally a supported of death penalty, he eventually abolished it, except for murders of police officers. His strong-arm effort to get rid of drug abuse by establishing the "Rockefeller drug laws" turned unsuccessful, the strong penalties are not diminishing drug trade and use, and the social effects have been found to be negative.
Rockefeller also sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 1960, 1964 and 1968, unsuccessfully. He did attain the vice presidency, but his effectiveness was much stifled by the then White House Chief of Staff, Douglas Rumsfeld. Looking at Rockefeller’s accomplishments, what negatives stopped his further success and caused the founding of the conservative protest movement? It was certainly not his wealth; New Yorkers have trusted their super rich to this day to be acting in public interest. In Nelson Rockefeller's case, there was a hint of artsy flightiness, internationalism, and most important, morality. The Conservative party, a creation with religious and ethnic outlooks, may have well been prompted by hints of the Governor's extramarital affairs, eventually resulting in a divorce and remarriage, with further clandestine affairs suspected.
We will explore parallels to NYC in 2010 and 2012, anon.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 2:55 AM 
