Nanny Quinn Goes After Happy Meals

Sigh:

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is following in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s health-crusading footsteps, announcing a new crackdown today–on kiddie meals.

Ms. Quinn said that, if she wins the mayor’s race, she wants to force chain restaurants that already post their calorie counts to set new restrictions on kids’ menus and happy meals, more in line with the standards the USDA sets for school lunches.

According to her campaign, the grilled cheese kid’s meal with fries at Applebee’s packs a whopping 21 grams of saturated fat, 2,34o milligrams of sodium and 1,210 calories–dramatically higher than the 7.2 grams of fat, 740 mg of sodium and 650 calories school lunches are allowed.

“We’re not going to limit parents’ choices. You’ll still be able to order whatever you think is right for your children. But what we’re saying is that companies can’t spend millions of dollars on marketing or include items on children’s menus if those foods clearly are going to lead to obesity, which could lead to diabetes or other diet-related illnesses,” Ms. Quinn told reporters at a press conference at the Union Square green market.

The ideas was part of a package unveiled by Ms. Quinn that also included plans to double the number of school-based health centers and require all new schools to be built with gyms.

Ms. Quinn’s close ally, Mr. Bloomberg, has long been accused of taking his nanny-state paternalism too far, after barring trans-fats, forcing chain restaurants to post calorie counts and attempting–unsuccessfully–to regulate soda sizes.

Doubling the number of school health centers and requiring all newly built schools to have a gym is all well and good.

But would you leave the Happy Meals alone, please?

We cannot regulate our way out of bad behavior.

Prohibition of booze didn't work, the War on Drugs has been a dismal failure, and trying to over-regulate the food and restaurant industry isn't going to solve the health crisis.

Rather, educate people about their choices and let them know what eating a Happy Meal a day will do their kids and let it be.

Seriously.

I've had enough of the Nanny State.

In the end, it doesn't work.

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32 BJ President: Weiner Talks Progressive, Has Policies That Are Retrogressive

Some of the Democratic candidates for mayor may be getting ready to attack Weiner on two fronts - how ethically challenged he is and what a corporate sell out he is:

Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU, which just endorsed Quinn, told the Daily News he viewed Weiner as her top threat.

"We [are] incredibly worried, totally worried about Anthony Weiner ... People are giving [him] the benefit of the doubt. I believe he's just out there for himself," Figueroa said.

"We need to stop Anthony, and I believe if progressive Democrats start to look at the race that way, they are going to come to the same conclusion."

A Weiner campaign spokeswoman declined to comment on Figueroa, who launched into the Weiner attack when asked about Quinn's sinking poll numbers.

Something to watch: The intensity of Figueroa's comments raise the question of whether unions and other surrogates will increasingly be charging -- and spending money -- to assail Weiner's character over the sexting scandal that harpooned his political career in 2011.

 A few candidates, including Republicans Joe Lhota and George McDonald, Democrat Sal Albanese and the Green Party's Tony Gronowicz, have made issue of Weiner's lewd texting and subsequent lies. But most of the field has either mentioned it obliquely or tried to avoid talking about it at all. 

Now that Quinn is undoubtedly feeling the effects of Weiner's attempted comeback (on top of the PAC ads), voters could hear that message get louder through the speaker's supporters.

That lets the candidates themselves to skirt what might be seen as a tawdry subject, yet do damage to Weiner over the character question.

Weiner "is the worst candidate in the Democratic primary," Figueroa raged.

"He's confusing the electorate with a rhetoric that appears to be progressive, but a program that is aboslutely retrogressive," he said. "The scandal itself is going to diminish himself in the eyes of voters. You have to go after him. We certainly want to put that out there," he said.

When you look at Quinn’s falling numbers, “the beneficiary of that is [Weiner,] someone who doesn’t have any kind of accountability,” Figueroa said. “It’s none of the opponents that are attacking Chris [and] were hoping to occupy that space...  He’s going to prevent a decent candidate from emerging in the Democratic primary.”

I agree that Weiner could possibly prevent a decent candidate from emerging from the Democratic primary.

That's why I have been saying for weeks that it's time to attack him on his two most vulnerable fronts - his ethics and his sell-out policies.

He talks a good progressive game, but he's even more of a Bloomberg Mach IV candidate than Quinn is.

Someone needs to get that message out there.

The candidates may want to have union surrogates do the attacks.

That will work just fine.

Look at what those independent attacks did to Quinn.

The point is, it's time to take Anthony and his powder blue pants down a few pegs in the polls.

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Alex Pareene: Bloomberg Plans To Use His Money On Council Members Who Vote Against Him On Stop-And-Frisk

Alex Pareene in Salon:

There is one important thing you have to remember about Michael Bloomberg: He is an asshole. It is easy to forget this if you don’t live in New York, or if you live in New York and you are a well-off white person who is never harassed by his NYPD, but it is a fact. Thus far, the billionaire mayor has been using his fortune for nice things that everyone likes like funding ads in support of gay marriage and gun control. But he has enough money to also spend some on capricious meddling in areas Good Liberals are less likely to approve of. According to the New York Post (and admittedly they are often wrong about all sorts of things but you can generally trust their City Hall reporting), Mayor Bloomberg is now planning to spend some money to defeat City Council opponents of stop-and-frisk. Or, if not defeat them, at least scare them into changing their minds.

Stop-and-frisk is an NYPD policy in which cops stop and question and frisk residents of, primarily, very poor neighborhoods, looking for drugs and guns. The people stopped and frisked are nearly always racial or ethnic minorities. No probable cause is required for stopping and frisking. (Cops are supposed to have a reason for the frisking but, as the invaluable stop and frisk Twitter account has shown us, those reasons are so elastic as to be meaningless. One reason is “other.”) Cops stop hundreds of thousands of people each year and arrest only a small fraction of those questioned. The arrests are questionable too: New York led the nation in pointless marijuana arrests throughout Bloomberg’s time in office.

The city is currently defending itself in a class-action lawsuit charging that stop-and-frisk is unconstitutional. Each Democrat currently running to replace Bloomberg, whose third and final term ends this year, has promised to reform or eliminate the program. The City Council got tired of waiting, and passed two bills last week aimed as restraining the cops. One created an inspector general to oversee the NYPD, the other allowed citizens to file racial profiling claims against the NYPD. Both bills passed with veto-proof majorities. Without the ability to veto, the mayor is looking for other avenues to getting his way, as he usually does.

With every seat in the council up for grabs this year, Bloomberg’s PAC will “cast a wide net” and try to persuade council members to flip their votes, said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson.

“I’ve got the time to talk to all members. Basically, we’re going to recanvass as many members as we can and see what we come up with,” Wolfson said.

When loathsome flack Wolfson says “recanvass,” he means threaten to unload a small fortune on small-time city council races until one council member is scared enough to flip his or her vote, because one vote is all the mayor needs to get his veto to stick.

...

Bloomberg, as he often does, is trying his very hardest to get his many liberal admirers to notice how illiberal he is. His money can be used to browbeat gun-loving redstate hicks, sure, but he is also more than happy to use it to get his way in a fight over whether or not the police are supposed to be a full-time minority-harassment squad.

I've said this before, I'll say it again:

If anybody thinks Bloomberg is going away on December 31, 2013, they are sorely mistaken.

He has put together a PAC, he has fed that PAC millions of his dollars, and he plans to use that PAC to promote issues dear to his heart.

As Pareene notes, many liberals were happy when the Bloomberg PAC money was used against red state Dems who voted against gun control or gay rights.

But he's using that cash to promote awful policies like stop-and-frisk too.

And as a teacher, I am certain he's going to use that PAC cash against teachers in coming years, whether it's on evaluation issues, mayoral control, contracts or test scores/grad rates.

This loathsome little man - this "asshole" as Pareene calls him - is going to be with us for a long time because he has a lot of money and he plans to use it as a bludgeon to bolster his reputation, his "legacy" as mayor and the policies he wants to see perpetrated in perpetuity.

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Daily News: Thompson Let CityTime Crooks Steal With Impunity

It's about time Bill Thompson get a little scrutiny for the poor job he did as comptroller:

The effort to modernize the city’s payroll system — a project called CityTime — began with high hopes: a promise of huge savings by bringing the pen-and-paper timekeeping systems for city workers into the 21st century.

But from an initial price of $73 million, city spending ballooned to more than $700 million. Some $500 million of that money disappeared into a vast network of overseas bank accounts. Ten people would be indicted.

In his campaign for mayor, Democrat Bill Thompson touts his eight years as “the city’s top financial watchdog.” But a Daily News investigation has found that Thompson repeatedly failed to intervene as the CityTime scandal unfolded on his watch as controller.

His top lieutenants were told repeatedly about the soaring costs — and were warned that CityTime consultants had racked up tens of thousands of dollars in paychecks for work they didn’t perform.
Yet, of the 626 audits Thompson’s office conducted in his eight years as controller, none looked at CityTime.

“We just kept giving (CityTime) increases, and there was no limit to it. It was so obvious it was a runaway train,” the former auditor, who asked not to be identified, told The News.

“What needed to happen was that somebody needed to do an overall assessment to see where the money is going.”

Thompson spokesman John Collins acknowledged that Thompson could have done more — but Collins said that others, including the mayor, City Council and Budget Director Mark Page, bear responsibility, too.

Thompson's right, of course.  

Others do bear some responsibility for the CityTime mess.

But so does Thompson.

Do you think Liu would have ignored the warnings around CityTime?

That's one of the reasons the Daily News and the Post and the oligarchs hate Liu and worked to destroy him.

He doesn't turn a blind eye to corporate malfeasance and crookery.

 

He audits it.

Unlike, say, Bill Thompson.

 

Here's a timeline of the CityTime scandal, courtesy of the DN:

Jan. 1, 2002 William Thompson’s first day as controller. CityTime’s cost: $73 million.

December 2002 Thompson approves CityTime contract amendment, price rises to $100M.

February 2004 CityTime amendment approved by Thompson — now it’s $114M.

2006 Thompson approves CityTime amendment, hiking price to $244M.

2007 Thompson approves CityTime amendment, rising price to $349M.

July 1, 2009 Thompson approves another amendment. Price now $628M.

Dec. 31, 2009 Thompson’s last day as controller. No audit of CityTime completed during his tenure.

Sept. 28, 2010 Thompson’s successor, John Liu, audits CityTime, finds OPA’s “mismanagement” of oversight likely resulted in CityTime’s bloated costs.

The way Thompson handled the CityTime scandal is indicative of how he handled most things when he was comptroller.

 

He deferred to Big Daddy Bloomberg.

 

Gives you some insight into the kind of mayor he'll be if he's elected.

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Two More Negative Christine Quinn Articles Today

From the Daily News:

It's been a rough three months for New York mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, who has been pounded by a $1.5 million blitz of television ads, robocalls and mailings skewering her.

And it's not over yet.

Quinn, the City Council speaker, has lost a third of her support in the polls since the "New York City is Not for Sale" political action committee began its single-minded — and largely unanswered — spending spree to bring her down.

The PAC now says it plans to spend at another $1 million on attack ads through the Sept. 10 Democratic primary.

And while former congressman Anthony Weiner's entry into the race also has siphoned support from Quinn, the attack ads clearly have taken a toll.

"There is a direct correlation between the launch of our campaign and her numbers going down," crowed Scott Levenson, a spokesman for the PAC, which is financed by a coalition of Quinn opponents, including advocates who call horse-drawn carriages a form of animal abuse.

And the Wall Street Journal:

It has been almost five years since City Council Speaker Christine Quinn helped change a city law so Mayor Michael Bloomberg could run for a third term in office, but many voters are still holding it against her.

Now that Ms. Quinn is in the thick of her own campaign for mayor, the lingering anger over that move has been stoked by her opponents and has already put some Democratic primary voters out of her reach.

In more than two dozen interviews last week with registered Democrats who participated in a Wall Street Journal/NBC 4 New York/Marist College poll that showed Ms. Quinn dropping to second place in the primary field, many volunteered that her handling of the term-limits issue led them to rule her out.

"I'm not voting for Quinn because I voted for term limits and they repealed them," volunteered Robert Shells, a 65-year-old hospital chef who lives in upper Manhattan, when asked why he was considering voting for former Rep. Anthony Weiner and former city Comptroller Bill Thompson but not Ms. Quinn. "It's going to come back to haunt her."

Voters across boroughs and demographic divides said that even if they didn't have strong opinions about term limits themselves, they were upset that elected officials had undone the will of the public. New Yorkers approved a two-term limit in 1993 and rejected a proposal to extend the limit to three terms in 1996.

"The fact that the public had voted for them [twice] and then just go around them because they're not convenient—not so nice," said Laurie Ankersen, a 66-year-old retired special-education teacher from Flushing, Queens, who is leaning toward Mr. Thompson but hasn't made up her mind. 

 Not a good media day for the Quinn campaign.

But Thompson isn't having such a good day either.

More on that later.

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Arne Duncan, Joel Klein To Guest On Next Pitbull CD

Misogynist rapper/charter school operator Armando Perez, AKA Pitbull, has announced that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and former NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein will guest on his next cd.

Pitbull, who has worked with famed artists like Chris Brown, Jennifer Lopez, and Enrique Iglesias on his albums, told Education Week that he is very excited to be working with two of his biggest education reform heroes on his next cd.

"Listen, I met these guys at some education reform thing and we were in the club after, you know, just hanging, bottle in each hand, when Arne says 'Hey, man, I love that thing you did with Enrique, that song Come and Go!  What do you think about me and Joel doing a song with you on your next album?'"

Pitbull said it seemed like a silly idea at the time, the Education Secretary and the former NYC Schools Chancellor guesting on a Pitbull album, but the more they talked about the idea, the more it grew on them.

"You wouldn't think it, you know," Pitbull told Education Week, "but Arne, Joel and me have a lot in common.  We're all excited by innovation, whether it's in music or education reform, we're all into making the free market work for us, and we're all into big, fat booties.  Especially Joel - no one loves tapping that shit more than him!"

Still, the idea of Duncan and Klein guesting on Pitbull's next cd wasn't without pitfalls.

"We couldn't decide in the beginning what song to do together," Pitbull explained.  "I'm doing an album of remakes with special guests, you see, so it had to be an old song of mine.  Joel wanted to do That's Nasty, which I did back in '04, or Juice Box, which is from '09, while I wanted to redo Culo, my first single, or Jungle Fever with them.  But Arne said "Naw, naw, we gotta do Everybody Fucks, man!  We gotta do Everybody Fucks!  That song is the shit!'  So that's what we decided to do.  It'll be out next week on iTunes, in stores the week after."

Klein, Duncan and Pitbull will be sharing the stage at The National Alliance of Public Charter Schools Conference this week, but Pitbull told Education Week they won't be rapping Everybody Fucks at the conference. 

"Nah," Pitbull said, laughing, "We won't be rapping.  We'll be talking about 'No Excuses!' education reforms at the conference.  And union busting, of course.  That's what we're there for.  But Joel and Arne like to hit the clubs after, look for the ladies, you know, so who knows?  There might be a little late night or early morning activity for us before it's all over!"

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Arne, Joel And Pitbull: Don't Stop The Party!

Misogynist rapper/charter school operator Armanda Perez AKA Pitbull is joining former NYC schools chancellor Joel Klein and current Secretary of Education Privatization Arne Duncan at The National Alliance of Public Charter Schools Conference this week to promote all things reformy.

After a week of "Sex Creep Teacher" bashing in the New York Daily News, I wonder how it is that "Ben "Where Are The Perverts?" Chapman and the rest of the Perv Teacher Squad at the Daily News  aren't getting on Klein and Duncan for appearing at a forum with a guy whose first charting single was called "Culo" and who has another song called "Juice Box" with the following lyrics:

That juice box wet, she keep that juice box juicy, 
I like 
That juice box wet, she keep that juice box juicy, 
I like 
That juice box wet, she keep that juice box juicy, 
I like 
That juice box wet, she keep that juice box juicy,
I like
My life, 

Vincent Van Gogh couldn't paint it 
And I love that you hate it 
I fuck 'em, you date 'em, 
I'm hotter than Satan 
Look partner just save it

Yeah, that's classy stuff - Pitbull makes for a heckuva role model for both boys and girls.

Oh, wait - no, he actually doesn't.

Actually he's a creep (one might even say, from his lyrics, that he might even be a "sex creep".)

But the charter school folks love him and he fits right in because he's an innovator and an entrepreneur and a moneymaker and isn't that all that really matters in the world?

You bet.

Jane Pauley and Margaret Spellings will also be at this reformy shindig.

I don't know about you, but I'm really hoping Pauley, Spellings, Duncan and Klein join Pitbull for a lively rendition of "Juice Box" and "Culo" on stage acting out Pitbull's very classy videos:



Then maybe the Daily News can cover all of that.

Or, more likely, the DN will have another "Sex Creep Teacher" story and just ignore the whole Pitbull/Duncan/Klein soiree completely.

I mean, why should a little hypocrisy stop the charter school/reformy party?

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