AP: Iraq Not Quite Over

Via Ben Smith, this in a memo from the AP’s Standards Editor:

Unless there is balancing language, our content should not refer to the end of combat in Iraq, or the end of U.S. military involvement. Nor should it say flat-out (since we can’t predict the future) that the United States is at the end of its military role.

Yep. As IAVA’s Paul Rieckhoff put it on Twitter the other day:

Soooo…repelling a suicide bombing attack sure sounds like combat operations to me http://tinyurl.com/247vaxw #Iraq #NonCombatMyAss #CNN

Times Endorses Rivera

Looks like the Times is getting their talking points from us:

For state races, the best advice for New York voters is to vote against anybody who has done time in Albany. That is especially true in the State Senate, where a few Democrats have used their slim majority to hold up the Legislature, usually for petty and personal reasons. There are a very few good senators like Liz Krueger, an independent voice from Manhattan. But most legislators need to find work elsewhere.

At the top of that list should be Pedro Espada Jr., a Democrat running for re-election in the Bronx even though he mostly lives in the suburbs. Here are just a few reasons for voting against him: He owes more than $10,000 in fines for campaign finance violations (the maximum fine is $500 each); he is accused of milking his medical clinics for personal and political expenses including $20,000 worth of sushi delivered to his home in Westchester; he forced fellow senators to give him a fancy title and padded his office with a fawning entourage.

Mr. Espada has run a sleazy campaign, even threatening voters who signed petitions for his strongest and best opponent, Gustavo Rivera. Mr. Rivera, an educator and political activist, has promised to vote for the kind of real reforms the state needs. A third candidate in the race, Daniel Padernacht, is a real estate lawyer with little understanding of state issues. He is a distraction for voters whose goal should be to oust Mr. Espada.

In State Senate District 33 in the Bronx, we endorse Gustavo Rivera.

Endorsements for New York

Rivera Racking Up Endorsements

Yesterday we told you about El Diario’s endorsement of Gustavo Rivera over Pedro Espada.  Today the New York Daily News follows suit:

What Do You Do About Hate?

That’s the question we’re forced to face as we deal with the whole sad, absurd spectacle of the controversy over “Park51″, or, as it’s come to be known to the world, the “Ground Zero Mosque”.

Azi reports that Anthony Weiner, by calling it a distraction (which, in fairness, is exactly what it is) and changing the subject, “show[ed] Democrats how to sound authoritative, while changing the subject.”

As Azi points out, the NYT’s editorial board went exactly the other way, declaring:

The country needs strong and sane voices to push back against the hatred and irrational fears. President Obama made a passionate defense of the mosque, but only once. Most Democratic politicians are ducking.

Against the crazy, is there any real way to win? If you do as the Times says and stand up to the crazy, you’ve just put yourself in the middle of an argument that should simply have no place in American politics, and you’ve let the cynical hatemongers who are stirring up the crazy put you right where they wanted to — in the middle of a nasty fight that distracts from all other priorities.

But if you don’t oppose the crazy, who will?

It’s an evil choice.

El Diario Endorses Change

El Diario, the oldest and largest Spanish language newspaper in New York City, has endorsed two pro-marriage equality candidates: Gustavo Rivera and Charlie Ramos.

Both candidates are running against powerful incumbents: Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. and Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., respectively.  With a daily readership of over 290,000 people, the El Diario endorsement could potentially reach thousands of Bronx voters.

Of Gustavo Rivera, the endorsement reads:

The time has come to close the door on the politics of “me” and for the politics of “we” to reign. District 33 has a chance to do this on Sept. 14 by supporting Rivera.

To help elect pro-marriage equality candidates, visit the MYD 2010 Campaign Page.

Democrats And Republicans Find Common Ground On Education Reform

Everyday the words and actions of strategists, legislators and pundits feed the growing polarization between the two main parties. In New York State for example, important legislation continues to be shelved or stagnate as partisan politics contributes to an increasingly ineffective government.

Despite this challenging environment, some researchers have been making gains on describing a specific agenda — one on which Democrat and Republicans can find some common ground.

Researchers at Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance believe that in the realm of education policy, the divisions between the parties are “quite minor.” Despite continued resistance to a unified plan, education reform recommendations like merit-based pay or the growing popularity for online education is embraced by leaders on both sides.

William Howell, Paul E. Peterson and Martin West, authors of the paper, go on to write:

Overall, there appears to be far less polarization between the parties than might be expected. On questions concerning their overall assessment of the nation’s schools, student and school accountability, and even the creation of charter schools, the distance between the parties amounted to less than 0.2 points on the 5-point scale. In the case of accountability measures, the combination of strong overall support and minimal partisan conflict suggests that such policies will continue to be central to the nation’s education reform agenda. In the case of charter schools, for which overall support is more mixed, it appears that the important divisions in public opinion are within rather than between the nation’s major political parties.

Below is a video summing up the results of their 2010 Education-Next PEPG Survey:

Poll Reveals Bipartisan Support for Education Reform

President Obama’s Address on the End of the Combat Mission in Iraq

Victory and Justice for New York’s Domestic Workers

August 31, 2010 will be a day remembered by many New Yorkers for a long time. Today Governor Paterson signed the Domestic Workers Rights bill. The bill extends a variety of employment protections enjoyed by most workers throughout the country and fixes a federal exemption for domestic service workers. While it may have made sense to exclude a live-in nanny in a prior era, when such nannies were practically (or often literally) members of the family, we now live in an age where large staffing companies provide consistent live-in help in a business oriented model. It’s therefore extremely appropriate to extend basic wage and hour protections to these workers.

Some of the main benefits of the law include:

• One day off per week (or equivalent OT pay)
• Three paid vacation days annually
• Time and a half for overtime hours (over 40 or 40 hours/week)
• Eligibility for disability benefits
• Inclusion in New York’s anti-discrimination law and additional provisions protecting workers from racial and/or sexual harassment

The benefits from this law are clear. Domestic workers will be guaranteed dignity and justice on the job. They will gain one day off a week, overtime benefits, and will no longer be exempt from the protections of the state anti-discrimination law. For workers in very specific and intimate work settings, they will now have the protection of the law to fend off discriminatory or abusive working conditions.

Furthermore, it is very possible that domestic workers will be given the right to organize and collectively bargain in the near future.  The state labor department is authorized to study the feasibility of extending collective bargaining rights to domestic workers under New York’s Labor Law.  Domestic workers are excluded from the protections of the National Labor Relations Act (federal law) but may be included in state law.  This is analogous to the controversial Farmworkers Rights Bill in the domestic setting.

I would guess that this probably leads to organizing rights under state law for domestic workers who work for a staffing agency. It would be inordinately difficult to organize individual domestic workers working in individual homes, but through a staffing agency a union could represent the employeees of the staffing agency. Such a union would look a lot like home health care aide unions.

One more note: this is an important victory for labor on a larger scale.  Any extension of organizing and employment benefits for some workers is a victory for all workers.  It gives us more legitimacy to argue for further extension of labor protections for unprotected workers, like New York’s farmworkers.  It helps increase union density and improves the progressive movement as a result.  And dignity on the job is the single best way to improve the quality of life for the working class.

Today is a great day for domestic workers and all those who stand for justice and fair pay at the workplace.

Healthcare Reform Hits New York: NY Bridge Plan – $421/month!

Great news for all New Yorkers:

Obamacare came to New York in earnest Monday as the state started offering coverage for the uninsured with preexisting medical conditions.

Here are the details:

In March 2010, Congress passed the health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The law created a temporary program until January 2014 that makes coverage available for individuals who have a pre-existing medical condition, have not had insurance for six months, and who are legal US residents.

This new program is called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) and will be available throughout the country. In New York State, the PCIP plan is the NY Bridge Plan, administered by GHI, an EmblemHealth company.

PCIP plans will operate until the year 2014. At that time other provisions of health care reform will go into effect and state health benefit exchanges will be available for individuals to purchase coverage.

People who are eligible for the plan, which will have premiums running at a (relatively speaking) reasonable $421/month:

• Are legal US residents.
• Reside in New York State.
• Have one or more pre-existing medical conditions.
• Have not had health care coverage for the last six months.

Find more info about the NY Bridge Plan here.

Daily News

Hat tip: Elizabeth

Democratic Primary Candidates to Talk Transportation Starting This Week

Politicians have a lot more to do with crowded trains, late buses, dangerous intersections, and new bike lanes than many people realize. We wouldn’t be preparing for a $100 (or $130?!) MetroCard if state lawmakers had voted to fund the MTA with measures like congestion pricing or East River bridge tolls — and hadn’t voted to siphon $143 million from the public transit system and use it for other programs last year. And new ways of getting around, like better bus and bike lanes, can be helped or hindered by our elected officials.

To get candidates’ views on these very bread-and-butter issues, Transportation Alternatives has taken the lead on organizing three transportation-related debates ahead of the NYC primaries, starting this week:

On, Wednesday, September 1, learn more about where Pedro Espada challengers Gustavo Rivera and Dan Padernacht stand on the issues — Senator Espada won’t be there (he was the only candidate invited to any of the three debates to turn down the invitation, according to the organizers). The action runs from 7-9 pm at the Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church on 2430 Walton Ave. in the Bronx.

The next day, September 2, Sen. Shirley Huntley (being pressured by progressives for her vote against marriage equality) and challenger Lynn Nunes will talk it out from 7-9 pm at the Fairfield Pavilion on 133-10 101st Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Finally, next Tuesday, September 7, Manhattanites will have a chance to hear from the challengers for Sen. Eric Schneiderman’s to-be-vacant seat in the 31st District: Mark Levine, Assemblymember Adriano Espaillat, Anna Lewis, and Miosotis Munoz. 7-9 pm at the Armory Foundation, 216 Fort Washington Avenue (between 168th & 169th Streets).

This post was written by Steven, a member of the Transportation Committee.  To join the committee, come to the next meeting on Wed. September 15th 7pm at the Starbucks on 29th St. and Park Ave. or sign up online.

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