Tag Archives: Michael Bloomberg

The Questionable Value Of Awards

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Scott Johnson at Power Line posted an article today about a recent award received by former President Bill Clinton. The National Father’s Day Council has chosen President Clinton as a recipient of its Father of the Year award. Huh??!!

The article reports:

The not-for-profit group awards Father of the Year to “contemporary lifestyle leaders of our culture” and raises money for its philanthropic efforts. Past recipients from the world of politics have included Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Cuomo and his father, Mario Cuomo, and Rudy Giuliani.

John Edwards was given the award in 2007. I don’t mean to be difficult, but it would seem to me that in order to be “father of the year’ some degree of faithfulness and commitment to your wife might be necessary. If the group giving the award were truly encouraging family values, there are many political (and other) figures who better exemplify the total responsibilities of fatherhood.

Bill Clinton may be a wonderful father, but the example he set for his daughter of how a man should treat his wife is not one that should be applauded. That example is part of his legacy both as a father and a husband.

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A New Dimension In Meddling

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Mayor Bloomberg is at it again. The New York Post reported yesterday that the Mayor is asking New York City hospitals to lock up the baby formula so that more mothers will breast-feed their babies.

The article reports:

Starting Sept. 3, the city will keep tabs on the number of bottles that participating hospitals stock and use — the most restrictive pro-breast-milk program in the nation.

I support breast-feeding. I think it is a good idea. All my children were breast-fed and all my grandchildren were breast-fed. There is a history of milk allergies in my family and that seemed like a logical preventative measure. It seems to have worked. However, forcing women to do something they may not want to do because the Mayor thinks it’s healthy is a horrible idea. What if Mayor Bloomberg wakes up one morning and decides we should all eat seaweed for a week? Where will he draw the line?

I have no problem encouraging new mothers to breast-feed their babies. In 1970, when my first daughter was born, I was the only breast-feeding mother in the hospital. By 1974, when my third daughter was born, there were more babies breast-fed than formula-fed. I think the way to get mothers to breast-feed their children is to give them as much information as possible about the benefits. The new mothers are the ones who need to make the choice–not the government.

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Letting People Go Hungry Rather Than Taking The Chance That They Might Eat Something Unhealthy

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The New York Post reported today that New York City Mayor Bloomberg is blocking food donations to all government-run facilities that serve the city’s homeless.

The article reports:

In conjunction with a mayoral task force and the Health Department, the Department of Homeless Services recently started enforcing new nutritional rules for food served at city shelters. Since DHS can’t assess the nutritional content of donated food, shelters have to turn away good Samaritans.

The new policy ends the custom of houses of worship in New York who routinely donate food to the homeless shelters.

The article reports:

 For over a decade, Glenn Richter and his wife, Lenore, have led a team of food-delivery volunteers from Ohab Zedek, the Upper West Side Orthodox congregation.

They’ve brought freshly cooked, nutrient-rich surplus foods from synagogue events to homeless facilities in the neighborhood. (Disclosure: I know the food is so tasty because I’ve eaten it — I’m an OZ member.) The practice of donating such surplus food to homeless shelters is common among houses of worship in the city.

DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond says the ban on food donations is consistent with Mayor Bloomberg’s emphasis on improving nutrition for all New Yorkers. A new interagency document controls what can be served at facilities — dictating serving sizes as well as salt, fat and calorie contents, plus fiber minimums and condiment recommendations.

I appreciate the Mayor’s wanting to make sure everyone gets healthy food to eat, but it seems as if the choice here is whether people in the shelters get healthy food or very little food. The government interference in this matter prevents the churches from providing the charity that is part of their mission. The government needs to step aside and let the churches help.

 

 

 

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A Tradition Under Attack By The Board Of Health

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Ducks playing in the fountain at the Peabody H...

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On Wednesday the New York Post reported that Matilda III, the current Algonquin Hotel feline, has been leashed and banished to behind the Algonquin’s check-in desk, or out of sight on a higher floor. I will admit to being a cat lover, and I was totally offended by the fact that Mayor Bloomberg’s Department of Health decided that Matilda III is a health hazard. I can think of nothing more relaxing than checking into a hotel away from home and having a friendly cat to pet.

Upon reading this story, I immediately called my sister in Memphis to see if the ducks were still allowed in the Peabody Hotel. I wondered if the insanity had spread. The Peabody ducks have been in the hotel in Memphis since the 1930’s. The Algonquin has had a cat roam it’s lobby since 1932. My sister assured me that the ducks were still in residence at the Peabody and believed that they would be permanently housed there because the South understands the concept of hospitality.

If New York City wants to be tourist attraction, they need to preserve their tourist attractions. Matilda III was one of those attractions.

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Homeland Security’s Worst Nightmare

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Yesterday the New York Daily News posted a story about the arrest of a suspected terrorist. The terrorist, Jose Pimentel, was an American citizen, inspired and guided by the internet, and was a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki.

The article reports:

Pimentel, who went by the alias Muhammad Yusuf, told an informant posing as an Al Qaeda sympathizer he would show “there was mujahedeen in the city ready to fight jihad here.”

When the police arrested Mr. Pimentel, he was about an hour away from successfully finishing a powerful pipe bomb.

Mr. Pimentel is an American citizen who was born in the Dominican Republic.

The article reports:

“I don’t know anything,” said his uncle Luis Severino, adding that his nephew moved in with him about two years ago after getting a divorce. “The only change I noticed in him is that he started following the Muslim religion.”

Mr. Pimentel is described as a ‘lone wolf’ in terms of terrorism. A lone wolf is difficult to detect because theoretically he is the only person aware of the terrorist plot he is planning. However, in the age of the internet, I am not sure there really is any such thing as a lone wolf terrorist. At some point, Mr. Pimentel began reading the on-line Al Qaeda magazine INSPIRE. When he was caught, he was using a bomb-making recipe he found in the magazine. Without the inspiration and instruction found on the internet, I am not sure Mr. Pimentel would have been radicalized. The other question I have in this case is, “What mosque did Mr. Pimentel attend and what was taught at that mosque?”

We have always had violent people among us–the unibomber comes to mind–but we seem to be dealing with a different sort of danger here. If we have mosques in this country teaching violence, we need to know where they are and keep an eye on the people who lead them and the people who attend them. I sounds to me as if this was a man who went through a divorce and was searching for his purpose in society. He found it in the idea of blowing up his fellow Americans. We need to look at how he arrived at that point and see what can be done to prevent others from taking that journey.

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It Wasn’t Like They Were Consuming Transfats Or Smoking

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Rudy Giuliani

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Today’s New York Post posted a commentary on why Mayor Bloomberg in New York City finally decided to evict the Occupy Wall Street protesters who had taken over Zuccotti Park. Things had truly gotten out of hand–some of the occupiers had contracted scabies, lice and various lung ailments. It was not a healthy place. It kind of makes you appreciate the luxuries of civilization.

The article reports:

An administration source insisted that Bloomberg gave the go-ahead to roust the protesters because of “an accumulation of things” — including concerns that the park became a firetrap and that protesters were planning to build wooden structures to prepare for winter.

But sources familiar with Bloomberg’s decision said he also was concerned with public health.

The article further reports:

And Hizzoner didn’t like being called out by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his inactivity.

A couple of weeks ago, Giuliani said that he would never have tolerated people sleeping in the park and that the city should kick the protesters out.

I suspect a lot of New York City residents and people who work in the city miss Mayor Giuliani.
Occupy Wall Street had one valid point–the economy is in bad shape and people are having a hard time being upwardly mobile. Unfortunately, they were protesting the wrong people–they should have camped out outside the White House and Congress–that is where the regulations and tax policy that is crippling our economy is coming from. At any rate, it’s time for the protesters to go home and become productive members of society. If they don’t like the way things are, they need to find a constructive way to get involved and change things–but they should get their facts straight first.
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The Wall Street Journal Understands Financial Things

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Logo of the Federal Housing Administration.

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Today’s Wall Street Journal posted an editorial updating what is happening with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It seems that we have not yet learned our lessons about these two organizations.

Florida Republican Bill Posey and New York Democrat Gary Ackerman are asking fellow members of the House of Representatives to sign a letter supporting an amendment to an appropriations bill recently passed in the Senate. The amendment will increase the mortgage limits that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration can insure from $625,500 to $729,750.

The article concludes:

There’s talk now that the House and Senate will convene a conference later this week to negotiate the final details on the appropriations bill that includes the loan-limit hike, without the accountability of so much as a floor debate or a hearing. That would confirm that, for all its reform talk, the current House majority is little better than the one that disgraced Republican principles in 2005-2006.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article yesterday reporting on Mayor Bloomberg’s addressing the Occupy Wall Street people and explaining how federal policies caused the housing bubble. Mr. Morrissey reports on Mayor Bloomberg’s statements:

By this time, everyone should be aware of the federal policies that precipitated the housing bubble and its collapse — the push by Congress and two administrations to push higher-risk lending in order to expand home ownership, as well as the effort by Congress to get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to spread that risk through mortgage-backed securities.  While Wall Street made the situation worse by developing risky derivatives on those securities and failed to recognize the risk inherent in the securities themselves, the collapse wouldn’t have occurred at all had the federal government not intervened to distort lending for their own social-engineering goals.

It is becoming very obvious that establishment Republicans are not really very different from the Democrats that got us into this mess. There is only one solution–elect tea party candidates who will not be swayed by the Republican establishment. As long as the current Republican leadership is in control, there will be no change in Washington.

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The Federal Government Did Something Right !

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Yes, the federal government did something right–they turned down Mayor Bloomberg’s request to bar New York City food stamp recipients from using their food stamps to buy soda and other sugary drinks. I appreciate the compassion that Mayor Bloomberg has for those using food stamps–but these are grown-ups–the government has no business trying to control their diets. This is another example of the government giving someone money (or the equivalent) and then trying to control the person because the money was accepted.

The article reports:

Dr. (Thomas A.) Farley (New York City’s Health Commissioner), who said he was “very upset” by the decision, said that it “ really calls into question how serious the U.S.D.A. is about addressing the nation’s most serious nutritional problem.”

In October, city and state officials proposed a two-year experiment to see if the prohibition would reduce obesity among people who buy their groceries with food stamps. Dr. Farley said that about 57 percent of adults in the city and 40 percent of the children in its public schools were overweight or obese, and that obesity was especially rampant in low-income neighborhoods. Limiting consumption of sodas and other drinks with high sugar content, he argued, could help reverse that trend. 

Just because these people are on food stamps, they shouldn’t be used as guinea pigs to confirm some bureaucrat’s theory on why people are overweight!

The article reports Mayor Bloomberg’s statement regarding the federal decision:

“We think our innovative pilot would have done more to protect people from the crippling effects of preventable illnesses like diabetes and obesity than anything else being proposed elsewhere in this country — and at little or no cost to taxpayers,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “We’re disappointed that the federal government didn’t agree, and sorry that families and children may suffer from their unwillingness to explore our proposal. New York City will continue to pursue new and unconventional ways to combat the health problems that hurt New Yorkers and Americans from coast to coast.” 

We need less government–not more!

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