NJ, Corruption, Development, and the death of cities/Robert Moses

I am writing this because of Brian Lehrer's discussion about NJ/politics/corruption...

OK. First, if you've never heard of Robert Moses (whom I call the "destroyer of NY") please look at this older post I wrote last year about him HERE:

To summarize (and plagerize myself [heh-heh]):

My position on Mr. Moses comes from the fact that a great deal of Mr. Moses's foibles caused a great deal of shame and problems for New York City, that remain to this day such as:

• Mr. Moses was a racist.
• Mr. Moses was an upper class slob.
• Mr. Moses was class conscious
  

These three factors totally influenced how and where our City developed in his reign of terror and power in our city.


Given this as a starting point, I contend the following*:

1. The lack of public transportation in our tri-state (and even nationally), is a great shame.
2. This lack of infrastructure (on a national scale) has damaged our environment, our
   country, and even our competitive situation in the world.
3. The fact that development in the nation has become auto (and truck) centric, has been a terrible tragedy willed on us by people such as Robert Moses.

Now to become NJ centric, and discuss politics, and industrial development
(and 0f course corruption!):

• Urban Sprawl (unchecked development of office parks, malls, and strip malls) is killing NJ. We need a centralized (State-wide) plan. Exclusive development decisions must be removed from municipal authorities.
• Our method of administration (country-wide) and political service needs reformed.

Here's where my National plan addresses NJ:

• Similar to the tradition of military academies in our country, we need to establish political academies, and elevate the education and professionalism of our politicians. Hopefully, by making the education, and income of legislators level, we can elevate the profession of politician from political lackey to professionalism we expect from our military.
  

Other ideas:?

We need to make sure legislatiors cannot "Double-Dip", and have multiple positions, or multiple public pensions... (give the HIGHER of cost of salary or pension for a person), not both.

We need to start to enforce and arrest developers. We need to start to re-think development. NO More MALLS or strip malls. We need manufacturing again...

Sound interesting? It's a start... and I hope you listen...


*(see below this note for the footer on this message for my '10 step program' to rebuild our country.

---

Try my other blog also:
It discusses:
* What I call this Depression 2.0

and
We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/rail/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more details.

I told you SO Department

BYE BYE WaMu

With Apologies to (Charles Strouse Music / Lyrics by Lee Adams)

Bye-Bye WaMu
I'm gonna miss you so;
Bye Bye WaMu,
Why'd you have to go?
No more sunshine,
It's followed you away;
I'll cry WaMu,
I'll miss the way you smile,
As tho' it's just for me;
And each and ev'ry night,
I'll write you faithfully!
Bye Bye WaMu,
It's awful hard to bear;
Bye Bye WaMu
Think I'll always wonder,
Guess I'll always be scared,
Guess I'll never even care.

Shame-OUT: fix the executive-normal pay G A P!!!

AP Reports that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Earned Roughly $30 Million in Salary Last Year

this is despicable. We need to fix this. we need to start taxing the HIGHEST paid 10,000 people in this company... a Straight 40% tax on ALL income (and dividends, and NO SPECIAL capital gains allowances)!!!
see my other blog below...

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OK, you wanted a Political discussion: Here goes.

The background I believe that:
* We're HEADING into a DEPRESSION.
* It's going to be as BAD as the last one.
* According to Robert Reich (former Sec'y of Labor under Clinton): The only number that he EVER saw, defining the
depression was that the unemployment rate hovered around 25%.
* We need a new deal.
* After 58 years of NO Health Care Reform (since 1950!) it will FINALLY be coming soon...
* We've managed to WASTE a FULL generation (from Zero to thirty) with decaying social, educational, and interpersonal skills.
* Our nation is no longer DOING (producing) anything.
SO, from these few premises, I have extrapolated a great deal of items to FIX our society...

But....
We need to make sure that a number of issues are resolved ALL at once.
If we don't do them ALL at once, its like juggling three RUNNING chain saws, but dropping one!

Here's what I came up with:

We need to do the FOLLOWING to FIX our Society:
* Create A Living Wage
* Create a National Single payer Healthcare
* Create a National 3-4 year draft (or alternate service)
* Create a Federally paid Day Care starting at six months
* Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
* Lobbying (Political Reform)
* Education
* Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
* Lack of Training/futures
* Truth and Reconcilliation Commission
* A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE

See my other blog: http://sos-newdeal.blogspot.com for more details.

PolicY: The Reconstruction Agency (draft) update: 10-16-07

This is a placeholder for my "Big" rebuilding program.

Since the year 2000 our country has been RAPED, Pillaged, Lied to and Destroyed by the current incumbent of the White House. This post is NOT designed to place blame, but to try and rebuild our society.

I propose that we need to institute a FAR REACHING recovery program to REPAIR our society.

Several global programs are involved, and I feel that Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" legislation is a good way to start.

Items would include:

1. Nationwide Health Insurance for ALL (finally!)
2. six month till three year old day care for all
3. National LIVING wage
4. Mandatory three year conscription/service (military/alternative) after 3 year grace period.
5. National Truth and Reconstruction Commission for crimes committed by REPUBLICANS and Political Donors
6. Campaign FINANCE reform: $100.00 via interenet period.
7. Nationwide "WPA" type reconstruction agency
8. "Service Acadamy" (West point type) for people wishing advanced degrees in
   
1. National MATH/Science training
2. Advanced/Accelerated Teaching program
3. Late life adult retraining institute

Essentially, my view is if you start with poverty, and work it backwards, it touches every single aspect of American life.

If we have a real living wage (we can no longer call it a minimum wage, because that's a farce!), then people will be able to support a family making this wage.

* I'd expect the base living wage to be around $15-18.00 an hour.
This also ties into the day care issue, as affordable day care (like they have in France) is a good start to getting our kids TRAINED to learn and LIKE learning.

* Next comes job training. Some will do the day care, in LOCAL, formal day care centers (which will have NO Television SETS at ALL!) Also will have formalized training programs, utilizing the service corp conscripts.

* After this is mandatory and full nationalized health care.
I'd like to propose a 15 year phase in of a single payer national mandatory plan, which will give the insurance companies time to transition.

** Alternative note, if we have a draft, and a 20 year reserve commitment, an alternative way to phase in full coverage is that all draft recruits receive full insurance, and it phases in as family benefit....

*Next is the Three year draft. UNPRIVATIZE the Cheney/Rumsfeld led "private military taxpayer fleecing act".
Army/Navy KP and laundry will be needed forever.

Three years because they WILL need to learn the high tech weapons too.
* The new military will have a mandatory reserve corp component for 20 years too. Once every year, just like the Israeli army.

There will need to be a 3-5 year phase in of the draft because the effect it will have on the universities and other associated industries.
* the conscientious objectors can go into the service corps, and serve the country instead.

* The new "Service Acadamy" (like West Point/Annapolis/Air Force/etc) will be used for training others

*and this leads to a good start to eliminate poverty, one of the reasons we have had this crisis in this country.


PS: updated update: On October 15th, Paul Krugman, the Op-Ed columnist for the NY Times was on Leonard Lopate on WNYC...Listen yourself HERE

More to come!
This is posted to start a conversation!

Mark Brown.


PS: spread the Haiku: Impeach Cheney. Pelosi Pardons. Democracy Restored.