Saturday, March 13, 2010

New York State of Mind



Warning: What you are about to see has been deemed the greatest threat to New York - maybe to the world. Open at your own risk. Let's hope it's not too late...


If it's not too late, then, thank goodness there are elected officials like Felix Ortiz (D/Brooklyn) who cares so much about our health and well-being that he will risk his life and reputation to save us from ourselves.


On March 5, he introduced a bill in the State Assembly to ban salt in food preparation in all restaurants in the State of New York. Not just lower the salt content, but an outright ban on ALL salt used with $1000 fine for each piquant violation. He states that with this legislation “consumers [will] have more control over the amount of sodium they intake, and are given the option to exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles.”

Needless to say, every chef, restaurant owner and, well, food eater is calling this legislation ridiculous. Even Mayor Bloomberg, our Nanny in Chief, is not supporting this ham-handed legislation; well, tofu-handed anyway. Just as a precaution, I suggest that Assemblyman Ortiz not eat in any restaurants in New York for awhile. Chefs have stockpiles of salt hidden in their kitchens and they aren’t afraid to use it all in the name of their art!

On to the rest -

I admit it. I was wrong. I predicted last week that Governor David Patterson would resign after escalating accusations of ethics violations have been made public in the last few weeks. He did not resign, so we still have an at least partly elected official as Governor. But just in case, Richard Ravitch, our appointed Lt. Governor, is anxiously waiting in the wings. And in another related story...

It's about dang time that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo admitted that he might have a little conflict of interest where Gov. Patterson is concerned. I think I mentioned last week that Cuomo is planning to run for Governor against Patterson. Cuomo has been investigating our Governor on a host of ethics violations – witness tampering, taking illegal gifts, and awarding lucrative contracts to friends. And, after pounding Patterson publically unabated for weeks, he finally decided to recuse himself and appointed an independant investigator to take over. It was either his strong ethics or a dramatic drop in his poll numbers. Who knows?

Oh, and you’ll love this – Kristin Davis launched her campaign for Governor as the Personal Freedom Party candidate. Her platform includes the legalizing, regulating, and taxing of marijuana and prostitution among other issues. Oh, yeah, she’s the madam who owned the escort service that was popular with our former Governor Elliot Spitzer. She should not be confused with Kirsten Davis of "Sex and The City" fame.

Oh, former Luv Gov Elliot Spitzer is considering a run for state comptroller.

This is the last time I will mention Democratic House Rep. Eric Massa – he’s crazy. He resigned officially on Monday, but his reason keeps changing and just keep getting stranger and stranger. The less said about him the better, but so far no talk of his replacement.

And finally, here is list of possible Republican challengers to watch in the upcoming months to run against Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand and Sen. Chuck Schumer –

  • Former NY Gov. George Pataki,
  • Former Bush aide Dan Senor,
  • Port Authority Commissioner Bruce Blakeman, and,
  • Former Pataki aide Diane Taylor.

As it turns out, Taylor is also Mayor Bloomberg’s girlfriend. I will report on each as I learn more about them.

Until next week, beware of salt...

13 comments:

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Nice article as usual. I heard about the salt thing. . . shocking, just shocking. I love the idea of a prostitute or porn queen or whatever she is as governor, that would somehow be quite fitting.

Anonymous said...

Bev: Always nice to know that the left coast has balance on the other coast so the country doesn't get overstressed and break in the middle.

At least now we know where all that salty language is coming from.

BevfromNYC said...

I love the salt thing. As if NY needs one more stupid politician.

I kinda' like Kristen too. At least we know our Gov will sell herself for money. AND she's got at least two large assets that Cuomo doesn't have...

Oh wait! More NY politician hijinks - This just in - http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/House-Democrats-looking-at-Slaughter-Solution-to-pass-Obamacare-without-a-vote-on-Senate-bill-87267402.html

[I've tried everything I know to hyperlink, but I just can't do it]

BevfromNYC said...

And then there's this from Alan Grayson - HR 4789 - Public Option
Bill - to be passed at the same time as the healthcare reconciliation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/hr-4789-the-public-option_b_496977.html

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, At some point, it's going to be harder to get your hands on salt than it will be to get marijuana. What a messed up world.

MegaTroll said...

I heard that Bloomberg's girlfriend might run. I hope she has some credentials other than dating him. He's certainly got the money to make it happen, but I don't care for his views and I'd hate to see his clone in the Senate. He's not even a Republican anymoe is he?

BevfromNYC said...

No MT, Bloomberg declared himself an independent after the 2005 election cycle. But he was a life long Democrat until he changed to the Republican party shortly before his 2001 mayoral run. I don't like him much either.

Though Diana Taylor is no arm candy. She's a life long Republican and was appointed by Gov. Pataki to head the State Banking Department from 2003 to 2007, so she's been around for while. She's heads an investment banking firm too. She keeps a low profile with Bloomberg and seems to be a class act.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew, I'm already preparing a false floor for my salt stash. I wonder if they'll ban salt-related paraphenalia too. Salt shakers, salt cellars, salt spoons? will they confiscate just the salt shakers or will they take the pepper shakers too? Will kosher salt be exempt because it's used in religious rituals? So many questions...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, LOL! It's going to be a sad day when people need to go to speak easies to get salt. :-(

Writer X said...

French fries without salt? That's just plain wrong. Why doesn't Ortiz just take the fun out of living too while he's at it. What's next? Make it a crime to put chocolate sprinkles on donuts?

At this point, Kristin Davis would probably be more effective than most anyone else in the NY Democratic Party. Go Kristin! And is it just me or does she look like Faith Hill but with, um, a couple of enhancements?

Anonymous said...

Do you think any of the Republicans have a chance to win either Senate seat? How popular is Pataki?

BevfromNYC said...

Anon: I think that Pataki has a very good chance to defeat Gillibrand. Pataki did well as Gov, He just wore out his welcome after three terms.

She should be easy to pick off with the right candidate. And now she's really between a rock and a hard place. She was appointed by Patterson, but has been loudly trying to distance herself from him. This only makes her look like a traitor.

BevfromNYC said...

Writer X: Davis is my favorite candidate so far. I think she's got real moxie and, at the very least, she's entertaining. And besides her obvious assets, she knows how to play within the political system and has run her own business successfully. If only she could run against Spitzer. I would love to see those debates.

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