Well he was handed a disastrous budget. I admire his ruthlessness in trying to get it solved. But yeah I don't think the 10% property tax hike is going to work out. Especially as property taxes are kind of regressive in the sense that they make up a much larger percentage of the income of lower class people in order to pay them (directly or indirectly). But we will see how Mamdani navigates this crisis. I will say his ability to communicate may help him survive being unable to deliver on some of his goals in the near term.
They don't pick where they fight or why. It's not their fault their sacrifice is wasted by bad policy. I think most of them join because they're sold on the idea that they are indeed protecting our freedom or avenging attacks on this country. They face long-term consequences of combat exposure. They also volunteered which means we don't need conscription. I'm surprised there's an argument about this.
This is quite true. But most of the soldiers and sailors have no say in that. They do volunteer to put themselves in harms way for the rest of us. Whether the administration that puts them their acts in our actual interest or not. And the volunteering part has varying degrees of understanding and informed consent. Still and all they do their duty more often than not and that is worthy of respect
Lanier apparently is one of the most "scary-smart incredibly well-read" types out there. I've never gone up against him, but know folks who have, as well as folks who have worked closely with them, and the universal assessment is that his intelligence and ability to think on his feet and synthesize information is other-worldly. Am interested in any breakdowns of Zuck's testimony.
It is the main reason I ultimately rejected the service. Sure theoretically I was willing to serve my country...but by the 1990s it was pretty clear that in actuality I would be going abroad killing people who were problematic to US interests rather than actually defending the country. And that was not something I was interested in doing.
NYC property tax is notoriously convoluted and I’d assume if his team believed they could raise the revenue with a narrow increase on the “wealthy” they’d have floated it. I understand a lot of code reform has to be done through Albany. This is where political slogans run into law and policy and how the local level is a tough place for it. You can run on taxing the rich to expand social programs and close budget gaps. But if you don’t have the authority to tax the rich, your choice is to tax who you can (usually your voters) or not follow through on expanded programs. As I said, I suspect this is mostly a HARD push to make Albany implement the mayor’s preferred tax policy, he has said as much— raise taxes on the wealthy statewide and have the state return more to NYC. Which may be a good policy, but it’s also a mayor trying to set tax policies for people who don’t vote in his elections, to fund his budget. https://gothamist.com/news/mayor-mamdani-threatens-to-raise-nyc-property-taxes-to-plug-budget-gap
I always presumed the military subjects the enlisted to endless fox news propaganda, actual service people can correct me if I am wrong. So I am kind of hopeful it was only 61%.
"Our" (Texas ' not UT) Mark Lanier is the plaintiff's attorney. He's about as good as they come in the courtroom and on the law. I have read a few accounts of his examination by Lanier and didn't see any fireworks in particular.
Anyone got any clue on who we are looking at to take over this summer? Is there any possibility at all that they would bring Ang back? The players seemed to freaking love him
I generally stick to the speed limit or a bit under if conditions require it, but I'll speed like a demon to keep from following a truck hauling rolled steel. That shit scares me. I was driving on I-15 in Utah and saw a truck hauling one big roll. The trailer had about 5° list to the right. It looked like that rig would roll at any moment, so I, and everyone else, sped around him at about 100 mph. As we passed my wife said that the driver looked terrified. I don't blame him.