Tag Archives: New York

The New Ebola Battle

The new Ebola battle isn’t between health care workers and the disease itself, but between the federal government and the states.

The Obama Administration is pushing New Jersey governor Chris Christie and New York governor Andrew Cuomo to rescind their mandatory 21-day quarantine for anyone arriving from West Africa who has had contact with Ebola patients.  Their quarantine announcement took the feds (and New York City) by surprise.

Meanwhile, Illinois and Florida have joined the quarantine.

Good luck getting Christie or Cuomo to budge.  Christie is running for president and can’t be seen as caving to Obama.  Cuomo is up for re-election in a week and can’t be seen as weak and indecisive, as pushed by Christie and then pulled by Obama.  He may also run for president, so he has to seem tough.

That Time of Year

This morning, for the first time all season, I clicked on “Expanded Standings” at the Yankees web site to see where they are in the Wild Card race.  I don’t see it happening for them to win the AL East, where they are now six games back.  But only one game in the Wild Card.  Actually, I don’t see it happening there either, and if it did, how long would these Yanks last in the playoffs?

You can say that last night’s game, a 4-3 loss in the 12th against the Tigers, was a great effort, especially since David Price was Detroit’s starter.  But great efforts don’t count, only W’s and L’s, and it was another L.

Scandalicious

Hothead congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY) has been indicted on federal charges of tax evasion, mail and wire fraud, perjury, and hiring undocumented workers in connection with a restaurant he used to own in NYC called Healthalicious.  Grimm used to be an FBI agent, so at some point he switched sides, perhaps after noticing how much more money there was in being a bad guy.

House leadership is meeting to figure out what to do with him.  May I suggest they throw him off the f***ing balcony?  Better yet, they could invite reporter Michael Scotto to execute the toss.

If Sacco Had Threatened Grimm

We’ve all seen Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY) threaten to throw NY1 reporter Michael Scotto “off this f***ing balcony” for daring to ask a question about Grimm’s campaign finance investigation.  We also saw how high up they were at the U. S. Capitol, and what a looooong way down it was.  Grimm also said Scotto was “not man enough” and “I’ll break you in half.  Like a boy.”

If the situation were reversed, and Scotto had threatened Grimm in the exact same way, Scotto could be facing a federal criminal offense.

In December 2012, Grimm directed a “bizarre and scary” rant against two other NY1 employees, Bob Hardt and Errol Louis, for asking him about the same issue, and said they should “take it outside.”

Grimm clearly has a very poor relationship with the First Amendment.  Reporters should be able to ask legitimate questions without being physically threatened, and Grimm should resign.

Politico reports that Grimm is getting media advice from Anthony Weiner.  Hell, Michael, why don’t you call A-Rod while you’re at it?

Trump Blames Obama for His Greedy Fraud

Donald Trump runs three-day scams seminars called the Trump Entrepreneur Institute where suckers pay up to $35,000 (!) thinking they are going to learn his secrets, become super rich, and plaster their names all over luxury buildings chock full of gold-plated fixtures.  The thing used to be called Trump University, until the New York State Education Department pointed out that he didn’t exactly meet the requirements for a university (or even a community college!).

Anyway, his waste-of-money “classes” generated a lot of consumer complaints and civil lawsuits.  For example, folks who thought they were going to meet Trump himself and learn at the master’s knee were a tad disappointed to have their photo taken with a cardboard image of the Donald.

So now the Attorney General of New York, Eric Schneiderman, is suing Trump for fraud in state court, seeking $40 million in restitution for those who claim they didn’t get what Trump promised.

But Trump of course can’t accept that his greed has caught up with him, and he went on Fox and Friends (where else?) this morning, claiming that President Obama is behind the lawsuit.

Yes, with all that’s going on in Syria and Egypt, the President is very busy plotting against Donald Trump.

New York “Hearts” Obamacare

From “Many New Yorkers Will See Big Savings on Health Plans,” Roni Caryn Rabin and Reed Abelson, NYT:

“Individuals buying health insurance on their own will see their premiums tumble next year in New York State….

“State insurance regulators say they have approved rates for 2014 that are at least 50 percent lower on average than those currently available in New York.  Beginning in October, individuals in New York City who now pay $1,000 a month or more for coverage will be able to buy health insurance for as little as $308 monthly.  With federal subsidies, the cost will be even lower.

“Because the cost of individual  coverage has soared, only 17,000 New Yorkers currently buy insurance on their own.  About 2.6 million are uninsured in New York State.

“State officials estimate as many as 615,000 individuals will buy health insurance on their own in the first few years the health law is in effect.  In addition to lower premiums, about three-quarters of those people will be eligible for the subsidies available to lower-income individuals.”