Sunday, October 27, 2013

Anthony Weiner's website is still up

And can be viewed in all its glory here.

In case it gets taken down soon, here is a screen grab:




The thing that stood out to me were his 125 ideas. Successful politicians generally only push 3 or 4 main goals and are lucky if they accomplish even one of them.

To be fair, not all of the ideas are bad. But taken as a whole, they look preposterous. Here are some examples:

#29- Create a single-payer healthcare system for NYC
#68- Combat mold in public housing

Those two ideas appear on the same page. If the city government can't keep public housing free of mold, what chance is there that it could run a decent healthcare system? It's like a kid with a lemonade stand fantasizing about being a billionaire. Here's an idea- don't start a new project until you complete or close one you already started.

#65- Modernize the Dept. of Health's gender policies

Trans people are complaining that the gender on their ID does not match the gender they self-identify with. Currently, a sex change is required to change the gender on the ID. Is this really one of the most serious problems in NYC?

#67- Create an asthma map

I wonder if some of the asthma is from all that moldy public housing?

#85- Add financial literacy classes for high school students

Considering NYC's debt, the folks in city hall should take some too.

Here is about the only bit of sense I found on the whole site:

"Starting a business anywhere is hard. Launching one in New York City can be extra difficult because of the myriad of forms, regulations, and applications. Once launched, life doesn’t get easier in the face of ticketing, surprise inspections, and a relentless bureaucracy."

And does Weiner propose doing anything to reduce those bureaucratic obstacles? Nope!

None of the people running for office in NYC appear to understand what made the city prosperous in the first place. NYC in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was like Hong Kong today- a free market paradise which attracted hardworking entrepreneurs from all over the world.

And it was a safer city in the past as well. In 1943, NYC had only 44 murders, despite having a population of more than 7.4 million. NYC has 8.3 million people now and had over 414 homicides last year- and that was heralded as an improvement!

It is endlessly depressing to see how this once great city has been run into the ground.

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