I was positively elated to read in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that Carolyn Maloney, a dunce Representative from NY, is being challenged in the primaries by a young Indian Democratic woman.
How refreshing! This mossback has actually been in the seat for 17 years.
Additionally, there are actually several Republicans running in their primary to meet the Democratic winner in November.
Wouldn't it be a treat to see Reshma Saujani take on either Dino LaVerghetta or Ryan Brumberg, the two GOP candidates, in the November elections?
Ms. Saujani is a hedge fund lawyer who was quoted in the Journal piece saying,
"Eighty percent of Congress did not know what a basis point was before the crisis."
She deplores the lack of Congress members with real business experience, and Maloney certainly fits that description. Many years ago, around the time of Atilla the Hun, Maloney was a NYC public school teacher. But she quickly forsook that calling to become a union official, then worked her way up the New York metro area political ladder to Congressional Representative. It's been well over a quarter of a century since Maloney really worked for a living. And even that job was a public sector one.
With any luck, the combined lack of sensitivity on the part of Maloney, Kristin Hillebrand and Chuck Schumer to voter outrage may result in the first being dethroned by someone more aware of the current economic and political climate, with the others to follow.
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8 comments:
You clearly fail to understand what the source of widely felt and deep seated anger is on the part of the voters. It is that Wall Street and the Hedge Funds already wield far too much influence in Washington. They brought the nations economy to the edge of collapse - they harmed nearly every man woman and child in the country - and now they are upset that some people said things that hurt their feelings. Having a wholly owned Hedge Fund lackey is the last thing we need. Keep that up and the peasants will be at the gates with torches and pitchforks before long
Ben-
Wow, are you an idiot!
I understand the dynamics just fine, thank you very much. How many Tea Party events have you been to this past year?
I've been to two.
You are completely wrong to believe tht "Wall Street and the Hedge Funds already wield far too much influence in Washington."
Guess whose money it is, in a large amount, that is invested in hedge funds? Blue-collar employee pension money, that's whose.
"They" did not bring "the nation's (sp) economy to the edge of collapse." That would be Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad. They loosed Fannie and Freddie and pushed back oversight of them.
Oh, and so did Wonderboy!
I'd say we can't do worse having real, working men and women, including those in abstruse, sophisticated areas of the economy, representing people in Washington.
Far better than a grizzled old former elementary school teacher who never held another honest job after that in a quarter of a century.
-CN
When it comes to honest jobs are you really implying that a public school teacher is a less honest job than a corporate wall street lawyer?
Since when is 17 years the equivalent of a quarter century (25 years, fyi)...25-17 = 8 which in and of itself is nearly a full decade.
Saujani's parents are Ugandan of Indian descent btw. Guess you don't bother researching anything.
My question for you is, are you on meth?
Charles-
Absolutely I'd prefer a woman smart enough to have a law degree and practice in the private world of hedge funds to a long-ago, briefly-employed NY public school teacher.
Apparently your attempt at arithmetic missed my point. Read my prior posts on Maloney, either here or on my companion blog. She may have been in Congress for 17 years, moron, but she stopped teaching way, way before that.
Yes, I know the Democratic challenger is a Ugandan Indian refugee. What's your point?
Wait, I forgot. You don't have one!
-CN
Reshma is a more intelligent and far better alternative than Maloney, but she is far from the best option for NYC or for this country. A Reshma win would just replace one partisan democrat with another. Reshma is a party loyalist who supported B. Clinton was a huge fundraiser for Kerry, then H. Clinton, then Obama. I know people who've gone to her fundraisers and when they ask Reshma about healthcare or the deficit she employs the standard Obama strategy of say nothing and promise everything except for actual legislative goals.
People should focus on the two Republican candidates who will actually be more middle of the road in the Congress and do far more for this country. Of the two, Ryan Brumberg is the better option because he actually gets it. He is for smaller and smarter government. He doesn't believe government is inherently evil, but he is willing to acknowledge what is wrong with it. He believes in the free market and he also believes in individual liberty. He is also a supremely educated lawyer (Columbia, Stanford Law) who then worked in the real economy at McKinsey & Company. And unlike Reshma, if you ask him a question, he'll answer it.
When it comes down to preferences for a better country, to me it is:
1) Ryan Brumberg
2) Dino
3) Reshma
4) Snoopy
5) Maloney
Antonio-
Thanks for your well-reasoned and enlightened comment.
Will be watching this election with interest.
-CN
I think it’s a breath of fresh air that the Republican party in New York is producing thoughtful and well-educated candidates who are willing to challenge the tired ideas of the Republican party's platform. It’s a shot in the face to the “know-nothing movement” within the party that decries anyone with an impressive educational pedigree and its good for the Democrats because it will force competition (Dino went to BU and NYU Law and Brumberg went to Columbia College and Stanford Law).
To take two examples, on issues of personal liberty, Dino is distancing himself from the large majority of Republicans who are anti-choice on abortion and oppose equal rights for gays. I note, however, that Dino is a “State’s rights” guy. So, while he is pro-choice, he believes the issue should be decided by each of the 50 states separately. If he is referring only to regulation, I agree, but if he would allow a state to fully ban abortion, I don’t see how he can argue that he respects individual choice.
On gays rights, he should come out in favor of equal rights and equal benefits for gays under all circumstances. This means gays should be able to get the benefits of marriage in all States even if the majority prefers a different word for the union (e.g. civil union). Dino is wrong, however, if he advocates differential treatment by states and he seems to do so tacitly. If husbands can visit sick wives in the hospital, same-sex spouses should be able to do the same, always, not just in New England. Also, he needs to clarify why he wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. This Act is the reason that Indiana does not have to treat a same-sex couple married in Iowa as also married in Indiana. Its purpose was to protect States from having other State’s impose their values on each other (seems hypocritical for a huge State’s rights advocate). That said, I would repeal the portions of this Act that define marriage as between a man and a woman under Federal Law and that allow States not to recognize out-of-state civil unions (they can keep the provision not recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages).
I also looked closely at Brumberg’s website. He is quite impressive and has the right ideas on economic and governance issues. He says he is socially liberal, so I understand this to mean that Brumberg is also of something of a libertarian. I will need to hear him debate Dino on issues of personal liberty (hopefully Brumberg will forego the State's right piece when individual rights are at stake). In any case, either Dino or Brumberg would be a welcome change for the Republican party in New York and on the national stage.
Jason-
Thanks for your extensive comment.
Though not living in NY, I've watched the moribund lower-level office abdication of the GOP for years. Nice to see them attracting interesting, well-educated, young candidates finally for House races.
-CN
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