Blog

Kickball, democracy, and our shared fate

Originally: October 6, 2008

My son Marek put it best: "You can't change the rules in the middle of a kickball game just so your team will win. It's cheating. Even if you're the mayor."  Marek's only in 4th grade, but he seems to have a deeper appreciation of basic principles of fairness and democracy than Mike Bloomberg.

There's a reasonable debate to be had about term limits, of course, and I'd be happy to see it put to New Yorkers for a vote in a referendum this winter. But its just plain wrong for the mayor and City Council members (supported by a few dozen of NYC's Wall Street and real estate elite) to decide -- when its in their own patent self-interest -- that they know better than the twice-expressed will of the voters.

The New York Times was right when they wrote, just two weeks after 9-11: "Neither New York City nor the nation has ever postponed the transfer of power because the public was convinced it could not get along without the current incumbent. The very concept goes against the most basic of American convictions, that we live in a nation governed by rule of law." (NY Times editorial, 9-28-01) … and they were wrong to change their tune this week.

In the coming days, I hope you'll join with Citizens Union, NYPIRG, Common Cause, and a range of others to stand up for democracy in NYC. I'll be in touch soon about events and actions we can take. You can also keep an eye on my website, www.bradlander.com.

While the deck is stacked against us, I hope we can prevail on the City Council to do the right thing, rather than what's best for themselves. 

One month to the election

While I hope you'll spend some time in the next month protesting a self-dealing term limits change, I hope you'll spend a lot more making sure that Barack Obama is elected president. The polls are looking better, but it will probably still be close. And if we could help him win in a landslide, what an amazing mandate he'd have for change.

It's so easy to make calls, visiting swing states, and give money.  

Go to http://my.barackobama.com to get started.

Make sure everyone you know (especially in swing states) is registered to vote through www.voteforchange.com.

And if you've got Jewish relatives in swing states, check out www.thegreatschlep.com or www.jewsvote.org.

If you'd like to join us - mostly for Obama, and also to elect Joseph Addabbo to the NY State Senate, in order to save and strengthen the rent laws & pass marriage equality - go to www.bradlander.com/2008 or email me. 

The economic crisis and our shared fate

Finally, like many of you, I've been reading a lot recently, trying to understand the financial crisis and what we can do about it (hat tip to Joe Weisbord for the good suggestions). I'm encouraged by the ideas for smarter, more publicly-minded ways to make sure credit flows, by efforts to reform the bankruptcy rules to stop the punitive treatment of Americans facing foreclosure, and by organizing campaigns that you can learn more about at www.thenation.com.

But the most compelling voice I've read come from 70 years ago, from FDR's first inaugural address: 

"The unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion. True, they have tried. But their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money. … pleading tearfully for restored confidence. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize, as we have never realized before, our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take, but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline." 

Maybe (I know it's a long-shot) we can use this time of global crisis, with a new president worthy of the challenge of FDR's legacy, to come together as a nation around the idea that we have a truly shared fate, and that action to confront the crisis should not simply "extend beyond Wall Street to Main Street," but that it should be judged primarily by how well we do collectively by those who have suffered the most, in lost homes & jobs & hope.

We missed the chance we had to do that as a nation after 9-11 (and again after Hurricane Katrina) … epically squandered by George Bush. And we missed a chance we had locally as well, to honor the dishwashers at Windows on the World and the first-responders as much as the investment bankers … lost in a development frenzy in which we acted as though building luxury condos near Wall Street was the recovery everyone needed.

We aren't likely to get that many more chances. Let's not miss this one.

Defending campaign finance reform

Originally: August 13, 2008  

Today, Mark Winston Griffith and I submitted an amicus brief defending campaign finance reforms adopted by New York City last year that limit lobbyists and "pay-to-play" business donations.

While the NYC campaign finance system was widely respected before last year's reform, contributions from people doing business with the City – through government contracts, subsidies, and land use approvals – still had undue influence.  In the 2005 campaign cycle, people doing business with the city were only 4% of all contributors to City Council candidates, but they accounted for 34% – fully one-third – of all contributions.  I believe the new law can change that.

I'm especially pleased to be doing this along with Mark, who has been a friend and partner in fighting for economic justice and community development for more than a decade.  Mark was one of the co-founders of the Central Brooklyn Federal Credit Union, a long-time community organizer, and a brilliant journalist.  Mark and I have spent our careers at not-for-profit, community-based organizations, working for affordable housing, against predatory lending, and for stronger neighborhoods. We know a lot of people, but we’re not connected to big-money donors or political machines.

Contrary to the arguments made against it, New York City’s matching system makes it possible for a broad range of people to run for public office.  Data from the NYC Campaign Finance Board shows that these reforms are already encouraging small donors, curbing the disproportionate influence of individuals doing business with the city, and giving candidates with community-based backgrounds like Mark and me an opportunity to run.

Thanks to Luke McLaughlin and Jeremy Creelan of Jenner & Block LLP, who prepared the brief for us.

You can read the press release or download the full brief.