June 26, 2025

Zohran Mamdani And The Future Of The Democratic Party

June 26, 2025/ Francis Menton

OK, I know that all you smug people out there in the hinterlands are now snickering at me behind my back because I’m about to get stuck with one Zohran Mamdani as the Mayor of my city.
Probably, you have already read enough about this guy to know just how crazy and ignorant he is. If you haven’t yet studied up, here is a small sample of his stated positions: free transit buses for all, free childcare for all children 6 weeks to 5 years old, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on all regulated apartments, vast expansion of city-owned subsidized housing (building on the success of NYCHA!), “cracking down” on landlords, plus some kind of a mental health intervention corps to intervene with violent criminals in lieu of police, all of this to be paid for by “taxes on big corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers.” And of course, “globalize the intifada.” This guy founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Bowdoin College.
And don’t get the idea that he doesn’t mean it.

June 24, 2025

Good Laugh For Today: New York State Says It Will Build A New Nuclear Power Plant

June 24, 2025/ Francis Menton

In case you missed it, here is New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s breathless announcement from yesterday: “Governor Hochul Directs New York Power Authority to Develop a Zero-Emission Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology Power Plant.”
Does something here seem like it doesn’t quite fit? Yes, it was just four years ago, in April 2021, that New York completed the forced closure of the two perfectly functional Indian Point nuclear plants, with combined generating capacity of about 2 GW, for no other reason than relentless opposition from environmentalists and NIMBYs. And yet now the Governor is saying that the plan is to start over and build a new nuclear plant at some unspecified place.
Before getting to a few of the problems, let’s start with some of the excited language from the Governor’s press release:

June 21, 2025

June 21, 2025/ Francis Menton

Among the larger states, the two that are closest to each other in population and demographics are New York and Florida.
According to the latest U.S. Census data (from July 1, 2024), the population of New York was 19,867,248, while the population of Florida was 23,372,215. More recent estimates from a source called World Population Review put New York’s 2025 population at 19,997,100 (an increase of about 130,000 on the year), and Florida’s at 23,839,600 (an increase of about 467,000 over the same year).
Yet in terms of the approach to state government — taxing, spending, and government programs overall — there could not be a greater contrast than between these two states. And that contrast only grows stronger every year.

June 16, 2025

June 16, 2025/ Francis Menton

Now coming into view are the specifics of EPA’s strategy to end the Obama/Biden efforts to strangle the energy sector of the economy in the name of “saving the planet” from climate change.
A document released by EPA last week on June 11 lays out the plan for repeal of the absurd (and dangerous) regulation that would have ended use of fossil fuels to generate electricity by some time in the 2030s.
This EPA document is particularly interesting for the way it treats — and effectively sidelines — the so-called Endangerment Finding, the 2009 regulatory action that is the basis for all of the Obama/Biden fossil fuel suppression efforts.
President Trump made it clear from the first day of his new administration that he intended to undo as many as possible of the Obama/Biden era burdens and restriction on American energy production and use.

June 13, 2025

June 13, 2025/ Francis Menton

The pervasive talking point of the Left since President Trump returned to office is that he is trying to make himself into a “dictator.”
Starting in the early weeks of his new term, the main evidence for the “dictator” claim was said to be Trump’s actions to make the government respond to his policies, via actions like large-scale lay-offs, issuance of Executive Orders, and cancellation of grants and contracts.
(Here for example is a piece from the Guardian from February 13, complaining of what they called Trump’s “illegitimate power grab” by, among other things, cancelling grants and downsizing agencies from USAID to the CFPB. See also, numerous comments on this site from frequent commenter Richard Greene.)
And now, in recent weeks, the “dictator” rhetoric has ramped up to a new level, specifically in response to Trump’s assertive enforcement of the immigration laws. The new claim is that Trump is trying to make himself the “King.”

June 10, 2025

June 10, 2025/ Francis Menton

Over the years I have returned repeatedly to the subject of the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA.
Begun with great optimism prior to World War II, NYCHA expanded rapidly in the 1960s and 70s, until it housed around 500,000 people. The economic model was always pure unmodified socialism — the government owns everything, rents are tied to income (“to each according to his needs”), and any shortfalls in paying costs fall on the taxpayers. But after all, we will save oodles of money because there will be no profits for the evil developers. For a few of my prior posts, see here, here and here
The socialist economic model always lacked any mechanism to renew the capital investment in the buildings as they aged. After 2000, buildings were turning 30, 40 and even 50 years old.
Beginning in the 2010s, NYCHA started regularly announcing large sums of money that it claimed it needed urgently for major repairs to these buildings.