January 02, 2022

As Bill de Blasio Prepares To Leave Office, Part III -- Crime

January 02, 2022/ Francis Menton

At this writing on January 2, de Blasio is finally gone from office. Whether the new guy (Eric Adams) proves to be any better remains to be seen.
Before leaving the topic of de Blasio’s legacy to New York, I would be remiss not to include a post on the subject of crime.
The bottom line for crime, as for every other major issue of public policy, was that the progressive de Blasio ruined everything he touched. Outcomes worsened across the board, and the decline was the clear result of the progressive policies that de Blasio either implemented or advocated.

December 31, 2021

As Bill de Blasio Prepares To Leave Office, Part II -- Homelessness

December 31, 2021/ Francis Menton

It’s almost time for the ball to drop in Times Square, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s remaining time in office is reduced to minutes.
Let me wish all Manhattan Contrarian readers a Happy New Year!
But before de Blasio finally goes, we ought to take a quick look at how his progressive policies have succeeded in solving another one of his signature issues, namely homelessness.

December 29, 2021

December 29, 2021/ Francis Menton

Sometimes, it seems like the world is just flailing away in its concerted efforts to achieve zero carbon emissions.
In the U.S. the President can’t get his grand “green” plans through a Congress controlled by his own party. In Europe, a countryside blanketed with wind turbines can’t counteract a wind drought in 2021, and emissions rise even while natural gas prices spike to nearly 10 times the U.S. level.
New York may be a late-comer to Net Zero plans, but by God, our politicians and bureaucrats are so much smarter than those clowns across the country or the pond.

December 26, 2021

December 26, 2021/ Francis Menton

Here in New York City, political offices change hands on New Year’s Day. That means that, come Saturday, we will finally be rid of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
De Blasio got a full eight years in office to implement his uber-progressive agenda and finally bring perfect fairness and justice to New York City. He was handed by his predecessor (Mike Bloomberg) a government that did have an unreasonably high level of spending, but still was in relatively good fiscal condition, with crime under control and strong economic growth.
With the momentum of the economic growth and a supportive State Legislature and City Council, de Blasio was able to have dramatic increases in revenues, and therefore spending, to achieve his goals. The budget bequeathed to de Blasio by Bloomberg for the fiscal year that ran from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014 was $72.9 billion. The current budgeted spending level, running to June 30, 2022, that de Blasio is bequeathing to his successor, is $102.8 billion.
Surely, you will say, for those huge spending increases, de Blasio must have been able to achieve his goals and more.

December 23, 2021

December 23, 2021/ Jane Menton

The arrival of Omicron is causing COVID déjà vu in the US. With cases surging, many political leaders are considering lockdowns right before the holidays.
Meanwhile, existing vaccines against COVID seem to have no effect on the spread of this variant — and even the New York Times admits it.
Pfizer is already indicating that it will use the occasion to urge a “fourth dose” of the vaccine.
In New York City, where 90.6% of adults are vaccinated, officials have announced that the City has broken its COVID case record two days in a row.
Despite that, officials in the U.S. and elsewhere are imposing new and stricter vaccine mandates, even as evidence against their effectiveness mounts.

December 20, 2021

December 20, 2021/ Francis Menton

Chile held a presidential election yesterday. This was a run-off between the two top vote-getters in a prior round. The candidates were José Kast of the Republican (conservative) Party, and Gabriel Boric of the Social Convergence (leftist) Party. Boric won easily, by about 56/44, and Kast promptly conceded and offered congratulations. Boric will replace Sebastián Piñera, a conservative.
Chile is one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America, with per capita GDP for 2020 estimated at $13,232 by the World Bank.
Chile has experienced enormous economic growth since the 1960s, and its current level of prosperity (as measured by per capita GDP, World Bank figures) puts to shame its main rivals in Latin America like Mexico ($8,347), Argentina ($8,442), and Brazil ($6,797).
You would think that the Chileans, being there in Latin America, could look around themselves, see the failures of leftism everywhere staring them in the face, and want to have nothing to do with it.