Ed Koch, sage of the city, calls New Yorkers to kick the bums out
By: Brendan Patrick Keane | Published Monday, August 9, 2010, 2:25 AM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:46 PM
At the age of 85, Ed Koch is leading a state-wide campaign to "kick the bums" out and make our government work right.
The New York Times tribute to him is well-worth the read and listen.
He's leading a group called
New York Uprising. They focus on huge problems, and just three. They get attention by targeting politicians that resist reform. We forget politicians are supposed to fear the ire of a misled people. Ed Koch is reminding us.
Three reforms that would make
New York state governance less corrupt and more fair:
1 - end gerrymandering where politicians draw election maps to "look like salamanders;" base them on the Census; and don't let the politicians have power over that
2 - establish an ethics board to make transparent the income received and clients serviced by representative politicians outside of the legislature
3- require an honest budget, end the gimmicks, and follow accountants' standards
The man that never sleeps.
7 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.DennisQ | Aug 11, 2010, 03:49 AM EDT
Don't let Ed Koch hear you say that Ireland should get the same $3 billion annual subsidy from the United States that Israel gets. He'd quickly denounce you as an anti-Semite and demand you apologize. What would Brian Cowen do with money like that? Maybe he'd whip up a stimulus package so enticing to young Irish people that they'd stay at home instead of coming here. But it won't happen. The Jews are special. The Irish aren't.
BrendanPKeane | Aug 11, 2010, 12:15 AM EDT
Jewish Americans talk about Israel the way some Irish Americans used to talk about the IRA back in the 1980s. It's emotional and you just want to be loyal to your country and your people. He felt cheated by the Dinkins upset, and he resisted Giuliani in the beginning. His later years were out of office. He did a lot of the corporate deals that Disneyified Times Square. He was graffitis greatest enemy. Still, I stand by my feeling for him. He's a Great New Yorker, and NY Uprising is a good idea.
DennisQ | Aug 10, 2010, 11:23 PM EDT
Ed Koch has been a right winger for a number of years, routinely endorsing Republicans like Giuliani, Pataki, D'Amato and Bush. He also enthusiastically supported the Iraq War. More recently, he applauded the Israeli seizure of the flotilla bringing aid to the Palestinians and the murder of the passengers. Koch is very quick to denounce Israel's critics as anti-Semites, including critics of the barbaric assault on Gaza early in 2009. Koch is a figure out of the 1980's - he was a colorful guy back then, always full of himself. Today he's more cranky than colorful, and this New York Uprising sounds like a way of drawing attention to himself.
gregoryny | Aug 10, 2010, 04:31 PM EDT
11% is for the US Congress we are talking state politics here.
Paullus | Aug 09, 2010, 01:58 PM EDT
It really is sad and too bad we don't have more politicians like Ed Koch! Both parties have developed chronic calcification in moral certitude and statesmanship; only concerned about being reelected and enjoying the spoils of office! I hope the good Lord gives Ed at least 10 more years, as I'm sure it will take that and more to change things around! HANG IN THERE. ED, THE PEOPLE ARE WITH YOU!
Monsoonman | Aug 09, 2010, 10:02 AM EDT
"Too soon old, too late smart."
IrishAndProud | Aug 09, 2010, 04:42 AM EDT
Ed Koch has never been one to shy away from his opinion. And though he's a Democrat himself, I do also think he's picked up on the massive trouble the ruling party in Congress (and in general) is facing this election year, and it's emboldened him all the more (much to his credit). For crying out loud, Congress has only an 11% approval rating, according to Gallup.