Shared Sacrifice

Politicians keep demanding "shared sacrifice" from public sector employees, although in reality the pain of layoffs and wage and benefit reductions is seldom shared.

Last week, I attended an event featuring Howard Wolfson, a NYC deputy mayor who in the private sector functioned as an attack dog for political candidates who preferred not to attack opponents directly (campaign examples: Bloomberg v Thompson and Clinton v Tasini).

When I asked Wolfson what sacrifices he was making, he repeated the Bloomberg line that wealthy people would leave NYC if taxes were increased on them.

Only after I repeated my question about Wolfson's own sacrifices did he respond directly by claiming that he made more money when he worked in the private sector. While undoubtedly this is true, it also is likely that our billionaire mayor will reward Wolfson for his relatively brief service in city government.

So again I pose the question, which should be asked of all politicians who oppose targeted tax increases but advocate solving budget problems through benefit reductions for employees and the public: Where is the shared sacrifice?

Wolfson other deputy mayors and commissioners should take substantial salary cuts before asking the rest of us for "shared sacrifice."

Scott

Now, It's Up to the Governor

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly refuse to relinquish "broken windows"/"quality of life" police enforcement, a legacy of Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the Manhattan Institute (the conservative think tank whose ideas he promoted)

Thanks in large part to the leadership of State Sen. Eric Adams of Brooklyn, the State Legislature has passed a bill to curb one abusive component of broken windows policing -- permanent data retention on people who are stopped and frisked, but not arrested or fined.

In a free society, surely innocent people have the right to keep personal information out of a permanent police data base.

Now, it's up to Gov. David Paterson (who in the past has been sensitive to civil liberties issues), to do the right thing and sign this bill into law, notwithstanding the complaints of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly.

As columnist Bob Herbert argues in Monday's New York Times, signing this bill "should be an easy call for the governor."http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/opinion/06herbert.html

Civil liberties must matter in the world's greatest city.