Comments on: Thank Goodness for Dear, Glorious Leader Sheldon Silver http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/06/11/thank-goodness-for-dear-glorious-leader-sheldon-silver/ Covering the New York City Streets Renaissance Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Angus Grieve-Smith http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/06/11/thank-goodness-for-dear-glorious-leader-sheldon-silver/comment-page-1/#comment-32522 Angus Grieve-Smith Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:00:34 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/06/11/thank-goodness-for-dear-glorious-leader-sheldon-silver/#comment-32522 <blockquote>As Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute points out, the driving force behind the mayor's plan is money. [...] If money weren't the object, they'd give the revenues back via a tax cut. [...] "Before you impose new costs, manage better, use the money more efficiently," said a historian of Mayor Giuliani's administration, Fred Siegel.</blockquote> I don't know if there's a fuller version of Gelinas' comments anywhere, but judging by this comment, she deserves to have her libertarian credentials revoked. Why is she opposed to charging drivers the full costs of commuting to Manhattan? The same thing for Fred Siegel as a historian: if he knows anything about Giuliani's administration he'd know that Giuliani and Pataki cut the MTA budget deeply. I'm perfectly willing to believe that the MTA could use its money more efficiently, but at least return it to a reasonable level of funding before demanding that. It just shows how inconsistent some libertarians can be: any subsidy they don't like can be reduced in the name of efficiency, but any subsidy they like is untouchable.

As Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute points out, the driving force behind the mayor’s plan is money. [...]

If money weren’t the object, they’d give the revenues back via a tax cut. [...]

“Before you impose new costs, manage better, use the money more efficiently,” said a historian of Mayor Giuliani’s administration, Fred Siegel.

I don’t know if there’s a fuller version of Gelinas’ comments anywhere, but judging by this comment, she deserves to have her libertarian credentials revoked. Why is she opposed to charging drivers the full costs of commuting to Manhattan?

The same thing for Fred Siegel as a historian: if he knows anything about Giuliani’s administration he’d know that Giuliani and Pataki cut the MTA budget deeply. I’m perfectly willing to believe that the MTA could use its money more efficiently, but at least return it to a reasonable level of funding before demanding that.

It just shows how inconsistent some libertarians can be: any subsidy they don’t like can be reduced in the name of efficiency, but any subsidy they like is untouchable.

]]> By: Niccolo Machiavelli http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/06/11/thank-goodness-for-dear-glorious-leader-sheldon-silver/comment-page-1/#comment-32516 Niccolo Machiavelli Mon, 11 Jun 2007 22:30:51 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/06/11/thank-goodness-for-dear-glorious-leader-sheldon-silver/#comment-32516 I don't know if a sneer at Cuba is really necessary. Could be that Cuba is using less carbons per capita than anywhere in the world, that should stand for something. Also, my friends who have been there claim that is very bicycle centric. Maybe critical mass should organize a rally there before Castro passes. Harvard scholars who write for the Sun (Sun and scholarship, contradiction in terms) should never be given the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know if a sneer at Cuba is really necessary. Could be that Cuba is using less carbons per capita than anywhere in the world, that should stand for something. Also, my friends who have been there claim that is very bicycle centric. Maybe critical mass should organize a rally there before Castro passes. Harvard scholars who write for the Sun (Sun and scholarship, contradiction in terms) should never be given the benefit of the doubt.

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