If your concern is standing up to the rich and powerful, Bloomberg is your best bet, because he’s already rich. He doesn’t take money from anyone. He’s not doing any of this for his own personal enrichment. He’s probably the most progressive person in power right now.

Meanwhile, look at his opposition with Anthony Weiner… what principles does this man have?

Wake up and smell the coffee. All the process crap is just more fog of war.

So why invest in transit? That benefits a future that no one with power seems to care about, on any issue!

Of course not. People with power don’t take transit. And there’s been ample proof over the centuries that people in power care about number one.

Sure I want a mayor who’s good on transit. I also want one who’ll cut the budget and otherwise stay out of my business. Bloomberg’s been horrible on those two counts. Not to say Weiner is or isn’t any better. I liked him a few years ago; haven’t really paid attention to him since. I guess he pandered to his Queens constituency recently but what politician doesn’t.

G.M., the only Detroit automaker to issue its own response Monday, said it was “working aggressively on the products and the advance technologies that match the nation’s and consumers’ priorities to save energy and reduce emissions.” But the company also emphasized the need for “a comprehensive policy discussion that takes into account the development pace of new technologies, alternative fuels and market and economic factors.”

http://www.suntimes.com/business/currency/1397127,CST-FIN-terry26.savagearticle

So why invest in transit? That benefits a future that no one with power seems to care about, on any issue!

No one does. They aren’t exactly going back to all of the variable rate bond issues, figuring out what the fixed rate would have been at the time (hard to do because every issue is different), look at the money they saved with the variable rate before the market blew up, and look at what they lost due to the higher rates they refinanced to. The financial companies donate lots of money to the pols. I doubt they’ll call for lots of money to be spent on forensic accounting here.

(I still find it hard to believe that they lost all that much money on this bond issue, and if the excess interest is the bigger issue, why didn’t Neuman focus on that potentially larger number?)

He presumably reported on the example he had. Anectodes seem more likely to be considered “news” that statistics anyway. This issue spiked to 8% interest. I read on Bloomberg News a few months ago about an issue that briefly spiked to 20% interest.

Of course the MTA only did what millions of Americans also did during the 2004 to 2006 insanity — refinance to exploding loans so they could consume more in the short run. It blows my mind.

Transit has the potential to reduce emissions and oil consumption for a lot less money than we “loaned” Chrysler and GM. I wonder how much of that bailout money is going to lobbyists? Hopefully there are a few in congress that recognized the irony of giving bad corporate citizens money to continue their anti-social behavior, while real citizens are facing service cuts and fare increases.

I still find it hard to believe that they lost all that much money on this bond issue, and if the excess interest is the bigger issue, why didn’t Neuman focus on that potentially larger number?

That’s how much they paid to refinance, not the excess interest they had to pay as interest rates soared.

Frankly, when I found out the MTA had gone with variable rate debt at a time when fixed rate debts were at all-time lows, I felt sick. When they refinanced back into fixed rate debt, paying fees for the privilege, I’d bet the ended up paying much higher rates than they would have if they went with fixed rate debt when they borrowed to begin with. But they saved a few nickels in the short run — when they were flush enough that no one cared where it went.

Of course, this disaster is over and above the greater disaster of borrowing for five years worth of ongoing normal replacement with 30 year bonds, until the debt is so great that ongoing normal replacement comes to an end. Something Mr. Ravitch proposes to continue as a way of deferring the disaster for five more years while making it worse.

Oh, that’s rich. I’m going to exercise *my* first amendment rights and say that if you move onto an island and expect freebies that are not afforded to the rest of us, you’re an idiot.

RE: Poll: Bloomberg Leads Weiner By 7

My vote is “Anyone But Bloomberg”. Going against the will of the voters in order to buy yourself another term is low.

I have a post going up about that at around 3 p.m. today, but that’s just wrong. The MTA, in that lone investment, lost $5.6 million or less than 1/2 of 1 percent of its current deficit. Meanwhile, it made up for it by saving money on their variable-rate debt investments. Every agency, organization and corporation lost some money recently, and a $5.6 million loss seems to me more like The Times searching for a “let’s make the MTA look bad” story than it does a legitimate problem.

* Bloomberg tops New York City Comptroller William Thompson 50 – 34 percent;
* Bloomberg beats U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner 50 – 35 percent.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1302.xml?ReleaseID=1252

(I participated in this poll- First time!)