Why I Support Legal Marijuana by George Soros - Wall Street Journal, October 26, 2010

We Should Invest in Effective Education Rather than Ineffective Arrest and Incarceration.

Our marijuana laws are clearly doing more harm than good. The criminalization of marijuana did not prevent marijuana from becoming the most widely used illegal substance in the United States and many other countries. But it did result in extensive costs and negative consequences.

Law enforcement agencies today spend many billions of taxpayer dollars annually trying to enforce this unenforceable prohibition. The roughly 750,000 arrests they make each year for possession of small amounts of marijuana represent more than 40% of all drug arrests.

Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually. It also would reduce the crime, violence and corruption associated with drug markets, and the violations of civil liberties and human rights that occur when large numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens are subject to arrest. Police could focus on serious crime instead.

The racial inequities that are part and parcel of marijuana enforcement policies cannot be ignored. African-Americans are no more likely than other Americans to use marijuana but they are three, five or even 10 times more likely--depending on the city--to be arrested for possessing marijuana. I agree with Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, when she says that being caught up in the criminal justice system does more harm to young people than marijuana itself. Giving millions of young Americans a permanent drug arrest record that may follow them for life serves no one's interests.

Racial prejudice also helps explain the origins of marijuana prohibition. When California and other U.S. states first decided (between 1915 and 1933) to criminalize marijuana, the principal motivations were not grounded in science or public health but rather in prejudice and discrimination against immigrants from Mexico who reputedly smoked the "killer weed."

Who most benefits from keeping marijuana illegal? The greatest beneficiaries are the major criminal organizations in Mexico and elsewhere that earn billions of dollars annually from this illicit trade--and who would rapidly lose their competitive advantage if marijuana were a legal commodity. Some claim that they would only move into other illicit enterprises, but they are more likely to be weakened by being deprived of the easy profits they can earn with marijuana.

This was just one reason the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy--chaired by three distinguished former presidents, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Caesar Gaviria of Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico--included marijuana decriminalization among their recommendations for reforming drug policies in the Americas.

Like many parents and grandparents, I am worried about young people getting into trouble with marijuana and other drugs. The best solution, however, is honest and effective drug education. One survey after another indicates that teenagers have better access than most adults to marijuana--and often other drugs as well--and find it easier to buy marijuana than alcohol. Legalizing marijuana may make it easier for adults to buy marijuana, but it can hardly make it any more accessible to young people. I'd much rather invest in effective education than ineffective arrest and incarceration.

California's Proposition 19, which would legalize the recreational use and small-scale cultivation of marijuana, wouldn't solve all the problems connected with the drug. But it would represent a major step forward, and its deficiencies can be corrected on the basis of experience. Just as the process of repealing national alcohol prohibition began with individual states repealing their own prohibition laws, so individual states must now take the initiative with respect to repealing marijuana prohibition laws. And just as California provided national leadership in 1996 by becoming the first state to legalize the medical use of marijuana, so it has an opportunity once again to lead the nation.

In many respects, of course, Proposition 19 already is a winner no matter what happens on Election Day. The mere fact of its being on the ballot has elevated and legitimized public discourse about marijuana and marijuana policy in ways I could not have imagined a year ago. 

Mayor Criticized on Judicial Stance by Michael Howard Sau l- WSJ.com

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg, vowing to keep fighting to shutter 19 failing city schools, suggested Friday that judges should take a more activist role when deciding cases.

The mayor's remarks—denouncing a unanimous appellate court ruling that prevents his administration from closing the schools—offer a provocative glimpse at Mr. Bloomberg's perspective on the role of the judiciary and would undoubtedly be a lightning rod if he launched a bid for president.

Mr. Bloomberg, 68 years old, contemplated a White House bid in 2008 and there is widespread speculation that he still harbors such ambitions.

On his weekly radio show, the mayor conceded it's "probably true" that his administration "didn't comply" with the procedures required under law to close the schools, but he suggested the five-judge panel on the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court should have looked at the bigger picture.

"We're playing with children's lives, not whether the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed," Mr. Bloomberg said. "They should look at the context of it, and for them to think, 'Well, you know, I'm just here to interpret the law,' that's not true. They are part of society."

Mr. Bloomberg said the judges "made a terrible mistake, and...should have found a ways to interpret the law—and they have plenty of discretion, it's ridiculous to say they don't—to accomplish what's good for society."

Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank based in Virginia, called the mayor's remarks "disturbing."
"The definition of judicial activism is a judge ignoring what the text of a law says—whether it's the Constitution, or a statute, or a regulation—and instead substituting his own view of what is the greater societal good," he said.

Mr. Clegg said the mayor's remarks "would come back to haunt him" if he decides to pursue a White House bid. Mr. Bloomberg has repeatedly said he has no plans to run for president.

Doug Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, said Mr. Bloomberg's remarks reflect his "hubris and arrogance."

"He's telling the judges that 'I am so right on the issue that your interpretation of the law doesn't matter. It's Bloomberg law. I am the philosopher king. I know best,'" Mr. Muzzio said. "It's outrageous, but characteristic of the mayor and his attitude."

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which brought the suit along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the mayor's administration was instrumental in crafting the very law it violated.

"You support a law, you help draft a law, then, your agency goes out of its way to make sure they don't follow it," he said. "It's ridiculous."

He said judges should make decisions based on the facts and the law. "We're in a lot of trouble if the facts be damned," he said.

An aide to Mr. Bloomberg declined Friday to respond to the criticism that the mayor's comments elicited.

Public Advocate Wins Back Budget by Michael Howard Saul - WSJ.com

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The City Council agreed to infuse $600,000 into the public advocate's budget, wiping out the decrease Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed last month and restoring about half of the nearly 40% budget cut the office suffered last year.

Officials from the mayor's office said Monday the public advocate office's exact budget for the fiscal year beginning Thursday wasn't yet available, but officials from the council said they expected it would be roughly $2.3 million. The council is scheduled to vote on the budget Tuesday.

The restoration of the funding is a major victory for newly elected Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, ...

NYC Comptroller John Liu Announced New Website "Checkbook NYC" - Allows Users to Track How NYC $ is Spent...

New York City has opened up a look inside its ledger. Checkbook NYC, released by city comptroller John Liu yesterday, sets up users to search and download some top-level details on the money spent by the city each day. Liu's office reports that some $35 billion in city spending since the first of the year is accounted for on the new site.

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Online App Tracks New York City Spending -- Including Bloomberg's Car-Service Tab - Metropolis -By Aaron Rutkoff and Michael Howard Saul - WSJ:

Downloading every item of New York City’s spending — there’s an app for that.

City Comptroller John Liu released a searchable online database of every disbursement made by New York City in 2010. To date, the database has over $35 billion in city spending.

The project, called “Checkbook NYC,” is an extension of an initiative launched by Liu’s predecessor, William Thompson, to log every city contract in an open database. The next step, slated for completion by the end of the year, will measure each agency’s contracts with minority- and women-owned businesses.

So how long does it take to expose somewhat embarrassing information about city spending after the launch of this new online tool? Less than one day. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office spent $2,064.96 at K & D Liquors, $325.96 at the Lobster Place and $201.62 at H&H Bagels.

According to the website, the office of the mayor’s food and drink bill totaled more than $50,000 during the first six months of this year. Nearly $25,000 was spent on office equipment and maintenance. More than $55,000 on travel.

Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Bloomberg, said the food bill for the mayor’s office is mostly attributed to events at Gracie Mansion. The mayor doesn’t live there but holds events at the Upper East Side mansion often.

Roughly 70% of the costs of entertaining at Gracie Mansion are paid for with private dollars, LaVorgna said. “Gracie Mansion is a city facility — there is a cost to it,” he added. “There are hundreds of events there. It’s not like this is for food in the office.”

Beyond food expenses, there’s the matter of car-service spending. The mayor’s budget staff has spent more than $10,000 on car services so far this year, the Associated Press found, despite Bloomberg’s avowed dedication to commuting by subway.

And the budget staff wasn’t even the biggest spender for car services: Law department staffers have spent $66,000 on car-service rides this year.

New Web Site Tracks Taxpayer Money in New York by Stephen Caesar - NYTimes.com

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office spent a total of $5,500 on three alcohol purchases at a liquor store on the Upper East Side. The New York City Board of Elections spent more than $472,000 on car service over five months.

As of July 1, the city has spent in this calendar year exactly $40,733,960,217.46.

That is just a sample of the spending details that can be found on a new Web site unveiled on Thursday by John C. Liu, the city comptroller. Mr. Liu said he wanted to make it easier for New Yorkers to find out how taxpayer money is spent, or perhaps misspent.

More transparency, Mr. Liu added, could lead to more responsible spending by all city agencies, including his own.

“It’s about open government, intrinsic accountability and creating strong incentives towards saving taxpayer money,” he said at a news conference in Manhattan. Mr. Liu’s office, for example, has so far this year spent $200,000 on postage. That might seem high, but a spokeswoman said that was reasonable since the office produced reams of paperwork.

The online database, named Checkbook NYC, allows users to search and download expenditures by agency, the name of a payee, the purpose and the amount. The database will be updated daily and uses the city’s financial management system to record all city expenditures, Mr. Liu said.

The database cost about $320,000 to produce and will cost $70,000 a year to maintain, Mr. Liu said — those costs can also be found in the database.

Not everything can be found there. The names of some individual payees are left out because the payments involve salary or expense reimbursements. Depending on legal concerns, the office hopes in the future to be able to disclose the names of every city worker and the gross amount of his or her paycheck, Mr. Liu said.

Mr. Bloomberg’s office spent about $2,000 on each of the three purchases at K & D Liquors on Madison Avenue near 96th Street this year. The alcohol, as with most food purchased by the office, is for various events held by different groups at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, said Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg. The mayor does not live at the mansion.

Though the bills were paid using taxpayer money, most of it was reimbursed by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit that uses private money to support public programs, according to the mayor’s Web site. Sometimes the group involved in hosting the event will pick up part of the cost, Mr. LaVorgna said.

The bill paid by the Board of Elections to two car service companies is a result of an agency policy to provide workers with car service home if they work more than 12 hours a day, said Valerie Vazquez, a spokeswoman for the board. Car service is provided so that workers can get home safely, Ms. Vazquez said.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a government watchdog, praised the new database, saying that agencies are more likely to pay greater attention to the way they spend money if more eyes are watching them.

“Once it becomes a matter of course,” she said, “it does exactly what it’s supposed to do.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Tax Bill? $500,000 by Arden Dale and Michael Howard Saul- WSJ.com

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid more than $500,000 in personal income taxes last year, reporting to the Internal Revenue Service that his investments did well but not enough to compensate for losses the previous year, according to returns made public Friday.

The returns showed that the mayor paid more tax than the prior year on household employees; earned between $60,000 and $99,999 from leasing a horse and stable; and put $500,000 or more into a trust for his ex-wife, Susan Bloomberg.

Since 2001, Mr. Bloomberg has annually released highly redacted returns. In the spaces where his income and other financial data would be included on the tax forms, Mr. Bloomberg's accountants substitute a code letter representing ranges of dollar amounts. For example, the mayor listed his adjusted gross income as "G," the highest category, which stands for $500,000 or more.

Mayor Bloomberg Bloomberg News

Still, tax-related documents reveal details about Mr. Bloomberg's life and finances. They show, for example, that he made money from two appearances in episodes of "Law and Order" and a Muppets Christmas special he appeared in last year.

A conflict-of-interest statement from the mayor provided details of income earned from various positions and investments he holds. They showed he earned income from his investment in "Focus," a film adaptation of an Arthur Miller story he backed years ago, but that had been a source of loss until now.

Horse show winnings were also listed by Mr. Bloomberg, whose youngest daughter, Georgina Bloomberg, is an equestrienne who won her first grand prix in a horse show last month.

Details of two investment vehicles in which Mr. Bloomberg invested, QAM Select Investors and QAM Private Investors, also appeared in the documents; the mayor reported a capital loss of more than $500,000 associated with the former and a capital gain of more than $500,00 with the latter. The funds were run by Quadrangle Asset Management, formerly headed by Steven L. Rattner, who left the firm last year. Mr. Rattner did not return a call for comment.

The mayor also reported that a friend, Gregory Vereschagin, still has not repaid a loan of between $100,000 and $249,999 that was due in 2002. In an interview Friday, Mr. Vereschagin said he "absolutely" intends to repay the mayor but "I just haven't had the means to do that."

Years ago, Mr. Vereschagin's name was listed as one of Connecticut's top delinquent taxpayers. Mr. Vereschagin said Friday that the state claimed he owed money, but when the situation was settled, he was issued a refund.

Since becoming the city's chief executive in January 2002, Mr. Bloomberg has foregone a city salary, accepting $1 a year to be the mayor.

Mr. Bloomberg has a long history of refusing to release his full tax returns. In 2001, during his first campaign for mayor, he lost his temper on the steps of City Hall when pressed by a reporter about why he refused to release his returns when each of his opponents released their IRS filings. "That's fine," Mr. Bloomberg snapped. "They don't make anything."

Residents Plan to Protest Brooklyn Wal-Mart By R.M. Schneiderman - Metropolis - WSJ

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Wal-Mart has yet to officially announce that it is considering the Gateway II shopping center in East New York for its first New York City store, but protests are beginning already.

Citing what it claims is a history of employee abuses and discriminatory practices, a New York community group and roughly 100 East New York residents plan to protest Wal-Mart’s reported plans this afternoon near Spring Creek Towers, a large low and middle income housing complex formerly known as Starrett City, in Brooklyn.

“We’re not opposed to development,” said Jonathan Westin, an organizer for New York Communities for Change, a city-based non-profit. “We just want stores that will pay people fair wages and treat the community the way it should be treated.”

As The Journal reported in April, Wal-Mart has been looking for potential sites for stores across the five boroughs, saying that its presence would would bring jobs and tax revenue.

The Gateway shopping center is reportedly one of them.

Last year, the city approved development of Gateway, which is owned by Related Cos., the company that also developed the Times Warner Center in Midtown.

But in presenting its plan to the City Council, Related did not say that Wal-Mart might become one of its tenants. Bringing in Wal-Mart is a potential political liability for Related, the City Council already approved the company’s development plan, and thus would not be able to block it.

“Wal-Mart is trying to come in the back door,” said Westin.

If Wal-Mart does indeed attempt to move to East New York, many pundits expect a heated battle between the City Council and unions, which spoiled the retailer’s previous efforts to bring stores to Queen and Staten Island.

For years unions have thwarted the retailer’s the much-needed expansion plans into cities.

In April, Mayor Bloomberg came out in favor of the discount retailer’s plan to come to New York.

“People that live in this city are going outside the city to shop at Wal-Marts,” he said. “So, if they’re going to shop at Wal-Marts, they might as well live here, they might as well have the jobs here and the tax revenues here.”

That argument seemed to work in Chicago where city officials had resisted Wal-Mart’s overtures until 2009, when in the throes of the recession, officials suddenly became receptive to them.

On Tuesday, Wal-Mart said that its same-store sales declined by 1.1% as consumers continued to struggle with unemployment and high gas prices.

Earlier this month, the company said it was donating $2 billion in food and money to national food banks over the next five years.

Invest $500K In Brooklyn Navy Yard, Get A Green Card by Jaya Saxena - Gothamist

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Is this for real..?

Shirt translation - "I have a green card"

To help finance its $125 million project, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is hoping to lure investors with the tantalizing prospect of permanent residency. The EB-5 visa can be awarded to up to 10,000 foreigners who invest $500,000 to $1 million in American businesses and projects. Once the investors can document that their investments created at least 10 jobs, they are granted green cards. Robert Lieber, deputy mayor for economic development told the Wall Street Journal, "This is a real interesting and clever way to provide financing."

The Yard's expansion is expected to create about 2,800 "green" jobs. The city will pay for $81 million in upgrades, but they're relying on investors to cover the rest of the projects, like the development of the new Green Manufacturing Center. The EB-5 program began in 1990, and has been growing in popularity, issuing 4,218 visas last year to mostly Asian investors. In 1992 Congress approved a measure that would let regional centers organize the investments, and New York's regional center has made the Brooklyn Navy Yards its first investment.

The project was chosen because of the high unemployment rate in the area, which meant a better chance for job creation. Bed-Stuy currently has a 14.8% unemployment rate, and Fort Greene's in 9.9%. Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp president Andrew Kimball said, "This program is raising money for New York City and Brooklyn the way that Congress intended it to."