The State of the City

From ABC News:

With tax revenues continuing to drop, New York City faces a $4 billion deficit for fiscal year 2010 and could resort to layoffs and attrition from the city’s 310,000-member workforce to close the gap, city officials said late Thursday.

The cuts and layoffs could result in the elimination of more than 23,000 jobs, or just more than 6.5 percent of the current workforce, a number that has been projected by ABC News for the past several months.

On Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will lay out his plan to close the budget gap, including new initiatives and about $1 billion in cuts for city agencies.

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Royal Pain in the Ass

From ABC News:

As members of the Republican National Committee try to regroup from the disastrous election cycle and prepare to choose the party’s next chairman, some Republicans are left wondering whether conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has emerged as a leader – albeit an unofficial one – of the GOP.

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He Never Met a Microphone He Didn’t Like

From Chicago Breaking News:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich kept up his impeachment-fighting media tour this morning, reciting the same arguments he’s been making for days that he’s the victim of a political witch hunt.

The governor has a full media agenda today [Tuesday], with no less than 11 appearances.

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Did Anyone Look in the Blago-sphere?

From NPR:

The Illinois Senate’s impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich got under way on Monday, but one thing was missing: the defendant.

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POTUS vs. Hippopotamus

From ABC News:

In his meeting with the bipartisan collection of congressional leaders Friday, President Obama cited conservative talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh as a symbol of partisan politics.

“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,” President Obama said, according to the New York Post’s Charlie Hurt.

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The State Department Goes Low Carb-No More Rice!

From The Washington Post:

Hillary Clinton’s first day at the office was nothing short of a triumph. Greeted by cheering throngs – many of them old hands at the State Department convinced that under her leadership at new day dawned for diplomacy – she did not let them down. Not only did she bring with her the polish and panache of seasoned celebrity, she delivered the message they wanted to hear.

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Like a Whiny Stoned Cowboy

B-Rod, in his own words:

I’m here to explain my position about the proceedings that are beginning on Monday, and explain some of the thinking behind the decision that I made and give you some insight on it.

Let me say that this is not an act of defiance; in fact, just the opposite. But there are huge, big issues at stake with regard to the proceedings starting on Monday, specifically with regard to the rules and the process that those proceedings provide for.

…snip…

Specifically, I’m talking about two rules — Rule 15F, which by all intents and purposes prevents me from calling in witnesses like presidential Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, from top presidential staffer Valerie Jarrett, from Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and a whole series of other witnesses that I would eagerly call to testify under oath to show that I have done nothing inappropriate with regard to the decision to pick a United States senator.

…snip…

But even if I could call those witnesses, the more onerous rule is Rule 8B. Rule 8B essentially says that the charges that the House bring in a report — that was not cross-examined, not challenged, not confronted — that those very charges cannot be challenged, cannot be contested, cannot be refuted.

…snip…

Now, I like old movies and I like old cowboy movies, and I want to explain how these rules work in a more understandable way. There was an old saying in the Old West. There was a cowboy who was charged with stealing a horse in town. And some of the other cowboys, especially the guy whose horse was stolen, were very unhappy with that guy. And one of the cowboys said, “Let’s hang him.” Then the other cowboys said, “Hold on. Before we hang him, let’s first give him a fair trial. Then we’ll hang him.” Under these rules, I’m not even getting a fair trial. They’re just hanging me. And when they hang me under these rules, that prevent due process, they’re hanging the 12 million people of Illinois who twice have elected a governor.

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End of the Caro-line

From U.S.News & World Report

By the time Caroline Kennedy finally announced she wanted to be New York’s junior senator, her bid to replace Hillary Clinton was already in serious trouble.

From the start, it appeared like the Kennedy camp was pushing her to go for a job she was not sure she wanted.

Instead of a grand rollout befitting the daughter of John F. Kennedy, word of her possible interest in the post leaked out in dribs and drabs.

When Gov. Paterson, the person with the sole power to make the appointment, first spoke to Kennedy on Dec. 3 about the Senate job, he came away from the telephone conversation unsure if she even wanted it.

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