The Writer's Life 10/4 - Machinations

The sins of political hacks are on display in two items particularly in today's NY Post. A blurb reports that the U.S. closed out the fiscal year of 2016 $19.6 trillion in debt, $1.4 trillion higher than last year. The 7.5% jump is the third largest in history... Steve Malanga devotes an article to New Jersey's .23 cent increase in its gasoline tax. The liar's club cites the lack of funds for road work as the reason for the hike. Malanga points out that NJ is second in the nation in tolls collection, seventh among all states in transportation revenue, and wonders where the money goes. Part of deficit is due to government inefficiency. NJ spends $2.2 million per mile, ten times the national average. Republican Governor Christie failed to change the culture of the state. It was a tough task, no doubt. If Jersey is better off since he took office, it is so only marginally.

Also in the Post: So far in 2016 there has been a 23% increase in assaults on police officers in NYC. Ferguson Effect?  

The NY Times has excoriated Donald Trump for his tax machinations. In 1995, when he wasn't running for office as a Republican, it had a completely different view: Here's an article posted in Don Surber's blog. He is the author of Trump the Press. I combined it into one paragraph:
Crowning the Comeback King - "Though there are still four years to go in the 90's, business and government leaders in New York honored Donald J. Trump yesterday for pulling off what they called 'the comeback of the decade.' Mr. Trump, the developer who came to epitomize opulent wealth during the 80's before tumbling into deep financial trouble, has managed to erase much of his debt and is moving ahead with major projects at a time other developers are idling. Judging from the attention showered on him yesterday at the Union League Club, some of New York's civic and business leaders are quite captivated by Mr. Trump, despite the financial uncertainties that still surround some of his properties. But the operative word at the luncheon was comeback, though Mr. Trump might dispute that he ever went far away. William D. Fugazy, the limousine magnate and chairman of the Forum Club, the group of business and civic leaders that sponsored the luncheon, presented Mr. Trump with a boomerang encased in glass. 'You throw it and it always comes back,' he said as he handed it over. In a flattering speech, Lieut. Gov. Betsy McCaughey called Mr. Trump 'the comeback kid.' Charles A. Gargano, who as chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation is himself considered one of the new powers of the state, joked about a Perot-Trump presidential ticket. 'He would be the most loved Vice President since Spiro T. Agnew,' he said. Mr. Gargano, who heads the state's economic development efforts, added, 'Thank you for your tax dollars.' For you youngsters out there, Agnew was not loved at all. Trump was a winner. Still is. Anyone who has had a business deal go sour knows what he did."
And this from breitbart.com: "...The New York Times paid no taxes and got an income tax refund of $3.5 million even though they had a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million in 2014..."

Every once in a while an angel shows up to the floating book shop. An elderly woman checking out my books commented on Rising Star and its accompanying tag: Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll. "I don't know the author," she said. When I told her I was, she asked about the other books, selected A Hitch in Twilight, and gave me $20 for it. The session's lone sale was a great one. Thank you, Joan.

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