The Frustrated Electorate

Pundits, columnists and bloggers of all stripes have attempted to characterize the political mood in the upcoming election. They have called the 2010 voters “angry,” “afraid,” “disappointed,” and even “ignorant,” “misinformed,” and “misguided.” I think there is an element to all of that in the voice that will resound on November 2nd, but I believe it all springs from one word - “frustration.” 

It is not complicated. November 2, 2010 can be summarized in one simple sentence: Americans are frustrated with their government because it has not listened to them.

Healthcare reform, or to call it by its political nomenclature - “Obamacare” - is simply “Exhibit A” in the People v. The Ruling Class. The fate of the substance of healthcare reform and the acceptance of the public of its provisions is not yet known and will not be known for quite some time. But the jury has already spoken on the “process” of reform and delivered its verdict: “Guilty on all counts of the crime of not listening.” On Tuesday, we will know the sentence. I believe it will be punitive. It will be harsher than necessary in an attempt to teach a lesson that will not soon be forgotten by future ruling classes.

Let’s review the facts of just one element of the 2010 Election case:

In the late spring and early summer of 2009, the President and the Democratically controlled Congress began making their plans for healthcare reform known to the nation. Remember what transpired? Americans, by the hundreds of thousands, told their elected Federal representatives “Yeah, not so much.” They went to town meetings; they wrote letters; they made phone calls; they rallied. But the ruling class would not listen and proceeded with hearings and bill writing.

On November 3rd, 2009, the People said, “Hey maybe we should speak a little louder. It does not appears as if they heard us.” They elected Republicans to the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia. 

And finally, on January 19, 2010, the People said, “Oh my goodness, it appears we are not getting through to them at all. Perhaps it is time to shout and scream and act out.” So in the Bluest of American states, in the land of Kennedy and Tip and birthplace of machine politics, they elected Scott Brown, a Republican, to the United States Senate.

Surely, they thought, they will hear us now.

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” into law.

Now the People were seething. But they waited; they plotted; they organized; they planned. 

On Tuesday, they will act. They will act on their frustrations with Obamacare, which, yes, has in some cases led to “anger” and “fear.” They will act on their frustrations about the economy and what they view as the incompetence of their government to deal with it and, yes, many of them are “disappointed.” They will act on their frustration with the mounting federal debt and the spending in Washington, DC, and in Ohio and California and Pennsylvania and nearly every single small and large hamlet, village, town and city. And, oh yes, in some case they may even be “ignorant,” “misinformed” and “misguided.” But guess what? That is their right. Lecturing them and scolding them and questioning their wisdom, as the Ruling Class has done, only makes them angrier. Try that technique with some co-workers, family, friends or students. See where it gets you.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says:

“To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation.”

In a few weeks, after they have vented, perhaps a new dialogue will emerge between the People and a reconstituted Ruling Class. Let’s hope so.

Property Tax Death by a Thousand Cuts

It is just a tiny cut. It barely bleeds. But it is a cut nonetheless and (intentionally mixing metaphors) yet another straw on the back of already overburdened property taxpayers. 

“It” is the legislation you surely have heard the most about in the past few weeks - and is not any number of “reform” items in the Governor’s “tool kit,” which has yet to be acted upon by the Legislature. No, “it” is Assembly Bill 3466, “Establishes measure to address harassment, intimidation, and bullying in school settings.”  Not yet known as “Tyler’s Law,” after the tragic case of a Rutger’s student who took his own life following harassment by fellow students, the legislation imposes mandate after mandate after mandate upon state and local schools.

Here is a sampling (taken from the sponsors’ press release):

The bill “requires all teachers, administrators and school board members to complete anti-bullying training; requires public colleges and universities to adopt an anti-bullying policy to include harassment and intimidation and include it in the code of conduct given to all students; provides that the superintendent of schools in each school district must appoint a district anti-bullying coordinator and sets forth the responsibilities of that individual; requires school districts to establish bullying prevention programs or approaches compared to current law under which school districts are only encouraged to establish such programs; provides that a school district's policy on harassment, intimidation, and bullying must include appropriate responses to such actions that occur off school grounds; provides that each school district must form a school safety team in each school in the district to foster and maintain a positive school climate within the schools; provides that by the 2011-2012 school year all candidates for school administrator or teacher certification will be required to complete a program on harassment, intimidation, or bullying prevention, and that training in this area will be a part of the professional development requirements for these individuals; includes training regarding harassment, intimidation and bullying in schools as a part of the training program provided to all school board members; designates the week beginning with the first Monday in October of each year as a "Week of Respect" and requires districts to observe the week by providing age-appropriate instruction focusing on preventing harassment, intimidation or bullying; provides a detailed procedure that must be included in each district's policy concerning the investigation of incidents of harassment, intimidation, or bullying; provides that a school employee or contracted service provider must file a written report with the school principal within two days of observing or being made aware of an act of harassment, intimidation, or bullying; provides that the principal in each public school must appoint the currently employed school guidance counselor, school psychologist or another similarly trained individual as the school anti-bullying specialist (if there is no individual that meets these criteria employed in the school, the principal must appoint another currently employed individual in the school to the position of school anti-bullying specialist.);  and, provides that the superintendent of schools must report to the board of education twice a year, rather than annually, at a public hearing all acts of violence, vandalism and harassment, intimidation, or bullying which occurred during the previous period. 

To assist school districts in meeting the new mandates, the legislation creates a “Bullying Prevention Fund” in the Department of Education to which districts can apply for grants. Raise your hand if you think the fund will a) be enough to cover the cost of the new mandates for every district in the state; and b) never be used for other purposes by the state in tough fiscal times. Those of you who raised your hands can tune into Fox tonight (in certain areas) to enjoy the Yankee-Phillie World Series that you were also led to believe would happen.

When I last checked, the bill had 42 sponsors and cosponsors in the Assembly, more than enough to assure passage.

The bill, if it becomes law, will not prevent bullying. Simply teaching teachers and administrators (who are already taught such things) and requiring them to report on their success will not accomplish anything. Brett Favre has been told over and over again that he should not throw the ball to the other team, but somehow he keeps getting intercepted.

Indeed, according to the New Jersey Department of Education’s own website, “New Jersey has been a leader in the establishment of a strong statutory, regulatory, policy and program framework to support the prevention, remediation and reporting of HIBT (Harassment, Intimidations & Bullying) in schools.  The site provides “information and resources to aid schools in the establishment of HIBT policies, the adoption of HIBT program strategies, the implementation of proactive responses to HIBT and the adoption effective HIBT reporting procedures.” Note: No new law required.

No, unfortunately, we will probably never end bullying amongst the young. There will always be “haves” and “have-nots;” we will always have “weak” and “strong;” there will always be “cool” and “geek” and “nerd;” and, yes, “gay” and “straight.” And there will always be those because of some weakness in THEIR character who will take advantage, bully, punish, torture and otherwise harass those who they see as different. It has been going on since men and women sent their children to the cave down the valley for training.

No law will, however well intentioned, will change that.

But the bill WILL add to our property tax burden. Perhaps maybe not next year or the year after, but eventually it will become part of all that the state requires schools to accomplish. And it will take away from schools a part of a few days that first week in October every year when they were supposed to be teaching the kids how to read and write and do math.

The publicity surrounding the death of Tyler Clementi has already accomplished more than will be achieved by this bill. I am certain that in classrooms across New Jersey and America teachers are using this tragic event as a “learning moment” and doing some good.

Let’s leave it at that and not knee-jerk another new mandate upon our schools. Some day you will thank me. A lot of us are already bleeding to death. We need no new cuts.

How's that New York-Philadelphia World Series Working Out for Ya?

The center of the universe got crushed this past weekend and was shifted a couple of thousand miles to the West. The expected re-match between the Yankees and the Phillies did not materialize because the two best teams that East Coast money could buy stopped hitting.

The Yankees limped into the postseason and were carried out on a gurney after being beaten about the head and neck by the upstart Rangers. Yankee pitchers turned Benjie Molina, a 36-year-old journeyman catcher with a lifetime .274 batting average into a cross between Carlton Fisk and Johnny Bench. Yankee hitters, save Robinson Cano, decided to extend their September vacation into October and can now relax with their millions in warmer climates. The Yankees also suffered from being led by a robot instead of a manager who understands human emotions. In game four, if me and Sal could see from the second deck (good seats, but still the second deck) that AJ Burnett had run out of steam, why couldn't Joe Girardi? With the Yankees ahead 3-2, a runner on first and two outs, the Manager could have easily taken AJ out and allowed the struggling pitcher to walk off the field to a thunderous standing ovation. Instead, he orders him to put the go-ahead run on base and has him pitch to the aforementioned CarltonFishJohnnyBench. Instead of a winter on a high note for his number two starter, he has to assign Yankee staff to suicide watch.

The Phillies, whose fans had already reserved room on the mantel for the 2010 Commissioner's Trophy, supported their superb pitching staff with a couple of singles here and there. The team's leading hitter in the NLCS, Ryan Howard, had zero RBI's - nada, zilch, none. The Philadelphia pitchers did what everyone knew they would do - they pitched like aces. But it is expecting a bit much to think that they are going to throw shutouts every time on the mound.

So it is "better luck next year" for both of the anointed ones.

At least the Yankees know where their holes are: They need pitching - either a couple of frontline starters or a shrink to glue AJ Burnett's head back on. They also need "chemistry and clutch." Sure, they did not need or miss Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui during the regular season, but it sure would have been nice to have their intangibles during the postseason.

The Phillies on the other hand are hard to figure out. They are in danger of becoming the Atlanta Braves: Pretty darn good, but not great. Almost, but not quite. Perhaps if Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson in their primes are available, they can improve the pitching staff, but only marginally. The offense needs consistency. Who is Chase Utley? Is he Jackie Robinson or Davey Johnson? Right now, I am leaning towards Johnson - a few great years but just slightly above average for the career. And is Jimmy Rollins always going to be boon or bust?

Although an American League fan, I will be rooting for the Giants, who last won the Series the year I was born, 1954. It was during that fabulous season, in August, that my parents decided to name me after New York rightfielder Don Mueller, who finished second to Willie Mays in batting in 1954 and hit .389 in a four-game sweep of the Indians in the World Series. He could teach the Yankees and Philies a thing or two about coming up big when it counts.

DraftChristie2012.com

Subscribers to my blog are getting the first word on a new website that will launch at 6 a.m. Thursday October 14th.

Here is the press release making the announcement:

Website Launched to Urge New Jersey’s Chris Christie to Run for President in 2012

www.draftchristie2012.com Will Collect Names to Draft Garden State Governor

Riverton, NJ - A new website was launched today to collect support from Americans to draft New Jersey Christopher J. Christie to run for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012. The site was launched by former New Jersey Republican Assembly Executive Director Donald Sico, who has no affiliation with Governor Christie or the New Jersey Republican Party.

The website www.draftchristie2012.com allows citizens to fill out a form and join like-minded people who believe that the Garden State’s governor is the Republican Party’s best candidate for President in 2012.

“I know Chris does not want to run,” said Sico. “We have to make him run because quite frankly he is the right person for the job at the right time. America has never needed someone with his fiscal commonsense than she does right now.”

Sico explained that the www.draftchristie2012.com website does not and will not solicit any advertising. He said no donations will be collected and the lists of supporters will ONLY be given to Governor Christie. A simple introductory message leads viewers to a form to register their support. There are no videos, links to articles or photographs, save one of the Governor.

“This is not fancy. The website is intended for one purpose and one purpose only: to collect thousands of names of those Americans who want Chris Christie to run for President,” Sico added. “This is an urgent matter. We have precious little time to convince him and precious little time to get the United States back on sure financial ground.”

Sico said the website was timed to launch on the 365th birthday of founder of the city of Philadelphia, William Penn, October 14th.

“We have about a year - 365 days - to sway Chris,” he said. “What better day to launch this effort than on the birthday of the man who founded the very city which gave birth to the greatest nation on earth.”

Sico said the website would post frequent updates on the number who register their support. “Quite honestly, we need tens of thousands of people to join us,” he said. “A few hundred or a few thousand will not do it. This needs to be a movement.”

NYC Food and Wine Festival

The Sico family (sans Jillian) had a blast at the 2010 NYC Food and Wine Festival this past weekend (October 7-10). Here are the pictures to prove it.

First, we have two pictures of Joyce with her very favorite Chocolate maker - Jacques Torres at the "Chelsea Market After Dark" event:

Next is Joyce with "Good Eats" and "Next Iron Chef" host Alton Brown, also at Chelsea After Dark:

The Chelsea After Dark event was outstanding again this year, although there seemed to be a few less "food celebrities" in attendance, even those of the "C" and "D" list variety. But the food and drink were awesome.

Our children, Donica and her husband Rick and Lesley and her husband Robin, joined us the following evening for the "Chopped" event. There we ran into:

Chopped host and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" personality Ted Allen. Here he is seen giving a great big welcome hug to "Dinner Impossible" host Robert Irvine:

We also have Ted Allen and Robert Irvine with Joyce and Lesley:

and just Ted with Donica (and our granddaughter):

All of the "Chopped" show judges were on hand.

Here we have Judge Aaron Sanchez (who also is the star of "Chef v. City") with Joyce and then with Lesley:

Next we have Joyce with Judge Geoffrey Zakarian:

Joyce and Lesley shared a moment with Judge Alex Guarnaschelli. She had the coolest shoes on which I also took a picture of ... although Alex said she "felt dirty" when I snapped the shot!

Next is Joyce with frequent Chopped Judge and Landmarc restaurant chef-owner Marc Murphy:

And with Chopped champion Madison Cowan:

With Chopped Judge and NYC Scarpetta restaurant Chef-Owner Scott Conant, who by the way, told us that "if you just do it right, it IS possible to make red onions taste good.":

Judge and The Stanton Social restaurant chef-owner Chris Santos:

Former "Next Iron Chef" contestant, Chopped Judge and former Executive Chef at Gusto in the West Village Amanda Frietag with Joyce:

Joyce with two-time James Beard Award winner, chef of choice of Oprah AND Obama AND Jeb Bush, author, Iron Chef America Judge, owner of celebrated restaurants in Chicago and Washington DC and a guy who just lost a ton of weight and will run in the NYC Marathon - Chef Art Smith:

And last, but not least, at the Chopped event was "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" show host and competitor on the Next Iron Chef and someone who started her career as a sous chef for famed Lidia Bastianich and who insists that Guy Fieri stole his spiky hairdo from her, Anne Burrell:

On Saturday morning, we got up and went to a "Milk and Cookies" event with Martha Stewart. You will not see a lot of pictures of us with Martha here because, well, she is a witch - only with a "B." At one point, after signing oh maybe a good three or four autographs, she told a begging ten-year old, "I'm done. I am not signing anymore autographs."


Lesley did manage to sneak up beside her when Martha wasn't looking and I snapped this shot:

Now the cookies on the other hand were incredible, but really, how many cookies can one eat at 10:30 am?


Far nicer and pleasanter was "Top Chef Just Desserts" contestant Eric Wolitzky, seen here with Joyce:

We hightailed it to the Subway from the Milk and Cookies event to get back downtown to see the one and only Giada De Laurentiis at a culinary demonstration. It was hard to get good pictures from the second to last row, but here is the best I could do:

The beautiful Ms. De Laurentiis was great and made smashed potatoes, pork chops "argodolce" and chocolate espresso cookies. No matter how high he raised his hand or how loudly he shouted, Robin just could not get called upon to go on stage as a volunteer chef. We all understood that he simply wanted to show off his cooking talents and not get closer to Giada.


After the Giada show it was time to head over to the aptly named "Grand Tasting" on Pier 54. What an incredible gluttonous drunken feast! Scores of tastings all for the taking!


We met a few "food celebrities" at the tasting. First was the darned cutest of all television celebrity chefs, Kelsey Nixon, seen here with Robin and Lesley (who she actually remembered seeing on an airplane and train during their trip to Paris):

Kelsey, who finished fourth on the second season of "The Next Food Network Star," nevertheless will be getting her own show "Kelsey's Essentials" on the new Cooking Channel. The show will debut Saturday November 6th at 2:30 p.m. (You are welcome for the plug, Kelsey.)


Also getting his own show ("Cooking Without Borders") is Next Food Network Star finalist Jeffrey Saad, who - and I bet you did not know this - is also the National Spokesperson for The American Egg Board. Here he is with Joyce:

We also saw the most handsomest of celebrity chefs and a finalist of the most recently completed Top Chef season (won by Willingboro resident and RATS restaurant Chef Kevin Sbraga - Angelo Sosa (no relation to Jose). Here he is with Joyce:

Joyce is also seen here with a couple of celebrated Greek chefs, Jim Botsacos (left) and Michael Psilakis:

On the way back to the hotel, we ran into Guy Fieri who had just finished signing books. I took a picture and he said, "Wait. Take a picture of me with the President." (Food Network President Susie Fogelson). So I did, but not before saying, "I thought Obama was the President."

Now you would think that after all this we would have just gone back to the hotel and passed out, but nooooo ...
That evening we went to Godiva's "Sweet" event hosted by Sandra Lee and "Ace of Cakes" Duff Goldman.


Here are Donica and Rick with Sandy baby (who I have to say was a bit tipsy), but still signed cookbooks for us (even though she did write "Joice" instead of Joyce - who does that?!):

Here is Joyce with Duff:

And Lesley with Dinner Impossible's Robert Irvine and then with Guy Fieri:

And Joyce with 2006 James Beard Pastry Award winner and Top Chef: Just Desserts Judge Johnny Iuzzini:

On Sunday, after a quick tour of Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich's new and incredible gourmet food store "Eataly," we went to see the chef who needs not introduction: Bobby Flay.


Flay was funny and personable and fabulous. And we got an extra treat when first Kelsey Nixon joined him and then the one and only Paula Deen. We had a seats a little closer, but still hard to take photos:

After the kids departed, Joyce and I topped off the weekend by attending Guy Fieri's "Triple Ten Closing Party" at City Winery.


Some old friends from the weekend dropped by, including:


Anne Burrell

Amanda Frietag

Marc Murphy

Top Chef finalist Fabio Viviani

And last, and in all honesty, probably least, that guy with the crazy hair from the Next Food Network Star - Michael Proietti:

We had a great time, but we will need every minute from now until the 2011 NYC Food and Wine Festival (September 29-October 2, 2011) to recover!

Easy Choice in the Third

There has never been an easier decision than there is this year for voters in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District.

All three candidates profess to believe in the very same things: a smaller and more efficient Federal government, reducing the Federal deficit, lower taxes and making changes to the recently passed health care reform legislation.

One of the candidates, Jon Runyan, will be caucusing with a Leadership and colleagues who believe in the same policies and principles - The Republicans. The other, John Adler, will be caucusing with a Leadership and colleagues who do not believe as he does - The Democrats. And the third candidate, Peter DeStefano, is a fraud who has been rejected by the very party to which he professes to belong - The Tea Party - and so will caucus alone.

Let’s be honest: There is really just one number that matters in the House elections this November and that number is 218, or one more than half of the 435 Members of the House. It is the number of Representatives that one party must elect in order to elect the Speaker; appoint Committee and Subcommittee Chairs and control the agenda.

Jon Runyan will vote to elect a Republican as Speaker, presumably John Boehner of Ohio. John Adler will vote to re-elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. Peter DeStefano’s next vote will be in his fire district election.

And so despite what John Adler says - and I like John, I have known him for the better part of two decades - you cannot vote for him. A vote for Adler is contrary to what even HE believes and would like to see happen in Washington.

Here is all you need to know about the current majority leadership in the United States House of Representatives (although I will tell you more):

On January 4, 2007, the day she became Speaker, Nancy Pelosi said, “Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt." On that day, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal deficit was $161 billion. Three years later, the deficit stands at $1.41 trillion. That is a “T” there folks, not a “B.” I think we can safely conclude that the promise Madame Speaker made to “future generations” has been broken - indeed shattered, with shards of broken glass strewn across the nation.

As you go to the polls on November 2nd, keep just one civic lesson in mind: Congress controls the purse strings. No President can spend one thin dime that has not been appropriated by the Congress. Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have conspired to bankrupt the richest nation on earth. The unborn baby girl being carried by my oldest daughter will open her eyes next February to a mountain of debt she inherited. I would like for her to at least have some hope that a new team in Washington is working to dig us out.

But you say, “Well, if the Democrats hold on to both Houses of Congress, they will be chastened. They will have learned their lesson. They will act differently.” ALL of the evidence is the contrary, however. The evidence points to a more emboldened Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid; a more anxious leadership intent upon enacting their liberal and costly agenda before “it is REALLY too late!” And John Adler will not be able to stop them. After all, he could not stop them on health care reform, now could he?

Following the elections of last November when Chris Christie beat an incumbent Jon Corzine who was outspending him five to one; when Republicans captured the governorship of Virginia as well; you would think a message would have been received at the White House and in the halls of Congress. But nothing changed. They plowed forward. And when Scott Brown took a Kennedy Senate seat in Massachusetts, well then, by golly, you would think that someone would notice. But, no, health care reform followed with nary a bone for the upstart rebel electorates in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts. And certainly there was no compromise for those Tea Party rascals who the President most recently characterized as “a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president.”

The only number they will listen to is one they cannot ignore. That’s right: 218. If you live in the Third Congressional District, you can add one more vote toward that goal by voting for Jon Runyan.