On Demand
30 Issues in 30 Days: Who's the Best President for New York and New Jersey?
Today's 30 Issues segment was produced with listeners on the 30 Issues Wiki. Check it out here!
Then
Kris Kolluri, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, discusses what he wants from Washington to help the region.
Then
Nassau County executive Thomas Suozzi, and Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, talk about what they would like to see the next president do for the New York/New Jersey region.
Then
Ricky Burdett, professor of architecture at the London School of Economics, chief advisor on architecture and urbanism for the London 2012 Olympics, director of the Urban Age Project, and co-author of The Endless City, talks about the future of cities.
- About the Brian Lehrer Show »
- Staff Bios »
- Contact Us »
- Tapes and Transcripts »
- Latest Episode »
- Show Archive »
Features & Series
Podcast
Stay up to date.
Subscribe to the Podcast
YOU PRODUCE The Brian Lehrer Show
Be a listener-producer with facts, questions and people you'd like to hear on the air.
More
The Brian Lehrer Show Scrapbook
Visit the scrapbook for daily photos and miscellany from The Brian Lehrer Show.
More
Shop at Amazon!
The Brian Lehrer Show picks
Start your Amazon shopping on WNYC.org and a portion of your total purchase goes to WNYC.
More
Comments
Refresh
Most abortions in the US take place in urban areas, though not all. Fr. Corapi has put a video on utube explaining the Catholic Bishops' teaching on the moral principles that govern a Catholic in voting. He teaches us Catholics: 'A Catholic in good conscience can not vote for a pro-choice candidate'. This crime would be best for the cities to stop, and would also help the African-American community, many of whom are killed by abortion. His video is at:
http://www.fathercorapi.com/election.aspx
I posted but it isn't here.
I want the new President to bring jobs that pay a LIVABLE wage for NYC to afford these one bedroom $1500 rents in Queens and health insurance for all NYers.
If the president were elected by popular vote, would we hear discussion of urban issues?
YOU BETCHA!!!!
Did you really have to stoop to putting on a Giuliani clip. Is he really relevant anymore?
Congressman Rangel - changes in the AMT under Prez Obama?
We also need an upgrade to the subway and bus system upgrade so trains run more efficiently, on time and we go more green!
The new president will need to address the issue of the three NYC airports being the prime cause for delays and backups nationwide. He will have to make sure the FAA and PANYNJ sit down to negotiate and actually get somewhere.
I second what will benefit the region most is more transportation funding. More mass transit - including subway and bus, commuter rail and bus, and a functional national rail system is what we need to have!
Congressman Rangel just spoke about the newly unemployed. Please don't forget about the per diem daily worker, who is part of the new economy. We are not represented in the employment figures and we don't qualify for unemployment insurance. But we are affected by the economic downturn. My wall street clients are not hiring and I'm out of work, too. Somehow, we need to be recognized and mainstreamed.
Hello NYC,
Please vote Obama. NYC is the best city ever and US are a great country and all of you deserve a democrat president. Frenchies are really concerned about Mc Cain and another 4 years of republican politics.
We need a President who will not do what NYC has done to its manufacturing and industrial base, and has been doing to its Finance industry - tax it away. Its all nice and fuzzy to talk about tax breaks for the middle class, but government lives on tax income, so it will take it from businesses. All those middle income people can count on one thing: No Jobs, and therefor their taxes are guaranteed to go down - you don't pay taxes on no income.
Ask your guest from the NJ Dept of Transportation why it is not a first priority for both NJ and NY politicians to build a new tunnel for Amtrak and NJ Transit. This would not only create jobs but it would tremendously increase productivity and the quality of life in the region. It will also to relieve pressure on our airports.
In addition, there should be a rail tunnel built from Staten Island to Brooklyn/Queens in order to take advantage of the cargo capacity at Kennedy and to spur the regional port and to be able to carry supplies into Long Island without the use of trucks!
And yes, the infrastructure needs to be rebuilt and our rail system upgraded. But it also requires an overhaul of the PA because, just like all gov. agencies, it is bloated and slow and likes to hemorrage money without doing anything.
caller : NJ and NY sent too much money to DC which turns around and sends it to red states
http://www.infoplease.com/images/07alm_fedexpendtrs.gif
affordable housing?! what is this caller talking about. We need dont need to subsidize people with tax dollars to live in the most expensive area in the country. people who aren't millionaires are already getting taxed out of the city paying for all these programs. lets instead get rid of these programs and lower costs for everyone.
All of this talk about infrastructure programs seems a bit misguided. We don't live in the world of the last depression. Then we had many poorly educated and low-skilled people out of work, coming off of farms, etc.
The vast majority of people now are in the middle class now and in service oriented business with those skill sets. What the heck are a bunch of construction projects going to do for most people?
We need a change in the AMT at the national level because we are stuck with such high local taxes in the city and state which triggers this tax. In effect many in the state pay higher taxes simply because we are forced to pay higher taxes. Very frustrating.
jon
it would put money into the economy, workers spend money and buy services. plus infrastructure helps everyone.
To Edward Helmrich from Larchmont, NY : Does the Catholic Church commit itself to teaching young people about responsible sexual activity and about STDs and how to be a young parent?
Does the Catholic church, as well as you, commit to also support financially and emotionally those people who choose to keep kids when they are not ready or when they put them in an orphanage?
Abortion is a manifestation of social, family and educational problems, as well as a lack of access to contraceptives and proper access to health education and care - Will the Catholic church promise to transfer a good portion of its wealth to address this problem?
Seems like this might be a good time to ask why Michael Bloomberg still is refusing to endorse?
At a certain point, for someone in Bloomberg's position to lead means for him to choose. Publicly. To pin his colors to the mast. To tell the city and the state and the country who he believes is best for the future of the country.
Does it strike anyone else that Bloomberg, in refusing to endorse, is -- again -- being more than a little bit opportunistic?
That this is just the latest example -- like switching from "D" to "R," to run for Mayor; like switching to "I," when he (obviously) was contemplating a 2008 presidential run -- of his hedging his bets, to game his own career?
Christine Todd Whitman also supported Bush.
John From Brooklyn- you are RIGHT ON!!> Bloomberg is just an opportunist!. He could care less about NY. This is about Bloomberg. It's about how big the Bloomberg brand and ego can be expanded!
Thanks for the disclosure.
I am still angry about the way Whitman sold out all those Ground Zero workers, then beat the court case. That's a lot of (heroes') blood on her hands, and I wish she had a little shame about it.
That's politics, I guess.
I don't have any doubt that Obama would be best for NY and NJ as they would for every state. The policies of Obama span a much broader social, economic, cultural spectrum and is therefore more inclusive. Isn't that what we all need? This country has been divided for too long now and the last eight years just about made the division so much more split and separated such as not seen since the Civil War. The "Them and Us" brand is McCain's as heard from his own VP choice in the past few weeks. This country is one big mess and unlike Mrs. Obama, I'm not so proud of that.
How does Christine Todd Whitman know what Palin means?
@14,
AMEN!!!
@16, I know alot of educated, "middle class" people who would rater work construction than a mind numbing office job, especially recent graduates, and artists in need of day jobs. That is of course if they could make a living wage.
Thank you so much for asking elected officials outside the city, and looking to the region as a whole. I think Suozzi put it best, that Obama really is looking at massive investments for the entire region by tying together infrastructure and sustainability issues into the entire landscape, not just the urban. In addition, McCain and Palin have routinely looked down upon cities and the East Coast, and seem only to speak to one demographic and environment. Obama has embraced the country as a whole, from the concrete city to amber waves of grain.
Stop by any office building and you will see that most of the people working there are from India. Yet, everybody screams about job creatiion. It is about time Washington looks into H-1B and other non-immigrant visa programs.
To [25] Chuck, Aren't you aware that Christine Todd What's-her-third-name-again? knows everything?
There was a lot of talk by your guests about rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure with Federal aid, and rightly so; there are needs that don't readily meet the high, and therefore get no attention from politicians, for example: Our New York State Department of Environmental Conservation cannot hire enough people to monitor the water quality of our streams and lakes that feed into our reservoirs to determine how greatly any proposed development will impair the quality of our drinking water supplies.
Is Governor Whitman drunk?!? Governor Palin “made a rhetorical mistake”? How many times does one need to repeat their “rhetorical mistake” before it is no longer a mistake? Sarah Palin was more than clear when she painted huge swaths of this country as “anti-American” and not “real Americans.” Sarah Palin has flagrantly demonized the very places she uses for her shopping sprees. Governor Palin has used innuendo to refer to the people of New York and New Jersey as nothing more than Pinko Commies who want to destroy this nation. Senator McCain has done absolutely nothing to tone down in her rhetoric. His inaction speaks volumes. Is Governor Whitman thinking for herself, or just spouting the party line?
the formula will not change under obama because the congress has the purse strings and other state's will not give more money to this region under any administration... period. all we will end up doing is sending more of our tax dollars to other states because of the higher tax burden.
Whitman makes me sad. She's like a domestic abuse victim defending her husband to the police. I'm opposed to idiotic federal mandates, too. It doesn't mean I'm willing to lie 24/7.
I can't understand how the federal gov't takes tax money from the blue states and sends it to the red states, like Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, etc, when these states are explicity voting against taxation, against large federal gov't, and against welfare. If that's not welfare, what is?
Although, overall, it's hard to dispute that Obama is friendlier to NYC and our region, one lingering concern I have relates to taxes; We have a family income that's fairly high relative to the US population, but for this area barely registers as middle class. We've been squeezed on one hand by rising federal taxes due to the AMT and property taxes that typically increase by 5% to 7% a year. Infrastructure improvements are nice, and I can't wait unit 2028 when I we have a chance to enjoy them. But my family needs relief now.
I think it's a pass to say that the reason why McCain has no info on public transportation is because he's trying to get relevant electoral votes. Particularly in this day and age of the internet, McCain has no excuse to NOT address this issue. That's another plus for Obama, in my opinion: he speaks to EVERYTHING, either in his speeches or, more comprehensively, on his website. It's been refreshing to have a presidential candidate who is genuine and... hell, I'll say it, holistic in his vision of where this country and planet should be heading.
Regarding New Jersey, how come we have not discussed how to reconsider development with residential, commercial and work places close together and proximity to rail lines as well as a promotion of telecommuting.
All these saving energy and time wasted in long commutes.
To #37 - One idiotic thing I see is this HUGE NJTransit train station and there is NO PARKING whatsoever. I think the Mayor and NJ Officials should be pushing for a parking lot right next to the station so people can get off the turnpike and park there within 5 minutes and get on a train to either midtown or Hoboken. THe parking lot would pay for itself. Help people get to the city a lot more quickly and improve the environment and productivity by relieving some pressure on the Lincoln Tunnel -
It's not just the economy. pro choice is good for new york. getting out of iraq is good for new york. health care reform is good for new york. having repect for all people - ethnic, racial, sexual orientation, gender. hope is good for new york.
McCain spent years trying to de-fund Amtrak, too. He's a real visionary when it comes to the future of transportation...
New York, New Jersey & Conn. are amongst the nation's highest income states. If you are in favor of the liberal redistributionist program implied by a progressive income tax regime in combination with programs to transfer income, wealth & services to lower income people (which I suppport along with most of the liberal establishment currently governing the tri-state region) then any talk of our region getting back it's 'fair share' of resources it puts into the Federal government is mere posturing. It is simply arithmetically IMPOSSIBLE for the richer states to get back what they pay out in a system of modern liberalism i.e federal government support programs that transfer wealth & income from richer to poorer people (states). And to say that because our region relies more on mass transit than the rest of the country we can benefit from a national government who's main energy program relies greatly on increasing the nation's development & use of mass transportation is more self-deception. To the degree a national mass transportation effort succeeds, our region's disproportionate gain by increasing federal support for mass transit will be reduced!
The ONLY way to ensure that the region gets back more (or maybe even all, or wait...maybe MORE ;) of what it puts into the federal government is to reduce federal taxes & spending altogether so that the region can simply keep more of the wealth it generates. It is not possible in ANY liberal redistributionist system for all the states to get back what they put into the federal government. If getting back is your concern, then the best answer is greatly reduced federal taxation & spending. To suggest othewise is either inability to do simple arithmetic or mere political rhetoric.
The 'blue' states have higher per capita income, on average, then the 'red' states, which explains why 'big government' spending continued & actually slightly increased during the recent past when the anti-'big government' red states dominated the federal government! And now that the pro-'big government' blue states are about to dominate the federal government again, the poorer red states must necessaryily be the net beneficiaries!
I think Jon from the West Village has forgotten (the public's memory is short)about the bridge collapse in Minnesota last year, and all the follow-up talk about the crumbling bridges and other infrastructure all over the nation. Sure, repairing this stuff would be a '30's era type project, but, my God, how essential. Business can't function unless it can ship its product on in tact roads and bridges, and people can't get to their jobs without them.
Leave a Comment
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Back to EpisodeEmail addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.