What a day. Great weather and a great turnout. The media showed in full force and yours truly made it on to Channel 7 Eyewitness News.

After getting over the fact how old I looked I took a step back to see what the general mood was amongst the rank and file. This crowd of big burly fellows were extremely well behaved. In fact they looked very concerned almost scared of what this very unstable economy of ours is going. When I spoke of local leadership they were no words of frustration or malice but more of pleading to get things moving.

I have been in construction for 30 years and to be honest I expected some rowdyness or at the very least some vulgarity but to my surprise it was more like shell-shock. That look a soldier gets after a battle makes him see and do things he thought he would never do. Alot of these fellows are at the end of their finacial rope and they need a lifeline and a project such as the one Ground Zero could provide would do the trick.

There was talk of “we are all around the world fixing and building other nations but here at home we can’t even get our own act together to fix something that to this day haunts us” Another very telling sign was one that stated ( Delay means Defeat) How can we truly win these wars we are fighting if we cannot heal on our own shores?

Working in surrounding buildings we get a great overview of exactly what’s going on in Ground Zero and from the looks of it not much. Hopefully this was not some political showpiece for the local pols who turned out in real force.

Gary Barbar the head of the Building Trades was very effective in his MC’ ing of the event. We had congressman King, Meeks, Weiner, council speaker Christine Quinn along with councilman Dan Halloran and 2 people which I never thought would share a stage together Larry Silverstein from Silverstein Properties owner of the project and Chris Ward the head of the Port Authority neither spoke but it was a start. Lets see if this bold action recieves any positive reaction the blue collar workers of this city could definately use the jobs and as everyone knows when construction workers are busy so is everyone. We alone could jump start an entire economy with our tastes for the big ticket items ( Houses, Cars, vacations and nice resturants)

I will stay on this story because it is close to my heart and my wallet good luck my fellow patriots.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx7UJrIMe-s

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Need I say more? Enough already just get the damn thing done! We are presently all around the planet fixing everyone else’s house time to start taking care of our own for once.

I love the fact how generous a nation we are and how we are the first ones to the scene when all hell breaks loose but enoughs enough. Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and now Chile. You want to help them fine but not at the expense of our own country. Let’s put all the pieces back together here then go on and save the world.

These Towers stood for so much. My 7 year old heard me say the Twin Towers and asked me what are those Daddy? I was stunned. It’s my own fault of course and a wake up call as well.

When I hear people say : ” Half the floors were empty” you know what? who cares? You think Big Ben in London brings in a profit? These buildings were symbols just like the Statue of Liberty is a symbol and they represented our way of life and our core values. Until that sunny Tuesday morning when Satan reigned Hell upon downtown and almost a decade later he laughs at us and our inability to get it finished. Well right now I don’t care whose fault it is lets do what we do best and show the world and more importantly ourselves why we are the greatest nation on the planet.

Please come out and join our Rally. This goes way beyond putting up a couple of buildings. We have soldiers dying in lands far away for a cause we must see through and to do this we must heal at home.

God bless you all and God bless America.

On Wednesday, February 24^th, Blue Collar Corner attended Black Forum at the National Women’s Republican Club in NYC. The event was hosted by David Webb (The Grinder Show).

The first panel consisted of Charles Payne, David Banks, Tara Dowdell, Marc Lamont Hill and Janks Morton to discuss Employment, Business and Education in the African American community. According to Tara Dowdell, $89 billion is contributed to the economy by African Americans. Only a small percentage is being sent back into black owned businesses. The community as a whole needs to support their local businesses for them to have the ability to prosper. Marc Lamont Hill reflected on this by stating “You need a community that thinks outside the box. If we don’t support our own businesses, no one else will”.

Education was also a hot topic during this panel’s discussion. Early education, mentoring programs and after school activities are the building blocks to success. However, it was disappointing and shameful to know that not all children in at-risk communities have access to it. Lack of education is attributed to children dropping out of school, gang affiliations, drug use and criminal behavior. I do believe that most children do have a basic knowledge of right and wrong. How a child cultivates that knowledge is how he/she will choose either the path of being an upstanding citizen or a delinquent. The more a child is educated, the more chances the child will have to do well. The Eagle Academy and The One Hundred Black Men mentoring program are prime examples that if a child is given the foundation to succeed, they will do so. Janks Morton provided insight on Eagle Academy and One Hundred Black Men “The average child walking into Eagle Academy is already two years behind in reading and writing… young boys are not raised around men as they are raised predominately by women. The One Hundred Black Men mentoring program will help the young boys grow to be well adjusted adults”.

The second panel discussed Healthcare and Crime in the black community. The panel was comprised of Niger Innis, George Holmes, Jehmu Greene, Pras Michel, Vincent Morgan and Reverend Michael Faulkner. In light of current events such as the “Obama-Care” debacle, healthcare has become a hot button issue in the African American community. The lack of affordability and access is almost crippling in low income neighborhoods. It is common knowledge that healthcare in the U.S. is pandered to the wealthy. For far too long, special interest groups have won over our government in terms of what form the healthcare discussion will take for the people of this country while those same government officials hold white knuckled to their own platinum coverages. Niger Innis said it the best “(Healthcare) is the highest point of political theater”. Reverend Michael Faulkner stated that “We make millions and trillions on getting sick…a healthy person doesn’t cost as much as a sick person. If you are not a rich person, you cannot afford to get sick”. The U.S. has boasted about its doctors, medicine and science for decades. Then why is it that this medically advanced society hasn’t cured a disease since Polio in the 1950’s? The answer is quite simple: the money is in the medicine, not in the cures. If you can keep the people sick for long, extended periods of time, there is plenty of money to be made on the prescriptions to make them feel better. The special interests, the pharmaceutical companies, will not take the monetarial loss in exchanging drugs for cures. This is political theater. The play is the same, just the performers have changed. Women’s health has also taken a turn for the worse. Jehmu Greene pointed out that this is “the largest roll back in reproductive rights for women of color and low income communities. It is not about Democrats or Republicans, it is about taking away a women’s right to choose”. Jehmu also had an opposing viewpoint on Tort Reform. “We can not prioritize the needs of the insurance companies over the needs of the people”. I do not agree with this as it is not just the insurance companies that suffer under outrageous claim settlements. It is the doctors and the public who pay the high premiums to have their healthcare who suffer the most. Most physicians have to pony up almost half of their salary to pay for malpractice insurance which is addition to the lower price the insurance company pays them for services rendered. How many doctors starting out are able to keep up with such high overhead while trying to pay off six figure student loan debt? The insurance companies also have high premiums to help cover the cost of multimillion dollar settlements. I think it is very important to cap medical malpractice settlements to help control the insurance companies trickled down losses. Has anyone ever given thought to the jury in these settlement cases? In most instances, all twelve members can barely figure out the proper use for a Band-Aid, let alone know how to put a price on a catastrophic illness. Wait, would they even know what a catastrophic illness is? Probably not and they shouldn’t be able to fork over huge amounts of money for it either.

The last part of the discussion was about crime and role models in the African American community. The lack of personal and family responsibility is attributed to higher levels of crime. In most family settings, the T.V. has become the babysitter, video games have taken priority over actual physical activity, and parents no longer have the time to interact with their own children. The children in the African American community have fallen prey to this. Pras Michel, formerly of The Fugees, stated “The black community created a subculture and victimized itself. It is a culture thing, not a family thing that creates the path that children take”. All children will try to emulate what is current in pop culture. However, the family needs to pull these children back into reality by letting them know that they can like whatever it is that they like, but they cannot base their lives around it. Self responsibility and family responsibility are essential to ensure that children grow into well adjusted adults that will pass on the same care and responsibility to future generations.

That will give you an idea where N. Y. stands in it’s ethics. How pathetic. When has  it been accepted that the truth no longer matters? Or actually accepting responsibility for one’s actions?

It seems nobody in the Democratic party just will plainly say ” you know what it’s my fault”. The American people are the most forgiving of all. If you’re straight with them and accept the consequences of your actions I know the public will cut you some slack but this new age of blame someone else for your actions is sophmoric and sounds like something I would be discussing with my 10 or 7 year old.

Well when we have a President that blames the previous Administration for everything bad and takes credit for anything good it sets a bad example. Rangel blames his staff for not knowing about his little junkets to the Islands and the violation of the gift rule. This is the most minor of infractions wait tll it gets to the secret or forgotten bank accounts with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then our embattled governor who intervened on behalf of his aids girlfriend who was a victim of domestic abuse and Paterson claims to be the victim. Shameful. The most ridiculus is Pelosi and her Tea Party assumptions. Now since they have be become a growing force within the country and can longer be written off as an ” astro-turf vehicle” and actually tries to associate herself with the movement is a disgrace.

I wish I could look ahead 6 months from now and see where we stand and who is still in power but till that time machine is invented just stay tuned and I’ll be giving you the straight dope and would love to hear your take as well.

God bless you all and this soon to be great country again.

Well so much for that focusing like a laser on jobs. Here we are still dealing with double digit unemployment and he’s having Health Care summits. The only good thing that came out of this thing was that the GOP looked like scholars compared to the Obama, Pelosi, Reid triangle of make believe.

We’re going to cover 30 million people on a overloaded system and it’s going to bring down cost and improve the quality of care where other world leaders come to get operated on. Does anyone with a brain actually believe this? Isn’t it odd that you never hear the old ” If you like your doctor and your coverage you can keep it”. They have totally abandoned it. Why?……because it is a LIE! It wasn’t long ago where the Bam man said ” some provisions have snuck into the bill causing people with coverage to have theirs changed. Where is the outrage? His whole Health Care plan was based on this montra. The new flavor of the month is ” Pre existing conditions” It’s only a matter of time before this one too is proven to be a lie.

Are we getting it yet? Nothing is withstanding scrutiny. With careful examination every aspect of their bill falls apart. I really am amazed at the fact that for 3 to 4 years they are going to tax us ( that includes us poor bastards who make well under 250,000 dollars a year juat another LIE ) do you actually think that money once it is collected that it’s going to be there when we finally implement this satanic plan? These monies go into the general fund and everyone knows what happens then: like the Indiana Senator Bye Bye Bye. The birth of another entitlement program destined to lose billions oops sorry I meant trillions. Please don’t tell our frugal President what comes after a trillion.

Long before the Tea Parties there was Queens. These people take their politics very seriously. Being an outsider I can give you an objective opinion on this. The present Assemblywoman is AnnMargeret Carrozza. If it sounds familiar it could be from her well documented attendance problems in the Assembly. Mrs. Carrozza herself has called her 37%  show-up rate abysmal. It also could be her dual residencey claims. Her husband and 2 children are out in Glenn Head and supposedly her mother is in a co-op in the district who she claims to live with. Yet she claims tax rebates in both locations. Sounds a little fugazy but when we have the man in charge of the IRS as a documented Tax Cheat it doesn’t sound so bad. Or our Attorney General who in his private practice defended terrorists and now defends us against them by attacking the C.I.A. makes sense right? I digress.

The man looking to challenge her is Vince Tabone. I’m from Brooklyn and kept calling him Vinny and he politely said “Andy we’re in Queens it’s Vince” I obliged. I met Vince for the first time at the Halloran campaign. I instantly got a good vibe from him and was pleased to find out he would be running for the seat. He has impressive credentials when it comes to economics and education and was under both the Gulianni Administrations and Bloomberg. Now you can fight back and forth about the good and or bad those fellows did but what you can’t deny is the knowledge you glean from working so closely with heavyweights of that nature.

Vinny much like Halloran has a stake in the community. He lives here his kids go to school here his friends are here and the special interests he represents are plenty. They’re the residents of District 26 and he wants to improve their lives along with his own of course.

When I sat down with him and saw the people working late on a saturday stuffing envelopes and smiles all around you get that feeling like you can make a difference. It’s not always about money or connections or who you know. Just ask Martha Coakley A.G. from Massachusetts she was running for the Senate and that guy with the truck beat her. That guy was Scott Brown and he now sits in Ted Kennedy’s seat even though Martha knew that guy from Chicago….mmmmm what’s his name ? …. he had 2 names mmmmm oh yeah Barry Sotero wait now he goes by Barack Obama the President. Or what most Campaign Advisors call “The Kiss of Death”

Any incumbent is low hanging fruit right now. People don’t like being told what’s good for them. They like to make those decisions for themselves and it all starts on a local level. Go get ‘em Vinny oh I mean Vince!

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Dr. Drew Albany needs you! Rangel, Monserrate, Smith, Meeks and our Governor ” Quack, Quack” lame duck Paterson. This is truly a disgrace. Is it any wonder that Ground Zero is still a pit of s–t? If we had some leadership and people who put the state ahead of selfish vices maybe we wouldn’t be in such horrid shape financially not to mention the complete stalemate in the heart of downtown which is a daily reminder everyday that our enemies claim victory. How bad it is when Rev. Al Sharpton is the only one not embroiled in some scandal?

You know maybe he can play himself off as some legitimate statesman but I’m old enough to remember Tawana Brawley and how he and others destroyed the lives of innocent people caught in the collateral damage and to this day has never apologized for his role in it.

Only in liberal-land would a scenario such as this occur. Had it been a conservative in this position he would of been banished from public service for sure and men like Rev. Al would be calling for the man’s head. Today he is being invited to the White House and treated with all sorts of reverence. You know Rudy had it right he never gave this man the time of day when he was mayor but Bloomberg got in and all but kissed his ring.

Not only are 40% of mortgages upside down but so is our value system. When we look out at the political landscape on the Democratic side and see that Rev. Al the Don King of politics is the straight arrow and Charles Rangel from Harlem the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee whose job it is to write the tax laws is under investigation on  half a dozen ethics violations all of which you and I would most certainly go to jail for is refusing to resign from his position. Something needs to change.

Great things start at the local level and so it must here. It looks like the Hiram Monserrate and Jose Peralta primary for the Senate will be the “Lesser of 2 Evils Campaign” Each have scandals of their own so it’s a choice of who’s is more repulsive and hopefully he will lose. Leaving the winner to run against a relative unknown unless you’ve done something wrong and have appeared before Judge Bob Beltrani. Judge Beltrani has an impressive spotless record for his civic duty and in this special election has been called off the bench to shoot the game winning free throws. After a serious gallbladder operation he accepted his party nomination and is running against Albany’s Animal House Elite and a seat in the Senate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulmLmt1wB6E

One seat at a time that is how real change begins. Not all at once or against the will of the people. Here comes the “Judge” I know, I know I set that up on purpose. Pretty good though huh?

Prostitution, drugs, philandering, divorce, physical abuse and corruption. When you read words like these I know the first group that comes to my mind is Hollywood. Charlie Sheen, Bobby Brown, Whitney, Lindsay Lohan, Ike and Tina and maybe a post nervous breakdown Britney. It seems New York politics is getting just as salacious. The most blatant area has got to be the governors’ office.

Eliot Spitzer who came out of ther box like the Lone Ranger looking to bust all of Wall Street and did have some impressive collars. His persona was that of a straight arrow a clean cut Eliot Ness if you will. Now I knew this guy had a creepy side. A friend of mine who is a very attractive personal trainer had Mr. Spitzer as a client. As a trainer she was known as the Spin Nazi. She could push you to your outer limits and beyond and took no guff from nobody. Even the most juiced up “Jersey Shore Wanna Be” didn’t mess with Kelly. She told me he gave her all sorts of slimey come on’s and ended up dropping him as a client. BTW you’re talking anywhere from 300 to 500 dollars an hour when training these blue chip clients and being a single mom it was very difficult to give up that type of money.

It wasn’t long after when Ashley Dupre became famous for her ” Client # 9. We all know the aftermath of that revelation and the painful look in the eyes of Spitzer’s wife Silda. Mr. Spitzer later resigned the governorship and handed it to David Paterson who right off the bat confessed to drug use and affairs by him and his wife. I can see it now ” Governors Gone Wild” video put out by that slimebag who makes videos and has sex with those barely legal girls on spring break as I’m sure he tells them he’s going to make them a star but I digress. I think it’s time we start bringing some dignity back to N.Y. politics. Another black eye on the office of the governor is the fact that his personal assistant was accused of domestic violence and it seems like Mr. Paterson spoke to the victim on his behalf and convinced her not to bring Mr. Johnson up on charges. This has not been confessed to but the fact that David Paterson has officially withdrawn from the governor’s race is all but an admission of guilt.

Hopefully Rick Lazio will now be given the spotlight he deserves and this should draw A.G. Andrew Cuomo out of his foxhole to finally take some stances on the issues instead of sitting back and enjoying everyone from the mainstream media to our Community Organizer to say all these good things about him while he sits mute.Mr. Lazio has been to all the Terror Trial protests long before it became fashionable I.E.( Schumer Bloomberg). Not only that he has told me he will clear the table of all this disgraceful red tape that has held up the rebuilding of Ground Zero and that means jobs!

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One Irishman to another discussing everything from Terror Trials to Health Care to what boxing gyms we go to. Congressman King was way out ahead of all of his peers when it came to condemn the NYC location of putting KSM and his cohorts on trial. It seems when Congressman King testified at City Hall about the Terror Trial he found out that Eric( I’m not Stedmund Winfrey)Holder made this decision without consulting Paterson, Bloomberg and Ray Kelly whose job it would be to keep the city safe during this show trial.

What really is comical is there reasoning was to show the world our great justice system and what a moral country we are under the wonderful Obama. Even though Holder, Robert Gibbs and Obama all said on record that God forbid KSM got off they would hold them anyway and be put to death. Don’t you think statements like that would taint the jury pool just a bit. Some beacon of justice we are.

It was great getting the inside dope on what goes on behind the scenes and in this interview you really get a great picture of Mr. King who kept telling me to call him Pete. I ask him about him running for Senate which I was hoping he would reconsider but he felt it would take away from his real passion which was keeping us safe from terrorists. He after all is the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.

He has great hopes that the Republicans will retake the houses in November and he will be top dog in a job he seems born to do. He’s got great instincts and is a stand up guy as much as I ever met. Meeting a bonafide politician with solid core beliefs who can’t be bought or pushed around makes you feel like there is people in this field on your side who really wants to help his fellow man. I know only the bad stuff gets the press but once and a while we got to look at some of the good ones and give them their due credit and thanks. Thanks Pete keep up the good work.

The great thing about irony is that it’s so damn ironic. Congressman Gary Ackerman of district 5 in his 14 term who has never had a true threat to his seat is now in a very precarious anti-incumbent era. When you look out over the candidate landscape there seems to be a void where a solid conservative would do quite well at this present time. Then suddenly as if the political Gods have spoken a movement is born. Hundreds of district 19 residents have formed a ” Draft Dan Halloran for Congress” movement. Anthony Carollo former N.Y.C. Police Officer and current President of the Whitestone Republican Club has spearheaded the movement and is rapidly picking up steam.

As if on queue the Tea Party people have picked up the scent of a candidate who values fiscal responsibility, smaller government, tax cuts across the board and a robust National Security. This changes everything. The Tea Party factor can make a race out of anything as long as the one they’re supporting is true to their core beliefs.

During Dan’s Councilman’s race against Kevin Kim they couldn’t attack the man on policy so they went after him personally. It came in the form of the religion that Dan worships : Theodism. I don’t know enough to talk in detail about it but if you don’t hurt anyone and it makes you and your followers feel good then live and let live freedom of religion happens to be a right in this country. The biggest pusher of this smear was the Ackerman owned Queens Tribune. And so completes the circle.

When I questioned Dan on the possibility of him running so soon after winning the council seat he was quite apprehensive. He didn’t want to come off as opportunistic to his extremely loyal residents who put countless hours in on getting him elected. I explained to him that as noble as that sounds it’s those same people who are pushing you to take on this race. He again spoke of voter fatigue and financial shortfall and I told him the story of a man that was 30 pts. behind in the polls and not a dollar to his name and trying to get the seat of a man who was the ” Lion of the Senate” That man was Scott Brown and that lion was Ted Kennedy. The Tea Party Factor is unlike any movement we have seen in our lifetimes and if you are picked to serve, serve you must not because you are being forced it’s because we need you.

Andy

bluecollarcorner.com