Zohran Mamdani - Democratic Socialist Mayor of NYC

[dabrockster]

We shall see what triggers in the months to come and the summer. His words and speeches chilling considering this communist is running the largest city in our county that is a driver of our economy.

[falafel]

Dude, are you for real? You can not possibly be serious with those two sentences above.

Why not? My point is, why is there a specific definition of antisemitism pronounced by the government? Is antisemitism a crime? Is it a crime to hate an ethnic group? Certainly it is terrible, abhorrent, counterproductive, etc. But a crime? No. It is not a crime to hate a particular ethnic group. Violence against a particular ethnic group should be handled the way violence against any person or group would be handled under the law. I cannot see any reason that such a definition is necessary as adopted by a government. Advocate for love, peace, acceptance, etc. But by defining antisemitism, you are trying to control speech and behavior, not crime.

Are you completely forgetting the massive protests in NYC and other colleges last summer over this and targeting of Jewish students.

The optics of this is terrible. He cloaked his antisemitism in free speech when in reality he is opening the flood gates on this again. There is a difference in free speech and what we all witnessed last year and the year prior after the attack on innocent Israelis. He is signaling to his antisemitism base it is OK to go back to what we all saw.

No, I don't think I am forgetting those protests.

Also, I disagree that Mamdani is signaling to his base that its okay to go back to committing violence against jewish students or jewish people in general. I think you are being hyperbolic for effect.

[Jeff Lebowski]

This line from Mamdani's inaugural speech is very troubling to me; "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism". I'm just finishing Autopsy for an Empire, written in the '90s by a Kremlin insider with lengthy chapters about each of the seven General Secretaries (Lenin to Gorbachev), and that line could have been written by any of their speechwriters.

That has to be one of the dumbest lines I’ve ever heard in my life. Good Lord.

Here are some warm collectivism tanks, confronting the frigidity of rugged individualism.

IMG_1374.jpeg

[PaloAltoCougar]

This line from Mamdani's inaugural speech is very troubling to me; "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism". I'm just finishing Autopsy for an Empire, written in the '90s by a Kremlin insider with lengthy chapters about each of the seven General Secretaries (Lenin to Gorbachev), and that line could have been written by any of their speechwriters.

[dabrockster]

I have a problem with any kind of law or order that restricts speech, including speech that might be considered "antisemitic". Of course, that does not mean I support such language. But what is the harm in returning speech to a level playing field? As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as being anti-palestinian or anti-arabic. Call them the ugliest names in the book. But do the same to a person of jewish decent and it’s you completely a hate crime.

Are you completely forgetting the massive protests in NYC and other colleges last summer over this and targeting of Jewish students.

The optics of this is terrible. He cloaked his antisemitism in free speech when in reality he is opening the flood gates on this again. There is a difference in free speech and what we all witnessed last year and the year prior after the attack on innocent Israelis. He is signaling to his antisemitism base it is OK to go back to what we all saw.

[chrisrenrut]

Dude, are you for real? You can not possibly be serious with those two sentences above.

codified by Executive Order?

[BigFatMeanie]

I have a problem with any kind of law or order that restricts speech, including speech that might be considered "antisemitic". Of course, that does not mean I support such language. But what is the harm in returning speech to a level playing field? As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as being anti-palestinian or anti-arabic. Call them the ugliest names in the book. But do the same to a person of jewish decent and its a hate crime.

Dude, are you for real? You can not possibly be serious with those two sentences above.

[falafel]

Welcome to the Mamdani leadership. Within minutes of being sworn into office Mamdani shows his true colors.. All his talk of human rights being the issue with Israel, seems rather disingenuous considering his immediate actions. We'll see if he draws up some other Executive Order, but if he had plans to do so, I would think he would have done it as soon as he rescinded this. Yet, he did not. Of course organizations supportive of Palestine, ME (CAIR, NY-CLU) etc. praise this decision as "A restoration of free speech" considering that is not something readily available in the ME it is rather laughable.

Quotes from several articles:

“On his very first day as New York City Mayor Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a post.

Mamdani became mayor just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, beginning a term that Democrats hope will energize the party ahead of the 2026 midterms. The 34-year-old democratic socialist campaigned on an ambitious but costly agenda, including universal free childcare and free buses, financed in part by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Friday’s public rebuke from Israel’s government adds an international dimension to a controversy already unfolding at home. On Thursday, Jewish civil rights groups criticized the removal of posts related to combating antisemitism from the official @NYCMayor X account shortly after Mamdani assumed office, warning that the move risked sending the wrong signal at a particularly sensitive moment.


https://www.politico.eu/article/isra...st-day-office/


Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rescinded a series of executive orders on his first day in office on Thursday, including one that deemed anti-Zionist rhetoric as antisemitic.

His predecessor, Eric Adams, signed the order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism, which includes clauses in its definition such as "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor," and "Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations."

Other clauses include "Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust," "Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis," or "Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel."


https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antis...article-882099

I have a problem with any kind of law or order that restricts speech, including speech that might be considered "antisemitic". Of course, that does not mean I support such language. But what is the harm in returning speech to a level playing field? As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as being anti-palestinian or anti-arabic. Call them the ugliest names in the book. But do the same to a person of jewish decent and its a hate crime.

[dabrockster]

Welcome to the Mamdani leadership. Within minutes of being sworn into office Mamdani shows his true colors.. All his talk of human rights being the issue with Israel, seems rather disingenuous considering his immediate actions. We'll see if he draws up some other Executive Order, but if he had plans to do so, I would think he would have done it as soon as he rescinded this. Yet, he did not. Of course organizations supportive of Palestine, ME (CAIR, NY-CLU) etc. praise this decision as "A restoration of free speech" considering that is not something readily available in the ME it is rather laughable.

Quotes from several articles:

“On his very first day as New York City Mayor Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel. This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a post.

Mamdani became mayor just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, beginning a term that Democrats hope will energize the party ahead of the 2026 midterms. The 34-year-old democratic socialist campaigned on an ambitious but costly agenda, including universal free childcare and free buses, financed in part by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Friday’s public rebuke from Israel’s government adds an international dimension to a controversy already unfolding at home. On Thursday, Jewish civil rights groups criticized the removal of posts related to combating antisemitism from the official @NYCMayor X account shortly after Mamdani assumed office, warning that the move risked sending the wrong signal at a particularly sensitive moment.


https://www.politico.eu/article/isra...st-day-office/


Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rescinded a series of executive orders on his first day in office on Thursday, including one that deemed anti-Zionist rhetoric as antisemitic.

His predecessor, Eric Adams, signed the order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism, which includes clauses in its definition such as "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor," and "Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations."

Other clauses include "Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust," "Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis," or "Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel."


https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antis...article-882099

[USUC]

Which ones? All of them?
-taxing the wealthy
-cutting spending
-means testing SS
-raising the age for SS

I'm not married to any of them. I'm mostly just concerned about our mounting debt. To steal a couple lines from the B-52's:

There is a finite amount of revenue you can extract from the wealthy. Take every billionaires entire fortune and it supports the government for months. That isn't a solution and the knock on effects would diminish tax revenue overall. I'm open to all your other bullet points here.

[Bo Diddley]

More terrible policy ideas.

Which ones? All of them?
-taxing the wealthy
-cutting spending
-means testing SS
-raising the age for SS

I'm not married to any of them. I'm mostly just concerned about our mounting debt. To steal a couple lines from the B-52's:

Before I talk
I should read a book!

[PaloAltoCougar]

But the wealthy are already taxed through the estate tax. It’s literally a tax that only hits the wealthy since the exemption is pretty high (over $5mm I believe). If you tax an estate but don’t give basis step up to the assets then those assets will get double taxed when they are liquidated by the heir. I’m all for taxing the wealthy when they realize gains but I’m not a fan of double taxation.

The exemption is currently $15 million per individual. Very few estates (I think it's around a tenth of 1%, and total revenues raised via the estate tax are less than 1% or total government revenue) are ever taxed at all, since most will have gifted their stuff away (see, e.g., Warren Buffet).

[Jeff Lebowski]

Actually, this was one on his examples for loop holes that need to be limited. His overall point was that it's time to tax the wealthy more than we do now as well as cut spending. He doesn't think our economy will gets us out of the hole we are in.

He thinks Social Security should be means tested, and retirement age linked to longevity.

More terrible policy ideas.

[Moliere]

Actually, this was one on his examples for loop holes that need to be limited. His overall point was that it's time to tax the wealthy more than we do now as well as cut spending. He doesn't think our economy will gets us out of the hole we are in.

He thinks Social Security should be means tested, and retirement age linked to longevity.

But the wealthy are already taxed through the estate tax. It’s literally a tax that only hits the wealthy since the exemption is pretty high (over $5mm I believe). If you tax an estate but don’t give basis step up to the assets then those assets will get double taxed when they are liquidated by the heir. I’m all for taxing the wealthy when they realize gains but I’m not a fan of double taxation.

[Bo Diddley]

So Mitt appears to be in favor of double taxation

Actually, this was one on his examples for loop holes that need to be limited. His overall point was that it's time to tax the wealthy more than we do now as well as cut spending. He doesn't think our economy will gets us out of the hole we are in.

He thinks Social Security should be means tested, and retirement age linked to longevity.