Michael Lamb

[Hon. Vickie Paladino @VickieforNYC]

My official statement on the budget, as read in chambers this evening, before I was muted:

"I’ve been a member of this city council going on five years now. And I’ve voted yes on the budget every year so far. All of them had problems. All of them contained things I didn’t like or agree with. But I’m not here to demand perfection, I’m here to work with what we have — within reason.

Unfortunately, this year is very different. And I must vote no.

Even in the context of our dysfunctional city government, this year’s budget represents a complete departure from reality, spending more money than we’ve ever spent — precisely when we can least afford it.

We have never seen a larger single-year increase in spending in the history of this city. Requiring not only new taxes from Albany, but pension deferrals and an eight billion dollar bailout from the Governor. And even still, the revenue projections are optimistic at best.

This isn’t a ‘balanced budget’ — it’s budget by bailout. A ticking time bomb.

And it’s the beginning of a fiscal death spiral that our current leadership will not be able to pull us out of, because they lack both the experience and the seriousness to do so.

What will we do next year? And the year after?

The only responsible way for our city to spend more is to grow the economy. New businesses, new private economic development, major investment. That’s how you grow an economy, and get more money into the city budget.

But we’re doing the opposite. Deliberately chasing away everything our city needs to sustain our spending with childish political attacks on very people we need most.

Our tax base is isn’t growing. It’s leaving.

The middle class, the financial sector, and businesses of all sizes are choosing to go elsewhere. And they’re being replaced with low-income foreigners and transplants who require significant subsidies just to survive here.

We’re trading investment banks and small businesses for delivery app drivers on welfare, and nonprofit workers whose paychecks ultimately come from government spending. That isn’t growth.

And when ordinary New Yorkers complain, they’re told to shut up and leave if they don’t like it. And that’s exactly what many are doing.

This is obviously unsustainable. But nobody in this chamber really seems to care.

And what are we getting for our money? We already spend more in real dollars AND per capita on everything from schools to housing to healthcare than anyone else in the country.

We can’t even build a public bathroom for less than three million dollars.

Why would anyone believe that shoveling even MORE money into this broken system will improve anything?

It won’t. I guarantee that we’ll all be sitting here again a year from now, with the exact same problems, listening to the exact same lectures about how the city needs even MORE money, AGAIN.

At what point do we, as a City Council, start to demand results before we allow more spending? When do we demand accountability?

The answer seems to be never. Because this spending isn’t really meant to fix anything. It’s meant to keep the machine going, keep the money flowing into the special interests and nonprofits and the political allies of the Mayor, with no real consideration for anything else.

I realize a lot of people don’t want to hear this, but we are a municipal government, not a sociology experiment or a political slush fund or the United Nations.

We are here keep the lights on, keep the water running, pave the roads, and put criminals in jail. That’s it. And we would be very well advised to get back to basics. Because we’re failing on nearly every count, other than our peerless ability to hand out free money.

Shame on this Council for pretending this budget is anything other than a disaster. I know that my single vote ultimately doesn’t matter here, but nonetheless I won’t put my name on it. I respectfully vote no."

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

Amex left me stranded at Chicago airport as they said I was in “financial review”. I only had 2 Amex cards and an atm. Avis doesn’t take atm cards and Amex would not allow 1 single charge through. I sent an overnight letter to president of Amex who then had a lackey call me. $millons in charges over the year, including a $250k family vacation and suddenly I was gum on the bottom of their show. Never, ever using them again. #amex

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@TomSteyer @grok, how much does california pay per student per year?

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@LukeSlywaker @MayorToddGloria @SDCityCouncil I was driving down palomar airport road and a homeless guy was just throwing trash from his cart on the street as he walked.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@Adventuring_RE @DiscoverPB Check your messages

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@benlapidusmusic I just love all these videos.
Which is it, Ken? Ha ha ha.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@EricG1247 And if you confiscated 100% of that, you’d run the government for 13 Months. Spend less!

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

Every person should understand and absorb the Laffer curve.

“The Laffer curve is a theoretical economic model that illustrates the relationship between tax rates and government tax revenue. It suggests that tax revenue initially increases as tax rates rise, but then falls after reaching an optimal point because excessively high rates discourage work and investment, leading to reduced economic activity and ultimately lower revenue. The curve's concept states that both a 0% and a 100% tax rate would result in zero government revenue”

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@Emmawasjim @joeroganhq I laughed for 3 straight minutes

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@PolicePatrol0 @grok what happened to this girl? any charges?

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

It’s finally up

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@frankiemuniz Givers need to set boundaries because takers don’t have any. I could talk about this for days and I’ve come up with my own ways to help, yet set boundaries.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

I still laugh at this everytime I see it. Yeah, I’m a child.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@cb_doge Loser pays lawsuits, if you lose the suit, all fees must be reimbursed within 30 days without exception. This will stop or slow BS lawsuits

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@MayorOfLA How does this get paid for annually? Upkeep, electricity, Plumbing etc., and are they allowed to stay in perpetuity? If there are guidelines for them to stay and they get breached, doesn't that just mean they'll be on the streets again?

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@pyrtbilly https://t.co/5oYV32CzEW
Crowd sourced live broadcast
[email protected]

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@MayorOfLA Only 45,002 left to house. Out of 45,252 that’s .00548% of the problem solved. Insert prayer hands here.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@elonmusk The first time I saw them touch down was the very first time I EVER teared up.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@MayorOfLA Watch the documentary: The Pruitt–Igoe Myth to see what you can expect.

[Michael Lamb @mlamb77]

@productions86 @libsoftiktok Watch the documentary The Pruitt–Igoe Myth