The Rent Is Too Damn High Party's Jimmy McMillan at the NY Governor Debate

[MASTERBAKER]

The Rent Is Too Damn High Party's Jimmy McMillan at the NY Governor Debate

[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/x4o-TeMHys0?version=3[/FLASH][FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/B5Eup6iEjbw?version=3[/FLASH]
"Spectacle," "circus," and "comedy show" have all been used to describe Monday night's gubernatorial debate in New York.

And while Carl Paladino and Andrew Cuomo have grabbed the most attention in the race, the five other fringe candidates – including Gov. Eliot Spitzer's supposed madam, Kristin Davis of the Anti-Prohibition party, former-Black Panther and city council member Charles Barron, Green Partier Howie Hawkins, and Libertarian Party's Warren Redlich all raised eyebrows on last night's panel.

But many viewers had their eyes focused on Jimmy McMillan of "The rent is 2 damn high party" with his black gloves, Gettysburg-ish end-to-end mustache/beard combo, and voice not dissimilar to a 1980's Mr. T -- leaving viewers with just one question: Who exactly is this guy?

It's not the 64-year-old's first foray into politics. The retired postal worker and Vietnam War veteran from Flatbush, Brooklyn ran for mayor in 2005 (he was called an anti-Semite after blaming rent problems on Jews).

In Monday night's debate, McMillan repeatedly called for lower rents in public and private housing -- although he lacked specifics on implementation. When asked about gay marriage, a topic that has haunted Paladino, McMillan won laughs saying, "If you want to marry a shoe, I'd marry you."

On the state's multi-billion deficit, he declared, "It's like a cancer. It will heal itself."

McMillan has said that one of the most important talents he'd bring to Albany is his Karate skills. The amateur musician has also posted a song on his website, chastising the state for taking the word "damn" out of his party time. He's also placed a smorgasbord of issues on his website, including "transgender," "real-estate Ponzi," and "things that matter."

And what's with the black gloves, you may ask? McMillan addressed his hand wear during the debate, saying he wore them because of the Agent Orange to which he was exposed to during Vietnam.

"It could be psychological, I don't know, but I just put ‘em on and wear them anyway," he said.

But while he won points for being the most entertaining, critics say McMillan and the other fringe candidates' performance was downright sad.

"Pity the poor people of New York," wrote the Daily Beast's Tunku Varadarajan. "Can there ever have been a state so rich, so abundantly endowed with talent and enterprise, to have had a political choice so abject, so meager, so embarrassing?"

"New Yorkers deserve better," the Daily News' Bill Hammond said. "Before Election Day, they need a one-on-one showdown between the two most serious candidates."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/10/19/2010-10-19_jimmy_mcmillan_of_the_rent_is_2_damn_high_party_upstages_carl_paladino_and_andre.html#ixzz12ob9oyR3

 

[Lamarr]

Rent IS Too Damn High!

If they would just stop all these stimulus programs, the economy could rebalance and prices would come down.

I'll continue to say this economy is based on overvalued assets. The Rent Is Too Damn High Party is proving my point!

 

[QueEx]

Lamar,

You don't really have a point except, you're hate the stimulus and you hate the FedRes, among other things you hate. In the meantime, you try to find a way, whether its logical or not, to attach your favorite "hate" to every issue that comes along.

You Hate To Damn Much !

QueEx

 

[MASTERBAKER]

[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/HPlb5YleckI&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3[/FLASH]

Rent Is Too Damn High Party Candidate Not A Member Of Rent Is Too Damn High Party »
By Celeste Katz

Debate-stealing candidate Jimmy McMillan has become synonymous with the Rent is Too Damn High Party - but that doesn’t mean he actually belongs to it.

In fact, it’s not even a real party as far as the state Board of Elections is concerned, our Glenn Blain reports.


Guess what he's going to say.
.“They are what we call an 'independent body,'” said state Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin, explaining that McMillan submitted enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions to secure a ballot line in this year’s election. To become a certified party, McMillan would have to receive more than 50,000 votes for governor in the election.

Because the party did have a candidate in the 2006 gubernatorial election - McMillan - the Board of Elections does allow voters to note on their registration forms that they are members of the party, Conklin added.

To do so, they can check the “Other” box on the registration forms and write in the party's name on the form.

However, McMillan has not even done that. As NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney noted earlier today, only three New Yorkers are listed as members of the party, while McMillan is a registered Democrat.

McMillan, meanwhile, continued to bask in the notoriety of Monday’s debate performance, making an appearance today on The Wendy Williams Show.

McMillan also threw a little more gasoline on the controversy over his allegedly anti-Semitic views in today’s Daily News story on him: "Jews were slave masters,” he said. “They enslaved my people. You can't call me anti-Semitic."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/da...-is-too-damn-high-party-ca.html#ixzz130CMr0a7

 

[MASTERBAKER]

'Rent' guy damn liar

He says the "rent is too damn high," but gubernatorial candidate Jimmy McMillan becomes damn evasive when asked how much rent he pays for his own Brooklyn apartment.

McMillan, the man with the mutton chops running on The Rent is Too Damn High Party line, became an Internet sensation after delivering funny one-liners during Monday night's debate.

He told The Post on Tuesday he pays about $800 in monthly rent for his Flatbush home.

And his building superintendent said she hadn't raised the rent in at least five years.

But he also told The New York Times he's lived there rent-free for 10 years.


Theodore Parisienne
JIMMY McMILLAN
"I just made stuff up."

see more videos Asked about the discrepancy by The Associated Press, McMillan said he lied to both newspapers.

"I just made stuff up and told them. None of that is true. I'm not a politician. This isn't about my personal life," he said.

The lies continued yesterday.

"How much is your rent?" Don Imus asked McMillan on his Fox Business show.

"My rent is about $900 a month -- plus my son's rent," McMillan, 64, said.

He then backpedaled:

"I'm not telling them the real story about rent."

The median rent for a one-bedroom in Flatbush is $1,350, according to StreetEasy.com.

Additional reporting by Jennifer Keil and Ikimulisa Livingston

carl.campanile@nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/rent_guy_damn_liar_yEceKevgokS7scPDY0adQK#ixzz130DRhqS7

 

[QueEx]

'Rent' guy damn liar


<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">He says the "rent is too damn high," but gubernatorial candidate Jimmy McMillan becomes damn evasive when asked how much rent he pays for his own Brooklyn apartment. </span>

He told The Post on Tuesday <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">he pays about $800 in monthly rent for his Flatbush home</span>.

And his building superintendent said she hadn't raised the rent in at least five years.

But he also told The New York Times he's lived there rent-free for 10 years.

It doesn't matter what HIS rent is, the question is whether OTHERS rent is, TOO DAMN HIGH!

QueEx

 

[Cruise]

Lamar,

You don't really have a point except, you're hate the stimulus and you hate the FedRes, among other things you hate. In the meantime, you try to find a way, whether its logical or not, to attach your favorite "hate" to every issue that comes along.

You Hate To Damn Much !

QueEx

The guy's whole position is about rent prices.

Prices are set in dollars.

Who controls dollars?

It is the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury.

I hope that clears things up for you.

 

[QueEx]

The guy's whole position is about rent prices.

Prices are set in dollars.

Who controls dollars?

It is the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury.

I hope that clears things up for you.

I didn't know the Federal Reserve or U.S. Treasury set "rent controls." Damn if you don't learn something new everyday.

QueEx

 

[Cruise]

I didn't know the Federal Reserve or U.S. Treasury set "rent controls." Damn if you don't learn something new everyday.

QueEx

Well, I'm glad to have helped.

It is why they are so insistent on having "legal tender" laws. The government is involved in a huge price-fixing scheme to maintain power.

But, too often, it's much easier (and fun) to blame the powerless and the innocent.

 

[QueEx]

care to add citation/authority ?

 

[QueEx]

care to add citation/authority ?

 

[ashimac]

now the elections is over I want to know how he did

 

[ashimac]

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this man is a comedian

 

[playahaitian]

'Rent is Too Damn High' but Voter Turnout is ‘Too Damn’ Low (Brooklyn)

Voter Turnout is ‘Too Damn’ Low
Mon, Nov 1, 2010

The 'Rent is Too Damn High' candidate Jimmy McMillan's home base of Flatbush, Brooklyn, where he hopes to inspire a larger voter turnout on Tuesday. (Richard Nieva/The Brooklyn Ink)
By Richard Nieva

While Jimmy McMillan’s “Rent is Too Damn High” party may not have much chance of winning the New York gubernatorial race on Tuesday, he is hoping that his everyman message will resonate in his home base of Flatbush, Brooklyn, a neighborhood with historically low voter turnout.

McMillan, the 64-year-old former postal worker and bodyguard, was spoofed last weekend on “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update, after rising to Internet fame for his performance at the New York Gubernatorial debate two weeks ago.

In the state’s last race for governor in 2006, only about 36,000 of the almost 117,000 enrolled voters in the 42nd and 58th assembly districts—which make up Flatbush proper—voted in the election, according to data from the New York State Board of Elections. The number of eligible voters has slightly risen this year to 125,000, according to the board’s survey conducted in April.

In 2006, the population of the community board—which comprises Flatbush and neighboring Midwood—was 53 percent foreign born and 44 percent non-citizens. According to Census data, the community board is 42.7 percent Caribbean. Of the 169,000 population, over 30,000 only had high school diplomas—the most of any education group.

“Election day coming, and they sitting on the couch. And that couch is comfortable. They ain’t getting up,” laughed McMillan, referring to his experience running for mayor of New York City in May 2009.

That year he received 2,332 out of about 1,178,000 votes cast, according to the NYC Board of Elections.

“If you’re looking at an immigrant community in particular, you’re going to see lower turnout rates,” said Michael McDonald, a public and international affairs professor at George Mason University and expert in voter turnout.

This immigrant demographic is the group McMillan would like to help. “They will come out and they have so much to say, but they’re not registered voters. That is continuously a problem,” said McMillan, who also recognizes that there are language barriers.

Clara Felix, a 65-year-old Flatbush resident, is not voting because she only has her green card, which does not allow her to vote. Felix had not heard of McMillan, but smiled and agreed with his prospect of lowering rent. She lives with her daughter, who pays $1,000 for their two-bedroom apartment.

McDonald insists that the way to increase voter turnout in the long run is by having an organization in the neighborhood like the now-defunct ACORN to register voters.

But beyond having the strict ability to vote, there are other psychological factors that concern immigrants when it comes to voting. Studies show that it takes new immigrants a few years to socialize into American culture, usually taking them a couple of election cycles to vote, said McDonald.

McMillan said he has built his platform on reaching out to the poor.

If elected, McMillan said he would implement an “economic state of emergency” plan, which includes lowering rent for businesses paying $12,000 or more to $6,000 and waiving all taxes owed to the state. The logic, he said, is moving money around so people have more to spend.

But the prospect of galvanizing poor voters is a complicated one, said McDonald. People of lower socioeconomic status—those with less money or education—tend to have lower turnouts, he said.

Factors like identification or permanence are what usually compel people to vote, he said. For example, a parent with a child in the school system or someone who owns a home may feel more integrated into the community. “You’re going to have to feel like you’re a part of a society in order to want to contribute to it by voting and participate in it,” said McDonald.

McMillan hopes to capitalize on his media celebrity to drive in voters. “A lot of young kids in Flatbush are coming up to me and showing me crazy love. Just by that alone, this may be an upset,” he said. “If people vote for who they see on TV—like they already have in the past—if that is the case, I’ve already won,” he said.

According to McDonald, having celebrity status has worked in the past. He mentioned Jesse Ventura of Minn. and Arnold Schwarzenegger of Calif. winning their governor races, though he stressed that media exposure is not a golden ticket.

McMillan said his sights are wide, counting on votes from Manhattan and the rest of the state. But he said he’ll need the turnout support of his own neighborhood as well.

Says McMillan: “We’re hoping this time around they’ll have a change of heart.”

http://thebrooklynink.com/2010/11/01/17670-voter-turnout-is-too-damn-low/

 

[thoughtone]

source: Mother Jones


These 7 Charts Show Why the Rent Is Too Damn High


More Americans than ever before are unable to afford rent. Here's a look at why the rent is too damn high and what can be done about it.

Part of the problem has to do with simple supply and demand. Millions of Americans lost their homes during the foreclosure crisis, and many of those folks flooded into the rental market. In 2004, 31 percent of US households were renters, according to HUD. Today that number is 35 percent. "With more people trying to get into same number of units you get an incredible pressure on prices," says Shaun Donovan*, the former secretary of housing and urban development for the Obama administration.


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It's not just working-class folks who have been pushed into the rental market. More middle-class Americans are renting too.


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Alongside the foreclosure crisis, the financial collapse and ensuing recession jacked up unemployment and squeezed incomes. Check out how rental costs compare to renter incomes over the past quarter century:


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Republicans, in an effort to shore up what they say is a dangerous budget deficit (it's not, really), have pushed to cut spending on federal programs, including housing assistance. Nearly all government housing aid programs have taken funding cuts in recent years.


In 2013, about 125,000 families lost access to housing vouchers—which make up the largest share of rental assistance—due to across-the-board budget cuts. "Budget cuts were doing exactly the wrong thing," Donovan says.


Those cuts come on top of years of stagnating rental voucher aid. Even though the government increased funding for housing vouchers between 2007 and 2012, the program was not able to reach more households because that extra money was eaten up by higher rents and lower incomes.


Because federal housing assistance was not able to keep up with the growing population of low-income people created by the recession, the number of very-low-income renter households that received some form of housing assistance dropped from 27.4 percent in 2007 to less than a quarter in 2011.


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What happens when you combine a shortage of rental units with lower incomes and less federal support? You get the "worst rental affordability crisis in history," and a lot of people finding it harder to get by.


The share of households spending more than a third of their income on rent has grown by 12 percent since 2000. Today, half of all renters pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income in rent. For 28 percent of Americans, more than half of their salaries go toward rent.


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The rental crisis is worse in some places than in others.


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And the crisis has hit people of color harder than whites.


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The stimulus act Congress passed in the wake of the recession directed $1 billion into rental housing. And HUD is not sitting on its hands while the rental market goes to shambles. The department has launched several programs aimed at bolstering the number of low-income and public housing units.


But these initiatives aren't enough to stem the unfolding rental crisis, Donovan says. Legislation in Congress aimed at reducing the government's role in housing finance would take a bigger bite out of the problem. It would direct nearly $4 billion a year to affordable rental housing. The bill was recently approved by a key Senate committee. And as far as its chances in the obstructionist, GOP-dominated House? "I think better than most people might think," Donovan says. "I say that because I do think there's a confluence of more and more people understanding that the status quo is unacceptable."


Correction: An earlier version of this piece misspelled Shaun Donovan's name. It is Donovan, not Donavan.