Posted on 03/11/2006 2:34:27 PM PST by dervish
While Rudy Giuliani is known as "America's Mayor" for his leadership in the weeks following September 11, what has been overshadowed is how he brought accountability and competency to New York's dysfunctional city government during the prior seven years.
The best known turnaround story of the Giuliani era is the 65% plunge in serious crime. By restructuring the NYPD and focusing its resources on the neighborhoods that needed them the most via the famous Compstat system, the poorest neighborhoods saw the greatest reduction in crime and improvement in quality of life.
'snip'
Rudy could be considered the original "compassionate conservative" for the far-reaching welfare reforms he engendered. In 1993, one out of every 6.5 New Yorkers was on public assistance. Mr. Giuliani understood that not only was welfare bankrupting the city, it was ruining people's lives by fostering dependency.
'snip'
The closer one looks at Mr. Giuliani's record, the more one finds achievements that would please various national conservative constituencies. School choice proponents: Rudy pushed for school vouchers, created privately funded scholarships, brought charter schools to New York, and raised standards at the city university. The individual rights crowd: Rudy ended the bonuses and set-asides the city had given to minority and female contractors. Foreign policy hawks: Rudy is the guy who tossed Yasser Arafat out of Lincoln Center and refused to accept a $10 million donation post-9/11 from a Saudi prince who insinuated that America bore some responsibility for the attack.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
And so begins the Rudy '08 campaign?
I'd rather see him as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Do we want him? Does he have a chance against Hillary?
Well this is the local NY paper.
It will be interesting to see how he adjusts his domestic agenda for a national audience.
Giuliani/Barbour '08
By restructuring the NYPD and focusing its resources on the neighborhoods that needed them the most via the famous Compstat system, the poorest neighborhoods saw the greatest reduction in crime and improvement in quality of life... Rudy could be considered the original "compassionate conservative" for the far-reaching welfare reforms he engendered. In 1993, one out of every 6.5 New Yorkers was on public assistance. Mr. Giuliani understood that not only was welfare bankrupting the city, it was ruining people's lives by fostering dependency.IOW, he's a socialist, because he gave more police protection to those who made less and by definition weren't paying as much. /sarc
Didn't he also institute taking cars of people who were merely charged with traffic violations, before they were convicted?
And isn't he anti-gun rights?
President Giuliani would make our terrorist enemies extra-crispy. With a Republican Congress, that's good enough for me.
We've had a good 5 years in the Second Ammendment department, I'm not ready to give that up yet.
Is he for federal control of guns or just state control? we shall see.
Rudy would rip new ones all around the world. It would be glorious. Zygotes are in trouble anyway.
Anyone can beat Hillary, but it brings up a good question.
Since Rudy and Hillary Clinton have the same viewpoints and policies on social issues, why would any social conservatives bother voting?
On issues from guns to gays, Clinton and Rudy are in total agreement, so if there a real motivation for someone concerned with social issues to even vote?
Both.
He has made his views regarding guns abundantly clear, time and time again.
"He is a gun grabber and screamed worse than Dean about Florida selling weapons."
Is this what you are referring to? Do you want to re-examine Giuliani's position post 9/11?
..................
Good morning. It has been a week since the terrible tragedy that happened last Sunday at the Empire State Building. And even as we grieve for the families and our hearts and prayers go out to them, perhaps we can use this senseless tragedy to re-energize the fight for gun control.
A man came to this country from Gaza City on December 24th of last year. Ali Hassan Abu Kamal first arrived in New York and then traveled by plane to Melbourne, Florida, where he checked into a motel.
If this man had wanted to get a driver's license in the state of Florida, he would have had to have gone through some necessary and sensible requirements.
In Florida, you have to take a written test and a driving test to show you understand the rules of safety and the rules of the road. You have to take an eye exam, and your background is checked to see that you don't have a record of being a dangerous driver.
But he didn't want a driver's license, he wanted a gun. And he wanted a gun that could slaughter human beings quickly -- namely, a semi-automatic weapon. And it's much easier to get a license to buy a gun, even a semi-automatic weapon in Florida, than it is to get a driver's license.
All he needed was a registration card that he received by establishing residency at a cheap motel on the same day that he bought the gun. He then bought a .380 Beretta at gun store called The Oaks Trading Post.
This is the same gun store that sold the mass murderer William Cruse a semi-automatic weapon in 1987 that he used to kill six people, including two police officers in Florida.
If Mr. Abu Kamal would have tried to buy a gun in New York, he would not have been able to do so. Because in New York our gun control laws are much stricter and more responsible than in Florida.
To purchase a gun in the State of New York you have to give your full name, your date of birth, your residence, your occupation. You have to prove that you're a United States citizen, you have to show you are of good character, competency and integrity. And you have to demonstrate a real need for the weapon.
And thanks in part to our stricter gun control laws, crime is down dramatically in New York City. Shootings are down over 50 percent. Murder is down over 50 percent. But the fact is that 90 percent of the guns we take out of the hands of criminals in New York City come from out of the State of New York.
We need a federal law that bans all assault weapons, and if in fact you do need a handgun you should be subjected to at least the same restrictions -- and really stronger ones -- that exist for driving an automobile.
The United States Congress needs to pass uniform licensing for everyone carrying a gun. Congress must do more to prevent a tragedy like the one that happened at the Empire State Building from ever happening again.
From Gracie Mansion, this is Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/rwg/html/97a/me970302.html
Okay, so Rudi Giuliani made liberal NYCity a less liberal city during his time in office. BFD! Its still a liberal enclave. Rudi was tough on crime, but cleaning up NYCity was part of a national trend that led to lower crime rates.
Rudi Giuliani would be the wrong choice for the GOP. Rudi is pro-abortion on demand, pro-big government, pro-gun control, pro-illegal immigration, pro-envirowacko, pro-special rights for homos, pro-gay marriage, and that makes Rudi anti-family in my opinion. I'm not so sure how well Rudi would prosecute the WOT either.
There are enough pro-defense, pro-life, limited govt, tax cutting, pro-family, anti-open borders conservative Republicans around who could get the job done. America needs a conservative candidate in 2008. Not a liberal like RudiG, or some wishy-washy moderate centrist candidate either.
There is only one constitutional law on firearms and it happens to be Federal.
Another populist/statist who couldn't care less about the Constitution, I hope not.
Does he have a chance against Hillary?
God help us if he's the only alternative. Ditto McCain
Yes, but try carrying a hand gun in Chicago.
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