New York City Faces Dangerous Choice in General Election

The election of John Liu is a very risky experiment for the people in NYC and the U.S.

NYC Councilmember John Liu in his Flushing office talks to media before opening his office to constituents who wanted to appeal. He turned away a number of Falun Gong practitioners who had been trying to see him for weeks, yet ushered in several people who had been arrested in connection with violence against Falun Gong. Edward Dai/Epoch Times

NEW YORK CITY—New York City has an election next week and, however cynical many of the city’s voters may have become about politicians, one candidate should shock them.

John Liu is the Democratic Party candidate for comptroller, the city’s top financial officer. Voters might have doubts about Liu because of his shaky hold on the truth or his too close relations with unions, but they may not know even more serious reasons for concern.

The New York Daily News reported that Liu had failed to refund campaign contributions to those he had helped steer public money to in his role as a New York City Council member—refunds he had promised to make.

The Epoch Times reported other funny business with Liu’s campaign financing. Individuals listed as donors said they didn’t give the amounts Liu said they did, and the records for at least 140 of the contributors were missing the identifying information required by law.

The New York Daily News also reported on the lie that was told in one of Liu’s campaign ads—that he had worked in a sweatshop as a child. But according to his own mother, he didn’t work in a sweatshop.

‘Heaven Help New York’

Voters might also have doubts about Liu when they realize that, with him in the comptroller’s office, the public employee unions might be deciding what would be done with the New York City pension fund.

That is the view of the New York Post in an editorial: “Big Labor may be about to score a huge—and dangerous—victory by installing its puppet, Queens Councilman John Liu, in the enormously powerful job of city comptroller.
“Heaven help New York if it works.”

Forming an alliance with big labor in the Working Families Party (WFP) is the discredited group ACORN.

The Post warns of the ACORN connection: “Liu wants to use the [pension] fund to invest in ‘affordable housing’—a field dominated by scandal-scarred housing giant ACORN, which is bolstered by unions and joined at the hip to the WFP.”

United Front

New York’s voters might have reason to worry that a union-controlled pension fund will involve the city in deals its taxpayers can never afford.

But in concentrating on Liu being in bed with the unions, the Post misses the really big story of influence in Liu’s political career.