The Day That Democracy Died: NYC Term Limits Extended Without The Approval Of The People

Today the City Council of New York, not only voted not to allow the citizens of the city to determine whether their municipal representatives should have an extension of term limits, they also took matters into their own hands- negating the rights of their constituents to cast their own votes- and voted to extend NYC's term limits.

The people of New York previously voted twice (in 1993 and 1996), not to have their governmental officials in office for more than two terms. However, today, the voice of the people was blatantly ignored by the majority of the city council. According to the New York Daily News, "Votes began tipping toward the mayor before noon, as Council members feared they would lose committee assignments or pork-barrel funds if they voted "no"- and their protest would be pointless if the bill passed anyway." [SIDEBAR: The war of politics is no place for jellyfish!]

The term extension bill was passed in a 29-22 vote.

Many of the city's residents seethe over not being able to vote for term limits directly. However, this fight is far from over. Many constituents are vowing not to re-elect council members who voted to have term limits extended.

Here's the New York Daily News' breakdown on how the City Council voted on extending term limits:

YES
Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx)
Maria Baez (D-Bronx)
Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. (D-Queens)
Inez E. Dickens (D-Manhattan)
Erik Martin Dilan(D-Brooklyn)
Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn)
Lewis A. Fidler (D-Brooklyn)
Helen D. Foster (D-Bronx)
Alan J. Gerson (D-Manhattan)
Sara M. Gonzalez (D-Brooklyn)
Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan)
Melinda R. Katz (D-Queens)
G. Oliver Koppell(D-Bronx)
Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan)
Darlene Mealy (D-Brooklyn)
Michael C. Nelson (D-Brooklyn)
Christine C. Quinn (D-Manhattan)
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. (D-Brooklyn)
Diana Reyna (D-Brooklyn)
Joel Rivera (D-Bronx)
James Sanders, Jr. (D-Queens)
Larry B. Seabrook (D-Bronx)
Helen Sears (D-Queens)
Kendall Stewart (D-Brooklyn)
James Vacca (D-Bronx)
Peter F. Vallone, Jr. (D-Queens)
Albert Vann (D-Brooklyn)
Thomas White, Jr. (D-Queens)
David Yassky (D-Brooklyn)

NO
Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens)
Tony Avella (D-Queens)
Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn)
Gale A. Brewer (D-Manhattan)
Anthony Como (R-Queens)
Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn)
Mathieu Eugene (D-Brooklyn)
Daniel R. Garodnick (D-Manhattan)
James F. Gennaro (D-Queens)
Vincent J. Gentile (D-Brooklyn)
Eric N. Gioia (D-Queens)
Vincent Ignizio (R-S.I.)
Letitia James (D-Brooklyn)
Jessica S. Lappin (D-Manhattan)
John C. Liu (D-Queens)
Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan)
Michael E. McMahon (D-S.I.)
Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan)
Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens)
James S. Oddo (R-S.I.)
Annabel Palma (D-Bronx)
David I.Weprin(D-Queens)


[SIDEBAR: In alignment with the Biggie Smalls adage that, "Real Bad Boys move in silence," the instigator of the whole term limits debacle, Mayor Bloomberg, has yet to issue a statement regarding today's going-ons.
What isn't for sale in this city???
Democratic Dictatorship at its worst!]