Even on Memorial Day weekend, Senator Chuck Schumer is busy. According to the Daily News, he introduced a bill yesterday "to tax companies 25 cents for every customer service call that's outsourced overseas." He said, "How many times do we hear of a company shutting down a facility in New York or elsewhere in the country and sending the jobs abroad? Almost daily... 1.6 billion calls are being transferred to call centers, often without the customer's knowledge." Plus, the bill would require companies to tell the callers their calls are being transferred overseas—and to indicate which countries the call are being sent to. more ›

The Post says the Mayor's 311 hot line is popular: Popular for people to rag on his performances: 10% of calls were to complain about his firehouse closings ("Please do two things for New York City: Reopen the six firehouses and leave"), 80% complained about the smoking ban. The mayor's staff is quick to point out that the 7500 calls complaining about the mayor are but a tiny portion of million-plus calls 311 has received since its start in March. Gothamist is thinking about calling to ask why the Mayor hasn't responded to our email about what his nickname is. more ›