Steve Cassidy

Here's a clip of Fred Thompson taking a whack at Rudy Giuliani last night during his midtown appearance before an audience of New York Conservatives.

“I was conservative yesterday, I’m a conservative today and I will be a conservative tomorrow,” he said.

In attendance for the event were Al D’Amato, John Faso, John Catsimatidis, congressional candidate Kieran Lalor, financierBruce Bent and firefighter union head and noted Giuliani critic Steve Cassidy.

After the speech, Thompson shook hands and posed for photos, then ran out of the room, ignoring most reporters questions. A senior advisor to Thompson told me afterwards that the goal of the appearance was in part to “pierce the myth” that Giuliani “is a little bit liberal. He’s very liberal.”

And speaking of contracts, the Mayor just announced a collective bargaining agreement with the Uniformed Firefighters' Association, which includes a retroactive wage increase of more than 17 percent, but which also reduces the starting salaries of new firefighters to about $25,000.

"We are not happy about that component of the agreement," said Steve Cassidy, the UFA president, who nevertheless said he was happy with the deal and was confident that his rank and file would pass it.  read more »

When asked where new hires can afford to live on such a diminished salary, the Mayor conceded that "There is no question ... we have a problem with affordable housing." He added, however, that his administration was actively tackling the problem.

One wonders if the low wages for uniformed rookies and high rents could finally bring the cops and firefighters together, at least as roommates to help make ends meet.