The Hayseeds blog, No. 268 for the week starting August 3, 2008.
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Hayseeds No. 268
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It seems that some Republicans are less then comfortable with Obama's success in Europe.
If you missed his excellent show last week, then it's definately worthwhile to catch it on podcast.
The top police agency in our country, sometimes known for spying on people turns 100 years old.
Maybe this will be a first step in cleaning up Albany's streets.
Drugs are not the solution to all the worlds problems says at least one expert. No, you see, amnesty and abortion are also important.
This certainly is a strange phenomenon, bolstered by the Chinese.
Chris Higgins is proposing to hold parents liable for parties where minors drink, even if the parents did not provide the alcohol.
It looks like the Republicans are fighting it out over petition signatures in the 21st Congressional district.
That's a question posed by one reader of the Times Union.
The Times Union on Sunday argued that former Spitzer administration officials should not be charged for their roles in Troopergate, as there was a public interest in disclosure.
he state Commission on Public Integrity is living in an upside-down world. That is the only explanation we can think of for the panel’s decision to charge four former state officials with inappropriately using the State Police to disclose information about former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno’s use of state aircraft.
Misusing the State Police? How? This whole episode began when officials in the former Spitzer administration disclosed, initially through this newspaper, that Mr. Bruno had been using State Police aircraft and security personnel on trips that were primarily devoted to political fundraising. Because Mr. Bruno also conducted some state business on these trips, they were legal under New York’s notoriously lax law governing use of state aircraft. But there was no mistaking that the trips were mainly political and that taxpayers paid for them.
There was also no mistaking that only the State Police could document the services it provided Mr. Bruno on those trips, and that taxpayers had every right to know how their money was being spent.
But the Commission on Public Integrity sees the world differently. It says it was wrong to ask the State Police to compile the records of Mr. Bruno’s trips. That was a violation of the long-standing policy that itineraries are not regularly logged because of concern for officials’ security, the report noted, And it was done, the report found, for no better reason than to embarrass the majority leader.
It would have been one thing if the Spitzer administration had formally changed the policy of logging officials trips (which it could have done), announced it to the world, and disclosed everybody's trips. But it did not.
So it was a sneaky, backstabbing use of public resources to spy on the Majority Leader and other public officials.
The Times Union wants the Common Council to have more power of review over the city's $100 million dollar budget. Sounds nice.
The Times Union questions state job-creation subsidies given to IBM.
While previously they had installed surveillance cameras, now they have hired people to keep an eye on the cameras.
Apparently everybody in New York City will now have the option of cable TV in NYC from Verizon.
It looks like another muni wi-fi program may die.
A lot of people go to work when they are sick as they fear the consequences of staying home like lost wages or an unhappy boss.
Where people stand at becoming the VP candidate.
Blogs and their role in the 2008 election.
Why China loves that country that does such horrific things to it's people.
Feel a need to paint your own Jackson Pollock ? Click that link for your very own chance to do as such.
Another sad story about the demolition of beautiful brutalist buildings.
Infrastructure may be boring, but it sure is important.
coalition of state and local elected officials that is drumming up support for the federal government to play a larger role in funding upgrades to America's infrastructure expanded Thursday to include state legislators from around the country.
Two of the three founding co-chairs of the Building America's Future Coalition - Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg - announced the coalition's new statement of principles at the 2008 Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures, or NCSL, in New Orleans.
The statement of principles reveals the environmental background to the coalition's proposals. "... the United States cannot achieve energy independence, environmental sustainability, or greenhouse gas reductions without making fundamental changes to federal infrastructure policy to address those goals," it states.
More about it at investininfrastructure.org.
They will do it on August 7-8th, and will include state aid to ensure children do not get shortchanged should schools face liabilities beyond their control like health care costs.
The agenda for the very brief session will focus on passage of a property tax cap bill – a top priority for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos - and some confirmations of Gov. David Paterson's appointments.
The Republicans’ bill will likely include a state takeover to ensure school districts don’t get shortchanged in education aid if a cap is in place (much like what the state did with the Medicaid cap of county expenses a few years back). It will not include a so-called circuit breaker, which is favored by labor unions and also by 52 percent of New York residents (if they're given a choice in the matter), according to a recent Siena poll.
The Democrats have introduced own bill that will include a circuit breaker plus the ability for local governments to override a cap in certain circumstances.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has made it clear he doesn’t favor a property tax cap, said Sunday he has “no plans” to bring his members back to the Capitol and “no plans to make plans.”
That's disappointing. We need a tax cap now, to impose some sort of fiscal discipline on the schools. They can't increase their expenditures at rates 2 or 3 times the rate of inflation, especially when most people are struggling to get raises equal to the rate of inflation.
There is nothing wrong with a circuit breaker, and I think anybody can support that. Yet, a circuit breaker effectively also limits what revenue a school can take in, by limiting how much they can tax residents based on income. If a school can only take 6% of an resident's income (6%—$1,800 a year at $30,000—$3,000 a year at $50,000), then it can lead to real problems if the school wants to spend more then that.
Moreover, 6% is a lot of money for people to give up each year of their income for school taxes. While there are some school districts already taxing above that level, many are not.
Those people eligible for circuit breaker relief would not get it automatically, instead they would have to pay their school taxes IN FULL in SEPTEMBER, and wait until MAY to receive it back as an income tax rebate. Not exactly a good deal by any means.
You can watch it tonight.
That's great news for untraditional marriages from other states and countries.
This is interesting.
A Democrat, Blanchfield is considering a run against Republican Assemblyman Amedore, the Rotterdam builder chosen in a special election last year. The district includes part of Schenectady County and all of Montgomery County. Amedore’s family also has roots in the Amsterdam area and during the special election campaign, Amedore also won Montgomery County support because his firm had built a condo project in the town of Amsterdam.
Blanchfield said his grandfather had been in the circulation business for Schenectady’s Union Star newspaper but moved to Amsterdam to manage circulation at the Recorder. And before that, his grandfather met his grandmother at Russo’s, the popular West Main Street restaurant and tavern in Amsterdam. She was from Long Island but visiting a friend in the Rug City.
James Blanchfield was well known to paperboys in Amsterdam decades ago and used to organize trips to Yankee Stadium. Mark Blanchfield said if he runs, he’s looking forward to campaigning on the streets of his father’s old paper route in Amsterdam with his father—that would be William Blanchfield—by his side.
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Another solution to one of the world's great problems—dirty shopping carts.
Remembering the day in 1948, when another sky scraper in NYC was hit by an airplane.
They say there is serious problems ahead for the state and NY City.
He says our state needs more fiscal restraint:
In his televised speech Tuesday on the state's fiscal crisis, Gov. Paterson should channel his inner Pataki.
He should talk not just about the need for spending cuts in the face of massive deficits, but the need for tax cuts, too.
Because Paterson can never really tame the bloated beast that is state government unless heputs it on a permanent low-fat diet.
Only by strictly limiting Albany's access to tax dollars - by cutting income taxes, business taxes and property taxes - can he force lawmakers to kick their addiction to overspending.
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Don't count on parking garage rails to save you is the moral of this story.
You can watch his press conference at 5:10 PM if your not on the road to hear the bad news.
Government agents where allowing the drug trade to flourish on the Candian border.
Even Plattsburgh will face problems from the recession despite some insulating factors.
The current enfeebled state of the economy may not be as obvious to us in the North Country because of several insulating factors, but everyone in New York state is likely to feel the pain as next year's budget begins to be assembled.
The North Country is usually slow to be subject to general economic trends. Our economy is bolstered by a large helping of service industries, including 11 prisons, four colleges—three state-run—and a state authority. Schools are the largest employers in many of our communities.
In addition, we are close to Canada and are buffered from some of the economic disasters in the United States by an annual $1 billion infusion of Canadian influence.
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The longest standing Republican US Senator and power broker from Alaska has been indicted on public corruption for taking bribes and not reporting illegal income.
Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican senator in United States history and a figure of great influence in Washington as well as in his home state, has been indicted on federal corruption charges.
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Brendan Smialowski for The New York TimesMr. Stevens, 84, was indicted on seven counts of failing to report income. The charges are related to renovations on his home and to gifts he has received. They arise from an investigation that has been under way for more than a year, in connection with the senator’s relationship with a businessman who oversaw the home-remodeling project.
The indictment will surely reverberate through the November elections. Mr. Stevens, who has been in the Senate for 40 years, is up for re-election this year. Mark Begich, a popular Democratic mayor of Anchorage, hopes to supplant him.
Shocking to see yet another highly distinguished public servant be accused of such serious misdeeds.
That's some serious money the next President will have to make up.
The Bush administration will leave the next president a record federal budget deficit, according to White House projections.
The new estimate for the 2009 deficit is $482 billion — and it's likely to end up even higher.
The estimate is larger than the Bush administration projected in February. White House budget director Jim Nussle cited two reasons for the negative revision: "The primary reasons that there will be larger deficits in 2008 and 2009 are because of the bipartisan growth package, or stimulus checks, as well as slower economic growth."
At least the federal government can run a deficit, because those are the folks that print the money, or at least can sell lots of savings bonds.
Honestly, he does have a purty good point, when it comes to pointing out the hypocrisy of Tracy Brooks playing on the gender card.
I have to admit I have to like Joe Sullivan a lot. Mostly for his comic value, and for having the value of pointing out things that most people don't have the courage to do. Anybody who has the balls to run against the Albany-machine as the candidate for Mayor, several times has to be my hero.
Does that mean I will vote for him for Congress? Maybe, but I doubt it. Just because you make smart remarks, and have some courage, doesn't mean the other three-quarters of the day, your a complete wacko.
By the same token, there is a lot to like about Steven Vasquez. He certainly has some good ideas, and is worth consideration, especially if he makes to the general election, and James Burmonster doesn't beat him.
He wants the boys back in town for August 19th, to make adjustments to ensure things don't get worst.
ALBANY—In a statewide address Tuesday, Gov. David Paterson called back the state Legislature to the Capitol on Aug. 19 to start tackling a $6.4 billion budget gap in the upcoming fiscal year that threatens to disrupt state services.
Paterson appeared live on news stations at 5:10 p.m. to alert New Yorkers that the state faces a whopping $26.2 billion budget gap over the next three years, a 22 percent increase over estimates that came less than 90 days ago.
In the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins April 1, Paterson said the budget deficit will have reached $6.4 billion, up $1.4 billion from previous projections.
"Our economic woes are so severe that I wanted to talk to you personally this evening on where we stand," he said in the five-minute address. "The fact is we confront harsh times. Let me be honest—this situation will get worse before it gets better."
Sounds nice, but I doubt the Assembly is coming back on August 19th. The Senate will come back, so they can take back to their voters the property tax cap plan, that many downstate members in the Assembly oppose.
So he says.
Fresh from toughly describing the state's worsening financial picture, Gov. Paterson will announce another round of state agency cuts on Wednesday, the Daily News has learned.
Paterson plans to order more cuts of up to 7% from state agencies - on top of 3.35% imposed early this year, sources said.
The savings should help keep this year's $121.5 billion budget in balance, they said.
The Harlem Democrat will also announce an immediate hiring freeze - and may trim the state workforce by "several thousand," the sources said.
Paterson is also calling the Legislature back for an "emergency economic session" on Aug. 19.
I think he's exaggerating the problem a little bit. Things are little lean on the state revenue side of things, but nothing that a 1% surcharge on the income over $1 million per person couldn't make up without so much in the way of drastic cuts.
They want their members to know the truth about Obama.
He says it's time to fix the budget problems.
You can now watch it online.
A poor quality recording of a television broadcasting Paterson's press conference yesterday on the fiscal health of our state, from the Albany Times Union.
Many wonder if they will be laid off with the state's tough fiscal times.
Long delays and disputes between Pike and the County Executive, have lead to their contract being pulled.
The County is also considering pulling the project due to a lack of funds. They might just finish up the renovation work that is already done, but supervising the sub-contractors, and let anything else not-safety related not get repaired or replaced right away.
A social treatment center for the mentally ill in Saratoga will have to close due to state budget cuts. Clearly, this not the kind of programs we should be cutting in times like this.
He says he will be able to give his entire Assembly salary pre-lulu and expense payments to charity.
That's good as a lot of non-profits can use money. Plus, it ensures that Ian will be working for the people and not just for a few bucks, but still will be compensated for his travel and work related expenses.
They have to best decide how to deal with the asbestos in the building.
From his excellent press release that reminds us in such hard times, we have to be cautious on how much we cut.
In every period of economic decline, the call for cuts and caps gives rise to the same, important questions. What programs will be cut? Whose services will be diminished or eliminated?
Our answer is that middle class families and our working poor must not be forced to bear the brunt of such cuts. I and my Assembly colleagues believe that this state must not backpedal on the important progress we have made for the hardworking families of this state.
We must not close the doors of our Universal pre-K classrooms to our four-year-old boys and girls.
We must not abandon our CFE obligation to ensure that a sound, basic education is provided to each and every child in our public schools.
We must not halt the progress our school districts have made in reducing class size.
We must not cut back on the nursing home and home care services that our elderly and our citizens with disabilities depend upon.
After making an historic and long-awaited commitment to affordable housing, we must not abandon that commitment nor break our promise to revitalize our Upstate economy and nurture job growth.
There are tough choices to be made; choices that must reflect our priorities as a state. If it is our intention to ask working families to shoulder the burden of these cuts, we must ensure that our most affluent citizens share that burden. At the same time, we expect Washington to acknowledge New York's economic hardship and to provide this state with the assistance we deserve and need.
I tend to agree. Who is going to be hurt most by these cut backs? Those who go to state parks, with even higher fees and less maintenance? Those who attend SUNY or our many high schools and elementary schools? Those who drive to work on our roads?
I hope they pass a millionare's surcharge to help make up for the economic lost.
Well Maybe. But some Frank Sinatra first to listen to and remember Hugh Carey times.
Days of Wine and Roses - Frank Sinatra
This fact is shocking and sad.
If black America were a country, it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with the AIDS virus, the Black AIDS Institute, an advocacy group, reported Tuesday.
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This on the other hand is good news.
The number of chronically homeless people living in the nation’s streets and shelters has dropped by about 30 percent — from 175,914 to 123,833 — from 2005 to 2007, Bush administration officials said on Tuesday.
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Text of the Report (pdf)Housing officials say the statistics, which are collected annually from more than 3,800 cities and counties, may reflect better data collection and some variation in the number of communities reporting. But officials also attribute much of the decline to a policy shift promoted by Congress and the administration that has focused federal and local resources on finding stable housing for homeless people suffering from drug addiction, mental illness or physical disabilities, long deemed the hardest to help in the homeless population.
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A nice little perk, essential to those without private autos.
If your a state authority, and are interested in being involuntary sold pieces of state property, especially big landmarks, you might be in luck.
In the 1980s, Governor Cuomo sold the Thruway Authority the free I-84, and Attica Prison to the Dormitory Authority, all to be leased back to the state for millions in finance charges.
The possibilities are endless nowadays.
Sell the Capitol ($5 billion), and the Empire Plaza ($10 billion) to the Dormitory Authority. Sell I-787 or free I-90 for half a million or so to the Capital District Transit Authority CDTA (roads are transit). There is a lot of money tied up in public assets.
It's kind of like mortgaging your house, to cash out some of the equity. Just think—us taxpayers could pay for the Empire Plaza or 787 all over again !
A fascinating interview called Woman in the House.
Those people willing to kill themselves or fight to death to keep there houses is looked at in The Nation article called, The Suicide Solution.
Censorship continues on senstive topics in China thanks to government policy there, even for reporters on the Olympics.
So it would seem, according to Daily Kos.
From the Buff News today.
Talk about finding a needle in a haystack. Civil liberties watchdogs estimate, without serious challenge from any public officials, that the U. S. government’s consolidated terrorist watch list has as many as 1 million names on it. How such an overwhelming list is going to do anyone any good in tracking down would-be mass murderers isn’t clear.
A more likely scenario is that the list contains so many names — and will cause unnecessary levels of scrutiny for people who just happen to have a similar moniker — that it will soon become almost as much of an annoyance to airport security screeners as it is to a few unlucky travelers.
Like a fire department that won’t be anything but grumpy about answering its 15th false alarm from the same building, airport security screeners and others who should be more careful are likely to develop a habit of waving through any reasonable-looking person whose name raises a security alert, just because such red flags won’t be rare enough to cause any concern.
Granted, 1 million names doesn’t mean 1 million people. It means, according to the government’s Terrorist Screening Center, about 400,000 people, many of whom are there two or three or more times, either because they travel under various aliases or because our English-speaking agencies aren’t sure how to spell their Arabic or other language names.
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At least staffers are doing well on Paterson's massive payroll.
Just five years ago, this small city on the Hudson River was literally broke.
It had racked up millions of dollars of debts, but had scarcely enough money in the bank to cover a week's bills. It could put only two police cars out on the streets to patrol a city of 51,000 people. And city officials were scrambling to sell anything they could lay their hands on, up to and including City Hall, which at one point bore a sign reading ''For Sale by Owner.''
But times have changed for the better in Troy—and how. The city's budget was balanced last year, for the fourth year in a row. There is finally enough money for improvements, like new police stations and fire trucks. The city's extraordinary downtown—it looks like New York City might have in the 1870's—has been repaved and replanted. New businesses, once scared off by the threat of municipal bankruptcy, have started moving in.
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This article is fascinating.
This is worth a view:
“It is in this context that President Bush is traveling to China to attend the Olympic Games. To my knowledge, a sitting president of the United States has never attended an Olympics on foreign soil. That gives the President tremendous leverage with the Chinese government as he gives them tremendous face by attending the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I have no objection to the President attending the Olympic Games. I do hope, though, that with all, all of the face, for lack of a better word, that the government will receive by his participation in the opening ceremony that he will take the opportunity to use his leverage to speak very forcefully to the Chinese regime, not only about human rights in China and Tibet — of course, that is a top priority — but also about the… barriers to US products going into China, about the dangers that are foisted upon our children and the American people by the lack of safety in the production of foods.
Despite his demands of state agencies to cut their staff, he has been bolstering his political people.
Consider signing an open Letter calling on Barack Obama to stand firm on the principles he so compellingly articulated in the primary campaign.
The Assembly says it's time to preserve both essential services for all New Yorkers, keep taxes low, and create a modest surcharge on the wealthiest New Yorkers, making more then $1 million dollars a year.
July 30th - Fred Dicker Show on Talk 1300
Many state workers, along with other citizens who use state services from businesses wanting permits to citizens wanting their drivers licenses updated, fear the governor's massive cuts to government.
Sitting in front of the Capitol on sunny Wednesday afternoon, state workers munched on gyros and hot dogs, licked fast-melting cones of frozen yogurt, and talked about one thing: Gov. David Paterson's plan to fix the state's financial woes.
For many, the prospect of layoffs, which the governor warned might be needed if his proposed cuts weren't enacted, was the most worrisome.
"I'm getting married in April; I can't afford to get laid off," said Will King, 26, who works for the state Office of Higher Education.
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A look at people who can only find part-time work without benefits to make ends meet.
They are moving from Cornellia Street, a landmark of the Plattsburgh strip for decades, to south Plattsburgh.
The man who had been stealing catalytic converters has been arrested after pricey thefts for a couple years, that left new and old cars parked on the streets of Plattsburgh sounding awful throaty.
The border town continues to be a choice place for mail boxes for Canadian scam artists, hiding across the border.
More offices are allowing workers to wear shorts. Not mine, said the cow.
They say lots of people need the many services of the state.
So it would appear.
Will the state being paying out PILOT payments for the Harriman Campus or will it die from lean times?
An unheard of GOP primary in the 21st district is going to happen between Steven Vasquez and Jim Burmonster.
This is so fascinating.
The first use of the phrase "American Dream" was in James Truslow Adams's 1931 book THE EPIC OF AMERICA. Of course, Adams was merely naming a thread in American history that stretched from the City on a Hill to Gold Mountain. But today some critics have charged the dream has become purely materialistic — while others see its reach limited to a lucky few.
Several years ago The Fetzer Institute, a funder of BILL MOYERS JOURNAL, set out on a quest to reassess the definition of The American Dream asking: Is the American Dream a vision or an illusion? Does social change depend on personal change? What values should the U.S. demonstrate in today’s world? Are there ways to think beyond geographic boundaries toward a common dream for our world? BILL MOYERS JOURNAL joins with The Fetzer Institute in continuing this inquiry in a special online feature. We're asking our guests and our viewers what is their vision for the future of the American Dream — and how we can achieve those visions.
They have to stop playing games with the state.
dvanced Micro Devices Inc. has just one year from today to decide whether to build a $3.2 billion computer chip factory in Malta.
On July 31, 2009, the state's offer of $650 million in cash to help build the facility, part of a $1.2 billion incentive package, expires.
AMD has yet to commit to the facility known as Fab 4X and it appears an answer could come long before the deadline, maybe even by this fall or the end of the year.
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Where do you put the poor people after you demolish their housing to reduce crime?
There are many solutions besides cutting education, environment, healthcare, and transportation spending in our state to find revenue, if it's needed at all.
Lawmakers interviewed said they have quite a few ideas for how to raise the $600 million: Democrats in the Assembly are partial to an income-tax hike on millionaire residents, while Senate Republicans say they would prefer a crackdown on Indian reservation tax evasion and an expansion of gambling operations.
For both houses, cutting spending — and running the risk of inflaming voter discontent in an election year — doesn't appear to be under serious consideration. Lawmakers said they would rather hunt for change under the cushions than saw apart the couch.
"The millionaire's tax, that's my perfect resolution," a Democratic assemblyman of the Bronx, Ruben Diaz, said. "Nobody is hurt too bad, and you get more than $600 million." Mr. Paterson has said increasing taxes on rich is a "last resort."
Said a Republican senator of Brooklyn, Martin Golden: "Before you cut money from schools, you want to get the tax dollars from the Indian reservations, that's for sure." By law, New York can collect such taxes on cigarette sales to non-Indians, but the state has chosen not to enforce it.
Another Republican senator, William Larkin of Orange County, said New York "ought to jump-start those video lottery terminals at Aqueduct," adding that the state has taken too long to select a gaming operator to run casinos at the Queens thoroughbred racetrack.
Some lawmakers say they shouldn't pass any legislation until after voters go to the polls in November, ostensibly so they have enough time to verify the Paterson administration's calculations and economic forecasts.
I think there a lot of good solutions out there, if we don't rush into them. Most of those ideas should be implemented, and certainly fixing the Indian-tax issue, where New Yorkers are illegally purchasing cigarettes and gasoline on reservations without paying the state's consumption (sales tax), and is patently unfair to New York merchants and the public as a whole compared to these scofflaws.
Governor Paterson, ever so-suddenly transported to the level of accidential governor, has a little bit of chicken little in him.
The sky is not falling. The state doesn't have to pull the emergency brake and brace for a crash landing. While it is true that if the current downturn in the economy is prolonged, that New York State will either have to make programmatic changes or raise taxes, they do not have to do it now.
The Assembly has been the only voice of calm lately. They predicted less revenue then the Senate and Governor this year, and are not surprised the economy is a bit sluggish. But as they point out, the state still has ample reserves, and it's quite possible if the economy picks up, no changes will have to be made.
Governor David Paterson talks about it being the the recession of the 1970s or even 1929, when the Great Depression was about to start. He also predicts that gasoline prices will be $5/gallon by September. None of these things are likely to prove to be true—it's just another cyclical cycle of the economy.
There is nothing wrong with improving the efficiency of agencies. Turning off unneeded lights and going to automated technologies not only saves energy and saves labor, it's better for the environment and makes government more efficient. Yet, layoffs and downsizing are a terrible idea.
For one, layoffs will only make the recession even worst. More importantly, state agencies have legitimate state tasks that need to get done. New York State has a long history of agencies swamped with regulatory permits and paperwork long not-filed. We are years behind reviewing the safety of dams, auditing child caseworkers, and ensuring that industrial plants aren't polluting our air.
We can't cut aid to schools or local governments, without forcing more people out of their houses and off their land. We shouldn't be eliminating the prospect of ensuring all kids have the opportunity to a decent and dignified education, from pre-school through college. We have to ensure people are able to get decent medical care.
Moreover, we have to be careful not 'raise' taxes on poor and middle class New Yorkers struggling to get by with a reasonable quality of life. Balancing the budget by raising car registration fees, hiking sales tax and bus fares, raising park and camp fees, and not paving the roads, is not good for our society as a whole.
A millonare's surcharge, that would modestly increase taxes on those making more then a million dollars, would close any gap likely to appear in the next few years. This tax doesn't hurt average New Yorkers, unlike raising user fees. The wealthiest of New Yorkers will only be modestly touched by a slight tax increase—the value of each dollar decreases as one get richer.
There will not be a mass exodus of millionaires leaving the state, or companies closing shop for a lower taxed state. People come to New York State for it's unique resources and it's metropolitan area, not for it's low taxes. Businesses will close if it takes too long to get permits and licenses, or if there is not an educated workforce or safe roads to get to their business.
I am opposed to raising property taxes, sales taxes, and user fees to balance the budget. A very modest hike to the wealthiest of New Yorkers won't force people between a meal or paying their property taxes. There is no logical reason to oppose taxing the wealthiest versus the poorest of New Yorkers, except ideology that argues that the middle class should be burdened for most of the services the best benefit the wealthy.
Basically, the correct way to look at it is in human terms:
Today is Thursday. Your car has a quarter tank of gas left in it. Your a little short on cash as you get paid on Friday. You only have a 10 mile commute back home and to work. You know you won't run out of gas today or tomorrow, but if for some reason, the bank or gas station is closed tomorrow, there could be a problem. You panic !
You can listen to some great folk music this weekend without going to Rhode Island.
He is collecting private funds to keep his papers and information about public service.
So it would appear.
She is no longer even going to try to be president with her name being taken off the convention ballot officially.
You can find out how much I make a week and any other state employee by going to www.SeeThroughNY.net.
I'll save you the effort though. I make $1,227 bi-weekly (how I'm paid), and that works out to be $904.35 bi-weekly after taxes.
He's continuing on his sky is falling we must do something now tour.
Last week he engaging in political spying and harassment of Mark Grimm over his internet consulting business he runs on the side by calling for the State Attorney General to investigate, and this week he is calling for Warren Redlich to resign over a so-called conflict of interest over defending traffic offenses and sitting on the town board.
It's utterly disgusting to see what Runion has done, unilaterally attacking members on the board just for being of a different party, and claiming that they are benefiting from their position—particularly when you are doing it yourself.
Runion is a dirty bastard. I'm sure he's enriching himself by his position on the town board. He could not afford the multi-million dollar house he lives if not for questionable deals and contracts he gets on the side. He hates not having a unanimous town board, where he doesn't always gets his way.
Grain exports where big exports, along with big machines from GE, and scrap metal reports the Times Union.
This is really bad news:
Comptroller Michael F. Conners said that by statute, the petty cash fund is only allowed to have $5,000 in it, but the audit found the account had a total of $351,000 after money was deposited there that was intended to be used for restitution to victims in a recent criminal case. The victims were also overpaid by a total of $804, the audit found.
The petty cash fund is handled by Richard Arthur, the district attorney’s director of administration, who was previously spokesman for Soares.
“The Director of Administration has demonstrated a total disregard for fiscal management, a total lack of compliance with county guidelines for the use of the petty cash fund and exhibits a sense of entitlement that is dangerous to the fiscal matters of the District Attorney’s office,” Conners wrote.
The audit recommends that the Albany County Legislature suspend the petty cash account for the office until “someone capable of administering this account is in place.”
The idea that a petty cash fund could have $351k in slush funds is terrible accounting, especially for a public agency. I'm not sure if that is ineptitude at a grand scale or criminal action, although the line is pretty blurred when you are talking about that much money.
The TU Local Politics blog looks at the corrupt Altamont-Guilderland Democratic machine.
They are attracted to the near Canadian border, the possibility of sales to NOVA transit bus company which will open an Assembly plant near Plattsburgh.
So is planned.
This certainly sounds interesting.
Apparently the talk of bad times isn't new in our state.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, then Gov. George Pataki said the state was facing the largest revenue decline in its history and warned the losses could be the worst since - you got it - the Great Depression.
That came as the mid-year financial report showed the state headed for a $1.5 billion budget shortfall which was likely to grow to $3 billion and $6 billion in the following budget year.
"Never in the history of this state have we seen revenue losses of this magnitude," Pataki said, after learning that Washington had refused to heed his call to free up some $20 billion worth of promised disaster aid.
One year later - after he was safely re-elected to his third and final term and despite a pre-election jumping of the gun by then-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno - Pataki revealed that the state's budget deficit had actually ballooned to historic proportions - $11.5 billion, to be exact.
There was a bitter budget battle that year, and for the first time in two decades, the legislative leaders put their political differences aside and united to override Pataki's vetoes of additional spending for the city, education and healthcare that they had restored over his objections.
Fast-forward to this latest Depression-like situation (if you buy what's being sold by Paterson, who is desperately seeking an issue by which to define himself as something other than the "accidental governor"), here's how things are stacking up so far:
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