Gov. Paterson’s $200 toaster

Gov. Paterson doled out a hefty $61,951 in taxpayer money for furniture, wine glasses, bathroom redecorating and a $199, four-slice toaster at Albany’s rarely-used Executive mansion—one of his three residences—at the same time he’s urging spending restraint, pay cuts and a whopping $6 billion in new and higher taxes to battle budget deficits.

Paterson’s shopping list included the 30 dozen new wine glasses, a $2800 high-back chair, $832 for bathroom accessories, and a $7,000 refurbished antique mahogany table.

The expenses are on top of the $30,000 he authorized for an antique Persian rug, pay raises for top staff, and a pricey hotel bill that he stuck to taxpayers for attending President Obama’s inauguration.

Read the entire story at: Daily News

Quik Lube Is Right

I wonder if the Fast Lube guy in Watertown is thinking the same thing!

Her Spots Change to Stripes

Gillibrand is tripping all over to reinvent herself as a lefty Democrat. After pulling the unloaded, safety locked and harmless guns from under her bed (for security reasons, her staff sez!), she does a 180 on a gun rights bill she previously supported.

She demonstrates the stereotypical politician who will do or say anything to get elected.

Read Here

Mrs. Rodney Dangerfield?

Is she not getting the respect she deserves from the Speaker?

The is Addie Jenne Russell's office at the capital. Reportedly a small office, furthest away from the activities and with a paper door label.

 

And this is another Assembly member and how their door is labeled. 

Toot Toot!

Order the bumpersticker here

Sanford Has It Right

It is ok to disagree with Obama's policy but...no one should hope he fails.

Interview on RCP

And I said [to Obama], “Man to man, I dont want to disagree with you on anything. And as an American, I absolutely want you to succeed. And therefore, as an American who wants you to succeed ­ because we’re all in this boat together ­ it’s incumbent upon me, if I think an idea is a bad idea, even though I don’t want to disagree, to lay it out.” And he said his say and I said my say and he said his say and I said my say, and we called it quits.

I don’t want him to fail. Anybody who wants him to fail is an idiot, because it means we’re all in trouble. But I do think, in that same vein, if you’ve looked at the pages of history, if you’ve looked at the pages of economic data that I’ve looked at over a long period of time — I’ve got a masters in business from the University of Virginia, I’ve worked up in New York in finance — if you’ve looked at that kind of stuff and you legitimately think that something ain’t going to work, you’d be cheating him and cheating yourself if you didn’t lay it out and call an ace an ace in terms of where you’re coming from.

NYS Senate By The Numbers

5 bills on the Senate agenda yesterday, including 2 one-house bills that the Democratic Senate candidates campaigned about the process of one house bills being eliminated.

Here's the LEAST PRODUCTIVE Senate session to date, by the numbers (through 2/24):

$79,500 -- salary of a state legislator, $92,000 -- salary if you include lulus for such positions as Ag Committee Chair

8 -- weeks of session

17 -- days of scheduled session

11 -- days of winter break

10 -- number of bills passed in Senate

4 -- number that were "one-house" only

3 -- number that were budget bills, written by the governor

2 -- number that were written and sponsored by Republicans

14 -- billions in budget deficit that is yet to be resolved 

121 -- billions in a budget that does not cut spending or will not solve our fiscal dilemma
22,000 -- private sector jobs lost when they pass their enormous tax hike, read here 

What are lawmakers doing for their $252 per day, plus expenses?

That is a record to campaign on (insert sarcasm), see they think voters are dumb and will forget all this by the time their next election rolls around. Are they right?

Obama Speaks, The Markets Listen

BO inspired a nation according to reports on the reaction to his speech the other night, but he is not inspiring Wall St. The comforter in chief who tucked everyone in Tuesday night with a 58 minute speech continues to awaken the bear on Wall St.

Obama's stock maybe rising with the rhetoric he delivers, but Wall St does not believe in his big government approach.

• Nov. 5, 2008 (Wednesday after Election Day): -486 (5.0%)
• Jan. 9, 2009 (one day after Obama speaks at George Mason University on “need” for $800 billion stimulus package): -143 (1.6%)
• Jan. 20, 2009 (Inauguration Day): -332 (4.0%)
• Feb. 10, 2009 (one day after Obama declares that without a stimulus, “an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with a catastrophe”): -382 (4.6%)
• Feb. 17, 2009 (market opens for the first time after Congress passes $787 billion stimulus on Feb. 13; Obama signs bill into law, declaring, “The stimulus lets Americans claim destiny.”): -298 (3.8%)
• Feb. 19, 2009 (one day after Obama announces potential mortgage relief plan): -90 (1.2%)
• Feb. 25, 2009 (one day after Obama’s first speech to the full Congress): -80 (1.1%)

How Low Can We Go

"This may be Obama’s most galling misrepresentation. He continues to say one thing while doing another. He calls for fiscal responsibility while encouraging outrageously massive deficit spending. As for that deficit Obama likes to say he inherited, nearly one-fourth of the national debt was created since the Democrats took control of Congress just two years ago."

 

"The Democrat controlled Congress gets the credit for the soaring national debt because under the Constitution Congress controls the purse strings."

Promises, Promises, Promises

Obama's speech last night was loaded with socialist policy promises, everything from curing cancer to everyone having a college education to read my lips no new taxes, anyone making less than $250,000 will not pay a DIME MORE, not a dime more in taxes. Obama also included his promise to halve the budget deficit by the end of his first term.

Here is the line that may come back to haunt Obama.

"But let me perfectly clear, because I know you’ll hear the same old claims that rolling back these tax breaks means a massive tax increase on the American people: if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."

Do not be mistaken, ambition is a positive trait, but managing expectation is a valuable ability.How does he pay for his ambitions?

Here is a complete list of his promises compiled by Politico.

— National health care coverage within the year.

— Seek a “cure for cancer in our time.”

— Reestablish America as producing the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

— Lay “thousands of miles of power lines,” and construct wind turbines and solar panels.

— Expand mass transit.

— Reform the regulatory system

— Pass legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution

— Commit to the goal of a “re-tooled, re-imagined auto industry.”

— Invest in electronic health records and new technology to reduce medical errors.

— Create new incentives for teacher performance

— Expand commitments to charter schools

— Sign legislation on national service authored by Sens. Edward Kennedy and Orrin Hatch.

— End direct payments to “large agribusinesses that don’t need them.”

— Eliminate no bid contracts in Iraq.

— “Root out waste, fraud and abuse in our Medicare program.”

— Jettison tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.

— No new taxes – “not one single dime” – for families that earn less than $250,000 a year.

— Begin debate on overhauling Social Security while creating “tax-free universal savings account for all Americans.”

— Increase the number of soldiers and Marines – and raise their pay and benefits.

— Encourage parental responsibility.

 

Accidental or Lame Duck?

Governor David Paterson is in trouble according to a new Siena poll released today.

Nearly one year from the time he became New York's accidental Governor he is possibly looking at becoming a lame duck Governor.

By the numbers:

• Favorable to Unfavorable 40-47%, last month 54-30%

• Job Performance positive to negative 28-69%, last month 51-45%

• Only 19% say they would vote for Paterson again while 57% say someone else.
  

OUCH

Here Is The Problem

If you want to know what is to blame for the housing crisis, watch this video.

A school bus driver buys an $800,000 home and now they cannot afford it, but they want Obama to halt foreclosures and responsible people like you and I who buy a house we can afford to bail them out.

Here is the harsh reality - your $800,000 house it is not my problem, I do not want to pay for stupidity. If the loss of investment in the market is a personal issue, than so is the loss of investment in a house.  

Which Way Will The Wind Blow

It didn't take long for that ad by Jefferson County wind power opponents to catch the attention of the states top law enforcer.

The ad singled out State Sen. Darrel Aubertine as among the elected officials in  Jefferson County who may have run afoul of ethics and other laws with their wind power contracts and votes to push for a local wind farm.

Now, the Watertown Daily Times is reporting that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking for answers about what our elected officials are doing.

Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck said Friday that the town lawyer and the attorney general's office asked the town to disclose possible conflicts of interest, the paper reported.

Cuomo's office has been inundated with complaints about corruption involving government officials and wind power projects across the state, and is investigating several companies, according to a recent front page story in the New York Times.

The probe has already resulted in the creation of a groundbreaking Wind Industry Code of Ethics. But as the Watertown paper points out, none of the companies involved in the Cape Vincent project have signed on to the AGs code.

According to the paper, at least five town officials have contracts with the wind power companies. Last fall, Aubertine was forced to defend his efforts to gain approval for the project, which at one point he said could result in as many as 10 turbines, then it was 1, being built on land he owns.

So far, Aubertine has refused act as the public expects of an elected official in this matter and let the sunshine on his dealings and to disclose details of his contracts with the wind companies, and his own estimates of the contracts value have varied wildly.

The AGs investigatipon offers hope of transparency and accountability for concerned local residents and voters.

What Is He Thinking

Governor David Paterson is in a tailspin that does not seem to stop and much of his problems are his own doing. He seems to step in one pile of dung right after another, which is probably why he wanted his former Chief of Staff Charles O'Byrne to come back. But, he put it out there publicly apparently before he had a commitment from O'Byrne.

O'Byrne was one of the first in the recent lineage of Democrats to have tax problems. This issue was the reason for his resignation from Paterson's team to begin with and if it was wrong and reason enough to resign; then why would the Governor even think it is OK to bring him back now?

Why did Paterson float the idea of bringing him back publicly? It is acknowledgment of how bad things are going for Paterson. The Governor's public popularity is falling like water over a dam and he has many challenges ahead of him such as a budget crisis that he has trumped up to colossal proportions and where his budget proposal did not match his rhetoric. So, he has much work to do to reshape his image as the straight talking Governor who is here to end the "culture of overspending" or accept his label as "accidental" Governor for the partial term he will serve until Cuomo sweeps him in a primary.

Imagine That...

Someone else is taking exception to the Democrat's hypocrisy in the New York State Senate. The Albany Times Union took that position with Malcolm Smith and company's recent release of their flimsy imitation of a so called newscast titled One New York, which has since been removed from the internet.

Here are a few snippets, and read the entire editorial here.

The issue:
Senate Democrats spend taxpayer funds on self-promotion.

And in the course of the film, we're informed that Democrats "recognize that we have to change the way we do business in this chamber."

If there was an Oscar for chutzpah, this would surely be the nominee to bet on.

This faux documentary came just days after Democrats made a splash decrying the Senate Republicans' abuses of power and public funds.

Yet even as they were spouting about Republican excesses and appointing a committee to study reform, they had at least nine state employees working on a feature-length campaign commercial.

As was said before right here - Hypocrites!

Prison Closures Coming

The Governor plans to close prisons and that is largely falling under the radar of the MSM. A combination of release of inmates, reform of Rockefeller drug laws and a budget proposal under Public Protection and General Government Article 7 Legislation would all add up to several state prison closures. 

Paterson is proposing to eliminate the 1 year notification required before a prison is closed and remove the ultimate authority for closure from the legislature and turn it over to the Commissioner.

Read more here.

You can be well assured the closures will occur in mainly upstate regions, with the balance of power heavily influenced toward downstate. 

Is this bad or good news for New York? In terms of balancing the budget it could be considered good news but, it will significantly effect the employment of this area therefore, what is truly gained for Northern New York?

Another piece of potentially good news in this proposal is use of these facilities for local inmates, which could effectively eliminate the need for Jefferson County to spend taxpayer money to satisfy a campaign promise for the Sheriff by building a jail where the need is questionable at best.  

If you don't think prisons are closing just listen to this Senator and click it around 11:30 mark where she says "we expect we will be closing prisons ... " the notion that they are economic development engines because they create jobs is fool-hearted to think according to this Democratic Senator.

Where do our state officials; Darrel, Addie and Dede stand on this issue?

Lady Liz on the Democrats

Lady Liz from Daily Politics blog in an interview on Public Radio weighs in on the stumbling Democrat's stumble from Paterson, Gillibrand to Scott Murphy.


Listen Here

Pataki In or Out?

You have all heard or read about the possibility of George Pataki running for the US Senate seat now being held by Kirsten Gillibrand. Pataki met with the head of the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee, Senator John Cornyn, but he has given no indication of even a slight intention.

Should he run for Senate?

Culture of Corruption Turns Democrat

Read here

Trouble At The Hacienda

Senator Darrel Aubertine's hometown is split badly on the wind issue and they are airing the frustrations. 

 

The Wind Power Ethics Group took a swing at our Senator with this ad that  appeared in the Watertown Daily Times over the weekend. Senator Darrel Aubertine leads the list of officials that the Ethics Group wants investigated. 

Read more - Cape Vincent's Unethical Black Hole

For once this is someone other than some GOP operation calling Senator Aubertine out!

Hypocritical

The Democrats want to howl about the frivolous spending by New York State Senate Republicans such as a TV studio.

Well here is a picture of the GOP TV studio.

 

Now watch this elaborate production by the Senate Democrats, bypassing for the moment the rhetoric for content, just focus on the production quality and someone please come forward and say this is done for free!

This piece was not produced on an austerity budget. 

Paterson Plummets

Governor David Paterson's slide in the polls continues. Last week Cuomo delivered a speech in Albany where he sounded very much a candidate for Governor and this week polls support his intention.

Qunnipiac University that shows Cuomo is favor over Paterson by a 55-23 margin in a head to head primary matchup.

What is taking Paterson - Caroline Kennedy.

"The Caroline Kennedy mix-up still haunts Gov. David Paterson," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "In numbers which could tempt Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to take another shot at Governor, Paterson trails Cuomo 2 - 1 among Democratic voters and scratches out a tie with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in the general election."

Interestingly enough Senator Gillibrand succumbs in a primary challenge to Representative Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island.

Rep. McCarthy tops Sen. Gillibrand in a Democratic primary 34 - 24 percent, with 39 percent undecided.

I'll Take Mine

This is the attitude of the Governor and Attorney General!

They ask unions and other state workers to enter the shared sacrifice arena and forego a 3% raise, yet they give increases to their staff members. Paterson handed out raises to 17 members of his staff; one getting a 46% increase with the average being 16.7%, while Cuomo handed an average of 7.2%.

Paterson, who has made the state budget woes his own narrative during his first year in office, has failed to match up his rhetoric and actions. He proposes a budget that fails to cut spending and continues "the culture of overspending" as he frequently refers to it and proposes a couple hundred tax hikes and then he doles out raises.

Hiring freeze, cuts in the state work force, shared sacrifice all part of the Governor's mantra! What kind of message does his actions send to New Yorkers?

SPENDocrats

A new website has launched: SPENDocrats

A New Era ... of Dependency

On Tuesday BO will turn back time on a bipartisan effort to reform welfare and usher in a new age of dependency. Read more here

Robert Rector, a prominent welfare researcher who was one of the architects of Clinton's 1996 reform bill, warned last week that Obama’s stimulus plan was a “welfare spendathon” that would amount to the largest one-year increase in government handouts in American history.

Douglas Besharov, author of a big study on welfare reform, said the stimulus bill passed by Congress and the Senate in separate votes on Friday would “unravel” most of the 1996 reforms that led to a 65% reduction in welfare caseloads and prompted the British and several other governments to consider similar measures.

the more Americans sign on to the dole, the more state budgets will benefit from US Treasury payouts.  “They have completely overturned the fiscal and policy foundations of welfare reform,” Rector complained

This will make the state and counties' budget problems go away with increased Federal Medicaid reimbursements also known as, FMAP.

Flushed

Can anyone hear the sound of a toilet flushing?

So many principled thoughts and so little time to implement them!

All of this political rhetoric has been flushed down the toilet in just under 4 weeks.

Show Me The $

I must have missed this, but our new state Senator—in an effort to boost trade between North Country farmers and the largely nomadic peoples of Mongolia—spent seven days in 2005 on an official tour that across China from Beijing to Tongliao.

The trip, which included Darrel Aubertine and just two other state lawmakers (from Maine and Pennsylvania) was sponsored by the Council on State Governments, a Lower Manhattan-based think tank that regularly hosts fact-finding trips (junkets?) to destinations around the globe.

Reported by Syracuse Post-Standard state government reporter Delen Goldberg, who discovered a letter that Aubertine wrote to protest a proposed $500,000 budget cut that would eliminate state funding for CSG.

Darrel seems to be constantly reminding us of the need for cuts and “difficult choices” in a state budget that Gov. Paterson says is out of balance by as much as $13 billion.

So while we are considering cutting funds for our schools, nursing homes, non profit agencies and local hospitals, why should CSG—which seems to exist only to provide junkets to well-wired lawmakers—be spared?

Aubertine's letter, which appears below, speaks of the importance of protecting 300 jobs at CSG's headquarters near Wall Street.

He makes no mention of his China trip, and – even though he signed the letter as the chairman of the Agriculture Committee—doesn't mention farms or his Northern NY district.

For the average Joe, such a trip would cost anywhere from $10,000-$20,000, depending on the season. And Sen. Aubertine insists he paid the entire cost all by himself.

It was the public's business so is it too much to ask for some proof? How much did the trip cost? Who paid for it? How was he selected to go? And what benefit did the trip to hardworking farmers and constituents in Northern NY?

 

 

Dinner Is Served

Here is your main meal for today, all 1,434 pages of your pork dinner to swallow. Please do not take too much time to read it, because Chuck Schumer says you don't care about it and BO claims there has been too much debate (3 1/2 weeks) on spending $1 trillion dollars of taxpayer money.

And Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her fact sheet issued yesterday said this, "There are no earmarks or pet projects."

Are you kidding us, is Pelosi, Schumer, et. al. seriously that out of touch with the public? 

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Reports Periodicals & Report stimulus pork confer

Recess From What?

The New York State is preparing to take their winter recess, the question is from what? Since convening on January 7th they have passed only 7 bills.

3 were the deficit reduction bills, 2 sponsored by the Senate GOP and 2 sponsored by Neil Breslin, D-Albany. Not quite sure what the rest of the bunch has been doing.

Ahhh, but here is what one member is doing; hosting high priced cocktail parties.    

Reform and the lure of big money
The Syracuse Post-Standard

Direct from hearing testimony on government reform in Syracuse on Friday, state Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, was scheduled to host a $750-a-head fundraiser in Albany Monday night.The Capitol Confidential blog reported Monday that Valesky's event at the Crowne Plaza hotel was the most expensive of 10 fundraisers being held that evening in the capital.

Back when he was in the Senate minority, Valesky charged only $250 for his Albany fundraisers. Now that he is a powerful member of the majority, capital movers and shakers are more eager to get his ear.

State legislators have been holding evening cocktail parties in Albany during legislative sessions for years, despite the fact that the events have been lambasted by reform groups, including the New York Public Interest Research Group and Common Cause. The specter of legislators making laws by day and raising money from lobbyists by night has been symbolic of Albany's ethical morass.

To continue reading: http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2009/02/reform_and_the_lure_of_big_mon.html

Oh Really!

If this is not the sound of an arrogant politician, than I am not sure what defines arrogance. If Schumer truly believes people do not care about those "little porky amendments" than he has moved into the out of touch column.




There is a drive on to let him know you care and to send him some pork rinds and a note.



Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY) Class III
313 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-6542
Web Form: schumer.senate.gov/new_website/contact.cfm
Fax:202-228-3027

District Office- Albany:
Leo O’Brien Building, Room 420
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 518-431-4070
Fax: 518-431-4076

District Office- Binghamton:
15 Henry Street, Room B6
Binghamton, NY 13901
Phone: 607-772-6792
Fax: 607-772-8124

District Office- Buffalo:
111 West Huron Street, Room 620
Buffalo, NY 14202
Phone: 716-846-4111
Fax: 716-846-4113

District Office- Hudson Valley:
Post Office Box A
Red Hook, NY 12571
Phone: 914-285-9741
Fax: 845-758-1043

District Office- Long Island:
145 Pine Lawn Road, Room 300
Melville, NY 11747
Phone: 631-753-0978
Fax: 631-753-0997

District Office- New York City:
757 Third Avenue, Suite 17-02
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-486-4430
TTYD Number: 212-486-7803
Fax: 212-486-7693

District Office- Rochester:
100 State Street, Room 3040
Rochester, NY 14614
Phone: 585-263-5866
Fax: 585-263-3173

District Office- Syracuse:
100 South Clinton Street, Room 841
Syracuse, NY 13261-7318
Phone: 315-423-5471
Fax: 315-423-5185

Consolidation Talks

The eagle is ready to sh!t money with the stimulus Pelosi-Reid-Obama spending plan, which will shower people in borrowed money for this and that pet project.

Included in the pork plan is a heavy dose of money for schools, which is fulfilling a BO campaign promise.

Do you think the conversations below will take place after the entities such as schools have more money from the feds?

Coming To Town

Newly minted Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith is coming to town. He has scheduled an appearance in Watertown for Tuesday February 17th. Smith is welcomed to Watertown with hope that he leaves possessing an understanding of the needs of Northern New York and that they can be much different from New York City.

New York is seriously out of balance with one party rule and the majority of the state leaders and majority representatives coming from the New York City area.

He is scheduled to meet with the Mayor with few other details are available.

Here Is Your Pork Sandwich

Here is a list of non stimulating pork courtesy of Senator Tom Coburn. The stimulus package with interest will cost the US taxpayers well over $1 trillion dollars, with one piece of legislation the Democrats will increase the deficit by 10%.

And what does your Senator Schumer have to say about all these pork pet projects.

"And let me say this to all of the chattering class that so much focuses on those little, tiny, yes, porky amendments, the American people really don't care," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

• $2 billion earmark for FutureGen near zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, IL
• $39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout
• $5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ)
• $200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities
• $275 million for flood prevention
• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries
• $650 million for the DTV transition coupon program
• $307 million for constructing NIST office buildings
• $1 billion for administrative costs and construction of NOAA office buildings
• $100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings
• $300 million for constructing FBI office buildings
• $800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities
• $10 million to fight Mexican gunrunners
• $1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for “science” at NASA)
• $100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program
• $10 million for urban canals
• $2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars
• $1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though section only authorizes $1 billion for five years)
• $300 million for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees
• $198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters
• $255 million for “priority procurements” at Coast Guard (polar ice breaker)
• $500 million for State and local fire stations
• $180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities
• $500 million for wildland fire management
• $110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• $522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
• $650 million for abandoned mine sites
• $75 million for the Smithsonian Institution
• $1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth
• $412 million for CDC headquarters
• $500 million earmark for NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD
• $160 million for “volunteers” at the Corp. for National and Community Service
• $750 earmark for the National Computer Center in MD
• $224 million for International Boundary and Water Commission – U.S. and Mexico
• $850 million for Amtrak
• $100 million for lead paint hazard reduction

Never Hurts To Be Heard

It is pretty much a forgone conclusion the Obama-Pelosi-Reid debt plan will pass at a price tag close to a trillion dollars of our and the next generation's money.

But it is never too late to let you voices be heard.


Click here.

BO promised more transparency and accountability to government, to let the sunlight in and let people have a voice.

Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.

He has already broken that promise by signing bills into law without the five day comment period.  It would be nice that sooner or later he fulfill his promise and no better time than with the debt spending plan, which is full of earmarks and pork that he committed to ban, but he folded like a cheap chair and has essentially allowed Pelosi to write and control this legislation. The people elected BO to be President, but got Pelosi instead.

Hope or Fear

 

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune
Print the artist's attribution with cartoon.

 

Obama has consistently stated by voting for him, you have chosen hope over fear, that is until he does not get his way. Here is his own words from the inauguration speech. 

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

This stimulus bill will be debt for another generation to pay and the Democrats should be the last people talking about not saddling our kids with debt. 

Pelosi Puff

 

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner
Print the artist's attribution with cartoon.
 

An F(ulton) Grade for Aubertine

It is no secret Senator Aubertine abused the issue of the A.L. Lee Memorial hospital for political purposes. He is being called on it by the local paper in Fulton for just what it was; a bleak situation for residents and employees used by a politician for political gain.  Shameful!

Here is the reprint of the opinion piece from Valley News in Fulton NY.

Between the Lines: Aubertine and Lee Memorial: How a politician used a community Ronald L. Caravan 02-07-2009

Ronald L. Caravan With the elevated agonizing that is going on in the Fulton community now that we are incrementally losing A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital as we have known it for generations, we should not miss an important and immediate political object lesson the hospital saga peripherally provides. It is an apt and timely illustration of how a disingenuous politician will mislead and use a constituency with impunity and without conscience for his own political gain. In order to digest what the object lesson has to offer, we must engage in something that American constituents are, for some odd reason, disinclined to do very much—look back in some detail at claims and promises a politician made about a specific issue during a campaign for office, then compare the campaign assertions with reality as it actually presents itself. Where it comes to examples, we have a real dilly the way New York State Senator Darrel Aubertine used the Lee Memorial Hospital issue during last year’s election campaign. Sometimes the line is rather fine between measured and appropriate use of an issue in a political campaign versus inappropriate and misleading claims. Where the Lee Memorial issue is concerned, Mr. Aubertine actually engaged in both; the way he engaged in the latter should give constituents throughout the 48th Senate District pause. Mr. Aubertine’s first television spot in his campaign for the November election against Republican David Renzi—a commercial that can still be viewed on the internet’s “YouTube”—exemplifies quite clearly how the Aubertine campaign used the Lee Memorial issue dishonestly. In the 30-second spot, a narrator exclaims, “As a state senator, Darrel worked tirelessly to keep Lee Memorial Hospital open, saving hundreds of local jobs.” At the time, though, the hospital had only been given a one-year extension to operate as a full-service facility, not a reversal of the Berger Commission mandate to down-size to an urgent-care center. Mr. Aubertine knew this, of course, and even took full credit for getting the extension in other campaign statements and materials. But even that claim was highly questionable. According to a piece in the Watertown Daily Times in early November, “Claudia Hutton, public affairs director at the (N.Y.S.) Health Department, offered another take on why the one-year reprieve was granted. ‘One of the things we value is an orderly transition,’ she said. ‘A.L. Lee did not submit a closure plan in a timely manner to respond to Berger. In order to get a smooth transition, we felt it was necessary to grant A.L. Lee another 12 months to put together this transition’.” Mr. Aubertine had first tapped into the Lee Memorial situation as a campaign issue early in 2008 in his campaign against Will Barclay in the February special election for Jim Wright’s vacated senate seat. As reported in The Valley News Feb. 23, 2008, Mr. Aubertine stated the following in reference to Lee Memorial: “The theme that I keep hearing was that their state elected officials did not fight for this facility. With the hospital, I will make it my business.” It was also reported in that article, “He cautioned, however, that he is not making any promises, especially since it is the eleventh hour.” But come June, with the special-election winner required to run again in the regular November election and the fall campaign season getting into gear, Mr. Aubertine’s senate office issued a press release headlined “Aubertine: Hospital Deal Close.” The release stated that Senator Aubertine “is close to a deal between the state Department of Health and A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital that could preserve some level of acute-care and emergency-room services at the facility.” Further down in the press release it was noted that the “deal” would require Lee Memorial to enter into a partnership with another hospital. So clearly, there not only was no development that could reasonably be characterized as a “deal,” it wasn’t even a “new deal,” as partnership negotiations had been going on between Oswego Health and Lee Memorial as far back as late 2006. When Mr. Aubertine was in Fulton Sept. 4 for a town-hall style debate with Mr. Renzi, a member of his staff handed out flyers that stated, “Helped save 200 jobs at A.L. Lee Memorial, keeping the doors open and beds in place.” Although the press was not allowed to ask questions during the event, when asked afterward if he felt the flyer might be misleading to the public since the state Health Department had not changed its position on the hospital, he replied with a straight face that he did not consider it misleading. In retrospect, probably one of the cruelest as well as most inappropriate campaign gestures was an Aubertine campaign rally held the following Wednesday outside Lee Memorial Hospital with the cooperation of the hospital administration (whose own internal policies quite likely prohibit partisan political activity). In this campaign appearance, Mr. Aubertine exclaimed, “During my last campaign, keeping Lee Memorial open was a key issue, and as your senator I have made it a priority to protect the services and jobs here. Today, I stand in front of his hospital and it’s still open.” Many of those surrounding Mr. Aubertine with adoring smiles and holding Aubertine campaign signs—homemade as well as professionally produced—were members of Lee Memorial’s staff, who undoubtedly took the senator’s words to mean he was delivering something to them, not just using them as a campaign prop. (The campaign’s own coverage of this event can still be seen on the northern New York web site newsjunky.com.) Throughout this time period in 2008, The Valley News did the best it could to keep local constituents in touch with reality where Lee Memorial was concerned, contacting the state Health Department for information that obviously would never come from a political candidate, but also that the Lee Memorial administration was obviously reluctant to offer. From the way Senator Aubertine used Lee Memorial Hospital and its people in his re-election campaign, and from the way voters are similarly manipulated and used at every level of politics, a simple axiom can be derived: The more thorough the collective amnesia of a political constituency, the more a disingenuous politician will thrive at the expense of that constituency. It’s a while until Mr. Aubertine’s next election, but we will see if the axiom applies.

- Valley News

CBO Stinks Up Democrats Pork Plan...and more

The Congressional Budget Office offered their take on the Democrat pork plan designed to infuse a trillion dollars into Democratic special interest projects and the opinion is less than favorable. The long term prognosis for this spending bill is not good according to the CBO.

President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. 

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

CBOs basic assumption is that, in the long run, each dollar of additional debt crowds out about a third of a dollars worth of private domestic capital, CBO said in its letter.

BO pledged to work across the aisle and bring anew to Washington a style of governing, but in his brief two weeks as President he has lost control of the governing process; Nancy Pelosi has taken over and is in charge. Bipartisanship is nothing more than a sparkling ideal for Obama and a sidebar distraction for her.

“Washington seems consumed in the process argument of bipartisanship, when the rest of the country says they need this bill,” the California Democrat said, seeming to sweep aside the Obama administration initial desire to have broad GOP support for the plan.

Whoa, Nancy Pelosi clearly shows she is out of touch with the public by making that statement. There is no overwhelming desire for this rotting piece of pork in its current form and most people want bipartisan support. The majority of people would like to see changes to this aggrandized plan, which is nothing more than Democrat's map to re-election, while the public is really concerned about the economy.

Eighty-one percent of Americans say the stimulus bill should be a bipartisan effort. Just 13 percent think it is okay for a bill to be passed with only the backing of the Democratic majority.

Here is a Democratic Congressman that has it right!

Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, and others have an alternate plan called The Strategic Targeted American Recovery and Transition Act (START Act) of 2009.

"The biggest difference is that I've cut out everything that doesn't create jobs in this year and next," Minnick said Thursday. "It's only $174 billion, $650 billion less than what the House passed and probably $750 billion less than the trillion dollar bill the Senate is talking about. It focuses on infrastructure spending, there's $70 billion on bridges, roads and school construction and there's $100 billion on tax cuts to middle and low income people.

Minnick said his proposal would spend all the money by the end of 2010, while the White House proposal would only spend 30 percent of the larger amount they're proposing.

Raise 'em, But Don't Pay 'em

What is it with the Democrats, they only like to raise taxes so everyone else can pay them, but they do not pay their own taxes.

Another nominee runs into tax problems!

It should be the first question BO's team ask nowadays.

Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis' husband paid $6,400 to settle tax liens against his business that date back to 1993.


Read More Here

Stalling

The badly mangled selection process for Hillary's replacement is behind our inadvertant Governor and now he wants to drag his feet in the 20th Congressional race to replace Gillibrand.

The Democrats are in trouble in that district with the selection of Scott Murphy and more tax problems on their hands, so the Governor has decided to stall the process and give them more time to regroup or possibly even rethink their selection.

The NRC is all in, but the DNC is hesitant at this point. Newly minted RNC Chair Michael Steele was in Albany to prod the Governor into setting a date for the special election.

Sparring

Jake Tapper and White Press Secretary Robert Gibbs spar a bit before Gibbs totally blows off one of Tapper's question on the pork stimulus bill.

Tanked!

The 800 pound guerrilla a.k.a. the stimulus package has tanked with the citizens according to the latest Rasmussen polling data. It never had a majority of support with people, but it did possess a plurality of support at one time, but not now.

In the last two weeks support for the plan has gone from 45%, to 42% last week and now 37% while at the same time opposition has gone from 34% to last week 39% and currently stands at 43%.

The message is resonating about how bad this piece of legislation is.

Gallup polling is reporting similar results with only 38% favoring the legislation as is and a combined 54% either favor rejecting the plan or passing it with major changes.

Both polls suggest support or rejection for this plan is highly partisan but Obama has lost the middle ground independents' support, which will force BO to favor changes if he truly wants to governing from the center.

Here is a little help to get your arms around 1 trillion dollars, and for the non believers the number translates to 13.7 million dollars a day since Darwin.

 

Murphy's Law

As Jefferson Democrat said - He's there guy in the 20th Congressional race, and they should be proud. He is just like every other Democrat in Washington these days.

The following was received via email from the, 
National Republican Congressional Committee


While Scott Murphy was meeting with Nancy Pelosi yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had this to say about the withdrawal of cabinet nominees Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer following revelations of tax evasion:

“I think they both recognized that you can't set an example of responsibility but accept a different standard in who serves. They both decided and recognized that their nominations would distract from the important goals and the critical agenda that the president put forward.” (Transcript, 02/03/09)

Scott Murphy clearly did not receive that message.  Instead, he chose to add to the growing list of explanations why his company, Small World Software, failed to pay its business taxes.

To review – YESTERDAY, Murphy outlined the following explanations:

1)      First he “had no idea” what it was about. (“GOP takes aim at Murphy,” Post Star, 02/03/09)

2)      Murphy attempted to say that Small World Software “was under new management” at the time. (“GOP takes aim at Murphy,” Post Star, 02/03/09)

3)      Finally – Murphy had no “responsibility for things like taxes.” (“GOP takes aim at Murphy,” Post Star, 02/03/09)

TODAY, Murphy has a new evasion:

"I think it's totally unrelated. I sold this business and the people that bought it from me failed to pay the taxes. It's just that simple.” (“Murphy Answers Tax Issue,” Post Star, 02/04/09)

However, when Small World Software was merged (not SOLD) with IXL, Inc. in 1998, Murphy signed the merger documents as “Secretary” of Small World Software.  The detailed timeline below begs more questions for Murphy in the days to come, most notably – if Tom Daschle, Tim Geithner, and Nancy Killefer are accountable for their tax troubles, why isn’t Scott Murphy?

SCOTT MURPHY AND SMALL WORLD SOFTWARE – TIMELINE

1994

·         5/10/94 – Small World Software founded by Scott Murphy and Mark Jacobstein.[1]

1997

·         12/31/97 – Tax period ends in which Small World Software later receives warrants in the amount of $298.50 and $446.85 (WARRANT ID: E-012468258-W003-3 and WARRANT ID: E-012468258-W002-8, NY TAX COMPLIANCE DIVISION).[2]

1998

·         01/23/98 – Small World Software merges with IXL, Inc.  Scott Murphy signs merger documents as “Secretary” of Small World Software.[3]

·         02/28/98 – Tax period ends (FY March 1, 1997 thru February 28, 1998) in which Small World Software later receives warrant for $20,808.25 (WARRANT ID: E-012468258-W001-4, NY TAX COMPLIANCE DIVISION)[1]

1999

·         07/22/99 – NY Department of Taxation & Finance issues three warrants for unpaid taxes, interest and penalty.[5]

·         12/29/99 – Tax warrant for period ending 2/28/98 for $20,805.25 is satisfied (WARRANT ID: E-012468258-W001-4, NY TAX COMPLIANCE DIVISION)[6]

c. 2000

·         Scott Murphy leaves position at IXL, Inc.[7]

_____________________

[1] Certificate of Incorporation of Small World Software, Inc., New York Department of State, May 10, 1994
[2] “Tax Compliance Division Warrant: Commissioner of Tax and Finance against Small World Software, Inc.,” New York Department of Taxation and Finance, July 14, 1999
[3] Certificate of Merger of Small World Software, Inc. into iXL-New York, Inc., New York Department of State, Jan. 23, 1998
[4] “Tax Compliance Division Warrant: Commissioner of Tax and Finance against Small World Software, Inc.,” New York Department of Taxation and Finance, July 22, 1999
[5] “Tax Compliance Division Warrant: Commissioner of Tax and Finance against Small World Software, Inc.,” New York Department of Taxation and Finance, July 22, 1999
[6]“ Judgment Docket Update: Small World Software,” New York Department of State, Dec. 29, 1999

[7] New York Times, March 12, 2000

"All Kinds of Experiences"

An awkward moment for Billy. Not sure Hillary intended the comment to be taken the way it was, or do you think she did?

"Rangel Rule"

Updated
Daschle withdraws
There is legislation in Washington that would create the "Rangel Rule," which deals with the late payment of taxes for such incidences as the Democrats are having trouble with as of late. The legislation enables ordinary citizens who fail to pay taxes on time to do so later with no additional fees.

Charlie Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means committee failed to pay taxes for rental income he earned on a property in the Dominican Republic. As of September 2008 the Harlem Democrat reportedly paid back more than $10,000 in taxes but that did not include any IRS penalties.

The bill was introduced by Congressman John Carter, R-Texas.

Carter's comments

"Your citizens back home should have the same rights and benefits that come to you as a member of congress. You shouldn't be treated any differently under the law than your citizens back home," Carter said.

"As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I believe you set an example for all American taxpayers in your dealings with the IRS, and that you must do so in a way that enforces blind justice without regard to wealth or status,"

Charlie Rangel is joined by fellow tax cheats Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle all of whom had problems paying taxes and who reportedly paid late without fines or penalties. This legislation probably has merit for the average citizen.

Another day and another nominee - but this one withdraws her name. BO's nominee to be chief performance officer,  Nancy Killefer has withdrawn due to tax problems with a lien on her property for failure to pay taxes. Read more here.

Unions Attack

The Unions are attacking the Governor with scare tactic ads that put doom and gloom on the forefront and the sucker punch - the ad uses a blind man. The ad by the union which looks to continue to pick pocket New York Taxpayers mocks the Governor's disability which he sufficiently overcomes in order to serve.

Oh Nancy

The comment by Nancy Pelosi's mouth piece spokesperson kind of sums up what is wrong with the stimulus package.

The response is regarding the 11 Democrats who joined the Republicans in voting NO on the plan. 9 of the 11 are in districts carried by John McCain according to the Politico article. But this comment by Pelosi spokesperson Brendan Daly is priceless, "Many of the districts are more conservative, and they campaigned on fiscal responsibility, and we understand that.”

That is their own admission the stimulus package is fiscally irresponsible.