Hold Onto Your Wallets

There is no will in local governments to cut spending, so the projected pension increases that are being predicted are likely to cost you more in the form of property or sales tax. It is easier to take credit for things government spends money on than expend political capital and articulate spending cuts.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle covers the issue in;

New York state pension costs soar

Here are some highlights:

• local governments will have to increase contributions to the state pension system from 7.4 percent of their total payroll in 2010 to more than 11.5 percent in 2011.
• pensions for police and fire departments, local governments will be required to increase their contribution rates from 15.1 percent to at least 18.4 percent
• cities say they would have to raise property taxes by 10 percent in 2011 just to cover the soaring pension costs.

Can New Yorker's continue to afford a defined benefit program versus a defined contribution plan which is what most employers offer?

Time will tell, because you can all but be certain spending will not be cut.

Just a Hunch

Candidates for the 23rd Congressional race discussed labor issues in today's Watertown Daily Times, here.

Even before this article ran Conservative candidate Douglas Hoffman was a non-starter with the unions, while Dede Scozzafava was likely their choice due to her close connections and Democratic candidate Bill Owens was being given an obligatory look by the unions. But, Hoffman may have tighten the screws of support with some of the Republican base

Where do they stand after the article? Not much different from the standpoint of the union with the exception that Owens simply looks clueless by the following comments.

"Mr. Owens gave no position but said it's an idea 'that I would have to look at very, very carefully.' ...

"Mr. Owens said he was not familiar with the specific legislation"

If you are chasing core partisan politics and you have a Republican perspective or even a libertarian slant then Hoffman quite possibly would have impressed you with his knowledge and positions on the issues, while Dede Scozzafava would have disappointed you in her positions, especially with the Employee Free Choice Act. If you have a Democratic perspective then you might have leaned away from Owens and toward Scozzafava. Although, a hard core Democrat still has a difficult time pulling a GOP lever.

Winners and Losers in this article;
Winner: Hoffman with GOP base voters.
Neutral: Scozzafava remains neutral, or slight slip from base. 
Loser: Owens for not knowing the issues important to his base and his continuing struggle on issues during interviews.

I Love New York

Everyone sing it now!

Just as all these fees are kicking in it is a great time to sing the I Love New York song.

Retailers having to pay:
Floor tax on wine.
Pay increased fee to collect the state's sales tax.
Utility tax.

Individuals having to pay:
Driver's license fee increases.
Reregistration of your vehicle at an increased cost.
Utility tax.
Hunting license fee increases.

The list grows daily as a new fee in announced. The great New York State 2009-2010 is the gift that keeps on giving and  thanks to Addie Jenne Russell and Darrel Aubertine for voting in favor on this bloated mess.

Follow the Leader

NYPIRG's Bill Mahoney has put out information on the Assembly and Senate member's voting records.

Daily New and Capital Confidential are both carrying it, so rather than recreate the wheel here are some highlights from the DN.

For all the fuss that the Conservative party is making over Dede, her voting record shows she votes with the upstate Republican leader of the Assembly conference - Jim Tedisco 93% and now Brian Kolb 94% of the time.

BUT our Senator Aubertine voted with downstate leader Malcolm Smith ALL the time.

"Senate Democrats voted with Temporary President Malcolm Smith 99.7 percent of the time, with Sens. Aubertine, Foley, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Savino, Schneiderman, Stachowski and Valesky always voting with Smith."

...Foley, Aubertine, Stachowski and even Valesky (although slightly less than the others) are all marginals, so their loyalty to the leadership is noteworthy. Foley, in particular, was forced to take some bad votes this year due to the 32-30 split in the chamber. (The MTA payroll tax, for which he is now under fire, comes to mind)."
 

It is a stretch to say Dede is liberal based on that voting record.

And certainly a stretch to claim Darrel Aubertine is independent or one of us, it is always politics before people.

All eyes are focused on this farm labor bill, which as Ag Chair he is unable to stop.

Kennedy Tweets

Attention families and funeral directors this is a new feature in death notices and meaning notices - plural.

The Kennedy's are twittering the sequence of events and occurrences during the mourning period of the death of Ted Kennedy.

Follow all the happenings and news.

KennedyNews twittering.

Coup of 1

This editorial in the New York Times is worth a read. The Dairy Quandary

Yet in the face of a crisis; the New York farmers are facing the most agriculture unfriendly New York legislature possibly ever. This disdain toward agriculture occurs even though our Senator is the Ag Chair in the New York State Senate.

Senator Pedro Espada has promised to push the Farm Labor bill through the New York State Senate on September 10, without negotiation. This legislation will have a severe negative impact on our local agricultural community and should be stopped.

The New York Senate Democrats hold a tenuous 32 member majority, where in many cases every person is needed for important votes.

Senator Darrel Aubertine should become a coup of 1 and promise that if this legislation is passed without negotiation with Farm Bureau and other interested groups that he will not be counted on for any future important vote.

Darrel, be one of us, turn the tables on Espada and become your own coup of 1 for the North Country!

Legends Of Different Kinds

The country has lost a great member of a great family, Ted Kennedy. The end of a family dynasty that has spanned decades. Whether or not you agreed with his policy positions, you could find common ground on his approach and admiration for the way he did his job. Our country has lost a good man!













Locally, our most admired radio voice, George Neher, passed away. Again many grew up listening to George on the radio, sometimes for what seemed to be endless hours during troubled times. And if you were ever interviewed by George you knew his approach would not be from a political slant, but from a fundatmental - right and wrong - what is the best for the community. Our community has lost a good man!

Mulls a Run

As Rudy mulls a run for the GOP in a Gubenatorial race and the New York State GOP gears up for a chairman's race will either influence or effect the other?

My guess is that they are connected. A Wojtaszek win would be a sure sign Rudy is running. Although, Henry Wojtaszek is hampered by his own indecisiveness about running and is considerably behind Ed Cox in the race for chair.

Team Giuliani Swings Into Action For Wojtaszek 

Factions Emerge In Battle For State GOP

Slip, Sliding Away

 

 

GOP Draws a line in the sand

State Senate Republicans are drawing a line in the sand in on any more new taxes to close Albany's $2 billion-and-growing budget gap, meaning Democrats will need every one of their 32 votes if they intend to pass new levies to fix the out-of-balance budget.

Democrats enacted $10 billion in new taxes since January all by just a single vote but it wasn't enough to pay for the 10 percent boost in spending they also approved.

"The Democrats' tax increases have caused even greater economic devastation," said Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos.

The latest round of Democrat-approved tax hikes including higher fees for sportsmen and motor vehicles fees, both of which can be considered upstate taxes, takes effect September 1.

Read more at: The Buffalo News

Ale to the Chief

A new beer is brewing in honor of the CIC.

Presidenti-Ale was served for the first time yesterday at the award-winning Offshore Ale Co., an Oak Bluffs restaurant and microbrewery, and perhaps it’ll become the beer of choice at the Summer White House.

Maybe the Mayor will feature it on tap at his local establishment soon!

Live At The Improv

Candygram

The White House announced this little nugget yesterday. Good thing this new healthcare plan will be deficit neutral. Although, the same CBO that the Great One's administration now agrees with is predicting the healthcare will be a financial bomb.

While the WH predicted the stimulus would bring unemployment below 8% and cash for clunkers would last for months, to which they were both wrong. 

CBO or WH - who do you believe?

9 Trillion Dollar Man

The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to roughly $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday

“The new forecasts are based on new data that reflect how severe the economic downturn was in the late fall of last year and the winter of this year,” said the official, who is familiar with the plans.

“Our budget projections are now in line with the spring and summer projections that the Congressional Budget Office put out.”

The CBO said in June that deficits between 2010 and 2019 would total $9.1 trillion.

Are Death Panels For Real?

This appears to be the real deal for death panels, after watching this video from Oregon state run healthcare you might have cause for concern.

Not Such A Good Idea

Last week the Great One compared his Obamacare competing in the free market to the Post Office, now that might not be the smartest move to make considering the fiscal condition of the Post Office.

If Obama wants to tell the people that the public option is the solution for reforming health care in order to create competition for insurance companies and he wants to reassure people that government can provide this service efficiently, than the Post Office might not be the best analogy.

So what is the report on the USPS by the US Government Accountability Office:

The post office made GAO’s list of government operations that are considered costly and “high risk.” GAO submits its High Risk Series report to Congress every two years…. The last year USPS reported income from its operations was in 2006. Beginning in 2007, its fortunes soured and it began to report significant losses: $5 billion at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2007 and $3 billion in FY 2008, according to its annual financial report. On June 30, 2009, the third quarter of its fiscal year, the USPS reported a staggering $4.7 billion net loss.

And the response by the USPS:

“We are subject to Congressional oversight, regulation by other government agencies, and also oversight by various other organizations and the public. If we cannot successfully address their various, and sometimes competing, concerns, we may be subject to greater regulation, which could increase our costs or otherwise place additional burdens on our operations,” USPS warned regulators in their annual report.

 

So, why would we want to create another system bogged down by bureaucracy that by nature breeds inefficiency while the government often talks of privatizing the Post Office?

Obama - "It's the Post Office that's always having problems"

Precisely the point Mr. President!

Coup Language

Out of everything bad, there is a nugget of good.

News 10's Bill Carey created a new lexicon out of the recent coup at the New York State Senate.

You may have seen this before, but it is a good piece worth a cut and paste.

Skelospada, a being created by the unusual pairing of ideological opposites for the purpose of gaining more office space.

Amigo Drift -- when one of the pair gets an even better deal.

How about a verb – to Malcolm. That's the act of ignoring words spoken by an important guest while retrieving Blackberry messages.

And it's corollary -- to be Smithed. That's a sudden loss of power requiring assistance from an historic figure, perhaps Sampson
All sorts of new terms spring to mind.

Repocrisy -- the inability of one group to accept rules that it imposed on another group in the past.

Or demnesia -- a sudden forgetfulness. One suffering from demnesia might be found asking, "what reform?"

There is cuomotion -- creating a stir by saying nothing and appearing detached.

Or shellification -- the amused satisfaction of not appearing dysfunctional.

Taking on a new job at the request of someone who may not be in a position to actually give you that position -- Ravitching.

Any act that, at first, appears substantial, yet fails to carry any weight would be Patersonian.

And they go on and on.
Jurisdisrelish -- a sudden revulsion by judges to actually rule in cases.
All new words that could someday make it to the big time.

Oh, there was one other. Actually, a new definition for a word that is already in the dictionary. A spectator forced to watch something they find personally revolting, while also obliged to cover any and all expenses. The word is taxpayer.

Tweets, Twits or Whatever

In and effort to keep her message out in front of people, Dede Scozzafava tweets, see it here.

Memo to Dede - we don't care to know you every move, like the twit mayor or is that tweeting mayor, that stuff is not important, except to those who are completely bored in life. Tell us about your campaign activities, clarify news reports, etc.  

To Dede's success, Jude Seymour, an astute and very hard working reporter for the Watertown Daily Times, picks up and reports the tweets on his new blog.  All Politics Is Local.

Hey Jude (not the song) if you pick up a tweet from Dede does that make you a twit or just a retweet?

Anyhow, we have been laying fairly low the last couple of weeks, slow news happenings to comment on except for all the head banging on the health care debate. But, Jude you can give us a shout out on your blog, since you have others.

This Is A Hoot

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Heal or No Heal - Medicine Brawl
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

Another Q Poll

Highlights from today's Quinnipiac poll and a thought from another blog.

"Voters disapprove 72 - 18 percent of the way the State Legislature is handling its job, the legislature's lowest overall score ever."

That is a no-brainer given the recent leadership debacle, abuse of hiring relatives, paying rent on unused office space because the owners of the building are Republicans and of course the bloated state budget.

"Forty-nine percent of New York State voters say that almost everyone in the State Senate - including their own state senator - deserves to be thrown out, while 40 percent say their state senator should be reelected"

 
Yes, cannot disagree, but will that hold true in a little more than a year from now?

"Voters also support 70 - 21 percent creating a commission independent of the State Legislature to redraw legislative district lines."

Hear, Hear - this is long overdue!

"only 8 percent say the State Legislature has "the political courage to make unpopular budget decisions," while 87 percent expect it will be "business as usual in Albany." 

This might very well be true at every level?

And what is Cap Confidential's take on this poll?

"If voter sentiment holds to next year, Republicans and marginal Democrats from suburban and upstate districts — particularly Freshman Sen. Brian Foley and Sen. Darrel Aubertine could face tough reelection races."

Sitting Duck

Accidental Governor David Paterson is not quite a lame duck yet, but he is as close as someone can get!

Paterson trails AG Cuomo by 61 to 15% in a potential primary and even if he did not have a primary he trails Rudy in a general election matchup 53-33.

Paterson's job disapproval opinion continues to run high at 59-30.



Quinnipiac Poll

Q and A of the week

This gentleman raised the question and put the Great One on the spot where he had to admit he plans to raise taxes in order to pay for his health plan. We need more questions from average people because it obvious the MSM is in the tank and will not ask the tough questions.

Also, drill down into the answer. He plans on paying for part of the plan by insurance companies, which means 1 of 2 things - insurance companies will raise premiums or people will be forced out of the private plans and into the government plan causing an increased need for funds.

Happy Monday

Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend and it will be another beautiful day today. New York State is a beautiful place having just enjoyed two weeks in the Adirondacks with great weather and great family.

Posting was slow as communications is one thing the suffers while in the Adirondacks, but it is a fair trade for some down time.

Back to work today!

Welcome Back

Dede is back on the campaign trail.

"My father's recovery continues and I want to thank everyone for the
outpouring of prayers and 'get well' wishes. It has been a source of
comfort for our entire family. Just before undergoing surgery, my father
told my brother, 'No matter what happens, tell Dede to move forward with her
campaign.' And I'm going to do just that. With his condition progressing,
I am now heeding his fatherly advice and returning to the campaign trail."

NY-23

Congressional candidate Owens is taking a page out of the Aubertine play book and attempting to run to the right of Scozzafava. But, the Darrel-Lite candidate seems to be unsure of himself.

According to the Watertown Daily Times

"I don't have enough information"

"He considered marriage to be a 'states' rights issue' "

"Mr. Owens offered no opinion"

"He would have to study bills"

It just seems if he wants the job and wants to make public appearances he probably should be ready to address some issues with more specific detail.

This guy is Darrel-Lite for sure.

Once Upon A Time

Senator Arlen Specter lead Republican challenger Pat Toomey by 11 points. Now in the great land of OZ and Obamacare he trails by 12% points.

Read More Here

Let's hope NY-23 Congressional candidate campaigns on Obama's policies like health care, cap-n-trade, stimulus and cash for clunkers.

Buck Up

Buck up sportsmen!

The DEC is casting new fees that passed this year by Addie Jenne Russell, Darrel Aubertine and the rest of the Democrats in Albany.


New license fees for hunting, fishing and trapping have been posted by the state DEC and beginning October 1st fishermen will see a 50 percent hike in license fees, while some senior outdoorsmen will see fees jump a whopping 800 percent.

The new fees were included in Russell and Aubertine’s bloated state budget, which raised more than 100 taxes and fees and increased spending by seven times the rate of inflation.

See a chart of the DEC fee hikes

This Says It All

Are you need to know about how corrupt the system is in Albany is right here in the Albany Times Union:

Senate coup participants raking it in

Highlights -

In the weeks since the Senate stalemate ended, the chamber's Democrats have showered rehabilitated turncoat Sens. Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens with hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay raises and new staff, including a newly created $120,000 job for Espada's son.

According to two Senate Democratic sources, Sen. Espada tried to hire his son directly, which would have been illegal. A provision in the state's public officers law enacted in 2007 expressly forbids elected state officials from directly hiring family members.

The Senate Democratic leadership was informed of the legal conflict, but "it appears they found an alternative solution," the source said.

Espada:
Promoted to the position of Senate majority leader.
Given additional office space.
His son, Pedro G. Espada, was hired by the Senate to a newly created $120,000 job.
He hired friend and fellow coup conspirator Steve Pigeon as his $150,253 counsel.

Monserrate:
Reinstated as Chair of the Consumer Protection Committee. (Monserrate was stripped of the title after being indicted for allegedly slashing his girlfriend with a broken glass. He received its $12,500 stipend in July.)
Awarded staff raises and hired two new staffers, costing the state an estimated additional $150,000 a year.

 Only in Albany does it pay to be corrupt!

Its A Record!

The CBO has announced that spending by the Great One and his administration for bailouts, clunkers program, etc. along with the lack of revenue has soared the federal deficit to new heights - $1.300,000,000,000 (T-trillion).

The deficit that reach $455 billion by September 2008 is now projected to be 4 times that amount and reach $1.8 trillion by September of 2009.

During the month of July alone the Democrats grew the deficit an additional $181,000,000,000 (B-billion) for a single month.

According to TheHill;

"Spending through July of 2009 has increased by $530 billion, which is 21 percent over the same period in 2008."

Yet, Democrats just want to keep racking up the deficit numbers by spending including this little nugget in the health care bill.

Under the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee’s “Affordable Health Choices Act,” local governments can apply for “community transformation” grants to build jungle gyms, sidewalks, bicycle paths, and grocery stores, to install streetlights, and to establish new farmers’ markets.  

Hook, Line and Sinker

Yes, the New York State Senate Democrats have swallowed the entire hook, line and sinker cast by Darrel Aubertine's selected leader Pedro Espada.

The Senate Democrats have hired his son as deputy director of intergovernmental relations for a healthy $120,000 a year salary.

You have to guess this seals the deal, Espada will not defect to anyone in the future.

Espada -

"Let me make it unequivocally clear that this is not the result of a quid pro quo or a contingency to my ending the Senate stalemate. I ended the stalemate because it was the right thing to do for the people of the State and because I achieved my goal of enacting reform in the Senate that has not been witnessed in 40 years."

Uhmmm Senator he is my response to that - bull$hit. You would not know the right thing to do if it bit you in the a$$.

The Democrats do not possess the ability to lead this state and this is yet another example why!

Read more: NY Daily News

Owens - Non-Party Superhero

Are the Democratic chairs in the 11 county Congressional district recognizing the Great One's fault lines and distancing themselves? As previously stated here; the NY-23 race will be much different then NY-20 when the Great One was still on his honeymoon.

The selection was Bill Owens, who is not a registered Democrat, as a matter of fact he is not registered in any political party is the first sign the Democrats are attempting to mask their candidates in the face of declining public opinion polls. The Democrats will have to issue a Wilson-Pakula out of party authorization in order for Owens to run on their line.

But, don't fear, the process was quite different from the GOP process which allowed all their committee people to be involved, while the Democrats only allowed their 11 county chairs to be involved and be told what to do by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Then again, they were sideswiped when Senator Aubertine abruptly backed out from the race so their selection "process" transformed.

The Plattsburgh non party superhero will have a difficult time getting traction in the Lewis, St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego county areas, which includes the all critical 48th Senate district that is said to be the key to NY-23 holding approximately 50% of the votes. 

PolitickerNY

Meet The Mob

Mob or One Of Us?

Imagine people with real beliefs who are smart enough to protest and articulate policy differences like health care. And you thought there could only be protests against G W Bush with the likes of Code Pink, et al. Not so, people can actually take issue with the Great One - yes, many consider this blasphemy.

Much To Do...

The liberal media elite, including the august NY Times is writing the GOP's obituary up north regardless of the facts.

Yes, Darrel Aubertine has won elections that have secured his incumbency, primarily by parochial interest over Patty Ritchie in a district specifically drawn for him and then by using class warfare over Barclay, but by only a couple of thousand votes in each case - hardly a mandate! 

Yet, he was their best choice and more importantly the only choice for Congress, a fact that is reinforced by their inability to field a second string. Now, by all indications, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will sit out the race.

Meantime, they keep trying to tag Dede as a RINO, even though she could be a poster child for the smaller government, less taxes and spending, more freedom set. People disagree with her views on abortion and gay marriage, OK, that's a subject for rational debate.

We're all making way too much of this "abandoning our roots" thing relative to Dede. On nearly every count, she's as rock-rib conservative as they come; spending, guns, military. But on two hot-button issues, she is divergent in what conservatives believe and the national media spins this as a moment of soul-searching for the GOP, hardly.

If you were in the room in Gouverneur the dichotomy of the Republican party was evident; there were those who played up to the conservative wing and those who explained their diverse beliefs. But the Republican party is not a lot different than their counterparts in the Democratic party who have difficulty dealing with party in fighting, State Senate as an example, and the more conservative wing of blue dogs.

Can you really challenge Dede on her other credentials? She's an accomplished local leader, a woman, she stands up and runs with the big boys in Albany and she could be a strong advocate for the North Country way of life.

Also, what's this about Democrat-leaning? It ignores the fact that Democrats can't even find a candidate with a shot against a "liberal" Republican other than Darrel, what evidence is there that the Republican party is dying up North, aside from the hype created by operatives?

Another Poll

Another day and yet another poll, much like some of the other information the Democrats continue their slide in the public opinion arena.

The question remains whether or not Republicans at the State and National level can parlay this discontent for the Democrats handling of keys issues into victories. That requires a message from the Republicans and as of yet they do not have firm footing in that category. The GOP should have their own information to form a message, but if not, some top Democrats will lend them some information.

James Carville's group of strategist has polling information that details "drop off voters".

So what's in poll.

• By 53%-42%, those who are likely to vote in the 2010 election say Barack Obama is 'too liberal.'

• They believe by a margin of 53%-40% that he will 'raise my taxes.'

• By 55%-42% they say 'he promises things that sound good' but that won't get done.

• By a whopping 65%-32%, likely voters call Obama a 'big spender.'

The news for 'Democrats' more generally is no better.

• On the economy, likely voters give 'the Democrats' just a 6 point edge (45%-39%) over 'the Republicans.'

• Likely voters give the Republicans an 11 point edge (49%-38%) on taxes.

• The Republicans have a 13 point lead (47%-34%) on government spending.

• Republicans have a 5 point edge (42%-37%) on the budget deficit.

Cross Post (Updated)

Fellow blogger had a good posting yesterday that is worth a cross post. This new license plate program can go right along with your new ride when you take advantage of the cash for clunkers program.

Read: NY Daily Balance


Ain't government just great!

And from the AuburnPub.com  read here.

Make no mistake, our 2001 license plates are holding up just fine. The cost of the new plates is part of an effort to make up for a nearly 9 percent increase in state spending this year.

So, while we continue to hold onto the hope that New York may one day elect leaders who realize that the way to balance a budget is to cut spending, we won't be grumbling to the staff at the DMV, we'll save that for Paterson and all the lawmakers who voted in favor of his irresponsible budget.

Cash For Clunkers

 

54% oppose the federal subsidy for the car industry known as the Taxpayer's money for clunkers program.

Chuck Schumer and Barney Frank said a few years back that everyone should own their own home, regardless of their ability to pay. Now, we have a economy that is suffering primarily because the housing market collapsed under foreclosures from subprime mortgages.

These same and company now the federal government subsidizing their new car purchases, but the public is saying enough of the social programs.

WTS, Hello Cape Vincent

Republished:

A soon to be released study of the health effects of living near wind turbines challenges the popular image of the graceful, benign windmill gently coaxing free megawatts from the passing zephyrs.

Dr. Nina Pierpont, a New York pediatrician, has studied subjects who live near windmills in the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Ireland and Canada for the last five years. She concludes that some, but not all, of the near-windmill dwellers show signs of a newly-identified health risk which she calls Wind Turbine Syndrome, or WTS.

More on the study here

Delinquent

Senator Aubertine's leader in the Democratic controlled Senate, Senator Pedro Espada, is past due on his $61,000 fine.

Read more: NY Daily News

Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group called Espada's behavior "mind-boggling.... He should be operating at the highest standards."

Line 'em Up

Line up the candidates for the 2010 New York State Senate races and here is the first one.

Lee Zeldin, graduate of University of Albany Law School, US Army vet, married and father of two, who will run against Brian Foley in the 3rd Senate district.

Lee is the second speaker in this video and check out his flashy webpage; Zeldin Report

What Happened?

The 2009-2010 New York State budget that has been consistently defended by Senator Aubertine and Assemblywoman Russell is $2.1 billion short. (Update: Dede Scozzafava voted no on the this year's NYS Budget)

Now, the Governor is using fiscal tough talk (again) about what needs to be done this fall in order to re-balance the faulty budget. And in doing so he speaks quite candidly of the budget.

"Legislators are going to have to be prepared to make some very tough decisions," Paterson said.

"As California found out, if you don't make the tough decisions now, they just wait for you and they double impact on what is deteriorating state revenue forecast...I think we've raised enough fees, and I think we've raised enough taxes."

And what did the Governor say about the tax increase coined the "millionaires tax,"

"the problem even doing that is that it drives the job creators out of the state and then the jobs go with them,"

Read more: NY Daily News
What happened to this budget that is being defended by our State Representatives?

Parochialism in the 23rd?

Much like the GOP candidate vetting process, this North Country poll gives a window into the parochialism of the region's Democrats when settling on their choice for the 23rd CD, and highlights the challenge that both candidates will face in making themselves known to voters in the vast and sprawling district.

 

From the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, based in Saranac Lake, the poll is more of a hometown boy-type contest. Brian McGrath, who no one ever heard of, but claims a home in the Adirondack foothills, is the locals' choice.

 

In Oswego County, a recent online poll found strong support for John Sullivan, the ex-Mayor. He barely shows up in the ADE poll.

 

And close to heart candidate or at least close to our blog Dan Francis, well known around these parts, barely registers at all.

 

Ditto for Mike Oot, even though he recently dumped thousands of dollars into his own failed effort for the seat.

 

Of course, there's a reason they call these polls "unscientific." But they can't call them "uninteresting."

 

Adirondack Daily Enterprise

Happy 48th

This day should spark more birthers comments.

Anyway, Happy Birthday POTUS, caption photo.

Polls, Polls and more Polls - From TIME

TIME survey finds Obama faces deep skepticism about health care overhaul -- particularly on cost, efficiency and the government's role.

NY Times/CBS News: 58% say government's fiscal priority should be reducing the deficit, 35% want to spend more to stimulate economy.

Latest numbers from NBC News/WSJ show 42% disapprove of his health care plan, 36% approve. More here: Get them here.

George Washington University Battleground poll shows 43% backing congressional Democrats, 40% supporting GOPers.
Get more -- including whether or not voters think the country is on the right track -- here.

Porkfest '09

The chart pretty much illustrates it all; upstate lost 36.1% percent of its share of pork while NYC increased their share by 72%. Pork should be eliminate or at the very least limited in its scope and most importantly equitably distributed on a per capita basis.

So much for having the benefit of majority members in the Senate and Assembly, that is not working well for us.  

Can't Kick The Habit

“The governor’s Updated Financial plan confirms the concerns I raised in April when the state budget was adopted. New York has a very real and growing problem, and the state still has not made enough progress toward aligning recurring spending with recurring revenues.

“The June cash report my office released last week indicated weaknesses in revenues for the first quarter that were offset by one-time payments and delayed spending. Those weaknesses have not been diminished.

“The governor and Legislature need to focus on addressing this year’s problems. But they also have to look at the real and difficult choices necessary to solve New York’s bad habit of spending money we simply don’t have.”

- New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli

Senator Darrel Aubertine, Assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell and the rest of the Democrats in Albany have a terrible habit of taxing and spending, then taxing some more and spending and spending and spending.

If the budget is left unchecked the deficit will grow to $4.6 billion in 2010-11, $13.3 billion in 2011-12 and $18.2 billion in 2012-13, according to the state Division of Budget. But, it will not be left unchecked, they will raise fees and taxes to cover their spending habits that they can't kick.

New York States faces its worst unemployment since the 70's. The unemployed number 854,200 is the highest since 1976. Yet, New York State's budget this year contained a 10% increase in spending, a whopping $8 billion package of hikes in taxes and fees, along with elimination of STAR rebate checks to taxpayers and what are the results - a 2+ billion dollar deficit or no jobs in New York State. 

Suds Summit Take 2