Obama Veep Watch

There is a lot of this kind of talk going on out there.

Hillary Clinton gave a great speech yesterday. And Unity is at hand . . .

I'd like to interrupt this Unity Day message with a small reminder to the Barack Obama campaign and the Democratic Party - unless he picks Hillary Clinton as his running mate - the day he announces his Vice Presidential candidate will be a day of disunity.

I hope someone is thinking about that. Because since today is "Why Hillary Lost" Day in the Media, they need to remember that Hillary Clinton got half of the votes. Yes, she lost . . . barely. Obama is in a tight race with John McCain and needs a unified Democratic Party and if he is set on NOT picking Hillary Clinton as his VP, I hope he has a plan for re-unifying the Party the day after he insists on NOT unifying, indeed, in dividing the Party by not choosing Hillary Clinton as his VP.

By Big Tent Democrat

If Barack Obama picks Hillary as his running mate, his creditability is shattered. His "Yes We Can" slogan should be changed to "Yes, We Had To." Hillary does not represent even a smidgen of change.

Blocs Of Voters Are Up For Grabs

A couple blocs of Clinton voters are up for grabs, while a lot of her 18+ million voters, the largest catch ever for a primary, will naturally vote for Barack Obama, there are two big blocs that will be up for grabs.

Women and the blue collar workers are two major blocs of voters up for grabs and the McCain campaign will begin moving in on them. The New York Times published an article on the woman bloc.

Cynthia Ubaldo, 44, a Clinton supporter in Columbus, Ohio, just switched her registration from Democratic to independent and donated $10 to Mr. McCain. The endorsement on Saturday is a mandatory, empty gesture, Ms. Ubaldo said.

“I’m sure Hillary’s cussing Obama out to Bill and Chelsea as we speak,” she said.

The Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean is attempting to heal the wounds of sexism toward Mrs. Clinton.

“Many of the most prominent people on TV behaved like middle schoolers” toward Mrs. Clinton said Dean.

This problem will only get worse if Obama attempts to put a female on the ticket and that female is not Hillary.

“Hillary is not interchangeable,” Ms. Black added, warning Mr. Obama not to select, say, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas as a gesture to please women.

The other bloc of voters, blue collar workers, will be hard pressed under any circumstance to support Obama, considered by many as a metrosexual pretty boy with a thin resume' who cannot relate to their problems. And blue collar workers are less likely to fall into a daze with his topical fluff at the podium.

Need anymore be said about this elitist?

McCain Team Blogs

McCain Team has a new blog

GOP Chair In Trouble

GOP Chairman Joe Mondello is taking heat and feeling threatened in his position as the state GOP leader. In multiple media reports Friday (one here) NYC Mayor Bloomberg is advancing his candidate for chairman retiring Congressman Tom Reynolds and Rudy Guliani is advancing his longtime aid Tony Carbonetti.

Chairman Mondello is an ally of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Mondello's departure will be all but guaranteed if the Senate does not keep the majority after this fall's election.

Party Chairs rarely survive losses in elections, this is their primary job; raise money, build the party and elect their candidates.

The same could hold true for local GOP Chair Sandy Corey, she has pressure to perform this fall. The 118th Assembly seat is open and there is no advantage from the Democrats as they did not have a candidate groomed to take over from Aubertine. Corey chose not to back the GOP candidate who had the most favorable public polling, now she has an uphill battle to get little known Cantwell elected.

The 48th Senate district race is a hotly contested race between Aubertine and Renzi with Renzi having a real potential to win this seat. The GOP Chair, who was absent for the special election and heaped on the criticism afterward for how that election was run, has plenty to make up for her absence.

Likewise, the State Chair criticized the candidate Will Barclay, after the special election. Therefore, State and Local GOP Chairs both have their work cut out for them and pressure to win the Senate and Assembly in the North Country, failure to win this fall should rightfully result in change of leadership.

State Flags At Half-Staff Wednesday

The Governor has ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff on Wednesday in honor of 3 Fort Drum soldiers killed in the line of duty.

Governor David Paterson has directed that flags on State government buildings across New York be flown at half-staff on June 11, 2008 in honor of three members of the 10th Mountain Division who were killed in action in Iraq on June 4, 2008.

Army Sgt. Shane P. Duffy, of Tauton, Massachusetts; Army Specialist Jonathan D. Emard, of Mesquite, Texas; and Army Sgt. Cody R. Legg, of Escondido, California, died when their unit came under attack in Sharqat, Iraq.

The soldiers were conducting search operations. All three were members of the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum., N.Y.

(h/t LoHud.com)

Farewell!

We bid you adieu!

Gas Cap

Onondaga County is eliminating the gas cap, which limited taxes after $2 per gallon price. A recent study conducted there found the benefit was not reaching the consumer. The Onondaga County legislature decided the extra sales tax revenue received would be best used to reduce the property tax burden.

Closer north, Oswego County legislature is entertaining the same idea. The Palladium Times in Oswego is reporting today (click here) the county legislature is examining the viability of the sales tax cap.

In Oswego County the entire county is capped except the City of Oswego where they are not capped and a study found prices in the city to be lower.

Jefferson County Legislators Robert Boice and Addie Jenne Russell, candidate for the 118th Assembly seat, have supported the cap but have been vocal critics of the effectiveness. Perhaps the issue should be raised again.

Carrot or Stick

Which way works the best for a sidewalk program, the perceived stick approach of Watertown or the carrot approach being used by Lowville.

Hizzoner Graham and the City Council of Watertown approach their program in a more punitive targeted way. The City selects certain neighborhoods and issues ultimatums to replace the sidewalks or they will replace them and bill you.

Lowville on the other hand is encouraging people to replace their sidewalks and using a cost sharing program in order to accomplish their goal. The Watertown Daily Times reported (click here) on the Lowville program just the other day.

Hizzoner Graham, take note of Lowville's approach it is note necessarily innovated, it is more common sense, a friendlier approach. Watertown has the capabilities of thinking like this!

Watertown should be heavily focused on fixing up streets, curbs and sidewalks.

More Dubious Claims By The Senator

Senator's Press Release:
“Since I was made aware of the situation at this hospital in February, I’ve worked daily with DOH officials and A.L. Lee to work out a solution. This facility is an economic engine in the heart of Fulton and vital to this community’s health care needs.”

Reality:
Richard Abbott, who became chairman of the board May 21, said the hospital has enlisted the help of state Sen. Darrell Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent.


Senator's Press Release:
“We are thankful to Sen. Aubertine for making this opportunity possible. He recognized the critical importance of this issue to the Fulton community and immediately offered his support as our senator.” said Richard B. Abbott, chairman of the A. L. Lee Memorial Board of Directors.

Reality:
Members of the A.L. Lee board of directors had been discussing a possible merger with Oswego Health, the parent company of Oswego Hospital. The two sides haven't met for months and the talks aren't going anywhere right now, Abbott said.
This is Abbott in Saturday's Post-Standard.

OOPS, Senator Acts Before Thinking!

Senator Aubertine may want to run the idea of saving A.L Lee Memorial Hospital by Oswego Health before he announces it. "Blind sided us" was the specific quote used

Here is the article in it's entirety, normally a link would be provide but with putting out a press release before a deal is reached is nothing less than a dimwitted move.

There is no doubt a risk for Aubertine now, if the A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital deal falls flat, then he can assuredly seal his fate in Oswego County in this fall's election, and even if it goes through, at the very least his press release is premature and it can be noted that he had nothing to do with the deal, he was only rushing to take credit. His creditability is seriously questionable and damaged now and his actions are irresponsible. Here is a quote from the article from Oswego Health's Board President Nancy Bellow. “It would be irresponsible of me to just say we can. … We are going to do our jobs.”


Oswego Health ‘Blindsided’ By Senator’s Announcement

Posted by Nicole Reome on 05 Jun 2008 at 7:26 am

OSWEGO, NY - Oswego Health knew nothing about a plan that gives it less than a month to help save some services at Fulton’s Lee Memorial hospital, Oswego Health’s board of trustees president said.

Tuesday, Senator Darrel Aubertine put out a press release that said he is working with A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital and the state Department of Health to negotiate an agreement to save emergency and acute care services in Fulton through an affiliation another hospital.

While Aubertine’s release did not specifically name Oswego Health as that hospital, a spokesperson for the state Health Department did. As that news came out Wednesday, Nancy Bellow, the head of Oswego Health’s board of trustees, said it was news to her.

“Oswego Health has not been part of the discussions between the Senator, Lee Memorial or the Department of Health,” Bellow said. “The department of health spokesperson said that a deal has been struck without the knowledge or input of Oswego Health.”

Claudia Hutton, director of Public Affairs for the New York State Health Department, said Tuesday evening that it was possible for Lee Memorial to keep the emergency room open “if they enter an agreement with Oswego Hospital.” She noted that the affiliation was the key element.

“Though we’ve been working with Lee Memorial over the past 16 months, talks for the past few months have been only between Lee Memorial and Senator Aubertine,” Bellow said. “His press release blindsided us.”

Bellow said that Oswego Health and Lee Memorial had reached a memorandum of understanding and sealed a confidentiality agreement several months ago. She pointed out, however, that due diligence between the two sides has not started.

Bellow noted, too, that the senator was at Oswego Hospital this past Friday. “He never said a word,” she said.

Aubertine said he spoke with Bellow Wednesday.

“I am hopeful they will be able to work things out,” Aubertine said. “There has been negotiations between the two groups. They had slowed down a bit. Hopefully they can pick back up.

“There certainly is a hard deadline of June 30,” he added. “I am hopeful they can make some progress between now and then.”

Aubertine confirmed that while he has been talking with the health department and Lee Memorial, he has not had discussions with Oswego Health on the issue.

Aubertine stressed, however, that he believes that there is an opportunity in Oswego County similar to the situation in Westchester. Aubertine pointed out that the Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry struck and agreement with Riverside Health Care to maintain services and operate in compliance with Berger.

“I’ve worked only to put together an opportunity to rekindle the talks,” Aubertine said. “There is an opportunity for Lee Memorial and Oswego to pick up on their discussions and try to put together a resolution or a collaboration based on the Dobbs Ferry model. The possibility exists. … We will know more as those talks go forward.

“I think it would behoove everyone to let negotiations and talks go forward at this point and see how it goes,” Aubertine added.

Bellow said the Dobbs Ferry model has been discussed.

“We have discussed Dobbs Ferry,” Bellow said. “This is not new news. … We talked over Dobbs Ferry with Lee and jointly with the Department of Health in a conference call. The DOH said, ‘Let‘s see a proposal.’”

Bellow said that a group of Lee Memorial officials are slated to meet today with a group from Oswego Health.

But is it possible to reach and seal an agreement before June 30?

“I don’t know,” Bellow said. “We are going to give this our best efforts. We will meet, have a good conversation and figure out what our potential next steps are.

“There are more than just a few details to be ironed out,” Bellow added. She pointed out that the group would have to reach a formal agreement first to get to the point that it is ready to proceed with due diligence and work through that process.

Bellow said because the two sides have been in talks since January 2007, she doesn’t believe it is a process that has to start from scratch.

“Hopefully we can regroup on some frameworks that we talked about a few months ago,” Bellow said. “Then we would need to come to an agreement on what it would be and get a formal proposal to the Department of Health that is in compliance with Berger. It must be Berger compliant.

“That is the ultimate challenge,” she stressed. “This is not only an agreement but an agreement that has to meet the Berger Commission recommendations.

“Can we get it done by the end of the month? I don’t know,” Bellow said. “It would be irresponsible of me to just say we can. … We are going to do our jobs.”

Lee Memorial Executive Director Dennis Casey declined comment.