Cantwell - Who's Who

Bobby Cantwell, candidate for the 118th Assembly could easily fall into the "out of touch" trap with a new ad, oops sorry, fundraiser resembling the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

August 19th the Cantwell campaign will have a fundraiser at the home of Ted and Mary Mascott in Clayton who recently held an auction on their estate. This is following a fundraiser held recently at the Black River Valley Club in Watertown.

The list of sponsors include a who's who of the river community and specifically mentions "we cross party lines; we include summer and year-round residents."

$100 per person if you are interested in attending.

A small nugget of a suggestion for Mr. Cantwell, it is the voters from places like the northside in the City of Watertown who will put you in office or not, maybe you should hold an event to meet everyday working folks at the Northside Improvement League or some other place accessible to the average voter.

Tidbits

Obama fatigue setting in according to Political Radar which is citing Pew Research.

Senate Republicans.
The New York State Senate is passing Initiative and Referendum. If you like reform you will like I & R, which is a powerful mechanism that allows for more voter involvement in the process. This has long been a platform for the Independence Party.

“Initiative and referendum is an extremely powerful reform tool in politics as it gives the people the ability to make informed decisions to directly effect and change the powers and priorities of their government,” said Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said.

Senate Democrats
New York State Senate Democrats are divided on the property tax cap.

A short time ago the Senate Democrats introduced the legislation that eliminates your STAR rebate, which is a disaster for NNY.

This just in;

Senator Darrel Aubertine Voted YES to Eliminate STAR Rebates for Thousands of NNY's

Senate GOP Majority Leader Dean Skelos replied,

“I don’t think Governor Paterson  has asked us to amend this bill.” He noted that by eliminating the STAR program, 833,000 would lose their STAR rebate, while 623,000 would receive a circuit breaker benefit. 1.5 million taxpayers receive STAR check in 2007.

Example of Darrel's Sponsored Property Tax (Cap)

A post yesterday was on legislation proposed by Senator Darrel Aubertine that was suppose to provide a tax cut for the hard working folks in the North Country, but the Senator, not being an author of the legislation, probably does not realize it really could be a tax increase in many cases for people.

For several individual taxpayers, the circuit breaker tax credit amount could be less than the Middle Class Star payments.

Here is an example that was forwarded to IV, maybe my friend Mr. Double D would want to contact these folks and debunk his mythical fact check post.

The Town of Watertown where kids attend the City of Watertown School District.

Your home is assessed at $85,000, you have a Senior STAR exemption.  

Your household adjusted income is $60,000. 

Your total tax bill for Town, County and School was approximately $1,525.

Using the income thresholds established by this bill, this property owner would be responsible for the first $3,600 dollars of property taxes, so NO benefits from the circuit breaker. Factor in the loss of the middle class star exemption and this senior citizen is sitting on the smelly end of the stick.

   

One further point, the provisions of this circuit breaker legislation would not impact this property owner until the household adjusted income fell below $25,500. 

Pretty common example of an average North Country resident.

LATER ADD:

Here is another item that will affect people.

It is "household" income. So for people who kids are still at home, or have a parent living with them, any of their income counts.

If you are sharing your home with a friend or friends to make ends meet, or with a "significant other" you have to use all adjusted incomes.

More Holes Than A Broken Pinata

The Senate is due to return to Albany tomorrow in order to debate and pass school property tax cap legislation. Provided the Democrats participate in the governing process like they are suppose to, they plan to introduce a bill sponsored by Senator Darrel Aubertine and others.

The legislation S8733 dubbed, "Tax Relief Triple Play," appears to have more holes in it than a broken pinata. The legislation is suppose to; cap property taxes, slash unfunded mandates and add a circuit breaker, which limits tax liability to between 6-8% of income.

Property Tax Cap:
It is severely watered down as it eliminates for consideration in the formula three of the fastest growing segments of school budgets; special education, transportation and capital projects. For an example take a close look at Carthage Central School budget debacle. They reasoned part of their increase was due to their capital projects match. Therefore, removing these components is nothing but making a tax cap just smoke and mirrors, it will continue to allow budgets to grow at a rate greater than the rate of inflation.

* a school district's tax levy limit, excluding the taxes necessary to support

the local share of capital, transportation and special education expenditures,

could increase by up to the lesser of 4% of 120% of the annual increase in the

consumer price index (CPI)
  

Mandate Relief:
This portion of the legislation lacks sufficient teeth to stop unfunded mandates. For example;

19    2. In the event that a mandate which imposes  a  cost  upon  a  school
    20  district  is created after the adoption of a school budget, such mandate
    21  shall not be implemented until the following year for which such  school
    22  budget was adopted. 

Or perhaps

23    3. Notwithstanding subdivision two of this section, such a mandate can
    24  be imposed if:

Then it goes on to list several exceptions including school board choice or an executive order of the governor, etc.

Circuit Breaker:
The centerpiece of the legislation is designed to limit property tax liability on a graduating scale to between 6 and 8% of income, but this again falls short on any benefit for the North Country residents. Take into account that most North Country residents pay around 4% of their income out to property taxes the benefit for them is the big ZERO!

Here is the kicker folks...hold onto your wallets here...this is where it COST the North Country property taxpayers. Aubertine is proposing to repeal middle class STAR rebate benefits. 

Section 47: repeals section 178 of the tax law establishing th

"Middle Class STAR" rebate program.

And the real deal, even if you do pay in excess of 6% to 8% of your income in property taxes, you actually have to pay out the money, then you receive a tax credit equal only to 70% of the overage paid.

Aubertine and the other sponsors of this legislation list the fiscal implications as "to be determined," irresponsible at best, considering the fiscal condition of the state coupled with the fact this provides no benefits for North Country residents it is bad legislation. The legislation is proposed to take effect immediately, thus eliminating the fall STAR rebate checks, while the circuit breaker and cap do not kick in until next year.

You can say - TAX INCREASE!

Darrel was hood winked again, this is legislation designed to provide relief to his moral caucus companion Craig Johnson on Long Island and satisfy New York State United Teacher's union NYSUT, it does nothing for the hard working North Country residents.

Retail Politics

Zogby International has redefined "retail politics" in a recent poll.

But there’s a new world of retail politics out there today, one where voters and consumers converge. Indeed, so powerful is this correlation between where Americans shop and how we vote that I have begun to wonder if old paradigms like Red States and Blue States have become obsolete and if the more revealing “precincts” in our lives are actually the stores we frequent – the places, that is, where we the people vote every day with our hard-earned dollars.

 Store                      Obama      vs.         McCain
Bloomingdales            55                            32
Marshall's                   58                           27
Neiman Marcus          50                            38
JC Penny's                 43                            40
Wal-Mart                   33                            47
Sears                         32                           46

Golisano Stunts Continue

Tom Golisano, three time candidate in losing campaigns for Governor had another press conference yesterday. Responsible New York, which may be more about Golisano putting his face in front of the press than about true reform, held a press conference yesterday to "unveil" his 35 question sheet for candidates to fill out.

Golisano said about the potential candidates to receive support.

“We want candidates who will not just talk about reform, but who are actually willing and able to do something about it.”

That is a fair statement, but how do you measure it, only an incumbent, such as Aubertine who was in the Assembly majority for 5 years, would have had an opportunity to produce real reform. The statement by Golisano rings hollow, beyond any specific incumbent legislation it really is just talk.

Case in point, he does not support the 4% tax cap proposed by the Governor and supported by the Senate Republicans, he wants the cap to 1% or even zero, a tighter restriction that is certainly not going to be supported by opponents.

He does not support the so called "millionaires" tax that is heavily support by the Democrats. He claims and it is the same claim made here, "it would hurt investment in the state by the people who have the “resources” to do so." 

Thus far, Golisano is shallow; he appears to be using Responsible New York as a front.  

Fiscally Conservative Paterson Is A Hit With People.

Quinnipiac University released a new poll and it shows New Yorker's believe he has the leadership ability to handle the budget crisis and shows they approve of his job performance.

Voters prefer, by a margin of 56-32%, cutting services versus raising taxes and if taxes must go up they prefer sales tax over any other tax increase. There is a belief among voters that the legislature and Governor can work together to solve the problems, but voters believe that it will wait until after the election.

As previously mentioned here, the Senate Democrats are stalling debate on solutions for public relief by not returning to session this week. That is probably why people outside of urban areas in upstate prefer the Senate to remain in Republican control by a 42-38% margin.

Voter approval should give the Governor the green light to continue his mission of fiscal responsibility and centrist governing which is driving the unions, the liberal side of the Democratic party and the Working Families Party crazy.

McHugh's HEATR Bill Picks Up Steam

HEATR which was sponsored by Congressman McHugh is picking up sponsors across partisan lines.

HEATR was the subject of a post here and rebuked by Danger Democrat and Dr. Bob Johnson on his blog McHugh Watch in which they claimed the bill would never make it out of committee and accused McHugh of election year politics.

Well, what might they say about some of the co-sponsors, listed here? They include Democrats; Kirsten Gillibrand, Mike Arcuri and none other than the Chair of the Ways and Means Committe, Charlie Rangel. The bill just happens to be in Ways and Means, would Charlie kill a bill he is co-sponsoring?

A final point that Johnson and Danger Democrat might want to make a note on, Senator Hillary Clinton has sponsored a companion piece of legislation in the Senate.

This is a direct lift from her press release.  

The HEATR Act – Senator Clinton will introduce a Senate companion to Congressman John M. McHugh's (R-NY) HEATR Act.  This legislation would provide a $500 refundable tax credit for individuals and families who spend more than $1,500 on home heating costs during the coming winter season; those who spend below $1,500 would receive a credit equal to one third of their heating costs.  The HEATR Act would apply to both homeowners and renters, providing relief for consumers across the board.  Individual tax filers making under $50,000 would be eligible for the credit as well as joint filers making under $100,000; only one credit would be allowed per housing unit.  Above those income levels, the credit would phase out at $60,000 and $110,000 respectively.  Eligible heating fuels include, but are not limited to, electricity, natural gas, propane, heating oil, kerosene, wood, and wood pellets.

Political IV kind of enjoys watching Danger Democrat eat a little crow, careful swallowing those feathers. 

Paris Strikes Back

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Do Nothing Democrats ??

The "Do Nothing Democrats" are taking a page from their national leadership and not showing up for work for the special session in Albany.

The Democrats in the Senate minority are attempting to make this a fiscal restraint issue on their part, while it is nothing but obstructionism. They can return, debate and pass much needed relief for property tax payers in terms of the school property tax cap and mandate relief for local governments.

The Democrats candidates for State Senate have no business campaigning on a reform if they are a member of the state legislature and they allow this type of partisan politics to occur.

Daily Politics