The Hayseeds blog, No. 216 for the week starting July 29, 2007.
July 15, 2007
Hayseeds No. 215
July 29, 2007
Hayseeds No. 216
August 5, 2007
Hayseeds No. 216
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That's what the Attorney General's report says about them pushing leaks about Joe Bruno's use of planes to attend events, including those incidentally involving fundraisers:
The investigation, which looked into both Bruno’s travel and the senate leader’s allegation that Spitzer used State Police to spy on him, concluded thatm Beginning in May 2007, persons in the Governors Office planned to generate press coverage of Senator Brunos use of state aircraft to attend fundraisers and other political events, rather than for official state business as he had certified.
The report by the Democratic attorney general’s office says Spitzer aides did not simply produce records, as the state Freedom of Information Law requires, but were instead engaged in planning and producing media coverage concerning Senator Brunos travel on state aircraft before any FOIL request was made.
Spitzer said spokesman Darren Dopp has been suspended in the matter. William F. Howard, assistant deputy secretary for Homeland Security, has been reassigned to an unspecified post. Spitzer plans no action against Preston Felton, acting superintendent of the State Police, who was involved in the scheme.
See the Attorney General's Report along with His Aura Faded, Spitzer Faces New Challenges.
It looks like former-Cognressman John Sweeney is striking back at Gail Sweeney. who on Sunday claimed that it was it the Congressman John Sweeney who beat her up (and not Gail beating up on the Congressman as he claimed with his order of protection.
Everyday we are hearing more about this, since the divorce papers were filed on July 11th. It's messy and very public, and probably means that Sweeney won't run for sure against Kirsten again in the 2008 elections. Then again, Sweeney had problems with his race long before the 911 call was leaked by the state police. Sweeney was sinking fast—and the call only made things worst.
The rumors I have heard not from the paper suggest that Gail Sweeney was as much to blame as John Sweeney. Former-Congressman Sweeney's drunkness didn't help his relationship with his first wife, but Gail Sweeney, a former stripper for an Albany strip-club, turned bar tender, turned wife of a Congressman, is a tough cookie—despite the cute Times Union pictures of her.
It's unusual, as the Times Union notes, for a women to be the aggressor in domestic violence cases—particularly when the husband is such a powerful man in Congress (ie. President Bush called him Congressman Kickass)
Yet, it sometimes happens that way.
But supports legislation that would legalize gay marriage as a matter of public policy. He says that his religious beliefs should not intrude into his public policy choices.
That's a man of character. Of course, why should anybody whose not gay care about the homosexual agenda? It's not like the gays of the world are pushing it on you or I.
The important thing is that he votes the right way on important bills, and n get bogged down on stupid things like the gay marriage bill that only effects very constituents.
Be scared, be very scared, says the President. After all the terrorists are going to attack some little hick town outside of Albany, for no reason except to scare the living shit out of some whiny liberals.
Seriously though, the president is trying to clarify his Iraq policy, and explain why people should continue to support it, despite its failings in misgivings. Yet, if Al-Quida in Iraq is such a threat, then why is not apparent to so many other people?
Kevin Sullivan, the White House communications director, said the speech was devised as a "surge of facts" meant to rebut critics who say Mr. Bush is trying to rebuild support for the war by linking the Iraq group and the one led by Mr. bin Laden.
But Democratic lawmakers accused Mr. Bush of overstating those ties to provide a basis for continuing the American presence in Iraq. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid (D) of Nevada, said Mr. Bush was "trying to justify claims that have long ago been proven to be misleading."
The war in Iraq has been a disaster, distracting us from many legitimate threats at home to our safety and well-being. A few of them come from overseas, but far more are from common domestic threats—aging infrastructure, lax safety standards, and even common criminals.
Yes, for those of who live under a rock and rarely use Facebook, the great Ed Kosiur (hey, he's at least not never worked a day in my life George Amedoure) has a facebook group you can join.
He also has a website you can visit: Ed Kosiur for Assembly.com.
And so do the sex offenders who don't really like him:
Still, regardless of his pandering law, he seems like a really nice guy, who will do a good job at continuing the legacy of Paul Tonko. I'm sure whatever his motivations for the sex offender suburban-rural relocation law, he intentions were good.
Another group brought forward by the State Senate's series of public hearings with testimony by invitation only, stated flatly out that money does not by votes. I tend to agree.
There are very few true crooks in the legislature, and most of them are doing things are clearly illegal and unethical. The vast majority of them get caught to. On the other hand, how many people sell their soles for money to get into office? Probably not many.
Politicans are ultimately responsible to the voters, no matter how much money they spend on their race or are given in campaign donations. Candidates with lower amounts sometimes win, if they can convince voters they are the better candidate.
Money counts a lot in politics. The amount raised is often suggestive of general public support. The number of donors is probably more important as the actual dollars—people who give money seriously support you and probiably will ask their friends to support you to. Money is also a broader gauge then volunteers, as many people will give money who don't have time to give (like over-worked people in the office).
Regardless, we should do something about money in politics. It costs too much for people to run today, and candidates spend too much time having to raise funds. Candidates should be out there talking to voters, and not donors.
We need to further push Clean Money, Clean Elections. This sensible legislation will allow more diverse state candidates to run who might otherwise be scared to run, and most importantly, it will allow candidates to be out there seeking votes and not bucks.
Probably in one of the most pointed statements of the Presidential primary run-off, Obama called Clinton and Bush-Cheney lite. Is that true? Let's evaluate.
Clinton comes from the same political hackery that President Bush comes from—her husband was recently president, much like Bush's daddy was. While she has built her own reputation, it's based on the same centerism that George W. has to a certain degree. She's not new or exciting stock.
Does that mean she's disqualified from winning? I don't know, her views seem to be embraced by a large group of Democrats. She is winning or nearly tied in many polls to Guiliani, the leading Republican candidate. But how will she do when stacked up against Fred Thompson?
Democrats need a forceful vote for change. Hillary simply can not do that. She's a great person, and probably would be superior candidate for president for Republican. As a women, she would break many of the previous barriers to the presidency if she were to run.
Yet, at least for me it would be difficult for me to support her. Of course, you may have a different opinion of candidate Hillary Clinton. That's your choice. I will be going with Johnathan Edwards for now, but will think seriously about who I will back after the primaries are done for this year.
While I'm sure the person who does Upstream is kind of your rock-ribbed Upstate Republican, and his critique of Amedore vs. Kosiur is absurd. Let me criticize Dan Weaver points, one by one.
Kosiur's Law is not a sex-offender relocation law. While there are reasons to be concerned by the law, it's protection is not just for the city—it's for all of Schenectady County. Montegomery County is free to embrace this foolishness too.
The law simply states that sex offenders must live farther then 2,000 feet from places where children congregate. There are locations in Schenectady that are not right next to parks, schools, and places of worship. Courts are likely to view this law relatively narrow, and the list is not going to be as exhaustive as they claim.
It's not like sex offender housing is going up in Rotterdam, or for that matter Duanesburg, or Niskayuna. Nobody would permit such a development. Sex offenders are going to live where they can afford to live. Indeed, if you look at Albany County, only two sex offenders live in the hilltowns—despite their being 12,000 people there. And the sex offender to general population ratio is unfortunately far higher then 1:6000.
Not to mention all sex offenders are NOT violent perverts that attack random children on the street or in the park. Anybody who has looked at sex offender stats, know that the most common sex offense is 17 or 18 year olds having sex with 16 or 15 years. Not exactly a violent offense—indeed we aren't talking about the traditional notion rape in most cases. Most other cases are incest, or close family friends getting in sexual relations with juveniles. Disgusting and illegal maybe, but not a real threat to other people.
Tonko and Koiser Brought Back Business to Schenectady. Both of these men, in cohorts with Hugh Farley help revitilize the city. Kosiur in particular emphasized improving security downtown, by adding cameras, which makes people less afraid of being violently attacked downtown, like has been a past. That's one key to turning a troubled city around.
And all these other things posted in the comments by Horatio are very true, particularly about Amedore's silver spoon life, which is part of the reason why I truly hate this guy (that and being a luxury home developer—who spends much of his time developing homes in wetlands).
First off, even if Amedore comes to the seat with gusto and good intentions, he’s coming to a Republican-unfriendly assembly that has long relied on the seat belonging to a Democrat. All his bluster during this “campaign” is just that; I’d be shocked to see him get anything done in the Legislature. To quote some of my more rugged associates, Silver’s stallions will “beat him like a redheaded step child.”
If he DOES manage to get something done, it sure as hell won’t be for Montgomery County. He’s deeply rooted in the Rotterdam Republicans, which is good for the Schenectady suburb, but bad for the area of the Mohawk that needs it most.
On a side note, there is NOTHING self-made about Amedore; he is the son of a powerful and wealthy developer who was handed his lot in life on a silver platter. As for his business savvy, I’d hedge a hefty wager that says dear ‘ol dad still has the fattest of fingers in the pie, when it comes to Amedore Homes.
Then there’s the alternative. Koisur was hand-picked by Tonko as a successor, most likely because Brian Stratton is holding out for greater political ambitions. Koisur is a city Dem and one that will no doubt focus his energies on the city, not the stretch of Mohawk west of the county line.
Koisur would, however, be a part of Silver’s crew and therefore would stand a better chance of bringing home the goods. Those goods might be a statewide sex offender law mimicking the disaster he enacted in the county Legislature. I’m not sure one could even call those ‘goods.’
My guess is that Silver, Tonko and their cronies have some grand plan with Koisur and to somehow get him elected. That plan likely has a lot to do with funneling state funds into redeveloping the Erie Boulevard and State Street corridors of the city.
Silver is doing something like that. Actually, without revealing confidential political stragety, things are far more grass-roots. Much like you've seen by all the mailers, it's mostly been Paul Tonko and his people behind Koisur. Of course, many people in the Assembly Majority agree to further help the man out—as keeping a strong majority is in everybody's best interest.
