The Hayseeds blog, No. 274 for the week starting September 14, 2008.
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Hayseeds No. 274
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This apparently has upset him to the point where he put out a press release stating that he is still in the race.
And they ain't afraid to take out big personal loans to remain competitive in the final days, regardless of their chances of winning.
Democrat Phillip Steck is betting his house that he will win Tuesday’s primary for the 21st Congressional District.
He took out a nearly $100,000 home equity loan and put the money into his campaign, according to spokesman Tom Nardacci.
“He sees the race as competitive and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him,” Nardacci said.
Steck is using the money for advertisements and mailings to reach Democrats who remain undecided on which candidate to support.
He isn’t the only one making a final push for victory.
Democratic candidate Tracey Brooks loaned her campaign $50,000 for the final days before the primary, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
“It is going to the final get-out-the vote effort,” said campaign spokesman Kyle Kotary. “Tracey is working hard to earn the support of every voter in the district. She is maintaining an incredibly energetic, enthusiastic and tiring schedule of 16- to 18-hour days of phone calling, walking and doing events. She is fighting to the very end, and that will show in the end.”
And Democratic candidate Darius Shahinfar recently purchased nearly $200,000 in television time and is sending out mass mailings. The money represents the bulk of his contributions.
Shahinfar did little TV advertising and few mailings prior to his big push, focusing instead on pounding the pavement and knocking on doors.
“We are looking at a number of undecided voters, and we feel the message Darius is carrying will be effective,” said campaign manager Peter Clerkin.
In short, the battle for the 21st Congressional District seat is going down to the wire. The primary is Tuesday.
I think it will prove to be a mistake for all the candidates to borrow that kind of money. Paul Tonko's going to win the primary, as the other four candidates will split up the Albany County vote, and the ignored parts of the district will go for Tonko, with his name recognition.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this proposal, as it will lead to agencies to end up cutting their services as zero-growth equals a cut after inflation.
Gov. David Paterson is telling state agencies to draft zero-growth budgets to fend off a $5.4 billion deficit projected for the coming fiscal year.
A no-growth budget would be rare in New York, where state spending increases have routinely doubled the rate of inflation in recent years.
Agencies are beginning to compile their budget requests now for the 2009-10 fiscal year that begins in April. Paterson will propose his budget in January. The Legislature’s deadline to act on the budget is April 1.
My suspicion is that state agencies will "cut" in their proposals the most popular programs, so that they will get their full budget restored by the legislature.
Palin has changed somewhat since becoming the VP, sometimes streching the truth to benefit herself politcally.
This is little scary that the backbone of the credit market has to be put under conservatorship to keep Fredie and Fannie Mac from going bankrupt and making it next to impossible for people or companies from getting a loan, leading to dramatic stalling of the economy.
Let's hope this will finally fix the problems of the economy. But I have my doubts, and seems like things are continuing to spiral not in a good direction. Let's pray for the best as a bad recession would be bad for a lot of people.
A nice round up of the candidates in the State Senate Primary in Albany County from the Daily Gazette.
He looks at why her speech and the whole Republican convention was a shame, trying to pull the wool over the eyes of people after the last 8-years.
The only problem, of course, is that the entire thing was a sham.
As is nakedly evident, the speech’s central argument, that the 72-year-old McCain will magically morph into a powerful change agent as president, is a non sequitur. In his 26 years in Washington, most of it with a Republican in the White House and roughly half of it with Republicans in charge of Congress, he was better at lecturing his party about reform than leading a reform movement. G.O.P. corruption and governmental dysfunction only grew. So did his cynical flip-flops on the most destructive policies of the president who remained nameless Thursday night. (In the G.O.P., Bush love is now the second most popular love that dare not speak its name.)
Even more fraudulent, if that’s possible, is the contrast between McCain’s platonic presentation of his personal code of honor and the man he has become. He always puts his country first, he told us: “I’ve been called a maverick.” If there was any doubt that that McCain has fled, confirmation arrived with his last-minute embrace of Sarah Palin.
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Is the stoop of your house a public place? That's an interesting question when it comes to alcohol control laws, that will be put to test in one NYC case.
The Times Union editorializes on the Spitzer ethics reform and how it made government less transparent.
She says she will actually talk to the press.
A lot of papers have endorsed Paul Newall in his primary for State Assembly.
They call it "Three Men in a Room" when, in Albany, the governor, the Assembly Speaker, and the Senate majority leader get together to decide budget, and other, matters in the state. So what do they call it when the three biggest newspapers the state get together and all endorse the same opponent of Speaker Sheldon Silver in tomorrow's Democratic primary? Three editors in a room?
We doubt the editors of the Daily News, the New York Times, and the New York Post actually conspired to endorse Mr. Silver's opponent, Paul Newell. But they all apparently have decided that it would be a good thing if what is ostensibly the second most powerful — or arguably the most powerful — job in the state were to go to someone from another city, while replacing Mr. Silver with a candidate who is even further to the left than he is.
It will be interesting to see what happens for a lot of people.
This is just a little scary to say the least. I think I prefer elevators I have to ride to work right, not rip my arm off, not get stuck when full, or drop me a couple of dozen floors unexpectedly.
Well maybe not, but some people are trying to discourage people from voting:
Late last month, as a voter-registration drive by supporters of Senator Barack Obama was signing up thousands of students at Virginia Tech, the local registrar of elections issued two releases incorrectly suggesting a range of dire possibilities for students who registered to vote at their college.
The releases warned that such students could no longer be claimed as dependents on their parents’ tax returns, a statement the Internal Revenue Service says is incorrect, and could lose scholarships or coverage under their parents’ car and health insurance.
After some inquiries from students and parents, and more pointed questions from civil rights lawyers, the state board of elections said Friday that it was “modifying and clarifying” the state guidelines on which the county registrar had based his releases.
The good ol' racist south, working to disenfranchising voters. I'm sure our great state of New York is much better at not doing such things. We just don't talk about it as much here or do it so it so explicitly.
Regardless, if people vote in just one place, then I say so be it. They are claiming their right there, and all states require people to have some relationship to an area, such as they have resided there for some time, as a student or whatever else they may be like an apartment dweller or second-house owner, who spends enough time to there to care about the election.
Many areas are having primaries including our great county. And while the Times Union Voter Guide does a fantastic job covering the different candidates, I want to briefly share some of my thoughts and encourage you to get out and vote.
The two big races that really matter in our area are the 21st Congressional District Democratic Primary Race with Tonko, Brooks, Steck, Shanifar, and Sullivan running. I think they are all great candidates, although my personal favorite is Phil Steck. I voted for him by abstenee ballot last week.
Why Steck? He's the most liberal candidate or at least the most not-afraid to admit he is a liberal and be damn proud about it. He might not be that great with his mannerism and strikes one as shy in person, but he's been a pretty successful Civil Rights attorney over the years. But whatever.
Tonko is great too. He's been a great Assemblyman for years, and strikes you as one of the kindest and hardest working people out there. Brooks is pretty good too. Sullivan is a wacko, but he's always been one. I don't really care about who wins.
Then there is the primary in the State Senate in the 46th district, containing entirely Albany County. Two guys, David Weiss and Chuck Voelker. I voted for David Weiss and wanted to help him out on his campaign, but somehow the time disappeared too quickly, and I knew he never had a chance. I would like to see anybody besides another Breslin-ite fake liberal, who is love by the suburbanites win, but it ain't going to happen.
I guess not everybody have a State Senator that they truly love. Breslin and fake suburbanite progessives are just part of what one has to suffer from by living in Albany County.
And so it goes.
This is a notable saying of the day.
After making the comparison to a disabled rights group, he explained to reporters that he was trying to illustrate the frustration of having lawmakers seem sympathetic to a cause, but then taking no action after the advocates leave the Capitol.
“There were legislators who I used to think practiced their own versions of being Count Dracula — in that they were very nice to the advocates when they came to Albany,” Paterson said. “And then (the advocates) get back on the buses by four o’clock. By five o’clock, the sun would go down and they’d go back to being who they really are — a bunch of bloodsuckers.”
Paterson, who is legally blind, was urging the disabled rights advocates to keep pushing their case despite the frustrations.
“I didn’t say that my colleagues were bloodsuckers. I said that there were certain people who listen to advocates, and as soon as they left and it got dark, were acting in that way — like Count Dracula — because they really didn’t care,” Paterson said. “And (they) were not about to do anything about what the advocates were in Albany to try to persuade.”
He does make a good point. And we know that some legislators laugh at their constituents when they leave for having a different viewpoint then they do. It's incredibly arrogant, but it sometimes comes with the territory of being blinded power. We all should strive for more understanding of other human beings.
The Nation looks at many poor people convicted of crimes can't afford to pay mandatory fees, forcing them back to jail for breaking further laws, leading to a vicious cycle. It's a tragedy for sure.
Some idears on why people should be supporting Shelly as one of stalwarts of progressive change.
Over the 12 long years of drought otherwise known as the Pataki Administration, when the Governor and the Republican Senate Majority Leader (Joe Bruno) would combine to offer ever more right-wing answers to New York's problems, only Silver had the backbone to say no. Unlike some Democrats at the federal level, he refused to blink. He was an obstructionist of the best kind - holding out, month after month and year after year - not only standing in the way of the right, but forcing Pataki and the Senate to make concessions to the left.
His batting average has not been perfect - nobody's is. But he prevented more harm and accomplished far more good than anyone could have expected during an era when Democrats were a minority party among Albany's power centers.
He forced laws onto the books that made it more difficult for employers to fight union organizing, barred discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, restored Food Stamps for immigrants that had been cut off at the federal level, and increased the minimum wage. At a time when enormous pressure was brought to bear on Silver to accept a weak settlement in the CFE case (this is the famous NY school funding case), Silver listened to the activist base and refused. As a result we ended up with a much better settlement for millions of New York City school children.
This primary is one many will watch carefully. Both sides have some great arguments to be made.
Some good news on the issue of the Iraq war.
You don't everyday hear about people being indicted for felony election fraud.
Independent Tea Party Village Board candidate Robert La Pietra was arrested Monday on felony charges alleging he filed falsified nominating petitions and falsely swore to their accuracy, according to Schoharie County Sheriff John Bates Jr.
La Pietra pleaded innocent before Village Justice Richard Hamm when he was arraigned on 13 counts each of second-degree perjury and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. Both charges are class E felonies.
La Pietra was charged following a three-week investigation into “numerous complaints regarding possible irregularities in the gathering of a candidate petition for the [November] election,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
The investigation, involving Cobleskill police and Schoharie County District Attorney James Sacket, led to alleged violations in the villages of Cobleskill, where La Pietra had his signature on the 13-page petition notarized, and in Schoharie, where they were filed Aug. 19 with the county Board of Elections, said Bates.
I would proceed with care with such a case. It could be politically motivated, or it might just be outright fraud. I don't know how often though that criminal penalties are actually used for the election law, even though they very much exist on the books.
So it would seem, with Paul Tonko winning the 21st Democratic Primary after some close competition with Tracy Brooks at least in Albany County.
Phil Steck like many of the other congressional candidates have campaign committees seriously in the red, after "loaning" their campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm not sure I could loan myself $144,000 to run for congress for no reason. But he's still the Colonie Democratic Boss, so I guess he can make it up.
Senator Breslin kept his seat after overwhelmingly beating David Weiss and the other guy, Charlie Voelker. No surprises here, except maybe for the other candidates that thought they could beat Senator Breslin. As they say in politics, it doesn't matter how corrupt you are, as long as the people love you.
It sucks when your candidates lose. I got to be better at picking the ponies, or at least learn to live with my choices.
Actually, the results are very surprising. And any State Senator can be beaten; it's all a matter of which Senator is more entrenched. In the case of Senator Breslin, when you've got the Albany seat in the Senate and your brother is the County Executive and your other brother is the County Judge, you're pretty entrenched. And $150,000 is a lot to raise for a little State Senate Seat.
David Weiss spent less than $20G and hit 14,000 doors by himself a small corps of volunteers, including myself. The Congressional Race had sucked out all the resources; Charlie Voelker loaned himself nearly $30G and all he did was drive about knocking down our signs; and the Breslin camp would intimidate anybody caught talking with David. On primary night, the word was that in half the wards of Albany, David's name was mysteriously not on the ballot. Try proving that when three brothers control the entire county, though.
But in the end, David Weiss beat his Conservative challenger, and i
— Comment By Soundpolitic
Primaries can be tough on some people's egos and ambitions.
The state will explore other ways to deal with juvenile delinquents.
NY Times looks at old pictures with the Twin Towers in the background versus what it looks like now. Amazingly, much of the landscape has not changed except for the towers now being gone.
Memories of local residents and how there lives have changed since that day.
They want to see our country take further anti-terror steps.
Many different events in the Capital Region to remember this day.
Big changes for the committee up there, with the Valerie Keehan faction taking back power in the primaries this past week.
SARATOGA SPRINGS—A newly organized group of Democrats wrestled control of the party's committee on Primary Day, winning more than three dozen primaries over longtime party officials.
Spearheaded by ex-Mayor Valerie Keehn, candidates with "Democrats for Change" won 40 of the 48 committee seats it challenged; a race for one seat ended in a tie, unofficial results show. Defeated were members of "United Democrats," which controlled the committee for several years and included longtime party stalwarts, Chairman Lou Schneider and Thomas and William McTygue.
Maybe now the party will be more effective at pushing back Republican dominance in the area.
That may be one solution proposed to deal with feuding factions in the county committee.
Some more allegations of corruption in the state legislature.
Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, a Queens Democrat, realized he was missing out on big money and created a consulting firm to take more than $500,000 for himself from people seeking his services as a state lawmaker, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in New York City Wednesday.
"I was doing favors for these sons-of-b-----s ... they were making thousands," the FBI quoted Seminerio telling a cooperating witness on tape. "Screw you, from now on, you know, I'm a consultant."
Seminerio surrendered to authorities in Manhattan Wednesday after search warrants were executed in New York and the Capital Region over the weekend.
The FBI complaint showed the probe involved an undercover agent, a cooperating witness and New York City hospital administrators who spent more than $300,000 for Seminerio to represent their interests. Recordings of Seminerio are laden with salty language by the sometimes crude and often colorful former New York City corrections officer.
I'm disappointed as Another Seminerio seemed like a good guy with a wicked sense of humor. His corrupt actions make everybody look bad, especially all those who engage in public service.
Local efforts to make students more healthy.
Something to listen to remember from radio in 2001 on this seventh anniversary of September 11th.
Brooks and Dunn - Only in America
It seems for environmental reasons and ascetics, there is a growing desire by at least some people to move into micro-houses that are as small or smaller then a little shed you might have behind your house.
Without special funds to renovate the Glendale Nursing home, progress will continue based on higher local taxes.
The fact that we have not upgraded our voting machines has proven both fiscally prudent and good for voting accuracy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sometimes, it pays to be pokey. Going slow has paid the state of New York about $27 million and counting. New Hampshire and Oklahoma, too, are sitting on a pile of federal money.
How did it happen? After the contested 2000 presidential recount, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, giving about $3 billion to states to replace old punch-card and lever voting machines. A lot of states, including California, Ohio and Florida, plunked down vast sums of money to buy shiny new machines, many of which were quickly deemed unreliable and mothballed.
Other states — New York among them — were slow to adopt that new technology, and now are crowing that they made the best choice after all, although federal authorities are skeptical that states can improve voting systems without spending much money.
"New York is not in last place, but rather we're in first place. We're the first state to actually get it right," said Douglas Kellner, co-chair of the state's election board.
Eventually a new system will have to implemented. Two of the machines this past weekend in the district where I was a poll watcher was broken, as the current machines, while fairly reliable, are incredibly complex, and at least 30 or 40 years old.
Phil Steck after loosing his Congressional bid and garnering only about 19% of the vote and coming in third, has announced that he will step down and Rich Jacobson will take his place as Colonie Democratic Chairman.
Steck insists he will continue to be involved as the first vice-chair, and that it was time for a change of leadership. Certainly his under preformance in even his own town hard to have hurt him badly. Regardless, he stood for some good ideas and was a solid progressive, if not a superstar like Paul Tonko.
We just don't know what it's about as proceeding are secret until sanctions are announced. The TU runs down the possibilities:
And while the meeting came just a day after Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, D-Queens, was indicted by federal prosecutors for alleged influence peddling, officials stressed that it was announced on their Web site on Monday. That would mean members were likely discussing another case, possibly involving Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, or Greg Ball, R-Carmel.
It will be interesting to see what happens now that we live in such scandalous times.
Democrats in particular have their doubts about how much better our state economy can get, and how soon we can get out of our current problems.
WAMC News Reports
Not even the governor used the new machines.
It must be because that I get my internet from the WiFi from the Bethlehem Public Library.
Future Tense - APM
An interesting incite into the mortgage mess.
In the past several days, before the U.S. Treasury Department acted to seize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, several people asked me if I thought it was a good idea for the government to "nationalize" the two mortgage giants. In virtually none of the coverage of the Bush administration's latest emergency action did anyone bother to tell the backstory. Fannie Mae, nee the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), began life as a government invention. It was born "nationalized"—and it worked beautifully until it was privatized.
FNMA was part of the New Deal's trinity of housing agencies—the other two being the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the FHA agencies that Roosevelt formed in order to literally create the modern mortgage system. Before the New Deal, there were no long-term, self-amortizing mortgages. The loan was due and payable at the end of the term—usually five years—and if you couldn't persuade a bank or savings-and-loan to roll it over, you lost the house. After foreclosures exploded during the Depression, Roosevelt invented a whole new system. FNMA's job was to buy approved mortgages from banks, to replenish their working capital, so that they could make more mortgages. As the biggest buyer, FNMA also maintained standards.
The system worked like a fine watch. Home-ownership rates soared. Loan standards were generous but not stupid. Nobody in the home mortgage business got filthy rich, and mortgage lenders hardly ever went broke. The government's bank insurance funds regularly turned a profit. And here's a quaint, archaic concept: It operated in the public interest.
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More about pigs and lipsticks.
Incites into the Whitehouse's thinking when it comes to the war.
