Hayseeds

Hayseeds No. 192

Tuesday's Links.

Below are several stories worth reading and probably more discussion then they will get today. No, while I don't particularly endorse the view point of Keating's editorial, it's worth a read or two. The key is to think. So enjoy.

More may be added later depending on if I find time. In addition, expect Monday's fodder to be posted tonight—it's late as my dial-up Internet access was down until this morning.

DACC is $1.5 Million in the Hole.

It looks like the committee that pumps money in the form of in kind donations (staff and really awesome publications) into fledging Assembly campaigns for a small donation of around $20,000, a study showing that the campaign is somewhat maybe possibility viable, and a promise to be good to the head of DAAC can often rack you in the way of 10x your initial campaign donation.

But they lack the cash to do that now. Shelly and Denny promising to cough up what they can:

According to several Assembly Democrats, Silver also pledged to pony up $50,000 from his (very full) personal campaign account and said Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell Jr., D-Manhattan, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, would kick in another $25,000.

At least they have another year to get the books straightened out and back in the black. And for many people in the Assembly, especially challengers, DACC is so important to them.

How the Comptroller's Race is Going to Work.

The Capitol Confidential explains how hearings for the race are going to work when they start on Tuesday and will be televised (!) across New York State.

Once the blue ribbon panel selects five "qualified" comptroller candidates, the final decision is up to a combined session of the Assembly and Senate, essentially putting Shelly Silver in control of the process (his 106 Democrats to Bruno's 34 Republicans plus those in the Assembly).

Nobody really knows how this will go, from the candidates on down, although several legislators like DiNappoli, Brodsky, and Morelle are pushing hard to get the nod from their Assembly colleagues. It's kind of a strange system, that is almost never used.

And unfortunately, the voters have no real say in this issue as the constitution specially states that independent members of the executive branch, from the Governor on down to the Comptroller and Attorney General must be appointed by both houses of the legislature in joint session. Legislators who leave, are elected in special elections.

How to Save Your Brakes.

Save you brakes on your car ! Use the car in front of you to stop rather then wearing out those ever so expensive brake pads.

You can ignore that suggestion if your not one of those people who burns trash in his or her outdoor wood furnace. The anti-wood furnace people love that argument, as there are some people who use their wood furnaces to burn trash, not realizing that the high temperatures of plastic and the hydrochloric acid can wreck a $6,000 furnace like a $15 burn barrel you bought at the feed store.

That concludes our
SPECIAL RANT OF THE DAY.

Denise Sheenan Finds a New Job.

The former commissioner of the Department of Erin Crotty, has finally found a nice little government job in Colonie Planning Board after losing her job as the Republican appointee to the DEC. It's slim pickings for Republicans these days in New York.

Also From the Same Old News Counter.

It looks like Joe Bruno still thinks that Times Union reports irresponsibly about him and his members. He's only said that a dozen times.

My experience in Albany politics is that the papers are pretty damn on the money if you read the literal words of what they say. It is three men in the room and there is all kinds of somewhat questionable rituals that go on behind the scenes. That said, don't read that as a bad thing or think that everybody in Albany is corrupt—it's much the opposite.

While Bruno and his cohorts in both the Assembly and Senate may have some questionable business dealings and closeness to lobbyist friends, but the reality is both houses employee some of the brightest and most innovative people in the Empire State. We have the resources and the staff to do many things that other little states (like Vermont) can only dream about doing.