Hayseeds No. 203

Some Good Ol' Shoot Em Up Fun.

It looks like they're going to have some fun down at City Hall this evening when they get to debate the mayor's gun proposal in the light of this.

Assembly Releases Member Items List.

It looks like there now is a listing of everybody that got member items and for how much this year in the budget. The TU has a rundown of some of the politics of this years member items and summaries of who got what and how much of value.

It would be very interesting to take that data in the pdf and put it in an Excel spreadsheet and develop some numbers from it. Who got the money and who didn't? It looks like Silver didn't request any member items himself, relying on unallocated funds and the generosity of other members to share their dollars with him.

It's really good to see the process as open as it now is. Let's just wait to see the Senate release it's numbers. This shows that while Spitzer may not have been a 100% successful in his budget, at least some reform is happening in Albany.

Seneca Indians Rescind Thruway Easement.

In protest to Spitzer's plan to collect sales tax on those who illegally go on Indian Reservations to buy cheap gasoline and cigarettes the Seneca Indians have made a very public threat to close down part of the Thruway in protest to the state enforcing state law.

We need to have a tough policy with the Indians. I know many people feel sorry for past injustices done to them, but they also have to do their fair share in enforcing our laws when citizens of New York go on to their lands. The Senecas might have sovereign lands in our state, but they have no right to abet in criminal behavior.

If necessary send in the National Guard. It might cost Spitzer some political capital, but we really need to do something about the Indian problem in New York.

Treadwell Opens Glens Falls Office.

The former head of the state Republican party, before Steve Minarik ran it into the ground is opening a campaign office to get a jump start on the run for Congress in 2008.

He will have a hard time. Gillibrand, while still somewhat vulnerable, has been working hard for her constituents—Republican or Democrat. She still has a good activist base behind her, and she's also been building bridges with the farm community and beyond. And as we know so well in rural districts, farmers vote and cows matter.

Spitzer Wants to Ban Violent Video Games for Kids.

It looks like our governor wants to make it illegal for kids to buy video games, much like it is illegal for them to go out and buy cigerettes.

Years ago I would have been staunchly opposed to that on first amendment grounds. Yet, this law is not a prohibition on violent video games, it's a prohibition on the sale to minors. Adults can choose if they want such violence in their homes or if this is how they choose to recreate or express themselves.

Expression is not compromised here. Kids are limited to what information they can have by society. We readily accept that kids should not have access to Playboy Magazine, even if the things shown in there are far less harmful then violent video games. Once they turn 18, they are free to play as much as they want.

We set age limits on how old you must be to drive. Are they arbitrary? Yes. Many farm kids can probably drive far earlier then age 16. Yet, playing video games is far less of an essential right then owning a car much less expressing what you believe. Video games are expression you purchase, they aren't things you express yourself.