The Hayseeds blog, No. 271 for the week starting August 24, 2008.
August 10, 2008
Hayseeds No. 270
August 24, 2008
Hayseeds No. 271
August 31, 2008
Hayseeds No. 271
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It would seem likely that the Assembly will pass a bill introduced on Friday, A.11838 that will enact a circuit breaker for tax relief on Tuesday. That's great news for taxpayers, especially if the Senate follows through and the governor doesn't veto it. Realistically though, I suspect it won't go anywhere beyond a statement of belief of the Assembly chamber.
The Times Union looks at what the various sides will likely do in the special session happening tomorrow. It will certainly be interesting to see what will happen, as will be watching the debate over the property tax circuit breaker.
Would a tax cap actually have much of an impact on property owners or state finances? That's one thing that the Daily Gazette looks at in the Sunday paper.
That's what Joe Spector is reporting this morning. The idea being that the millonare's tax would pay for the property tax circuit breaker.
Rennselear County still has a big mess to clean up after last week's floods, and they are asking for federal and state help.
The Times Union looks at the many possibilities for the special session that is scheduled to start today and may run through Wednesday, depending on how much work gets done today.
3 Job Bob removed a baseball hop from a church parking lot after neighbors complained that kids where "noisy" and "rowdy". That sure sounds un-kid like.
People apparently like David Paterson for talking tough about state spending while not doing much yet to cut popular programs to rein in that so-called excessive spending.
A Times Union Op-Ed suggesting that a modest tax increase on the wealthiest New Yorkers will save a lot of pain both for the poorest New Yorkers and those in the middle class.
Violence continues to be on the rise in the "other" war over in Afganistan, where our mission to combat global terror seems increasingly confused.
It appears that inflation has expanded beyond the energy markets, and that higher crude prices are pushing up prices in all sectors. Nothing too surprising here.
The NY Times looks at what to do about Hillary now that the democratic convention is nearing, and there is still some discomfort in the party about her not winning the nomination.
Robert Kutner has a great about how the right-wing of our country distorts the debate over entitlements, by playing the numbers in strange ways. Claim there is no money by playing the math, and you won't have to spend the money.
Big cuts on the way:
A deal to cut up to $500 million from the current state budget is coming together, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said today.
Sources told the Daily News Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders are discussing cutting the budget 6% across the board - with some major exemptions.
Direct healthcare funding to hospitals and nursing homes would be spared as would money for the college tuition assistance program, education, and local government assistance.
While talks are still fluid, Skelos said member items for local projects and community cuts will be cut as will programs added to the 2007-08 budget.
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A big check for the host convention was given today by the super-wealthy person in charge of Paychex.
This story about disrepair in NYC schools is truly shocking. And it's not just asbestos and lead paint that's what's so shocking about this school for the disabled.
This is something to watch this afternoon. The bill number is A.11838.
Still trying to figure out the best technology for moving information around the world.
So it would appear:
Under the Assembly plan:
* Up to 90 percent of the property tax relief would go to homeowners earning less than $90,000 a year.
* Sixty percent of this group earns less than $50,000 a year.
* Households with incomes below $90,000 and pay property taxes over five percent of their gross income would receive a 25 percent refundable credit for property taxes that exceed five percent of their gross income.
* Taxpayers with household incomes between $90,000 and $125,000 would receive a 20 percent refundable credit for any property taxes over six percent of their gross income.
* Those earning between $125,000 and $250,000 would receive a 15 percent refundable credit for any property taxes over seven percent of their gross income.
* The average household benefit under the Assembly property tax relief plan will be $734.
* The average renter benefit will be $250.The Assembly plan is the only property tax relief plan that provides immediate relief to working families.
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High Country News looks at Jim Messina, who grew up out west.
Big political news. Not. I'm actually disappointed about this becoming a big deal, as Sam Hoyt is such a genuinely nice guy. So what—he had a rough patch in his marriage, and saw another person. It's a private matter.
They are seriously considering going to a four day work week. We are hearing about similar things more and more nowadays.
All of the likely VP picks, one of which will be announced this week, are largely unknown.
The plans for protestors violating the law or just causing trouble at the DNC convention.
Let's pray that when we find out Obama's choice for VEEP on Saturday, that he's a bit better vetted. Eagleton was a great guy, but this did a lot of damage to McGovern's fledgling campaign.
Dick Meyer looks at why so many Americans seem to hate the direction of our country today.
A downstate congresswomen spoke up on behalf of Brooks for Congress, saying we need more female voices in politics.
From John De Rosier Editorial Cartoons in the Times Union. Just great.
He says it will improve his efficiency.
On the budget cuts.
No surpises here, if you want to play on politicsny.net you have to buy ads to avoid getting abusive stories played up about you.
Obama's hair is starting to turn gray after all the stress on the campaign trail. Well, he is 47 years old, and plenty of other people have turned gray much younger. Certainly his opponent has a lot of gray hair.
No surpises about them being happy about the Assembly passing the circuit breaker rather then the tax cap.
This blog looks at the narcissitic personality and persona both online and off.
They think it was defective chemicals but one has to wonder what they really put in that stuff.
The NY Times is not happy about the political conventions being able to take unlimited contributions from wealthy corporations without any kind of restrictions.
Since the FCC upheld net neutrality and said that Comcast couldn't discriminate against video traffic, they decided just to slow access of the busiest users regardless of traffic at peak times, rather then slow down the whole network.
While it's a tragety, the WCAX reports this important tidbit:
Investigators say neither speed nor alcohol were factors.
Glad to hear that. Don't want those drunks driving around their motorized wheelchairs or people speeding in motorized wheelchairs.
Cuts to state budget hopefully won't force local governments to raise local property taxes much more.
Which is great news for the Monroe County Dems who badly want this seat.
You'll be able to park on the street downtown for $1 a hour, and you can pay by credit card.
That's what Fred Dicker alledges about the Senate Democrats at a recent fundraiser.
Glad to know all this:
Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith was interviewed on 1300 AM this morning, where he said his comments about lobbyists “getting in early” before contributions would become more “expensive” were a joke, and a bad one at that.
“Did I make a bad joke? Absolutely,” he said.
He added that he’s always been for stronger campaign finance, and that if Democrats with the Senate majority, they will be “much stricter in campaign finance reform.”
He called Skelos’ comments about his actions being “thuggish” a “poor choice of words,” inappropriate in his leadership position.
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Those kind of things sure can be awful confusing for the average American.
They fear a pro-choice man being second in line for the presidency.
One of the most important historically style of architecture is quite endangered, as people want to tear down this important style of architecture.
Hopefully the taxpayers in Denver won't have police who act so wrecklessly that lead to victims of police brutalty to recieve $2 million dollars in payment, as happened during the Republican Convention in New York City.
Democracy NOW! - Thursday August 21
This internal memo from the Denver Police is either shocking or an important pronouncement on how to deal with so-called violent protesters at the DNC.
I'll let you read that memo and decide. I certainly have mixed feelings—at one level, what it says is perfectly reasonable, but also to view all assemblies where people camp out to be criminal, is absurd.
Albany High School rediscovers lost stained glass windows that will shine once again.
A bridge to the school in Arbor Hill will now close.
Casey Seller looks at the sillyness over the Tropic Thunder movie. I've heard it's hillarious too.
Sam Hoyt and the modern online sex scandal with emails.
The latest sex scandal to rock the Capitol has the usual elements—salacious e-mails and marital infidelity—but it is also a cautionary tale of take-no-prisoners political warfare, fought in the messy, even lawless, world of the blogosphere.
It began with a few e-mails posted on a western New York Web site, www.politicsny.net, that allegedly documented affairs between Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, and women who were described as Capitol interns. The initial blog post came with a threat—"Everyday we will publish another e-mail if Hoyt has not resigned the race."
It's amazing how powerful the internet has gotten, and how much public attention Sam has gotten out of that stupid blog.
That's good for her.
He of course is the choice of Barack Obama, so now is a time to learn a bit about him by reading Joe Biden: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
A little bit about the state that Joe Biden has represented for all of these years. A highly urban state, it also has some major agricultural regions and lots of seafront. It's a tiny state though, only slightly larger then Rhode Island.
Remembering some of the protests of the 1968 Democratic Convention and how it's changed political events since then.
NPR takes a look at the runningmate for the presumative Democratic candidate.
You can now read the transcript of today's speech.
They will be destroying more of historic downtown Troy in the name of urban revitilization, much like did in the late 1970s, leading to the city's bankruptcy and uglification.
City Hall will be emptied of its workers and attention will be turned to transforming Riverfront Park to make it more of an attraction to inspire further development downtown.
Mayor Harry Tutunjian succeeded Wednesday in winning the votes of four Democratic City Council members to forge a 7-2 vote to approve striking a deal with Judge Development Corp. to relocate city government operations to the former Verizon building at 1776 Sixth Ave.
Now, his administration will work with the state Department of State to develop requests for proposals and qualifications to seek out consultants to develop plans for rejuvenating Riverfront Park.
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In case you want to join his group.
That is if we get out of Iraq.
Steck, an Albany County legislator who represents Colonie and part of Watervliet, said he wants to restore funding to the federal Community Development Block Grant program, money that benefits low- to moderate-income residents in municipalities.
He said if the military pulls out of Iraq and tax cuts are eliminated for the wealthy, there will be enough money to put back into the CDBG program.
"The cost of sprawl, the high cost of living and the high cost of petroleum make it a great opportunity for redevelopment in urban areas," Steck said.
He's made this argument before. Nothing against him, but I don't see why we should wait until the war is over in Iraq before funding our priorites back home. The peace dividend never seems as great as it would appear, and I doubt if we simply wait until more money appears, none of these things will ever happen.
The governor wanted a three-way agreement which he did not get before passing the tax cap in one house bills.
It will bring in produce from California in the off-season.
