The Hayseeds blog, No. 172 for the week starting August 27, 2006.
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Hayseeds No. 171
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Hayseeds No. 172
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Hayseeds No. 172
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The John Gallagher from Gannett argues that New York's attempts to attract businesses by special tax breaks and subsidized electricity are futal when they only temporarly correct systematic problems with New York government.
He is probably right and both parties are guilty of this. Joe Bruno and the Republicans always likes to talk about how they are getting new businesses to come to New York despite changing not much of anything. Yet, Gallagher makes it sound like it would be easy to cut taxes or even make them more progressive. There are plenty of people lining up at the gravy train to protect their issue.
How do you fix this? Do you end all corporate giveaways and lose our competitive edge? Do you tell kids with cancer that they can't get wigs as it's too expensive? Do you pollute our already dirty air more just to get ahead?
It looks like our governor has appointed Ed Pitgott Jr to replace Bundy-Smith on the Court of the Appeals. Expect him to be very conservative.
Spitzer will get to appoint another justice next year, and then a second one in 2008. This will start to remake the court back into the Democratic-mold, one that's supports reasonable social policy and keeps government out of people's lives.
The great Senator Martin Connor made it into the NY Post's crosshairs when he got in trouble with a tax lien over some confusion over the Alternative Minimum Tax system.
It's more of a footnote the a major issue, but highlights how a moderately well off person can easily fall under the alternative minimum tax, not just the extreme wealthy. Yes, Martin Connor isn't Mr. Average Joe but he isn't a Rockefeller or some other very wealthy people that the AMT was created to capture.
According to Chuck Todd of the National Journal the race in NY-20 is one of the nastiest and most personal in the whole country right now.
The reality is while we have some people who are stirring up dirt on ourside, the Sweeney people have been non-stop on trying to discredit Gillibrand as being a "downstater" and not talked much about the issues.
Gillibrand has been a campaign on the issues. Certainly demostrations against Sweeney's big fundraisers with corporate leaders are reasons for protests. Sweeney does not have a grassroots organization, while Gillibrand does.
On the other hand, some of our people have been abusive and not beyond the pale. People have made hay out of Sweeney's supposed regular use of cocaine and his health problems caused by it. The frat party thing was probably blown out of proportion as many politicans drink to excess, though usually not at frat parties.
That's politics—it's all about framing your opponent and your issues, and making people vote for you. It's unfortnate things have gotten to this level, and Sweeney refuses to talk about the issues, but there still is a long time of the election.
It looks like NYC socialite K.T. McFarland who was primarying John Spencer as the scarifical lamb to go up against Hillary.
A lot of people have problems with Hillary's personality and others think she's too conservative particularly on the war. Yet, she's our candidate, and people can see that she the ideas and the clout that will continue to make her an effective US Senator for New York for the next six years.
Rick Lazio made a fairly spirted run against Hillary in 2000, but as we've seen from the past six years Hillary has been pretty good for our state. And when you sit and listen to her in person you'll see why—she's passionate and reall yknows the issues.
It looks like the mega-college Albany State is no longer No. 2 or even in the top ten big party school per the Princeton Review's study. It's now No. 19 on the list.
I never understood the reason for the whole party school thing and college drinking. School should be a serious place, where people discuss ideas freely both in class and socially. It's great fun to go to bars and spend a evening socializing, but not at some of the extremes that some college students get into.
It looks like Spitzer won't be joining Faso and Suozzi out in suburban Buffalo about the problems that Upstate New York faces as he thinks we've done enough debates already.
John Faso makes a good point about this (from the TU blog):
“Today, Eliot Spitzer again insulted upstate voters,” Faso said in a release. “This is just the latest instance of Mr. Spitzer disregarding the needs of upstate New Yorkers, and his refusal to participate in events like this is evidence of the fact that he is either unwilling or unable to adequately address their concerns.
Voters in Western New York and throughout the state deserve better from any candidate who wishes to be the next governor, especially since this is the first time in 24 years that there has been an open seat for that office.”
Having studied politics for a long time now, it understandable why Spitzer doesn't want to debate as he's so far ahead and only would be pulled down by debating. On the other hand, it is a slap in the face not to debate more on the many important issues that face upstate.
Spitzer is going to be our next governor. Suozzi brings up good issues, but he's not a serious candidate anymore. It's a Democratic year, and Spitzer polls 50-points past Faso and Suozzi polls 20-points ahead of of Faso. That's all the reason to be critical and try to get the candidates to debate as much as possible.
Spitzer, Suozzi, and Faso all are really great people who are passionate about their issues. Yet, Spitzer will be the strongest governor, and that's what we need for our next governor. We need another Nelson Rockefeller, a man who can change New York. That's Spitzer, and that's why I'm supporting him (and held a fundraiser for him, along with passing out literature at many events).
But where afraid to ask. The Spitzer supporting people behind the curtain with this SpitzerBlog.com post: Is Spitzerblog Stupid?
Think the big energy chrunch is something of the future, not a problem facing the planners of the late 1960s? Time.com has an an interesting archived articled called The Dilemmas of Power from August 19, 1969.
The article talks about the very real environmental problems with mass electric generation, the now defunct 2,000 mW Storm King pump storage plant, growing public preception against nuclear and the need for drastically more energy in the future.
The problem of excessive CO2 emissions is mentioned in the article, though the global warming side of it is not. So if you think carbon dioxide pollution is a new concern, you are wrong.
It looks like Spitzer has made some successes against big oil or at least some small little gas stations on price gouging charges during Katrina last September.
I remember going up to Plattsburgh the morning of the Katrina disaster and hearing about how prices were spiking, as I passed the dozens of gas price signs. It was bad with $3.27 gas prices in some places. Any reasonable person can see that gas prices couldn't have increased that much so quickly.
It's good to see Spitzer gets some blood on this, but it would have been better if he could have tracked down more fraud higher up in the system. At least he did something while most other people did nothing.
There is an interesting website that is trying to get our state to renumber Interstate Exit Highways to miles. Every other non-New England state already does this.
It's an interesting idea, and it wouldn't cost the state that much money if spread of years. The site suggests it would cost roughly $3 million including a public education campaign spread over 5 years of upgrades.
It's a good idea as it would make it easier to figure out when and where you have to get out. For example, if you don't know the trip from the end of the Northway to Plattsburgh is 153 miles, but you know the exit is 153 and not Exit 34, it's far less confusing. It's also great to know when your at Exit 31 - Keeseville how far you have to go to Plattsburgh.
The livers of ducks that some rich people like to eat that are raised by Hudson Valley Fois Gras have raised the ire of the Humane Society and other animal advocates as a give away both to wealthy people and promoting animal cruelty.
So they are suing claiming that the reason for the subsidy is simply to give an already profitable industry more money for environmental compliance:
“New York can certainly find better things to do with the taxpayers’ money than blowing it on $20-a-plate foie gras,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of Animal Protection Litigation for the society. “This company is polluting the State’s rivers, flouting the cruelty law, and getting rich doing it—they don’t need to get a free ride on the backs of taxpayers. These birds are force-fed with plastic tubes in a grim and painful process, and it’s tough for any taxpayer to swallow.”
Apparently there are only three farms where people can get fois gras in the United States. It seems unlikely that this business is going to go out of business, even if the cost of compliance is relatively high. Any raise in cost could easily be passed on to consumers.
I don't think goverment should be giving big subsidies, particularly when the product is for the wealthy and that it's survival is guarenteed by it's near oligopoly status. On the other hand, I don't think NYS should outlaw it as it's more of a moralistic question then a real problem (and ducks are increadibly dumb and probably wouldn't feel much anyways).
See the Hudson Valley Foie Gras Farm Website. No, I've never had Foie Gras (as far as I know—it's difficult to know with all these fancy parties I get invited to) and I doubt I'd ever eat it.
Faso has filed the standard ethics complaint against Spitzer, claiming that a private plane ride he paid for at the federal reimbursement rate was essentially a violation of campaign finance law.
Except that's silly, as he followed the law. Is it completely honest to do such a thing? Maybe not, but I'm sure Faso has taken plane rides with lobbyists and only paid the standard reimbursement rate. That's just something that happens in politics.
It looks like in as-a-not-described as cost saving move the city plans to close Arbor Hill and Pine Bush police stations and end beat patrols, as they say that will improve manpower on the street, and computer modeling makes it more efficent to set up patrols based on historical crime statistics and incidents on any one particular night.
It sounds like an interesting idea, though it also sounds like it's unlikely to work well at all. If there aren't police around in the city, crime will go up despite teh best efforts at modeling. Yet, maybe in such tough financial times the savings done through crime modeling will save money or at least push criminals to new areas to commit crimes.
Those who want to look a 2007 Chevy truck that will soon be a commonsite on our nation's highways, should look at PUTC's first look at 2007 Silverado.
Some of the features include a much more flusher body and a less rough truck interior like with the recent Ford trucks, along with many little fuel economy things like a more slanted windsheild to cut resistance, and more efficent engines.
It's pretty and the styling seems to strike a balance between good design and style. On the other hand, all this styling probably is distracting from the basic purpose of the truck—a tough vechicle for hauling shit and going off-road. Yet, it seems Chevy has done a decent job balancing these things in the past so we should see how this truck will be in the future.
The Albany City Library Board the other day proposed a grand $65 million dollar expansion project, something that would greatly increase city library taxes and instantly drew the ire of the mayor who felt it was too expensive and ignored cheaper alternatives.
The board wants to renovate the downtown library (main branch) in the existing old office building, along with adding libraries to Arbor Hill and New Scotland Ave.
The mayor thinks it's better to have an expanded main branch library in the New Scotland Armory, and dump the downtown library as there is relatively few people that use it with few people living downtown and parking is limited.
The cost for the inital proposal would be dramatic—an doubling of library tax from $111 to $211 per $100,000. For many residents that might just be too much.
It looks like anti-Walmart advocates have killed yet another proposed Walmart, this time on a condemned industrial site that the company stated that they would clean up.
"The remediation program needed at the site has caused a change in the site's configuration to a point where it is no longer suitable for a Wal-Mart store," a spokesman for the company, Philip Serghini, said....
"If they are unable to manage a site in Tottenville, it is hard to imagine any site in the city where they need approvals, where they will be able to locate," Mr. Lipsky said.
In April, Wal-Mart backed out of a potential site in Flushing that would have required City Council approval. Last year, the council was instrumental in blocking Wal-Mart's entry into Rego Park, Queens.
It's amazing to see the great measures people will go to fight Walmart anywheres and anyhow, even on sites that weren't being used and could be a place where a store with affordable prices could open.
Walmart as a whole is big, it consumes massive amounts of resources, and in many cases has been cut throat. On the other hand, it knows about it's public image problem and has made some real important changes that reduce it and other's footprints on the environment.
For example. Walmart has aggressively been promoting florecent bulbs, making their manufacturers package less, and get away from packaging in vinyl that quickly gets tossed, then burnt and creates dioxin. They've been working on cleaning up their truck fleet, and doing other good things.
Yes, their management has been known as cut throat and aggressive fought against unions. Maybe that's misguided and will ultimately hurt them, but so it is. They've also been know to be rough on their employees, giving them piss-poor benifits and poor wages, though apparently high enough to be competitive in many rural and poor communties.
