A City On The Edge of the Erie

For people living near and around Rochester, New York, much of what goes on in the city could be referred to as a soap opera. It seems every time you turn around, there’s another example of poor decision politics going on. Could it be those in leadership are always looking for the quick fix instead of the right fix? Officials in Rochester have a tendency to put all of their eggs in one basket. Then, they go for government funding, and in the end, many times, the project fails.

Could it be that’s happening again with PaeTec?

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Oh Get Out Of Here…I’m Just The Nanny!

New York Magazine Says “The Nanny” Wants Hillary Clinton’s Senate Seat!

Just when you thought politics in New York State couldn’t get any sillier, Fran Drescher announces she wants the Senate seat currently held by Hillary Clinton. New York State holds the record for most missed on-time budgets. It holds the record for the highest taxes in the States. New York State suffered the scandal of Governor Eliot Spitzer who liked to play with high-priced-hookers across state lines. As a result of that scandal, New York State ended up with what I refer to as the accidental Governor, David Paterson. Yesterday I blogged about the silliness of Caroline Kennedy being announced as a possible replacement for Senator Clinton.

And now, just when you thought it was safe to look at New York State politics again…

Fran Drescher says SHE wants to replace Senator Hillary Clinton!

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What’s In A Name

Caroline Kennedy as a Senator?

Apparently the Democrats don’t care about experience. Instead they’re looking for a name. What’s in a name you ask? When you’re name happens to be Kennedy, apparently that’s all you need on your resume. This makes no sense at all. The big weekend news for New York State — Caroline Kennedy is interested in the Senate seat that will open up when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes Secretary of State.

Talk about left field! That’s exactly where this one comes from.

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Responsible New York?

Usually when he’s referred to in the news, he’s called Rochester Billionaire Tom Golisano. He’s also the founder of Paychex and his name appears on buildings all over the Rochester, New York area. Big bucks has a way of having people name buildings after you. Of course when the person pretty much says the only way you’ll get the money is if you put my name on it, many organizations bow to the almighty dollar. Usually buildings are named after influential people after they die. It’s called a legacy and a remembrance of someone. But, such is not the case with the many Golisano named buildings in the area. It appears the man is buying a legacy.

But this could simply be the tip of the iceberg…

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Trimming An Already Bloated Budget

Governor David Paterson’s job approval rating may have dipped to 51% this week, but one thing is for sure - New Yorkers overwhelming support his message that the state should cut spending. The question is, just how to cut that spending. The Governor is projecting a $2 billion dollar shortfall for this fiscal year, and it looks even worse, rising into the double digit billions for next year. In a recent poll, 75% of voters think the state budget gap of $2 billion should be closed by cutting spending. 10% support increasing taxes while just 9% favor borrowing money.

Earlier this week I addressed the New York State budget crisis in two other posts;

1. A Republican Money Machine
2. A New York State Stalemate

In the New York State Stalemate post I quoted a recent press release from Assembly Republican Leader Jim Tedisco which said “Some serious and substantive proposals were offered to help address New York’s mounting budget deficit.” Later in the post I mentioned I planned to ask Republican Assemblyman Brian Kolb what those proposals were. I also pointed out that I had an interview with the Assemblyman and I took some Twitter questions from people. Assemblyman Kolb had some great budget cut suggestions, and he also addressed some other key issues as well.

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When No One Wins…

Chess is a game of strategy where you always need to be at least one move ahead of your opponent. The ultimate victor is the one who declares Checkmate! However, more often than not, many chess games end in a stalemate. No one wins, you’re simply left sitting in your chair looking at your opponent as the chess pieces on the board can move no more. When it’s a game, that’s fine. You just pick up the pieces and move on. However, when governmental leaders play a game of chess with taxpayer money, we expect more. That’s exactly what’s happening in New York State these days.

New York State leaders are playing chess, they’re at a stalemate,
and they’re all poor losers.

New York State is in the midst of a budgetary crisis. Governor Paterson appears to be working hard to deal with the crisis. But many other leaders are simply playing a game of chess. However, they have no clue what their opponents next move will be. As a result, the leaders have egg on their face, and are in the midst of a stalemate. The so-called leaders have stooped to name-calling and are exhibiting the traits of a poor loser.

These so-called leaders of New York State should be ashamed of themselves.

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New York State Legislators Balking At Budget Cuts

New York State Governor David Paterson is set to meet with legislative leaders today to discuss mid-year budget cuts once again. However, it appears not everyone is on board with the idea of cutting the budget. Not only do some of the Albany-fat-cats not want to trim the budget this year, but they’re even balking at trimming the budget for next year. The Governor keeps say the budget deficit needs to be addressed now before it gets worse. While he’s partially right, he is on the mark when trying to cut the budget. We did not get here overnight. New York State spending has been out of control for years. In the past, instead of trimming an already bloated budget, legislators decided to take loans to cover the losses.

How stupid is that? Borrowing to cover loss, does not get you out of the hole.

Reality is, thanks to some of the legislators who’ve enjoyed the gravy-train ride to Albany, New York State is facing a huge budget deficit. The sad thing is, many of those same legislators are busy drawing political lines in the sand, than really trying to work a solution for the budget shortfall we now find ourselves in.

Could it be some are waiting for a Federal Government bailout?

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I’ve blogged extensively about New York State’s ‘accidental’ Governor, David Paterson. It appears he likes to make rules for others, while ignoring them for himself. At times it appears he’s making decisions in a bubble, or at least behind closed doors in either the Governor’s mansion or the Governor’s office. First he quickly moves on a budget after inheriting the office because his predecessor liked high priced call girls. In an effort to gain favor with New York State voters, he made a knee jerk reaction and passed something he didn’t have all the details on. Now, when the budget doesn’t balance, he decides to make across the board cuts.

Then, showing his ignorance of the New York State Constitution, the ‘accidental’ Governor Paterson decides to issue an edict from his office mandating that all governmental agencies and counties must start paying benefits to same-sex couples. Not only does this break the Constitution of New York State, which says “marriage is between a man and a woman”, but it also breaks the bank for many counties who are already over-mandated. The so-called mandated programs cost counties millions of dollars each year.

Now, the latest blunder by the ‘accidental’ Governor comes in the form of approving the hiring of a friend of his to a government agency. In the midst a budget crunch, and in the midst of calling for a “hiring freeze,” Governor Paterson apparently figures his “hiring freeze” words apply to everyone else, but not him.

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It is no secret that we find ourselves in the midst of tough economic times in the United States. Unemployment rates are up and down like a toilet seat in a co-ed bathroom. Many people, especially unions, are up in arms because of outsourcing. More and more we see jobs being shipped overseas. Companies shut down, and move across a border, or overseas, where labor is cheaper. State after state after state offer various incentive packages and tax breaks to companies who decide to stay put, or expand. Millions of dollars are available for some companies as long as they’re willing to expand and employ local people.

Stack on top of this the fact that car manufacturers in the United States are cutting back and laying workers off as car sales plummet. The reason for falling car sales…high gas prices. It’s hard to believe we get excited when gas prices dip below $4 a gallon. One of the main Presidential election platforms touts the fact that we in the United States must get off our dependency on foreign oil. The nation is held captive by both big oil, and foreign oil when it comes to high gas prices. It’s also amazing to think that the U.S., while we’re running billions of dollars in the red, continues to hand out money to foreign countries like it’s nothing more than Monopoly money. And, on top of that, we export a large amount of our own oil to other countries!

But, when it comes to stupidity, I think New York State holds the corner on the market for that label. Gas prices are already sky high in New York State, well above the national average, because of high taxes. Yes, politicians in New York State recognize this as an issue, but many in Albany refuse to budge and do anything about it. Some New York State politicians are doing their best to stop the outsourcing of jobs, but is it enough. It’s no secret that young people leave the State simply because of lack of jobs, and high taxes.

Now, just when you thought outsourcing in New York State could get no worse, New York State regulators have decided to outsource electricity to Spain! That’s right folks, if everything goes through, instead of paying the utility bill in U.S. dollars, New Yorkers may soon find themselves using Pesos.

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The New York State accidental Governor, along with an activist judge, are at it again breaking the Constitution and giving no regard to what the popular vote actually wants.

First off, activist liberal left judges have been trying to change the Constitution, which by the way they have no right to do, for years. Unfortunately many have come to expect the so-called keepers of the law to break the law when it comes to the Constitution. After all, they’ve been doing it for years and no one has questioned them. But when a Governor, who’s supposed to uphold the Constitution, falls into the same category of the activist judges, then something really needs to be done.

Secondly, maybe we shouldn’t expect any kind of respect from the Governor of New York. After all, the accidental Governor Paterson landed in the position of Governor after his boss, former Governor Eliot Spitzer, got caught in the midst of a prostitution ring scandal. After Spitzer resigned, the disgraced Governor position fell to his second in command Paterson. Shortly after he took the oath of office, we suddenly started hearing confessions from the accidental Governor that he had an affair and liked cocaine at one time. I guess the apple didn’t fall very far from that corrupt Democrat tree. It appears the duo of Spitzer and Paterson both had some worms in their apples which just made them bad.

Now we’re seeing the lunacy of both an activist judge and the accidental Governor teaming up on the issue of same-sex marriages in New York State.

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