NY-20: Predictions Thread

by: phillip anderson

Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 17:06:32 PM EDT

Polls close in exactly 4 hours and there's still plenty of work to do. But, here's a place for you to take a minute and make your predictions for tonight.

I've been getting anecdotes from around the district emailed and texted all day. I'll be posting about that shortly. They (perhaps foolishly) lead me to believe that Murphy is going to win this thing by a slightly larger margin than what the CW has suggested. I suck at this, but I'm going to say:

Murphy - 53%
Tedisco - 47%

Who you got?

Oh, and for those in the district, what are you seeing and hearing today?

Now back to work!

NY-20: Breaking: Tedisco Preps For Loss, Filing Confirmed In Dutchess Co

by: phillip anderson

Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 16:19:15 PM EDT

It looks as if Jim Tedisco is preparing to go the full Norm Coleman if he should lose by a narrow margin. The good folks at FDL have the scoop.

Republican Jim Tedisco may be running for the House in a district where Republicans outnumber Democratic voters by some 70,000, but with the polls closing in a matter of hours, Tedisco's campaign is prepping for a loss.

An electoral loss, anyway.

The Dutchess County Clerk's Office has confirmed to FDL that Tedisco's people have filed an ex parte motion in order, the effect of which would be to investigate and overturn today's election results, should the outcome not be to Republicans' liking.

FDL is trying to obtain a copy of the motion and will post when available.

This filing come on the heels of a report that Tedisco's own polling has him losing to Democrat Scott Murphy by a narrow margin.

Developing, as they say...

Make some calls!

Politics as Republican Usual ... DA and Sheriff

In the last few days it appears that politics has once again "maybe" entered Oswego County law enforcement, but for anyone following Oswego County this event is not new.

Something caught our eye in the morning Pall-Times.

"The proposal has clashed with views of members of the Oswego County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office, who are now calling on state Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, to “just say no” to Albany’s plan." Pall-Times 3/31/2009

Ok..but is this the same Sheriff that argued in favor of a county legislators appointment thereby using his law enforcement office to influence the political system???? Or is this the DA's office that publicly engaging in a political campaign which is arguably "against legal ethics ???"

Could they now be engaging in campaigning against Senator Aubertine???

Don't know but maybe fellow bloggers can start researching this...we could use the help here in Oswego.

GOP Blasted For Rejecting Millionaire Tax

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer had just resigned from office. Gov. David Paterson, Spitzer's little-known running mate, had just assumed the state's top post. And, as one of his first initiatives as governor, Paterson wanted a budget adopted by the state's seldomly met April 1 deadline.

As lawmakers scrambled to hammer together a spending plan for the 2008-09 fiscal year, little attention was paid to the fact that the spending plan was almost certainly not going to pan out as expected, according to Assemblyman William Parment, D-North Harmony.

There was just no way the state would take in enough money to meet expenses, and everyone knew it, or should have, he said.

Instead, Paterson sought to balance the budget by instituting unprecedented spending cuts in the executive departments under his control and beseeching legislators to meet him halfway, calling them all back to Albany in August for a special session.

But if Republicans in the state Senate went along with a proposal to generate an additional $4 billion by raising taxes for those earning more than $1 million a year, much of the state's present-day crisis could have been averted, Parment said Monday.

''Had we done that last March, the current 2008-2009 budget would have been reasonably balanced,'' Parment said.

The state Senate's Republican minority - which was two votes short of a majority after the last election - is critical of the budget deal reached Sunday between Gov. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens.

State Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean, is especially critical of the billions of dollars that will be raised from tax hikes for New Yorkers earning more than $200,000 a year.

''The personal income tax hike should be called the 'pink slip tax' instead,'' Sen. Young said in a statement Monday. ''There are almost 70,000 small businesses across the state that will be crippled by this money grab.''

At the same time, Parment is critical of Senate Republicans - many of them positioned in wealthy Long Island districts - for killing the so-called millionaire's tax last spring. It would have generated $4 billion in revenue that would have helped balance last year's budget and greatly reduced the deficit lawmakers faced this year, he said.

Instead, by rejecting the tax and adopting a budget that wasn't balanced last March, the state was in a bad position to face last fall's financial crisis.

''We spent the whole year trying to correct that, and followed by the economic downturn, it just crushed us,'' Parment said.

A letter on the 2009-2010 New York State Budget from Governor David Paterson

Fellow New Yorkers:

This week, your state legislators will vote on the 2009-2010 New York State budget. In doing so, they will be asked to put the welfare of our entire State above any individual group or special interest. They are being asked to do their part in confronting a historic challenge as New York continues to face the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.

For the past 378 days, my number-one priority has been to fight for a responsible solution to this fiscal crisis. Ensuring the short and long-term fiscal integrity of this state is important for all New Yorkers and the only way we could mitigate the effects of this crisis on Main Street was to produce a budget that required shared sacrifice from everyone. This budget also reflects a core value of my administration, providing accountability to the taxpayers by providing real solutions to our fiscal problems, and not gimmicks and band-aids.

While we have had to reduce spending, we have made sure that critical programs and services that help all New Yorkers get the funding they need. New York received approximately $6 billion in federal aid to help us cope with this crisis, but it represented only a fraction of our budget gap. The actions we take this week will put New York on the right path towards recovery by closing a $17.7 billion budget gap – the largest in State history. This budget will strengthen our long-term finances, protecting the state’s economy for the next generation. And we will implement significant, recurring spending reductions.

Not only is this budget fiscally responsible, it will also enact a number of long-overdue reforms to make government more accountable to New York’s taxpayers. For years, taxpayers have financed a Medicaid program that was the most expensive in the nation, but did not provide New Yorkers with the health care they need. That is unacceptable. This budget takes shifts funding to the type of primary and preventive care that will save money and save lives.

For years, we have been trying to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, so that we can more effectively protect communities across the state from the scourge of drugs. In this budget, we finally succeeded. For years, governors have tried to close underutilized State prisons, so that taxpayers no longer have to subsidize half-empty facilities. In this budget, we finally succeeded. For years, taxpayers have financed an ineffective Empire Zone program. In this budget, we finally stripped it of its worst abuses. These reforms will help us make this program an effective tool for creating quality jobs in our communities. For years, we have been fighting to enact a Bigger Better Bottle Bill that would help us clean up our communities. In this budget, we finally succeeded. And for the first time in since 1990, the State will increase the basic welfare grant. In this economic crisis, many New Yorkers who never thought that they would need assistance from the government are finding that they do. It is absolutely essential that we provide economic assistance where it is needed

To understand why I strongly support this budget, it is important to know how we arrived at this point. Our national economy has been in recession for more than a year, and New York is at the epicenter of a global economic crisis. When I took office, our State’s budget gap was $5 billion. Over the course of the last year, that deficit increased at a staggering rate. In the last two months alone, the deficit has increased by $4.7 billion, from $13 billion to $17.7 billion.

From the day I took office, we have faced our budget problems honestly and directly. My first act in office was to propose across-the-board spending reductions for all State agencies. In July, as the economy began to deteriorate, I instituted further spending reductions and imposed a hiring freeze and strict cash controls to manage the flow of State spending. In July, I called the Legislature back to Albany for an extraordinary emergency economic session and achieved $1 billion of mid-year reductions. All told, we enacted $3 billion in spending cuts this past year, by far the largest mid-year reductions in the history of this State.

In most economic times, these actions alone would be monumental. But during these times, it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Last fall, as the economy crashed and the budget gap continued to grow, it became clear even greater sacrifice would have to be made. To encourage discussion and to spur action, I presented my Executive Budget a month early. After three months of negotiation, amid an economy that has continued to deteriorate, we have reached a budget that reflects the tone I have set over the last year: We have addressed our long-term problems head-on by making tough decisions.

Once this budget is passed, we will enact recurring spending reductions of $6.5 billion – twice as much as in any other budget in State history. As a result, the budget gaps we will be required to close in future years have been reduced by about 80 percent, from approximately $60 billion to $11 billion.

To do this, we had to make tough, fiscally responsible choices, including reducing health care spending by $2.3 billion (the largest such reduction in State history) and eliminating the $1.5 billion STAR rebate program. And while the federal stimulus funding will allow us to restore all year-to-year cuts in School Aid, we will have to hold education spending to last year’s levels.

It was only after my colleagues in the Legislature agreed to these deep and historic spending cuts that I decided to support an increase in the personal income tax on the wealthiest New Yorkers. This is a temporary increase, which only became necessary when the deficit grew by almost $5 billion in the three months since I presented my Executive Budget.

This is a historic time for New York. As I have toured the State in these last 13 months, I have heard directly from you about the hardship everyday New Yorkers are facing. Tens of thousands of you have lost your jobs. Employers have been forced to cut back on salaries, health benefits and retirement programs. You have already been forced to make the kinds of tough decisions that our State government is making this week. This budget puts New York on the path to a better future. We are changing the way state government spends money. And I am confident that when future generations look back at this time, they will see that the actions we take this week will mark a turning point.

Sincerely,

Governor David A. Paterson

Cornyn: GOP Prepared To Fight ‘World War III’ To Keep Franken Out Of The Senate For ‘Years’

Last week, the ongoing legal battle between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman officially became the “the longest recount in Minnesota history.” Though Franken leads Coleman in the current vote tally, according to the Minnesota Supreme Court, he can’t be certified until after election challenges have been decided in the state courts.

If Coleman loses in the state courts, he and his Republican backers are indicating that they may seek to bring it to the federal level, which could keep the Senate seat vacant for much longer. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn told Politico recently that the party is willing to keep the seat empty for “years“:

Full Story

NY-20: Obama Sends New GOTV Email For Scott Murphy

Prsident Obama has just sent a brand new email to folks in the 20th urging them to get out and vote for Scott Murphy and even providing a polling place finder link. The message was sent to those residents of the 20th who are on the Organizing for America and DNC lists.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the day to vote in New York's 20th Congressional District special election, and I need you to go vote.

I wrote to you last week to announce my endorsement of Scott Murphy because we need his kind of leadership and experience in Washington. It's going to be a very close race, and your vote could make all the difference.

Our movement for change has come this far because supporters like you stood up and made your voices heard every time it mattered.

Please look up your polling location and stand up once again for the change we need to bring to Washington.

With Scott in Congress, we'll work together to bring about solutions to our economic challenges and create new jobs in Upstate New York and across the country.

Having created over 1,000 jobs by starting successful businesses in clean energy and high-tech industries, Scott understands the potential we have to rebuild our economy and create a new foundation for prosperity.

That's the kind of partner I need in Washington. Please look up your polling place and vote tomorrow:

http://my.barackobama.com/pollingplace

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Well done, Mr. President.

I'm phonebanking tonight. Are you?

by: phillip anderson

It's a deal: $131.8B - State Budget

ALBANY — After weeks of closed-door negotiations and secrecy surprising even to Albany insiders, state leaders have agreed upon a $131.8 billion budget, stemming an estimated $17.7 billion shortfall through a combination of federal stimulus funds, cuts, and new taxes and fees.

The agreement attempts to close the state's estimated $17.7 billion budget deficit through roughly $6.2 billion in federal stimulus spending, $5.2 billion in cuts to an array of programs, and $6.3 billion in new revenue — including an increase in the personal income tax on affluent New Yorkers.

The personal income tax hike would create two new tax brackets — 7.85 percent for single or married-filing-separately taxpayers making more than $200,000, head-of-household filers making more than $250,000 and married couples with incomes greater than $300,000.(Less than one percent of Oswego County wage earners make more that $200,000.00.)

For all taxpayers making more than $500,000 — regardless of filing status — the rate would rise to 8.97 percent. ( Median household income of Oswego is $36,598 )

Currently, New York's highest tax rate is 6.85 percent, a rate that kicks in for single or married-filing-separately filers making more than $20,000, head-of-household filers making more than $30,000, and couples and joint filers making more than $40,000.

Full Story

Phone Bank For Scott Murphy for Congress -20th

Can't make it out to New York's 20th congressional district this weekend? There is one important way for you to volunteer on behalf of Scott Murphy this weekend.

The DCCC set up a virtual phone bank that you can use right from your computer. All you have to do is go to the website, sign in (or register if you don't have a username and password) and then you will be able to get started.

Election Day - March 31^st

Scott Murphy needs your help to contact voters in New York's 20th Congressional District. You can help by using the DCCC's Phone Bank tool. Just click to get started.

News Update: NY Legislature agrees to state budget

ALBANY -- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said late Saturday that New York's Legislature has agreed to a 2009-10 state budget that will keep school funding flat, restore aid to New York City, and includes increased income tax rates for wealthier New Yorkers.

The agreement announced just before midnight also includes some restoration of proposed cuts in health care and in higher education and includes a bigger bottle law, putting nickel deposits on bottled water under the measure that currently covers only carbonated drinks.

Full Story

Republican leadership in Oswego County has failed our economy and failed our families...

Minority Point of View by the Oswego County Democratic Caucus, which includes Legislators Kunzwiler, Walker, Malone and Vasho.

Oswego County is a great community to raise children. It just can't support parents. While Oswego County has clean water, great scenery and friendly old-fashioned neighborhoods, right after it raises great children, it loses many of them when they need to find good paying jobs. The reason is as simple as it is heartbreaking: we are not able to create good paying jobs in sufficient numbers to keep our families in Oswego County.

Oswego once again is at the top of the list not only in upstate but in the state! Check the latest unemployment figures, 11.6%. Unlike the rest of the country, we in Oswego County have had a recession for over twelve years with the year after year higher than normal unemployment figures. While most of the country enjoyed the Clinton prosperity, we in Oswego County set record high unemployment rates in the 1990s at the same time most of the country was thriving. Now with the present recession we are feeling it harder than most New York.

While there are lost of explanations as to why the jobs went away, the major reason is a failure of Republican leadership in Oswego County. It was the absence of an aggressive County focus on retaining high paying jobs and a failure to address the basic cause of underemployment. The County Republican approach to Oswego County economic development has been to ignore the economic problems and outsource the responsibility.

The present Republican Caucuses leadership's failure at creating a plan to address this decade's old problem is only the most recent acknowledgment to the residents of Oswego County we are in a losing battle with their leadership. As the old saying goes, if you don't have a plan for where you’re going, you'll never get where you want to go.

We in the Democratic Minority have a plan. We are fed up with Oswego County being in the headlines noting our continuing record unemployment rates. We have the only real plan in Oswego County, a plan to bring jobs and return a quality of life to Oswego County. Here is an outline of that plan:

1.) Appoint an Economic Development Task Force to Evaluate our Present Efforts.

We propose a special task force of labor, business, community leaders and average working people to review and improve the county's present economic development plans. Oswego County needs an effective game plan that is developed and maintained by the Oswego community, not the Oswego politicians. This plan then must assessed and audited to insure it is working. Unlike the current Republican leadership practice, this committee should not meet behind closed doors, nor be made up entirely by hand picked politicians. Both the Majority and the Minority in a spirit of bi-partisanship should make the appointments to insure all ideas are brought to the table. We have a national and state stimulus plan, why not a local one?

2.) Centralize Oswego's Economic Development Efforts.

We should use our resources in a more business-like manner and not require two or three agencies to oversee economic development efforts and funding. One of the major recommendations of a County supported study several years ago was to centralize development efforts. We spend millions on what we call "economic development" but we seem only to "develop" businesses that do not pay a living wage. A new business has to go to several people and agencies to get any economic help. That is wasteful and inefficient. We need one bi-partisan county agency to sell Oswego County, develop and assist business. Simply we need to stop wasting money and place accountability in our efforts.

3.) Create a Local Law Mandating any PILOT Agreement Include Low Cost Energy to Stimulate Business and Jobs.

This is only right as almost all of this electric goes to support other parts of New York State. We should mandate any negotiations provides for low cost electric for Oswego County as a benefit for Oswego taxpayers. We must require any program or a tax reduction package for electrical generating or transmission companies should include low cost power as a host benefit which encourages the growth of businesses and jobs.

Do we have every answer to every question on the Oswego economy? Of course not. But, unlike the Republicans who ignore the questions, at least we are asking the right questions and proposing new ideas. As we said, Oswego County is a great community to raise children; we want to once again make it a great community for adults as well as a place our children can stay, grow up into responsible employed adults and raise their own children. A place to raise children has to become a place that supports adults. Republican County leadership has had their turn for over a decade and the record is clear. Their failure is written in the unemployment rates and the loss of our children. Now it the time for new and creative ideas, not politics as usual.

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GOP split on budget

Minority Leader John Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence and Rep. Paul Ryan worked for weeks on a plan, staffers say, without any serious philosophical disagreements.

But over time, Cantor-Ryan and Boehner-Pence camps split over questions of tactics and timing.

Pence, with Boehner’s blessing, wanted to unveil an abbreviated “blueprint” Thursday to counter Obama’s criticism and arm members with new talking points heading into this weekend – even if it meant that their plan wouldn’t have much in the way of details.

Cantor and Ryan wanted to wait until Ryan’s staff produced a fully-fleshed-out alternative to Obama’s $3.6 trillion spending plan, with specific numbers on spending and tax cuts – even if it meant waiting a few more days to get it out.

Full Story

More than 10,000 of you have stood up to Bill O’Reilly.

Since the launch of our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign on Wednesday afternoon, more than 10,000 of you have taken action. Thank you for all your support! In just two days, here’s all the successes we’ve had:

– UPS announced it will no longer advertise on The Factor

– Capital One expressed “regret” for O’Reilly’s insensitivity and explain that it does not endorse his views.

– A Ford spokesman candidly told us that he agreed with us about the “rantings of the hopelessly pig-headed Mr. O’Reilly.” (Ford then clarified that the statement did not speak for the company)

– AT&T said it makes “every effort” to ensure their advertisers are in keeping with the company’s “corporate values and philosophy,” but it would not say whether O’Reilly’s show was in keeping with that philosophy.

– Bill O’Reilly lashed out at us, calling us “insects”

– Amanda appeared on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss the campaign

Let’s urge more companies to follow the lead of UPS. Please join our campaign.

Pataki-era holdover quits after review finds his term had lapsed

ALBANY — A second top official of the State Insurance Fund has quit his high-paying post amid investigations into mismanagement at the huge insurer.

A holdover from the Republican Pataki administration, Christopher G. Barclay, 49, left his $105,000 job Wednesday night after 14 years at the fund. The new Democratic leadership of the fund requested he vacate his post as secretary to the board of commissioners, a job with a nine-year term.

But Chairman Robert Hurlbut told him his term had actually expired last year and he would not be renewed, said Robert Lawson, a spokesman. He said a recent "legal" review showed Barclay had assumed a predecessor's unexpired term that ran out in 2008.

For many years, Barclay was the No. 2 officer at the fund. His boss, executive director David Wehner, quit earlier this month after Gov. David Paterson's office asked for his resignation.

Their departures come after stories in the Times Union reported about the fund employing a director of investigations who claims he has not worked in years because of retaliation by officials tied to Gov. George Pataki's administration. The newspaper was also looking into irregularities concerning their pay and of people employed by the fund during their leadership, including relatives of Barclay. The resignations also follow charges of mismanagement by a fund lawyer who filed an affidavit with state investigative agencies, including the Inspector General's Office, to protect himself as a whistleblower after being quoted in Times Union stories. Inspector General Joseph Fisch ordered a probe earlier this month.

Full Story

County jobless rate continues to climb - 11.6%

The unemployment rate continues to climb in Oswego County, as the February jobless rate reached 11.6 percent, tied for fourth place among 62 counties in New York state.

Last month’s jobless rate marked a 15-year high for the county, as the rate reached 10.9 percent, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

Full Story

Unemployment Rates	Feb. 09	Jan. 09	Feb. 08
Jefferson	11.1	10.3	8.1
Lewis	12.8	11.8	8.5
St. Lawrence	11.4	11.1	7.5
Oswego	11.6	10.9	7.9
New York State	8.4	7.6	5.0

Working to Balance Budget, Open Government

Column: Working to Balance Budget, Open Government

By State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine

The April 1st deadline for our state budget is fast approaching. My colleagues and I continue to work on creating a balanced budget that closes our $15 billion budget gap and address our needs throughout New York, especially here in Central and Northern New York.

It’s about making the hard choices and cuts now. The stimulus simply bought us time. It’s better that we make these choices on our own terms, rather than wait and have these choices made for us with an even larger crisis hanging over our state. Our efforts are aimed at protecting the working men and women across this state and their families, who have been hit hardest by the economic downturn.

Last week, we took one step toward that goal outside of the budget process when we passed with unanimous support important legislation to make health insurance affordable for the people who have lost their jobs. The bill we passed cuts the cost of continuing health care coverage known as COBRA by 65 percent with money from the federal stimulus plan.

A report released in January showed that COBRA in New York State cost out-of-work New Yorkers about one-third of their unemployment benefits, making it unaffordable for most to continue their healthcare coverage while they looked for a new job. This legislation, which Gov. David Paterson signed into law immediately, will make sure people who have lost their jobs as far back as September have access to affordable health insurance coverage. The new law does not pass this cost to the businesses and even opens up COBRA to people laid off from small businesses with 19 or fewer employees.

Last week was also Sunshine Week, a national initiative started in 2002 by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and dedicated to creating dialogue and freedom of information in the public sector. It’s a time each year when we emphasize the importance of playing an active role in government at all levels. The new Senate Majority has introduced a package of bills to help open up government and give people the access required for our democracy to be at its best.

One of the bills I’ve signed on to co-sponsor with Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer would establish much needed penalties for violating open meetings law. We’ve seen the articles in our newspapers or on television when local governments shut out the public by violating open meetings law with an executive session or some other means. This goes against the principles of democracy and neither our media nor the public have any real recourse in this scenario.

Open government is essential to democracy and reforms are long overdue. I believe strongly that government must be open and accessible. The legislation I’ve sponsored would give our open meetings law the teeth it needs for a court to levy fines or even delay actions taken in unlawfully closed meetings. With this in place, the people and the press have an avenue they can use to challenge decisions made behind closed doors.

So, as we move into spring and continue to work together to pass a balanced budget with responsible investments and targeted cuts, we will also continue to take other steps to protect New Yorkers, make government more open and help our businesses prosper, so that our economy can rebound.

Oswego County Democratic Caucus Calls for Attorney General to Review Report of Erwin Maxwell Case

Release - 3/24/2009

Press Release

Re: Erwin Maxwell State Report Concerning DSS

The Democratic Caucus of the Oswego County expressed profound concern over the latest release of the report of Dr. Dennis Mullaney, a former ER physician at A.L. Lee Memorial.

“Clearly we are gravely troubled by the latest newspaper report that alleges the Department of Social Services may not have acted in an acceptable manner. We owe it to Oswego County to take this seriously, “said Legislator Malone

“The Caucus is going to request a review from the New York State Attorney General’s Office over the latest allegations to insure the report from the New York State Department of Social Services was done both completely and extensively enough,” commented Minority Leader Kunzwiler.

“Our children’s safety must be our only priory. The public can not accept that we have done our job until they feel that we have completely and thoroughly reviewed this case, added Legislator Walker.

The Democratic Caucus, Legislators Kunzwiler, Walker, Malone and Vasho will be sending a letter to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo this week.

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Is Unshackle Upstate’s Brian Sampson a liar or is he just plain incompetent?

Cross-posted

Unshackle Upstate’s Brian Sampson is making the news circuit these last few weeks with the message that Fair Share Tax Reform would cause small businesses to fire workers (the Fair Share Tax Reform is making progress in Albany with bills that would create new NYS marginal tax brackets starting at $250,000). He says that 75% of small business owners pay taxes through personal income tax.

Ok, sounds like a reasonable concern, right?

Meanwhile, back in the reality-based community According to James Parrott, of the Fiscal Policy Institute, “only 1.4% of tax units with small business income were in the top two federal tax brackets, i.e., over $250K.” The VAST majority of small business owners don’t make that kind of money and therefore would never be subject to the Fair Share tax.

And let’s think about Unshackle Upstate’s logic for a minute. Imagine you are one of the rare group of small business owners netting over $250,000. The new Fair Share Tax Reform tax bracket costs you about $70 a week extra. Are you going to fire a worker to recoup that seventy bucks?

The good news is that Sampson’s disingenuous media forays are the last gasps of a sinking trickle down theory. Wanna see a New Yorker laugh in your face? Tell them that tax breaks for the rich to create jobs.

Oswego County Democratic Committee to Meet

There will be a meeting of the county Democratic Committee on Thursday at 6:45pm.

Senate Leadership Says “No” to NYPA Bonuses, Rate Increases

Aubertine: Leadership means working with NYPA to demonstrate that now is not the right time

ALBANY (March 23, 2009)—State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine and several of his colleagues spoke out in opposition to rate increases and bonuses proposed by the New York Power Authority. Sen. Aubertine joined the Senate Energy Committee Chair Kevin Parker, Sens. William T. Stachowski, Antoine Thompson, David J. Valesky and Neil D. Breslin to say “No” to NYPA’s proposed bonuses and rate increases.

“Now is not the right time for what NYPA has proposed. It sends the wrong message to the public and to the state,” Sen. Aubertine said. “We cannot afford to increase the cost of living and the cost of doing business in New York State. My colleagues and I in the

Senate Majority have been gathering the facts and working with NYPA to show them that these rate increases are not needed and are bad for our families, businesses and the economy. This isn’t about telling them what to do through loud public spectacles, but working with them to achieve real results by showing them a better option.”

Sen. Aubertine later emphasized the need for respect when working with colleagues and state officials.

“Some have confused being loud with leadership,” Sen. Aubertine said. “We want our constituents to know that we are working for their interests, but not by beating our own chests and calling people names. Effective leadership means working with people to achieve real results. We’ve chosen to work with NYPA and we’re confident we will achieve results.”

The Senator said the proposals from NYPA have been around since last year and are unrelated to the use of unallocated power for a laboratory in Long Island and the appropriation of reserve revenue, much of which was set aside for the disposal of nuclear fuel rods at power plants no longer owned by NYPA, to help close the state’s budget gap.

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Cry Babies at it again, Republican State Senators to Stall the State Budget

In Our Opinion

Remember the kid you used to play with that if he/she lost they would pick up their toys and run home if they couldn't win ...well "they were not going to play. " That surly was the Republican Minority Leader of the New York State Senate, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos.

Dean does not want to play "budget anymore" and is going to stall a on time budget for New York State because they weren't allowed to win. Why, because they were not any longer in control and they couldn't have the say in how the budget was made. Well Dean that's called DEMOCRACY. That's what happens when you lose. ( Remember how they used our tax-dollars when they were in control.) Remember when you froze out the Democratic Minority for the last three decades. Remember when you would not allow them to introduce budget bill amendments. Remember it was you that walked out on FIVE party talks. Yes Dean you just can't take being in the minority, maybe it takes to much character for you.

So now because you want to play your little stunt it will cost school districts millions of dollars and everyone else that depends on a on time budget. That means less money spent on our kids and increase's that need not have been made.

For Cuomo, Financial Crisis Is His Political Moment

Andrew M. Cuomo, whose love of analogies is great, often likens his investigations to a fine opera.

The opening act, he instructs his lieutenants at the New York State attorney general’s office, is taken up with his investigation and rivets the audience’s attention. The middle acts are sung by tenors from executive suites, who agree to change their misbegotten ways.

The final act, in his rendition, is played by Congress or the State Legislature, which enacts new laws and systemic reform.

Mr. Cuomo, a double-espresso of a politician and an oh-so-careful guardian of his own media image, now has found his moment like few politicians in the United States. For months he has given voice to disgust with the abuses and self-regard within the nation’s financial industry. He has forced the three largest rating agencies to the bargaining table, persuaded mortgage lenders to agree to rework their appraisals and sought to force down the cost of student loans by shaming universities and lenders.

Mr. Cuomo’s use of his office, its powers and its bully pulpit, is muscular. He has sent his subpoenas to those in plush offices, and dragged out the names of bonus recipients from American International Group and Merrill Lynch, to loud applause from many voters.

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Updated State Payroll for 2008 Posted Online

New York’s complete state government payroll for 2008 was posted today on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the government transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for New York State Policy. The searchable payroll database includes names, titles, base pay rates and total pay received by the 367,732 people who worked in the state’s executive, legislative or judicial branches at any point last year.

SeeThroughNY also provides searchable payroll databases for New York City’s municipal government and for 19 state public authorities, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Also posted are searchable databases of teachers’ union and superintendent contracts for 733 school districts, legislative pork barrel member items, and operations spending by both houses of the state Legislature. The website has attracted more than three-quarters of a million unique visitors since it was launched on July 31, 2008, with searchable databases including the state payroll as of May 2008, which did not include overtime and extras.

A Rumor...Which Legislator Was it??

At a special Legislative Meeting on this Thursday to review a special state report on the case of Erin Maxwell and what the county could have or should have done.

The meeting, held by the Oswego County Legislature, focused on the state’s report that contained records filed by the OCDSS regarding their response to complaints in 2003, 2004 and 2006, concerning the squalled living conditions at the Maxwell home in Palermo....Pall-Times.

This was a very important meeting which ALL Democratic Legislators attended. However one Republican Legislator had to leave early...and miss much of this very important report. Latter it was learned he left to make a Photo-Op????

Ok who was it?

Paterson: Legislators 'On the Same Page' For Budget

ALBANY—David Paterson said that there's no point of having conference committees if legislative leaders can come to a budget agreement, and he believes they will.

"They feel they are close enough to an agreement on what their deficit reduction is," Paterson said, giving his first public comments since a closed-door meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (and the Republican leaders before they left) yesterday. "They're not necessarily agreeing with me, but they're agreeing with each other. They have met with me in the last few days to have me explain some of the cuts and have them explained."

"They seem to be on the same page with each other," Paterson said.

"We wouldn't want to have conference committees where the two conferences agree just for the sake of turning on cameras for information that's already been resolved," he continued, when asked if it was incongruous that he spent most of Sunshine Week out of the public eye. "That's, at least, the explanation the legislature gave to me for why they have not gone to conference committees."

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Coleman lawyer: "I'm done"

An attorney representing Norm Coleman more or less conceded the (former-current-future) Minnesota Senator will lose his case before a three-member panel determining the final vote tally.

Coleman lawyer Joe Friedberg, speaking to KFAN, seemed gloomy about Coleman's chances before the trial court -- and said he's quitting -- even as the case heads for an appellate hearing.

(h/t Hotline)

Q. Joe, are you done?

A. Yes, I'm done.

Q. Let me ask you in a different way. Is Norm done?

A. Well, I think that we have been trying this case with the appeal record in mind, and that's where we're going, and it's going to be a very quick appeal, and then I will know whether or not it worked.

Q. Well, when you say quick appeal, are you confident that you are going to lose the case in front of the three-judge panel? By losing the case, I mean Norm ends up with less votes.

A. I think that's probably correct that Franken will still be ahead and probably by a little bit more. But our whole argument was that it was a constitutional argument, and it's an argument suitable for the Minnesota Supreme Court, not for the trial court. So we will see whether we were right or not.

New York State Board of Elections Releases 2009 Political Calendar

Official 2009 Political Calendar

Senator Schumer introduces groundbreaking veteran's health bill

Senator Charles Schumer announced on Wednesday that he is introducing legislation that will lower the threshold that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have to meet to receive treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Under current regulations, he said, veterans must provided documented proof of a specific incident that triggered the onset of PTSD, which has made treatment far less accessible to the people who are most in need of it. Many of the soldiers who are suffering from this debilitating psychological disorder do not have the means to provide such proof. Schumer said his COMBAT PTSD Act (Compensation Owed for Mental health Based on Activity in Theater PTSD) is intended to revise existing laws, making treatment available to more veterans.

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The DaBrinker Report Needs Your Help

It seems that Jim Wright's political committee, still active, has a very questionable donation. After much research the DaBrinker Report, a fellow blogger, can not find the actual person/persons or political action committee it was mailed to.

This is part of the post,

It's so weird because I can't find any business, organization or group that matches the name RTC or RTCPAC at 625 Elden Street, Herdon, VA 20170.

As I stated in my last post, typically when you see PAC in the name of some group, the PAC stands for Political Action Committee. Open Secrets is a website where you can track contributions by or to PACs. When you search Open Secrets for RTCPAC, there are no matches.

So this is where I need help. If you can help me find out what RTCPAC is and the explanation for the nearly $30,000 expense, I will buy you a couple of drinks at Pete's.

Please help the DaBrinker Report and if you can find out who is "RTCPAC??"

5-way leaders’ mtg: GOP leaders leave, Dems stay to chat

March 19, 2009 at 2:05 pm by Irene Jay Liu

The five-way leaders meeting at the governor’s mansion was a short one.

It was scheduled for 1 p.m., according to the governor’s schedule, and by 1:52 p.m., Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco were walking out.

Gov. David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith are still inside.

Phoenix Village Democrats Sweep Election

Yesterday's Village Election in Phoenix was a clean sweep for Democrats. In fact the Republicans did not even contest the Election. Great job Village of Phoenix Democratic Committee!

This just proves that voters in Phoenix approve of the job the democrats are doing, stable taxes, community improvements and honest local government. For a long time when the republicans were running the show taxes were high and politics ruled. Now Phoenix has a government they can be proud of and trust.

Congratulations Mayor Fratto and Trustees John Halstead and Danny Dunn.

Jim Wright donates $25,000 to Defeat Senator Aubertine

from the DaBrinker Report

When looking at Jimmy’s transfers, the next number to pop out at me was the $25,000 that JW transferred to the Senate Republicans – trying to get some friends back I guess. And Political Ivy, Bob Gorman and others are saying that Jimmy at DANC is not a political move. The Senate Republicans have made Senator Aubertine their top target. And Jimmy gives the Senate Republicans $25,000. How can that not be viewed as a political move.

Jump to Blog Post

Baucus, Schumer drafting on AIG tax bill

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and New York Sen. Charles Schumer are hastily drafting legislation that would impose steep taxes on AIG executive bonuses -- an approach unveiled by two New York House members yesterday.

Schumer and a handful of other Senators shot off a letter today to AIG CEO Edward Liddy insisting he "immediately renegotiate these contracts in order to recoup these payments and make the American taxpayer whole."

Schumer added: "We stand ready to take the difficult, but necessary step of working to enact legislation that would allow the government to recoup these bonus payments, perhaps by imposing a steep tax-- as high as 91 percent--that will have the effect of recovering nearly all of the bonuses that have been paid out since AIG turned to taxpayers for help."

Other Democratic -signers include: Reid, Klobuchar, Carper, Lincoln, Murray, Menendez, Boxer, Feinstein and Merkley.

Aubertine, Valesky to Host Federal Stimulus Town Hall

6PM Thursday, March 19, in Syracuse

Media Release

SYRACUSE, N.Y., March 17, 2009 — State Senators David Valesky (D-Oneida) and Darrel Aubertine (D-Cape Vincent) will host a town hall meeting at which the Governor’s Office and state agencies will share information and answer questions about the federal stimulus package.

The forum will be held 6 p.m. Thursday at the Syracuse City Council Chambers, 233 East Washington St., and will be open to the public.

Representatives from Governor Paterson’s office and several state agencies will be on hand to discuss how local communities and programs can benefit from the federal stimulus package, what projects are eligible for funding, and what they need to know to obtain that funding.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes more than $24 billion for New York State, much of which will be available for infrastructure projects and other programs in local communities.

“Our federal congressional delegation, especially Congressman Daniel Maffei and Congressman Michael Arcuri, should be commended for their hard work in bringing federal stimulus funding to New York State,” Senator David Valesky said. “The federal stimulus funding represents an important opportunity for Central New York. This town hall meeting will provide our deserving communities, businesses and civic organizations with the information they need to move forward in the process, and the opportunity to ask the right people questions.”

“This forum is more than an ordinary, 'town hall.' It’s another resource for the communities of Central and Northern New York," Senator Aubertine said. "This is an opportunity for community leaders and local elected officials, including many who will be traveling great distances to take part in the discussions, to network with the people who can help them bring in stimulus money and make investments that will help us emerge stronger from this economic crisis.”

Representatives from the following state agencies are confirmed to attend: Department of Transportation, Thruway Authority, Department of Environmental Conservation, New York Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR), Department of Labor, Division of Housing & Community Renewal, Environmental Facilities Corporation, and the State University of New York. Other invited agencies include the Department of Health and Department of Education.

The event was organized by the New York State Senate in collaboration with the New York State Congressional Delegation as one of five town hall meetings. Previous forums were held in Long Island and Albany. Two more are scheduled for March 21 in Buffalo and March 26 in Rochester.

“Job creation and protection as well as sound economic development are absolutely essential to the long-term economic growth of our state. Through the prudent use of federal stimulus funds we can start to build the foundation of a new economy - one that from Buffalo to Brooklyn, Watertown to Staten Island, will put New Yorkers back to work and help to maintain our status as the Empire State,” said Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith.

For more information or to RSVP, please visit www.nystimulus.org. Reservations are not required.

Democrats gain first-ever enrollment edge upstate

A few indisputable facts about New York: it snows in Buffalo; the Hudson flows south; the Big Apple is Democratic to the core; and upstate remains forever Republican.

Now that last one turns from fact to myth.

For the first time in anybody’s memory, the vast territory north of Westchester and Rockland counties tilts Democrat in active voter registration. As Republicans across the country grapple with declining fortunes, even their upstate bastion is morphing into at least a pale shade of blue.

“It’s significant,” said June O’Neill, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party. “The Republicans have either held steady or lost ground while we’ve been creeping up.”

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Report Points to Oswego County's Poverty Rate

US Poverty Rate 13.3%
NYS Poverty Rate: 14.0%
Oswego County Poverty Rate: 16.5%

Total Population........................................................... 121,752

# of Individuals in Poverty.............................................. 19,028

% of Individuals in Poverty .............................................16.5%

% of Households in Poverty
Headed by Women with Children ...................................45.1%

Median Income..................................... $43,137

Unemployment Rate.........................................................10.9%

Poverty Report 2009
New York State Community Action Association

Source:

CNY jobless lines longer

If Central New York's unemployed workers stood 6 feet apart in a single line the column would extend for 36 miles.

That's long enough to stretch from Oswego to the Carousel Center; from Oneida to the Carrier Dome; and from Auburn to Hancock Airport.

At 10.9 percent, Oswego County's unemployment rate is the highest in Central New York and among the highest in the state.

Story Link

Schumer: Investigate NY electric rates

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for an investigation of what he says are unnecessarily high electricity rates in New York caused by deregulation of the industry, citing a study that a trade group calls seriously flawed.

The Democrat pointed to a recent report that says New Yorkers pay about 10 percent more in their bills than they should and face higher bills than residents and businesses in neighboring states. However, the industry says the report is deeply flawed in its data and analysis and New Yorkers are paying less because the industry is regulated more by market forces than government.

"New York's energy auction system needs to come out of the shadows before New Yorkers have to needlessly shell out another nickel to power generators who could be gaming the system to reap profits at consumers' expense," Schumer said. He said New Yorkers are paying as much as $2.3 billion more annually than necessary under a secretive auction process in which an industry-created group sets rates.

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Bob Gorman’s Fog (Watertown Daily Times)

I read Bob Gorman, Rough Draft blog and got a sense that Bob writes his posts when he’s in a fog like state where everything is great is his world. According to Bob’s post, Jim Wright has nothing but honorable intentions and is serving for the greater good of the North Country.

Bob doesn’t have a problem with Wright getting $140,000 in an extremely poor economy where the previous Executive Director was receiving about $16,000 less for the same job. Bob doesn’t mind that Jimmy received a 4 year contract when people in state government generally don’t get employment contracts. Bob’s ok with the fact that the DANC Board had an illegal Executive Session to discuss the hiring of Wright.

Follow link to the DaBrinker Report for full post.

President Barack Obama's Weekly Address

3/14/2009

President Barack Obama took a detour from talking about the dangers of the economic meltdown Saturday to talk about the dangers of tainted food. Obama broke a string of economically themed Saturday radio addresses to announce his picks for the top two slots at the Food and Drug Administration. He announced he’s setting up a Food Safety Working Group to recommend upgraded laws to prevent further outbreaks, like the recent peanut butter scare.

“When I heard peanut products were being contaminated earlier this year, I immediately thought of my 7-year old daughter, Sasha, who has peanut butter sandwiches for lunch probably three times a week. No parent should have to worry that their child is going to get sick from their lunch,” Obama said.

VIDEO LINK

Cry Babies

In our opinion
(In reference to Senate Republicans winning about their lost of central staff-Albany Times article.)

It seems to us the senate republicans are just cry babies.

When they, republicans, had the majority they did everything in their power to treat the Democratic Senators as "second class" legislators. Now the shoe is on the other foot...cry...cry.

For those that are feeling sorry for them why not have them explain how they used 100 million dollars of taxpayers dollars on their Albany political operation to say in power.

How about the 8 million dollar lease for an Albany office building that was not used ... but where they got political contributions from the owners. Or how about how they plotted to use central staff in their republican political operation to undermine the Democratic Majority, or maybe have them explain their $50,000.00 secret van and lets not forget the private TV studio for republican legislators only.

As my mother used to say "you made the bed now you lay in it."

I for one am getting just a little tired of the crying. You lost get over it and get on with the states business. The truth of your (republicans)"liberal political spending" is the real story not how many of your political appointments you can hold on to.

In our opinion

“I’m personally offended. I demand an apology,”

From Albany's perpetual fun-fest, James T. Madore tells us:

State Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) injected Eliot Spitzer into Thursday’s debate on the Senate floor over the budget process.

Marcellino and his fellow Republicans, in the minority this year for the first time in 43 years, were complaining about being excluded from budget talks.

'What we are doing to this budget process is what Client No. 9 did to that young lady in that hotel in Washington,' Marcellino said. His comment came a couple of days after the one-year anniversary of Spitzer’s resignation amid a prostitution scandal centered on his tryst at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) denounced Marcellino, saying he had violated senatorial decorum. “I’m personally offended. I demand an apology,” Parker said.

There was no immediate apology.

Sen. Neil Breslin (D-Albany) admonished his colleagues to 'disagree but not be disagreeable.'

(For a video of this momentous oratorical exchange, click here).

Senate Republican's Crying Over 30% Increase in Staff Allowance

ALBANY — When state Senate Democrats were campaigning to seize control of the chamber last fall, then-Minority Leader Malcolm Smith promised reform by giving more resources to rank and file members.

Now that he's won, Smith has made good on his promise — but he's paying for it with deep cuts to the new Republican minority's central staff.

The battle over staff dollars is the latest skirmish in a fractious and drawn-out transition from four decades of Republican control of the Senate, which Democrats now hold by a narrow two-seat margin.

In the past, the minority's budget was given to the leader, who would dole out dollars to members. But Smith has decided to give each of the 30 individual Republican senators their own staffing budget of $350,000 each for a total of $10.5 million. That's nearly 30 percent more than the $273,000 average that individual Democratic legislators received to staff their offices when they were in the minority.

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Approval of Congress Hits Four-Year High, Fueled by Dems

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' job approval rating of Congress is up an additional 8 points this month, after a 12-point increase last month, and now stands at 39% -- the most positive assessment of Congress since February 2005.

Americans who identify themselves as Democrats are mostly responsible for the improved ratings of Congress measured in the March 5-8 Gallup Poll. After showing a 25-point increase in their approval of Congress from January to February and a further 14-point increase in March, a majority of Democrats (57%) now approve of the job the Democratically-controlled Congress is doing. Independents also show improved ratings of Congress, but not nearly to the extent that Democrats do.

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Poll reveals House race tightening (20 CD)

Democrat Scott Murphy has cut Republican Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco's 12-point lead from two weeks ago to a 4-point lead, according to a Siena Research Institute poll released Thursday.

Tedisco leads Murphy 45 percent to 41 percent, which is within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. Thirteen percent of the electorate remain undecided.

While Murphy continues to enjoy stronger support among Democratic voters than Tedisco has among enrolled Republicans, the biggest shift is among independent voters, who previously gave Tedisco a significant 45-31 percent lead but now favor Murphy by a 43-37 percent margin.

Nearly 90 percent of voters say they won't change their minds.

"We understood all along that this was going to be a tight campaign," said Tedisco. "I look at this as a basketball game. This is the second half. ... We won't need any overtime. We're going to win."

Murphy attributed his surge in the polls to voters learning more about him in recent weeks and responding to his campaign message on economic issues. "People are really starting to understand my experience," Murphy said.

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New York State Democratic Rural Conference Announces Spring Conference

New York State Democratic Rural Conference

2009 Convention - Tentative Agenda
WINNING RURAL CAMPAIGNS
Winning Strategies, from Petitions to Polls
April 17-18, 2009, Saratoga, NY

FRIDAY, April 17
2:00 - 6:00 PM	Convention Registration
3:00 - 5:00 PM	NYS ELECTION LAW: Overview for First Time Candidates and use of AutoDialers in Rural Campaigns
	Presenter: William Scriber, Oswego County Election Commissioner
6:00 PM	OPENING RECEPTION With Governor David A. Paterson 6:00 p.m.
	Sponsored by Paterson for New York
7:00 PM	DINNER WITH NEW YORK'S ELECTED DEMOCRATS
9:00 PM	DESSERT RECEPTION With Atty. General Andrew Cuomo
	Sponsored by Andrew Cuomo 2010
SATURDAY, April 18
7:00 - 9:00 AM	Convention Registration
7:30 - 8:45 AM	BREAKFAST With Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli
	Sponsored by Thomas DiNapoli
9:00 - 10:30 AM	WINNING RURAL CAMPAIGNS (choose one session)
	CAMPAIGN TRAINING, presented by Democracy For America 1. Electoral & Field Work: Vote by Vote 2. Campaign Fundraising: Tools & Tactics 3. Communications: Crafting your Message, Using Media
10:30- 11:00 AM	Morning Break: Coffee, Chatter & Connections
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM	WINNING RURAL CAMPAIGNS (choose one session)
	CAMPAIGN TRAINING, presented by Democracy For America 1. Electoral & Field Work: Vote by Vote 2. Campaign Fundraising: Tools & Tactics 3. Communications: Crafting your Message, Using Media
1:00 - 2:30 PM	LUNCHEON with Malcolm Smith
	Sponsored by Senator Malcolm Smith
2:30 PM	Program Adjourns, Safe Travel

NY-20: VIDEO: Tedisco's Albany Two-Step

by: phillip anderson Tue Mar 10, 2009 at 14:17:00 PM EDT

Here's a new video from the Murphy camp. It's pretty funny, actually. Or, it would be funny if the folks of the 20th CD could afford to think of things like jobs, the economic crisis and reinvesting in America as "hypotheticals." I doubt they see such a simple question, one they absolutely deserve an answer to, as a "gotcha" question.

Schumer taps into maple tree potential

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Charles Schumer wants New York State to tap into it’s full potential for producing maple syrup.

Despite having a staggering number of maple trees, less than one percent are tapped. New York also imports four times as much maple syrup as it produces.

The Senator and Representative John M. McHugh today reintroduced the Maple Tapping Access Program Act of 2009 (Maple TAP Act) - a bill to encourage private farm owners to open up their land for tapping. The program 'sweetens the pot' for farmers to open up their lands to maple tree tapping. A federal program would offer grants to develop programs that encourage landowners to allow maple tappers to access their property.

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OK I don't get this one? Ten Years to Late?

In our Opinion

In a local newspaper, the Valley News, this week they have an article titled, State and local farmers say dairy bill is 10 years too late. Clearly the story started with a point of view and is written to support that. I will not get into the long technical explanation why the Senator's bill is being misrepresented for republican political gain. We have seen recent coordinated political attacks by the republican party against Sen. Aubertine, and let us remember the republican's clear abuse of power when they were in the majority in the New York State Senate.

I want to focus on a point I really didn't get, which is the headline of the story. "State and local farmers say dairy bill is 10 years too late." Here is the quote, "Eric Behling, a local farmer who serves as the president of the Oswego County Farm Bureau, said this week that Aubertine introduced the bill “ten years too late.”

I must admit I've had several sleepless nights trying to figure out why this bill was ten years too late. Why was there such a delay with a obviously good bill. Eric Behling, apple farmer not dairy farmer, must have the answer seeing he is a noted local republican and very well connected to local and state republican politicians. Why then was this bill ten years too late???

Well after much research and lots of "Google-ing" I have the answer to WHY IT WAS TEN YEARS TOO LATE.

The Republican Party controlled the New York State Senate and the Governorship. Republican Jim Wright was the state senator.

That is your answer Mr. Behling. It took only two months for the Democrat's to start correcting the neglect of our framers that was the result of twelve years of republican domination of Albany.

And by the way, Sen Aubertine was a dairy farmer. Last time I checked you don't milk apple trees.