GOP Senators Opposed Bill That Funded Airport Screening And Explosive Detection

Some of the same Republican lawmakers currently criticizing the President for softness on terrorism voted back in July 2007 against legislation that, among other reforms, provided $250 million for airport screening and explosive detection equipment.

The Improving America's Security Act of 2007 was a relatively non-controversial measure that effectively implemented several un-acted-upon recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Eighty-five Senators voted in favor of the bill's passage. Seven missed the vote (several of whom were on the campaign trail, including Barack Obama, John McCain and Chris Dodd).

Eight Republican Senators, however, voted against passage, including Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Tom Coburn (R-Okl.) Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), James Inhofe (R-Okl.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ari.).

The opposition was, at the time, a bit perplexing, considering the praise the legislation received from many of the revered members of the 9/11 Commission itself. Now, following a botched terrorist attack that nearly brought down an airliner over the city of Detroit -- and subsequent conservative complaints that Democrats mishandled matters of national security -- the bill and that vote contain obvious, additional meaning.

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He Thinks It's His Opportunity' to Run For Governor

ALBANY—Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver thinks Andrew Cuomo is going to run for governor.

"I do," Silver told Fred Dicker on WGDJ. "I think he's clearly showed he's popular and has always wanted to be governor, and I think he senses thinks it's his opportunity."

"Where I will be, let's talk in June," Silver said, noting this was not an outright endorsement of Cuomo.

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The Future...

Chuck Does It Again...visits all 62 New York State Counties

This afternoon, standing outside the Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, ubiquitous Senator Chuck Schumer completed his eleventh straight year visiting all 62 of New York's counties.

"The whole point of the 62 county tour is to see firsthand the ways that I can help make New York State its very best," said Mr. Schumer, who began visiting every county in 1999, the year he ascended to the Senate after defeating incumbent Republican Al D'Amato. (His press release calls it a record.)

Of course, the annual odyssey also lets more conservative upstate voters see firsthand the Brooklyn-born senator, who came in as one of Washington's most liberal congressman, and who now pushes maple syrup production and cuts taxes for venison donors. Last month, Mr. Schumer took his first hunting trip with Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. He thinks he bagged three pheasants once he disengaged the safety on his shotgun.

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Who's running the TSA? No one, thanks to Sen. Jim DeMint

WASHINGTON — An attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration — if there were one.

The post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has held up President Barack Obama's nominee in opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.

As al Qaida claimed responsibility Monday for the thwarted attack and President Barack Obama made a public statement about it, Democrats urged DeMint to drop his objection and allow quick confirmation of nominee Erroll Southers, a counterterrorism expert, when the Senate reconvenes in three weeks.

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Presidents Weekly Address December 24, 2009

GOP Lawmakers Flip Flop On Health Care

Democrats are troubled by the inconsistency of Republican lawmakers who approved a major Medicare expansion six years ago that has added tens of billions of dollars to federal deficits, but oppose current health overhaul plans.

All current GOP senators, including the 24 who voted for the 2003 Medicare expansion, oppose the health care bill that's backed by President Barack Obama and most congressional Democrats.

The Democrats claim that their plan moving through Congress now will pay for itself with higher taxes and spending cuts and they cite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for support.

By contrast, when Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House in 2003, they overcame Democratic opposition to add a deficit-financed prescription drug benefit to Medicare. The program will cost a half-trillion dollars over 10 years, or more by some estimates.

With no new taxes or spending offsets accompanying the Medicare drug program, the cost has been added to the federal debt.

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Voodoo...

Senate Democrats Lead Historic Passage Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act

Washington, DC—The United States Senate passed The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act this morning under the leadership of Senate Democrats. Passage of this historic legislation is another critical step toward guaranteeing access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans. This bill’s passage has been supported by at least six decades of advocacy from supporters of reform who understand the cost of inaction on this critical issue. Efforts to pass this bill through the Senate were led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd and Senate HELP Chairman Tom Harkin.

The CBO has confirmed that after strengthening our bill on the Senate floor, it now exceeds our original goals of deficit reduction and preserves our goals of expanded coverage and lower costs.

Working hand in hand with President Obama, the Senate passed a comprehensive health reform bill that saves lives, saves money and saves Medicare by:

- Making health insurance more affordable

- Reducing the deficit and reining in health costs

- Stopping insurance company abuses

- Providing choice and competition

- Investing in small businesses

- Making Medicare more solvent and expanding prescription drug coverage

Full Post with all the Details

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

GOP X-Mas

Senate Passes Health Care Bill

Without a single Republican vote, the United States Senate passed a sweeping health care reform bill in a landslide, shortly after 7:00 in the morning on Christmas Eve. After months of intense back and forth, and more than three weeks of continuous floor debate, the bill moved through the Senate by a gaping 60-39 margin.

The House of Representatives previously passed a much stronger version of reform with a tighter 220-215 margin. The two versions will now be merged in conference committee negotiations, with the House pushing for more generous subsidies for those required to buy insurance and the Senate attempting to hold the line. The cross-Capitol negotiations will not involve the Republican Party.

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Senate Health Care Bill Clears Final Vote Before Passage

WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed sweeping health care legislation to the brink of Senate passage Wednesday, crushing a year-end Republican filibuster against President Barack Obama's call to remake the nation's health care system.

The 60-39 vote marked the third time in as many days Democrats have posted a supermajority needed to advance the legislation. Final passage, set for about dawn on Thursday, was a certainty, and will clear the way for talks with the House on a final compromise. Those negotiations likely will stretch into February.

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Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) appeared to propose a prayer for Robert Byrd's death so that health care reform would not pass.

On Sunday afternoon, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) appeared to propose a prayer for Robert Byrd's death so that health care reform would not pass. Dana Milbank reports at the Washington Post:

At 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon -- nine hours before the 1 a.m. vote that would effectively clinch the legislation's passage -- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) went to the Senate floor to propose a prayer. "What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight," he said. "That's what they ought to pray."

It was difficult to escape the conclusion that Coburn was referring to the 92-year-old, wheelchair-bound Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) who has been in and out of hospitals and lay at home ailing. It would not be easy for Byrd to get out of bed in the wee hours with deep snow on the ground and ice on the roads -- but without his vote, Democrats wouldn't have the 60 they needed.

Paterson vs. school superintendents

Gov. David Paterson has been battling the state’s powerful education lobby since last week when he held back part of their funding stream due to a state shortfall and they sued him. This morning, it started to get a bit personal as the governor, being interviewed on a Buffalo radio station, called out the Shenendehowa school superintendent for complaining about the lack of funding while sitting, the governor said, on a health reserve fund that he could tap into.
(Listen to the interview below.)

Lie of the Year: 'Death panels' ... brought to you by Republicans

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.

"Death panels."

The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn't made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.

Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, "Death panels? Really?"

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Senate Health Care Bill Clears Major Hurdle

he United States took a major step closer to the rest of the industrialized world shortly after 1:00 a.m. on Monday morning, voting 60-40 to move forward on far-reaching health care reform that will provide subsidies to million of Americans to purchase health care -- and require all citizens to purchase health insurance or prove that they can not afford to do so. (More on the details of the bill here.)

The vote, which was taken in an unusual fashion, with senators seated and voting from their desks, split along party lines, with all 40 Republicans voting no. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) rose and announced her nay vote with an affect of regret in her voice.

The bill does not include a public health insurance option that would compete with private insurers in order to keep them honest. The proposal does include tighter regulations on the insurance industry than currently exist, but the law would not create any new regulatory agencies and would leave policing the new rules to individual states, which have shown an inability to combat the major insurers. Those companies will have billions more in resources if the Senate bill becomes law.

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Holdout Senator Agrees To Support Health Care Bill

A holdout no more, Democratic Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson agreed Saturday to provide the 60th and deciding vote for Senate passage of sweeping health care legislation, capping a year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining.

Nelson had a brief response - "Yeah" - when asked whether he would support the measure as he strode into a private caucus of fellow Democrats.

With that vote, President Barack Obama's Senate allies appear on track to pass the legislation by Christmas, overcoming Republican opposition and a swirling early winter snowstorm.

Nelson disclosed his decision as Majority leader Harry Reid unveiled a final series of changes to the measure, including concessions to Nelson on abortion, funding for his state and more.

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Senate Democrats Reach Deal On Health Reform

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats appear within reach of the 60 votes necessary to pass President Barack Obama's health care legislation after a long year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining with holdout Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Emerging from marathon talks with Majority Leader Harry Reid and White House officials late Friday night, Nelson said "real progress" had been made toward his call for greater restrictions on abortion within the legislation.

Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to go public a final package of changes in the long-debated legislation on Saturday "and is confident that it will prevail," his spokesman, Jim Manley, said in a late-night statement.

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Health Care Reform

Oswego County Unemployment Rises In November

There's bad news to report on Oswego County's unemployment rate. Unemployment rate rose to 9.3.

In Jefferson County, 8.8 percent of the population was out of work in November, in Lewis County, the rate was 8.4 percent and Onondaga County reporting the lowest of the area at 7.5 percent.

Unemployment in the United States for November was 10 percent down from 10.2 percent in October.

In New York State, the jobless rate fell from 9 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November.

Oswego County had the highest unemployment rate in New York State outside of New York City.

Congressman Bill Owens Supports Pay Raise for Troops, Military Families

Washington, DC – Congressman Bill Owens today voted to support the troops by providing them with the weapons, support, and equipment needed to complete their mission overseas. Today’s legislation, the Defense Appropriations Act, also makes investments in the health, well-being and readiness of the armed forces, and provides armed services members and their families with a pay raise to reward them for their efforts in defense of the country.

Full Post from The North Country Democrat

Democratic Legislators Vote Against Over Spending County Budget

After a night of intense discussion Tuesday regarding possible budget cuts, the Oswego County Legislature passed its 2010-11 budget, 18-5.

The $37,567,970 spending plan includes a tax rate of $7.16 per thousand of assessed value, which is a slight dip from the 2009 rate of $7.18. ( It be noted that spending increased this year and county reverseves, over 7 million were used, to keep the tax rate low. This is the same bad decissions the last Republican lead budget in 2000

Legislators Arthur Gearsbeck, R-West Monroe; Lee Walker, D-Oswego; Michael Kunzwiler, D-Oswego; Doug Malone, D-Oswego Town; and Phil Vasho, D-Fulton, voted against the budget, while legislators Clayton Brewer, R-Fulton; and James Bryant, R-Constantia, were absent from Tuesday’s meeting. Full Story


OD Editor Comment: It should be noted that spending increased this year and the county reverse, over 7 million was used, to keep the tax rate low. This is the same bad decisions the last Republican legislature made in 2000-2002 which lead to a over 40% county tax increase.

The state Board of Elections voted unanimously to certify modern voting machines for New York

The state Board of Elections just voted unanimously to certify modern voting machines that Congress back in 2002 mandated nationwide. They’ll eventually replace the lever-action machines pictured above.

The vote to accept the Dominion and ES&S brand machines comes on the day that the state, under a court order from Federal Judge Gary Sharpe, had agreed to certify the machines, mandated in the wake of the chaotic 2000 presidential elections — hanging chads and all that.

The machines are supposed to phase out the old lever-action machines, which observers say are starting to age beyond the point that it is practical to keep them running.

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Flip Flop Joe

Lieberman's opposition to a Medicare buy-in is a reversal of the position he held just three months ago.

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Franken Spars With Thune Accuses Him Of Not Reading The Senate Health Bill

Paterson Favorability & Job Ratings Inch Up; Remain Very Low

Loudonville, NY. For the second month in a row, voters have given a modest boost to Governor David Paterson‟s favorability and job performance ratings, raising them above record lows but not dramatically higher than that, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters. Paterson remains far behind Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in a potential Democratic gubernatorial primary, and turned a three-point deficit against former Long Island Republican Representative Rick Lazio last month into a two-point lead this month. When voters were asked to choose among Paterson, Democrats in the Legislature or Republicans in the Legislature for who was doing the best job to resolve budget problems the winner was: none of the above. A majority of voters think not cutting education and health care further was the right choice and a plurality think raising taxes next year is a better way to close the deficit than cutting those two largest parts of the state budget.

Siena College Poll

Lending

Myths Vs. Facts About Farmworkers In New York

NYFB presents a selection of video clips from a recent public hearing on labor issues in Jefferson County. The hearing was conducted by State Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Darrel Aubertine, and panelists included experts in labor law, farmers, and farmworkers and farmworker advocates. The selection features NYFB President Dean Norton, Jefferson Countys own Jay Matteson, and Tom Maloney from Cornell Cooperative Extension. Additionally, the Catholic Charities' Deacon David Sweenie discusses the need to enforce current laws and talks about how farmworkers do, indeed, vote with their feet to find the best employment situation.

Lieberman Tells Reid To His Face: I'll Vote Against Current Health Care Bill

Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in a face-to-face meeting on Sunday that he will vote against a health care bill that includes a public option or a provision that would expand Medicare, a Democratic Senate aide tells the Huffington Post.

The two senators had a discussion in Reid's office shortly after Lieberman appeared on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday morning. The Connecticut independent discussed with Reid some of his concerns about the legislation, elaborating on issues he had raised during the show. According to the source, who was briefed on the exchange, Lieberman punctuated the discussion by telling the majority leader directly that he will vote against the bill if the Medicare buy-in and public option provisions remain in it. Roll Call reports that Lieberman said he would also support a Republican filibuster of legislation that included these provisions.

"Leadership was definitely a bit surprised with the lines being drawn in the sand the way they were," said the source. "We expected that he would say critical things about [the bill]. But he is not even giving us a chance to get it scored."

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Big Banks

Senators Should Visit a Free Health Care Clinic to Really See the America They Represent... and Deny

On Thursday, I hosted my MSNBC "Ed Show" from the Kansas City Convention Center. There have been few days in my thirty year broadcasting career that have moved me as much as this experience did. I saw the real America. In the middle of the country, two thousand miles from the beltway, I witnessed middle class Americans standing in line for hours waiting to see a doctor. Some had not seen a doctor in years. They have jobs, some working two jobs, but can't afford the cost of insurance and basically are on the GOP plan: pray you don't get sick.

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Senate Republican filibuster Fails

WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled Senate on Saturday cleared away a Republican filibuster of a huge end-of-year spending bill that rewards most federal agencies with generous budget boosts.

The $1.1 trillion measure combines much of the year's unfinished budget work – only a $626 billion Pentagon spending measure would remain – into a 1,000-plus-page spending bill that would give the Education Department, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and others increases far exceeding inflation.

The 60-34 vote met the minimum threshold to end the GOP filibuster. A final vote was set for Sunday afternoon to send the measure to President Barack Obama.

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Weekly Address: Learning from History to Reform Wall Street

The President explains that while he continues to focus on jobs, it is also profoundly important to address the problems that created this economic mess in the first place. He commends the House of Representatives for passing reforms to our financial system, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and blasts Republican Leaders and financial industry lobbyists for their joint pep rally to defeat it.

Spitzer? Again?

He remains so radioactive that a candidate in the Democratic primary for Manhattan district attorney was forced to cancel a fundraiser with him this summer. So, naturally, Eliot Spitzer is thinking … political comeback.

Well, at least according to Thursday's New York Post, which has Spitzer—who lasted half as long as a governor as Sarah Palin did—mulling a bid for state comptroller next year.

Let's suppose he is. His chances of winning would be small, and further embarrassment—for himself and for his family—would be almost certain, but as one elected official put it on Thursday, "The guy's nuts, so who knows?"

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Polar Bears

Pulaski company gets $175K from NYSERDA "clean energy" fund

Fulton Companies, Pulaski, received a $175,000 state grant Tuesday to manufacture and market more efficient biomass boilers, part of a near $3 million package for clean energy ideas announced by Gov. David A. Paterson.

“The funding announced today will go a long way toward helping clean energy businesses throughout New York state grow, create jobs and help make our state more energy independent,” said state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, the Cape Vincent Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, in a statement. “The Fulton Companies, right here in Pulaski, are engaged in advancing innovative technologies to use biomass to heat efficiently and with reduced emissions. This company is a top employer for the village and Oswego County and the growth in this line, coupled with company's expansion, will create the jobs we need to keep our young people in our communities.”

Fulton Companies recently announced plans for a $13.5 million, 125,000-square-foot addition to its steam boiler manufacturing facility. The project is expected to create 50 jobs.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is providing the funding for the clean energy grant. Adirondack Woodsman's Pellet Company, Long Lake, received $76,500 "to work with timber harvesters and employ sustainable harvest practices as it seeks to start up a wood pellet manufacturing facility in Tupper Lake. The award will allow AWP to develop a business plan, enabling them to engage potential investors and become a significant employer in the region," according to Mr. Paterson's office.

McCain broke Senate rules

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) broke Senate rules when he recorded a robocall touting his amendment to the health care bill, according to a complaint filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee paid for the call, which targeted the constituents of swing senators in five states and attacked the current health care reform bill for "cutting $500 billion in vital Medicare coverage for our seniors." The call urged constituents to sign a petition encouraging the senators to support McCain's amendment.

In its complaint, CREW cites Senate Rule 38, which prohibits senators from using private donations to support official Senate activities.

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Gore Tackles Palin

Gore talks about environmental policy, why the Copenhagen meeting matters, and the hacked climate science emails. The emails, Gore stresses, were "taken wildly out of context" and the uproar surrounding them is "sound and fury signifying nothing."

His frustration with the hacked-email fallout is palpable. "The basic facts are incontrovertible. What do they think happens when we put 90 million tons up there every day? Is there some magic wand they can wave on it and presto!--physics is overturned and carbon dioxide doesn't trap heat anymore?" Gore asked, and pressed his point harder: "And when we see all these things happening on the Earth itself, what in the hell do they think is causing it?

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NY to receive $4B more in stimulus

New estimates published Friday show New York should receive $4 billion more from the federal stimulus than originally anticipated.

The state cabinet in charge of handling stimulus money says New York is now projected to receive at least $31 billion of stimulus funds through early 2011, when the spending ends.

That’s $4.3 billion, or 16 percent, above estimates made earlier this year.

The revised estimates reflect the availability of more information, as well as additional money that has now been allocated, said David Neustadt, a spokesman for the stimulus committee.

“Thus far, we have spent the funds wisely and judiciously, and we will continue to do so,” said Gov. David Paterson. “We will use this money to redouble our efforts to create jobs and put our state on the road to fiscal recovery.”

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Global Warming

Joseph Bruno lost sight of his job to serve public

The conviction of Joseph L. Bruno, the former state Senate majority leader, on federal mail fraud charges Monday reflects the hazard for some lawmakers of being in office too long and the need for the Legislature to reform rules governing its members’ conduct, one of Bruno’s former colleagues said.

“For some, it may be a good argument for term limits,” said Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent. “But I just think it happened to Joe Bruno. He fell into that trap and now he’s going to suffer the consequences for having done so . . . He lost sight of the fact that he’s a public servant first and he’s not there to ingratiate solely for his livelihood and his family’s livelihood, things like that.

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Health Care Reform Could Skip Final Step, Roll Right Through House

The health care reform bill that passes the Senate might be the one that ends up on President Obama's desk, bypassing the usual House-Senate conference committee and avoiding another 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster.

There is increased chatter on Capitol Hill about a possible "ping-ponging" of the Senate health care bill: that chamber would pass its health care bill, send it to the House and the House would be asked to pass it with no changes and send it directly to the president.

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Former Republican Senate Majority Leader Found Guilty

ALBANY — Joseph L. Bruno, the former Senate majority leader, was found guilty Monday afternoon of using his public office to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in deals he failed to disclose with a business executive whose companies had interests before the state Legislature.

After seven days of deliberating, the jury in Mr. Bruno’s federal corruption trial handed down a guilty verdict on two felony counts. They found Mr. Bruno not guilty on five counts and could not reach a verdict on another count.

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Assemblyman Barclay Votes Against Bill that would Punish Delinquent "Professional" Taxpayers

As lawmakers seek to close this year’s $3.2 billion budget gap, Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, is proposing legislation that would toughen laws on tax scofflaws.

Klein estimates that the state could bring in about $400 million if it establishes a tax amnesty program, which would waive penalties if tax evaders pay up. As part of his budget-cutting plan, Gov. David Paterson has included the program but estimates it would bring in about $250 million this year and $100 million next year.

The new twist on Klein’s plan is that it would give state agencies the authority to deny a delinquent taxpayer the renewal of a professional license after being notified by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.

His office produced a list of some people who owe six-figure sums to the state but also hold state licenses, such as liquor and real estate licenses for their businesses.

“I think there’s a real case to be made that someone would think twice before running up a huge tax bill in the state of New York if they know that their professional license is in jeopardy,” Klein said. LINK

Below are the roll calls from the State Assembly, where delinquent taxpayers passed with only two dissenters—Republicans Jim Hayes and Will Barclay.

Reid Smacks Back At Gregg's Obstruction Manual

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took direct aim at Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)--ranking member on the Budget Committee--for authoring a detailed memo advising Republicans on the procedural tricks they can use to delay health care legislation.

"[T]he Republican plan we've waited weeks and months to see [is] not even about health care at all," Reid said on the Senate floor this morning. "The first and only plan Senate Republicans could be bothered to draft is an instruction manual on how to bring the Senate to a screeching halt."

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Health Bill Will Strengthen Our Economy, Create Jobs

Aubertine-led coalition led the fight to protect against new taxes, fees, devastating cuts

ALBANY (December 2, 2009)—In a truly bipartisan manner, State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine and the New York State Senate today passed legislation that will close the state’s budget gap by close to $3 billion—without new taxes and fees, without sacrificing the quality of healthcare for our seniors and without shifting the burden of the fiscal crisis down to local property taxpayers.

“This deficit reduction plan required many difficult decisions and does not mark the end of the difficult decisions we will have to make,” said Sen. Aubertine, chair of the Senate Majority’s Upstate Caucus. “Our work is not finished, but this deficit reduction plan will keep New York strong and protect Upstate residents from mid-year cuts that would have pushed the state’s problems down to our local property tax bills.”

The deficit reduction plan passed today with widespread bipartisan support in both the Senate and Assembly. The three bills passed the Senate 62-0, 59-3, and 59-3. The plan fits into the parameters set by the Upstate Caucus last month by protecting schools and property taxpayers from mid-year cuts, and limiting healthcare cuts, without adding new taxes or fees. Of the cuts made, about 50 percent are recurring, meaning the difficult decisions made in this deficit reduction plan will provide savings in future budgets.

Story

Most in US want public health option

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Most Americans would like to see a "public option" in health insurance reform but doubt anything Congress does will lower costs or improve care in the short term, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The survey of 2,999 households by Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO)(TRI.N) shows a public skeptical about the cost, quality and accessibility of medical care.

Just under 60 percent of those surveyed said they would like a public option as part of any final healthcare reform legislation, which Republicans and a few Democrats oppose.

FULL STORY

2009 General Election went smoothly...despite a couple bumps in the road.

OSWEGO, NY – The general election earlier this month went smoothly, despite a couple bumps in the road, according to Oswego County’s two elections commissioners.

The bumps, however, were greatly magnified due to the intense scrutiny focused on the special election for the 23rd Congressional District, which was held in conjunction with the regular general election.

“The election went great,” Democratic Elections Commissioner William Scriber told the Community and Consumer Affairs Committee. “We were one of 18 pilot counties; we were the second largest pilot county.”

From 6 in the morning until 9:05 p.m., things went perfectly, he noted.

“We had very few problems. There are some minor things; poll sites are going to need to be changed,” Scriber said.

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It's Joe