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I wrote a piece to the Buffalo News about a week or so ago. I was basically in a super rant mode after reading the ridiculous article in the newspaper. I know I am blowing my horn, but I am very serious about the importance of what I wrote.

Another voice / Rep. Brian Higgins
Party labels mean little in judging politicians
By MICHAEL R. REBMANN

7/21/2006
The Buffalo News recently published an article on Rep. Brian Higgins’ propensity (gasp!) to side with President Bush and the Republicans more than any other Democrat in New York State. Stupid statistics were thrown around, like the fact that Higgins sided with Bush 29 percent of the time, while Louise Slaughter sided with Bush only 14 percent of the time. The article goes on to describe Higgins as a DINO (Democrat in name only).

I am a registered Democrat. I have voted many times for people of different political parties. What they stand for, and how they plan to accomplish things, is far more important than the party label. One of my favorite politicians is Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican from Texas. One of my least favorite politicians is President George W. Bush, a Republican from Texas. That shows how ridiculous it is to categorize all politicians by their home state and political affiliation.

Let’s go back to Higgins and see what The News story had to say. He supports the unconstitutional war in Iraq, favors a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, voted to interfere with the wishes of Terri Shiavo and her husband, and he wants a big fence in between us and Mexico. From those positions I conclude that Higgins is an interventionist who doesn’t respect natural rights (freedom and liberty). Those were the positions that were deemed not to toe the line of the Democratic Party.

Now for the “victory” that has given Higgins the most accolades. I am talking about the New York Power Authority deal. Higgins is praised to high heaven for getting money back from the Power Authority, to be used for the betterment of Buffalo and Western New York. Personally, I think the whole thing was a sham.

Let’s analyze what really happened. Higgins extorted our money, which was fleeced from us to begin with, from the Power Authority. But he didn’t give us back our money, which would have been the right thing to do. Instead, he shifted it to another layer of government to spend as it sees fit.

There is no reason the Power Authority should be controlling hundreds of millions of dollars of our money every year. There is no reason the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority should have title to our waterfront property. Get rid of those two injustices and the need for Higgins to redistribute our money to another unit of government would not exist. Higgins is praised because he played the shell game the best.

The voters need to end the ever-expanding government. We would have had a nicely developed waterfront many years ago if the government and its agencies had not been involved. People need to realize that every time a government program is put into place, we are losing money.

Government programs add unnecessary overhead to any and all projects. The overhead is used to provide an above-average wage for government workers and used to create the appearance of benevolence that is nothing more than a scam to buy votes. The purpose? Re-election.

Michael R. Rebmann lives in Buffalo.