Archive for August 5th, 2006
Eliot Spitzer, New York State Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful (hope not), is supporting the actions of Bruno and Silver in their efforts to hide pork spending from the public. The following is an excerpt from Cythia Locklear’s blog, Inside Out:
In a nutshell, the Albany Times Union started an ”Article 78? proceeding against Bruno and Silver in June, alleging violations of the Freedom of Information Law (”FOIL”). You simply HAVE to read the Petition (paraphrasing it here cannot do it justice) to get truly enraged at what these jamokes are doing with gobs of taxpayer money; and then refusing to tell us about. They have written secrecy agreements and ”MOUs”, and proxies, and convoluted ‘legal’ arguments all to keep their dealings out of view.
But then, to add insult to injury, the “Sheriff of Wallstreet”, the Anointed Crusader has agreed with them, that their records regarding what Legislators sponsored what pork projects, in what amounts, to what organizations, employing whose girlfriend, father, wife, whatever, are shielded by the Legislative Immunity provisions of the state constitution (WHUT???)
I guess walking into the buzz-saw of special interests does not include applying his simple rule, is it right or wrong, to his fellow politicians in Albany.
Thank you Cindy for the exposé. I will be adding the information to My Eliot Spitzer page.
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In today’s Buffalo News we have the following headline story: Crime wave seeping into nearby suburbs.
The image of the suburbs as a safe haven took a major hit earlier this year when a series of crimes happened in a short time period:
• On Feb. 2, a dentist was stabbed to death inside his Amherst home. The suspect in that homicide pleaded guilty to charges this week.
While the article has a valid point about the rise of crime in the suburbs, the case of the Dentist being killed in Amherst is completely unrelated. It is an example of peppering an article with a high-profile case.
The killing of the dentist was confined to the actions of two individuals. The dentist and the 17 year old he met and befriended at an adult bookstore located in Buffalo. There was a long history of consortion between the two individuals. This was not a random act of violence between strangers. It is unfortunate that a death resulted, however it resulted from the conscious and willful decision of the dentist to enter into a relationship with the teen who ultimately killed him.
No one knows for sure what actually happened that fateful night except for the two individuals present at the Amherst home. One is dead and one is now serving a 16 year sentence for manslaughter. That, and the fact that there was not enough evidence to sustain a 2nd degree murder charge, leads to the logical conclusion that this was a crime resulting from a relationship gone bad.
It is in no way indicative of the rising crime rate in the suburbs. The crime wave is worthy of a news story, sensationalizing it isn’t.
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GOP Candidates Claim Degrees Of Separation From President
Even Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee, has run TV ads in his Buffalo area district that do not identify his party affiliation.
These Republicans have hardly broken with Bush. Talent and Kennedy, after all, have invited him into their states this year to help raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaigns. But their tactics are representative of the diverse ways, large and small, that Republican candidates are trying to put distance between themselves and the president and his most unpopular policies.
I don’t know who Reynolds thinks he’s fooling, everyone knows he has been one of Bush’s stauchest supporters and a huge fundraiser.
Go get him Jack!
With all the trouble in the Middle East, basically as a direct result of U.S. Foreign policy, the Bush administration is now meddling even more in Cuba.
In a televised message beamed into Cuba, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered the full support of the United States in a transition to democracy while promising to respect the sovereignty of the Cuban people.
The last I heard, there were no calls from Cuba asking for help to “install democracy.” Naturally some Cubans are taking this as a threat and who wouldn’t considering Bush’s deft foreign policy decisions.
“We will stand with you to secure your rights — to speak as you choose, to think as you please, to worship as you wish, and to choose your leaders, freely and fairly, in democratic elections,” she said in a broadcast on the U.S.-funded Radio Marti network.
If Georgie and Condi really want to make “progress” with Cuba, the best thing they could do is end the economic sanctions. Free trade would benefit both countries and help raise the standard of living in Cuba. Allies are created by nurturing and fairness. Force results in what we see in Iraq, and the rest of the Middle East, today.
