Archive for January 22nd, 2007
In keeping with a campaign promise, Gov. Eliot Spitzer Monday afternoon formally introduced Daniel Gundersen as the upstate chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. . . .
Gundersen’s salary will be $160,000 annually; Schoetz (chief operating officer) will be paid $150,000 per year. The pair is charged with leading the effort to turn around the struggling upstate economy — a region that extends from the North Country, central New York through Rochester to the Buffalo Niagara region and the Southern Tier. They will work in tandem with Patrick Foye, Empire State Development’s newly appointed downstate chairman.
Most people reading this news will think that it is about time. Finally we have someone representing Upstate and Western New York. Tax breaks and incentives will be handed out, businesses will come and the economy will be revived.
Upon a closer examination, we realize that this is just window dressing and the creation of more patronage jobs. The salaries alone for the 3 men listed above is nearly a half million dollars. That does not count benefits and pensions. Spitzer has created two offices where there used to be one. The related expenses will be quite high.
The most likely scenario is that the ESDC will be handing out incentives and tax breaks to lure new businesses to the area. Who pays for those incentives? The taxpayers and other businesses. Who pays for the tax breaks? The taxpayers and other businesses. There might be a short-term gain, but in the long run we will still be losing businesses because of high taxes in New York State.
Businesses that are paying the full tax rates will still leave the area. We don’t need twice the bureaucracy to address the problem of a declining population and business climate. We need less spending, not more. Cuts in spending, combined with corresponding deceases in taxes, will produce a business friendly climate. One that attracts new businesses and encourages them to stay.
Ronald Reagan described it best when he identified the nine most dangerous words in the English language — “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
The Empire State Development Corporation started as the Urban Development Corporation in 1968. It has been around for 39 years. What have we got to show for that 39 years? Absolutely nothing but a worsening business climate and a significant population loss.
Eliot Spitzer just does not get it. Less is more!
Source: Upstate economic team taking shape - Business First of Buffalo:
[tags]Eliot Spitzer, government, Empire State Development Corporation, tax breaks, incentives, business, taxes, Daniel Gundersen, Ken Schoetz, Patrick Foye[/tags]
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Tonight at 9 PM, the Food Network Show, Unwrapped, will be featuring a segment on the Buffalo Wing Festival. The show will be repeated tonight at midnight and Friday night at 7:30 PM.
[tags]food, food network, Buffalo, New York, chicken wings, wing festival[/tags}
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I was very flattered today by reading a story Fed-Up wrote. The story is Lost in the winter: Inspired from a picture. Photographs, like art, have the capability to convey feelings and moods. I take it as the best possible compliment that someone was inspired to write a story based on the feelings emanating from a photograph I took.
The photo also happens to be my highest ranked picture yet that I have posted on flickr.
My title for the picture is Park Bench in Winter. The scene is just past the casino in Delaware Park facing Hoyt Lake. If anyone would like to order an 8 x 10 print, go here, scroll down to the PayPal button and fill in the name of the photo. If you would like a larger size you can email me for prices. The frame is for illustration purposes to show how it will look when framed.
The monopoly problem mankind has to face today is not an outgrowth of the operation of the market economy. It is a product of purposive action on the part of governments.
— Ludwig von Mises, Human Action [1949]
Mises wrote about the problem with government sponsored monopolies in 1949. During the ensuing 58 years, the problem has just grown worse. Some of you might wonder what a government sponsored monopoly is? Public schools and local cable companies are a prime example. The cable companies are finally able to get some real competition from Verizon with FIOS. Verizon was able to accomplish this because they didn’t need to comply with a bunch of FCC regulations to start putting the infrastructure in place. The monopolies manage to do 2 things quite well; 1. offer crappy service, 2. keep prices high.
Other examples of government monopolies would include the Power Authority, some municipal water systems, Amtrak, and the Post Office. The government is starting to look at privatizing some, however the revenue gained will most likely fund increased government spending rather than decreases in costs to consumers.
In a free-market, the natural tendencies of economics prevent monopolies from over-pricing products and services. The complete opposite effect results from government sponsored monopolies.
[tags]government, waste, Mises, public-schools, monopoly[/tags]
The nation’s State Attorney Generals have been ranked using specific criteria. I have maintained, since way before Day 1, that Eliot Spitzer abused the power of his office to extort settlements out of private enterprises. Those actions were done for the intent of enhancing his political stock and to aid his ambition for more power and a higher elective office. Spitzer easily made the list of the Top Ten Worst Attorney Generals.
Although these abuses are widespread, some attorneys general are worse than others. Based on a set of explicit criteria—such as encroachment on the powers of other branches of government, meddling in the affairs of other states or federal agencies, encouragement of judicial activism and frivolous lawsuits, favoritism towards campaign contributors, ethical breaches, and failure to provide representation to state agencies or to provide legal advice—the following state attorneys general have earned the dishonor of being the nation’s Top Ten Worst:
1. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
2. Bill Lockyer, California
3. Eliot Spitzer, New York
4. Zulima Farber, New Jersey
5. Patrick Lynch, Rhode Island
6. Darrell McGraw, West Virginia
7. William Sorrell, Vermont
8. Lisa Madigan, Illinois
9. Peg Lautenschlager, Wisconsin
10. Tom Reilly, Massachusetts
Read it all: Competitive Enterprise Institute
[tags]Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, New York, Governor, abuse, power, authority, frivolous[/tags]
