Archive for February 11th, 2007
We were blessed with a winter that started extraordinarily warm. No one thought Lake Erie would freeze. It did. Mother Nature has reminded us that we are subject to her whims. The blast of cold has lasted long enough. I am ready to appreciate the spring and summer weather that lies ahead. It won’t be too much longer before we have scenes like the photo below. I took this shot of Hoyt Lake on April 30 last year.
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HT to Rus Thompson for pointing out this absurdity. Our next crime might be DWD, driving while drowsy.
Oh Boy, yet another brilliant piece of legislation introduced in Albany. Do they have a test for this like a snooze-A-lizer.. I can just see the cops now pulling some one over for this… asking how much sleep did you get? Do you have a witness that can testify to this.. OK Sir out of the vehicle we have a field snooze test to give you…
What if you refuse the snooze test, will there be a mandatory sentence such as 12 weeks in sleep therapy? Will the insurance companies be required to pay for it? How much of a surcharge on top of the fine will there be…
I can just picture a bunch of legislators sitting around their favorite after hours club in Albany, having a few drinks and suffering from sleep deprivation, when one of them says: “Let’s have a contest. Let’s see who can come up with the best law to protect people from themselves and increase the revenue stream for the state at the same time.”
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Today’s Buffalo News editorial shows inklings of reservation about throwing good money after bad.
That’s the breakthrough here. Instead of throwing good money after bad, Spitzer will insist that schools receiving an increase of $15 million, or 10 percent more than the previous year, enter into a “Contract for Excellence” that details how the money will be used and the results it will be expected to achieve.
And, make no mistake, New York has been throwing money at education with dubious effect. As Spitzer pointed out in his budget speech last week, this state is among the top per-pupil spenders on education with some of the poorest results, as measured by abysmal graduation rates and other factors.
That’s why dramatically increased spending is questionable: If other states get better results with less money, surely this one can do better than it is without the $7 billion infusion Spitzer plans to make over four years.
But some hard facts intrude, the hardest of which is the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, whose resolution produced a judicial requirement for additional spending in New York City, which - fairness and politics being what they are - demanded an increase around the state.
The plan includes other useful components, including an increase in the cap on charter schools along with additional money to compensate for the district financial losses they would create, and a property-tax rebate program based on school taxes.
This is a far-reaching plan whose implementation could improve education across New York. Lawmakers may carp - senators about the amount of increased aid due to rural and suburban districts, and Assembly members about charter schools - but there is enough that is excellent about this proposal that voters should pressure their representatives to approve it.
Money is not the answer. School choice is the answer. It is not necessary to increase spending. If education was measured by money, New York State would already have the best system in the country. What is needed is a system for the State to allocate x amount of educational dollars per student and let the parents decide where they can get the biggest bang for their buck. Mr. Spitzer needs to implement a plan of real choice in education. He needs to stand up to the bureaucrats and unions and declare that the needs of the students outweighs the desires of the status quo. Public education has been the beneficiary of protective government regulations for far too long. The result is the school system that you see today.
Source: Buffalo News - Pass Spitzer school plan
Promising to fight the status quo, the newly elected heads of Orchard Park, Amherst, Hamburg and Sardinia storm town hall—and run into a wall
The voters correctly identified the need for change, fiscal responsibility and spending restraint by government. That resulted in the election of Mary Travers Murphy, Orchard Park’s town supervisor; Sardinia Supervisor Kathleen Balus; Hamburg Supervisor Steven Walters and Amherst Supervisor Satish Mohan.
The group of four has consistently run in to roadblocks put up by the status quo populating the majority of the Town Boards. Kevin Hardwick identifies the solution.
Canisius’ Hardwick said what matters most now is that the outsiders get some allies in the elections next November. Travers Murphy now has one consistent board ally in Yeomans to fight on her side; Mohan has one as well in Shelly Schratz, but that is far from enough on the seven-member board. Balus and Walters have none.
“November will be crucial for them,” he said. “We’ll see if they get some help.”
In the end, though, their biggest accomplishment might just be that they “are making noise” and possibly opening the gate to a new wave of outsiders interested in bringing change.
The battle has just barely begun, it is crucial now for the voters to redouble their efforts and elect a supportive Town Board to assist the pioneers restore sanity to local government.
The status quo has been shocked and is reacting with every once of political muscle it can manage. It is up to the voters to counteract that political muscle with common sense. The future depends on it.
A04372 is a State Assembly bill resulting from a concurrent resolution with the State Senate to amend the State Constitution.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Amends Section 2 of Article 3, Section l of Article 4, and Section l of Article 5 to limit the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller and Attorney General to no more than two consecutive terms in any one office.
Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of term limits. I will leave that for another time.
I do find it quite hilarious that the Assembly, touted as the most dysfunctional in the Nation, is concerning itself with improving the executive branch.
The efficiency of government would be increased by a continuous influx of new representatives with new ideas. By ensuring these elected representatives serve no more than 8 years in office, continuity of leadership would still be assured.
The last phrase I would ever use to describe New York’s Assembly and Senate would be “efficient government”! I am quite convinced thought that they are experts in “continuity of leadership.”
I don’t know who they think they are fooling with their “holier than thou” attitude, they need to clean up their own house if they are going to gain any credibility.
