| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Apr | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
This is just a bit hard to swallow after Patterson signed the new budget with a billion dollars in new taxes and fees coupled with a 4.5% spending increase.
Gov. David Paterson has delivered an edict to commissioners of New York state agencies, directing them to submit a detailed plan to reduce spending.
Paterson is either disingenuous or a schizophrenic.
Gov: NY must change way it does business - Business First of Buffalo:
I’ve oftentimes criticized that phrase for being meaningless in a political campaign. Especially when the person using it lacks substantive, meaningful positions.
Jon Powers, the former Army captain and Iraq War veteran running for Congress, will reimburse the $4,000 he charged his campaign for renting his home as his campaign office, his campaign manager says.
“The campaign may not pay for mortgage, rent or utilities for the personal residence of the candidate or the candidate’s family even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign,” according to the Federal Election Commission’s campaign guide for congressional candidates.
It looks like Jon Powers’ chickens have come home to roost. Here’s his campaign in a nutshell:
Powers’ campaign of “leadership by example” is about listening to everyday Western New Yorkers, meeting our challenges, and providing reasonable, cost-effective solutions to the problems that impact real people in their daily lives.
Politicians violating the law is not the type of example we need our elected officials to follow.
The Buffalo News: City & Region: Powers to pay back money received from campaign to rent his house
One person needed to fill a vacancy representing the NY 26th Congressional seat being vacated by Tom Reynolds. The qualifications are as follows:
If interested, please contact your local party. To date, none of the interested candidates possess the ideas necessary to restore our country to a state of freedom.
Thousands of people have access to your personal data, often with little or no oversight. Government intrusions into our personal life and information is becoming more widespread by the day.
Intelligence centers run by states across the country have access to personal information about millions of Americans, including unlisted cellphone numbers, insurance claims, driver’s license photographs and credit reports, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post.
One center also has access to top-secret data systems at the CIA, the document shows, though it’s not clear what information those systems contain.
The list of information resources was part of a survey conducted last year, officials familiar with the effort said. It shows that, like most police agencies, the fusion centers have subscriptions to private information-broker services that keep records about Americans’ locations, financial holdings, associates, relatives, firearms licenses and the like.
This is what one fascist had to say about intelligence gathering.
“There is never ever enough information when it comes to terrorism” said Maj. Steven G. O’Donnell, deputy superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police. “That’s what post-9/11 is about.”
We should just change the name of our country to the U.S.G. - The United States of the Government - somewhere along the way the people have been forgotten.
Centers Tap Into Personal Databases - washingtonpost.com
The Brookings Institution calls for a “seamless border” for residents of the Great Lakes region, eliminating the hindrance caused by increased security measures since 9/11.
A report from a prestigious U.S. think-tank released Sunday argues that Canada and the U.S. should work together with the aim of creating a common market for commerce and labour by 2030 for the states and provinces in the Great Lakes basin.
It also takes aim at obstacles to trade in the region, such as traffic congestion at the Ambassador Bridge linking Windsor and Detroit.
There has been speculation that Spitzer is waiting for a deal before he resigns. The deal would involve his resignation in return for not having any criminal charges placed against him.
Ordinarily, I would say that is a good deal. Prostitution is a victimless crime involving consensual adults. In this case, the deal stinks. Spitzer made a name for himself by prosecuting people for crimes he invented. His motivation was the publicity that would launch his political star. The man was a megalomaniac who thought he had the power and the wisdom to tell other people how to lead their lives.
Justice requires throwing the book at Eliot. He doesn’t deserve a deal. In fact, it would be easier to make a case for harsher than usual treatment. Let him experience the underside of a steamroller.
I guess Eliot thought that as Governor he would be entitled to free sex.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, The New York Times reported Monday, citing an anonymous top administration official.
I actually find this quite amusing. Anyone who gets upset by this has been sucked in to the “big government” mindset for far too long.
Prostitution should be legal. Holier-than-thou politicians should be burned at the stake.
N.Y. Times: New York governor linked to prostitution - CNN.com
Collectivism is what allows our politicians to retain and expand their power over our lives. Rights are not something granted to us by the government. We are born with rights. Tragically, the majority of voters have allowed the government to take our rights away.
It is individualism that the American Founders elevated into political prominence and it is individualism that most politicians and governments, including America’s, find most annoying because it is the bulwark against arbitrary power.
If, as the Declaration of Independence states, individual human beings have unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no one may violate these rights. Every adult individual is sovereign, a self-ruler and not subject to the rule of others. (This is why Americans are referred to as citizens, not as subjects, like so many around the globe.)
Read it all: Individualism, the Collectivists’ Nemesis
Recently, I was in the hospital for 3 days. I am fine now. The experience was illuminating in more ways than one.
$65 million was awarded to Kaleida Health to help close Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital and move services to Buffalo General Hospital,
My whole experience doesn’t jive with the so-called need to close area hospitals, especially at a tremendous cost to taxpayers. I waited about 5 hours to be seen in the emergency room at Millard Fillmore Suburban. It was 2 or 3 more hours before a doctor, who had to be called in from Millard Fillmore Gates, saw me.
I needed to be admitted but there were no beds available, so I spent the night in the Emergency Room. Late the next morning, a doctor, whom I presume to be one of the heads of the ER, told my nurse to call my doctor and downgrade my condition so I could be placed on a floor that didn’t correspond to what my doctor had ordered. Beds were needed in the ER.
During my stay, I witnessed patients who were in Suburban while waiting for a bed to open up at Gates Circle.
The whole experience seemed to indicate a shortage of hospital beds. Yet, we taxpayers are forking over 100’s of millions of dollars to assist the closing of hospitals. It makes no sense!
State aids Kaleida in closing Millard Gates - Business First of Buffalo:
This should be Eliot Spitzer’s primary challenge, combined with a reduction in spending and taxes. Anything less from him will render him a complete failure.
New York state digs deeper in debt - Business First of Buffalo:
Hmmm, spending cuts - what a novel idea to cut taxes. For once, I hope Spitzer is serious and means what he says.
Spitzer will name Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, his Democratic primary opponent from 2006, to head a bipartisan commission to study the long politically unpopular option of capping local school and government spending. Although advised by economists for decades as a critical way to reduce New Yorker’s nation leading tax burden, Albany politicians have avoided the mandate on local communities and instead provided billions of dollars in relief without requiring that it directly reduce tax bills.
Reading further into Spitzer’s plan, we get to the meat of the matter.
Spitzer and Bruno have promised no tax increases, but are expected to rely on raising fees and Spitzer may close what he considers tax loopholes in business taxes to raise revenue.
Among Spitzer’s ideas are:
–A legislative proposal to provide a tuition waiver for returning combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at any State University of New York or City University of New York campus. “We owe them the chance to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities at home they have so honorably fought for overseas.”
–An endowment of at least $4 billion, which would generate $200 million a year, to fund SUNY and CUNY. That could come from a lease of perhaps 40 years with a private firm to operate the state lottery after making an upfront payment of tens of billions of dollars. The deal, however, would continue to provide about $2.1 billion in revenue for schools with annual growth while creating a $4 billion endowment for higher education. The state would continue to regulate all lottery games and any new games, Francis said.
–Further spending to provide health care for all New York children, with a greater focus on preventing costly conditions including asthma and obesity. This will include changing the traditional Medicaid funding formula away from high reimbursement for hospital care to encourage prevention and primary care.
–A program to help pay off student loan bills for physicians who agree to work in underserved urban and rural areas.
–$400 million to build lower-cost housing, particularly in high-cost areas in and around New York City. The administration funded 3,800 units last year.
–A $1 billion fund to help revitalize upstate downtowns and to help businesses, build roads, create “shovel-ready sites” to attract new employers.
Poor Eliot couldn’t even keep his speech consistent and sounding good. There is no way he is going to cut spending and taxes while proposing billions of dollars in new projects. Spitzer just doesn’t get it. User fees and taxes on businesses are just as harmful to the State’s economy as taxes on individuals and property.
Spitzer calls for jobs, ‘real’ property tax relief — Newsday.com
The membership figures cover Meetup groups within a 50 mile radius of Buffalo, New York.
Ron Paul 255
Mike Huckabee 25
Barak Obama 6
The rest, including Hillary, Rudy, and Mitt, adds up to a big fat zip, nada, zero!
One million dollars down, another hundred or so million to go!
The State Power Authority is cleaning up its million-dollar-a-year pork-barrel program that used ratepayers’ money for everything from underwriting St. Patrick’s Day parades and jazz festivals to supporting youth sports teams and volunteer fire departments.
State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has issued a legal opinion that effectively prohibits state authorities from making charitable contributions not related to their core mission. The Power Authority, which may dole out more such contributions than any other state authority, has agreed to revamp its program.
Brian Higgins is no hero.
Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, the Power Authority’s most vocal critic, described the move to overhaul the program as an “overdue reform.”
Brian Higgins, according to sources, succumbed to pressure from George Pataki and Louise Slaughter to enable the Power Authority to be granted another 50 year license. This was done to protect the cash cow for New York State. While his efforts to secure funding for our Waterfront may appear to be laudable, he sold out for a mere pittance of the money redirected from the Power Authority each year.
The Buffalo News: Home: Power Authority ordered to end charitable contributions
Great news just arrived via email:
November 16, 2007
We are pleased to announce that just minutes ago, our attorney received a letter from the New York State Board of Elections informing us that Ron Paul will be on the ballot in New York!
If you’ve been braving the cold to get signatures to place Dr. Paul’s name on the ballot in New York, you can stop. No more signatures are necessary.
Thank you for being a part of our back-up plan for ballot access in your state. Your hard work and dedication makes this campaign possible.
You never cease to amaze us!
For Freedom,
Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee
Leonard Roberto, of Primary Challenge, and Jim Ostrowski highlight one of the many reasons to support Ron Paul for President. The Estate Tax will provide a compelling reason for the estate of Ralph Wilson to sell the team. It is another unfair tax that places a heavy burden on families by taxing money that has already been taxed several times.
Ron Paul is in favor of abolishing this onerous burden.
The estate tax raises very little money. In fact, even at its height the estate tax accounted for only a little more than 1% of federal revenues. A congressional Joint Economic committee report estimates that Americans spend as much avoiding estate taxes – paying attorneys and accountants – as they do paying estate taxes. A study by a Stanford professor concluded that “True revenues associated with estate taxation may well have been near zero, or even negative.”
It’s no longer a matter of tax policy or economics – the arguments in favor of the estate tax have all been demolished. Instead, the estate tax survives purely because of politics.
The real motivation behind the estate tax is a deep-seated hostility to property rights, and a misguided fear of family dynasties. But people don’t keep money in mattresses anymore. Money inherited from an estate is either spent, saved, or invested – all of which are better for the economy than sending it to Washington, where bureaucratic overhead consumes at least 50 cents of every dollar.
If you truly own your property, you have the right to dispose of it any way you wish. You can sell it, give it away, or direct who will receive it when you die. This control is the essence of property rights. If you can’t control what happens to your property, you don’t really own it. Click photos for large versions.
Technorati tags: Ron Paul, president, republican, libertarian, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo, football, taxes, estate tax, property rights, freedom