Posted in New York State on Aug 2nd, 2008
Scott Leffler brought my attention to this story about Governor Paterson, who seems to be forgetting that he is the governor of this state.
I guess it could be worse.. He could be a presidential candidate who thinks he’s visited 57 states and thinks he’ll serve 8-10 years if elected.
Posted in New York State on Jul 28th, 2008
Back in May, Governor Paterson took it upon himself to direct the state to recognize out-of-state gay marriages. And now, because of a lawsuit by New York Civil Liberties Union, BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York has “decided” (read: forced) to give benefits to “married” gay couples even though gay “marriage” is not legal in this state.
Posted in Interviews, New York State on Jul 28th, 2008
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing New York-based authors S.E. Cupp and Brett Joshpe, who co-wrote the book Why You’re Wrong About The Right: Behind The Myths - The Surprising Truth About Conservatives, which debunks 20 negative stereotypes about Republicans and conservatives. Here is a portion of the interview:
MATT: Did your experiences growing up and living in the liberal northeast inspire you to write this book? Was there any particular incident that made writing book feel more like a necessity to you?
S.E.: Although I grew up in the liberal northeast, I didn’t necessarily grow up in a particularly political household. My parents were patriotic, hardworking and compassionate, so that was my largest immediate influence — not politics. It wasn’t until college really that I understood how conservative I was, and until I realized that the Republican Party best addresses my political interests. This book is a direct result of our circumstance, being conservative fish-out-of-water in liberal Manhattan, and finding ourselves inexplicably at the business end of a verbal firing squad on a near-daily basis.
BRETT: Yes, for sure. My experiences in college and law school probably contributed to my desire to write this book more than anything. It is very frustrating being lectured to by left-wing professors and having relatively little recourse. It made me want to respond in other ways, hence the book. Also, I witnessed a great deal of anti-Americanism given the post 9/11 world we live in, which was also frustrating and inspired me to want to work on this project.
You can read the entire interview at Blogs For Victory.
Posted in Links of the Day, New York State on Jul 8th, 2008
Posted in New York State on Jul 3rd, 2008
…comes from Hillary Clinton’s remarks in Syracuse yesterday:
“It’s wonderful. It is so wonderful. It was the only part of campaigning that was kind of challenging. I really missed New York. I missed actually, physically being in the state and having a chance to see my friends and see a lot of what I care about around the state. So I’m back doing work that I love, and I feel very good about what we are going to be able to accomplish..”
Posted in Campaign 2008, New York State on Jul 2nd, 2008
Business First reports on his prediction:
Despite New York’s political reputation as Democratic stronghold, the head of Sen. John McCain’s Empire State presidential campaign team believes the Arizona Republican can win the state, including Upstate and Western New York.
Edward Cox, a partner in the New York law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tylerand son-in-law of former President Nixon, made that prediction during a meeting at Business First.
Cox was in Buffalo to take part in a fund raiser for Christoper Lee, who is running for the suburban Republican congressional seat currently held by Rep. Tom Reynolds, who is retiring, and to meet with McCain supporters as prelude to the candidate’s scheduled July 21 day-long visit to the region.
Cox said when Sen. Barack Obama became the presumptive Democratic Party nominee in this year’s presidential race, edging out U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, that changed the race’s dynamics.
“New York is more in play now with Obama than it would have been with Mrs. Clinton,” Cox said. “Obama is much more of a mystery (to Buffalo).”
While many will probably write this off as wishful thinking, the story does note that Obama only has a mere 6-point lead in the polls for New York. The state could very well end up in play this year as voters learn more about Obama and his positions and recognize his total lack of experience and qualifications. Considering Obama’s resume is so thin that he has to embellish his own credentials, I can see things looking significantly better for McCain in November, not just in battleground states, but states normally considered safe for Democrat candidates, like New York.
Posted in Links of the Day, New York State on Jul 2nd, 2008
Hillary Clinton may not be able to locate Buffalo, NY on a map, but she will be in town today for the official opening of the Erie Canal Harbor.
Posted in Links of the Day, New York State on Jun 24th, 2008
Posted in New York State on Jun 2nd, 2008
Because New York State just doesn’t get it.. they can’t solve their budget problems by raising taxes.
Amazon.com, the online book retailer, and electronics Newegg.com has filed suit against New York in response to a new law requiring online retailers to collect sales tax from buyers in the state.
Rival Overstock.com took a less complex measure: it has canceled relationships with its 3,400 New York-based affiliates, according to the The New York Times.
“We can’t afford to have our New York affiliates up online if it subjects us to New York sales taxes,” said Jonathan Johnson, SVP of corporate affairs for Overstock.
The company seeks to “[show] the New York governor and legislature that this is bad for New York businesses.”
And guess who also isn’t happy about this? Me. I frequently make online purchases at Amazon.com and other places. This evening I noticed the new tax when buying a few books. As a former resident of Massachusetts, my default address on my Amazon.com account is my former Massachusetts address. So, I switched the shipping address to my current New York address, and lo and behold, I was then charged taxes. Amazon and other online retailers had to start collecting sales taxes from buyers from New York state on June 1. This comes just as the cigarette tax in New York claims the honor of being the highest in the nation.
UPDATE: Overstock.com follows suit…
Posted in Links of the Day, New York State on May 31st, 2008
IRONY: Governor Paterson says he directed state agencies to recognize out-of-state marriages in part to avoid lawsuits… but his actions have now resulted in a lawsuit against him.
Posted in Links of the Day, New York State on May 31st, 2008
Posted in New York State on May 28th, 2008
The New York Times will report tomorrow that Governor David Paterson secretly “directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada,” circumventing the voters and the legislature.
In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”
The revisions are most likely to involve as many as 1,300 statutes and regulations in New York governing everything from joint filing of income tax returns to transferring fishing licenses between spouses.
In a videotaped message given to gay community leaders at a dinner on May 17, Mr. Paterson described the move as “a strong step toward marriage equality.” And people on both sides of the issue said it moved the state closer to fully legalizing same-sex unions in this state.
“Very shortly, there will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and probably thousands and thousands and thousands of gay people who have their marriages recognized by the state,” said Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, a Democrat who represents the Upper West Side and has pushed for legalization of gay unions.
Rep. Tom Reynolds made the following statement in response to Paterson’s secret directive:
“This is a terrible decision, directed in a secretive and abusive manner, designed to circumvent any sort of public hearing or comment from the New York people. The Governor should full well know the rightful role and prerogative the legislature has in the rule of law in this matter. Therefore, I am calling on the Governor to suspend this ill-advised executive directive. I intend to call the Catholic Conference, the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, legislative leaders and other interested parties to assist in looking at the options available in helping cease and desist the Governor’s directive.
Frankly, this is yet another example of a New York Governor abusing his power to disregard the legislature, the rule of law and most importantly the people of New York. Whether it is trying to issue drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants or attempting to recognize gay marriages this pattern of circumventing the legislature and the will of the New York people is not only troubling but should not be recognized by the legislative or judicial branch or the public as a whole.”
Posted in Campaign 2008, NY-26, New York State on May 27th, 2008
The Working Families Party (WFP), which endorsed Jon Powers‘ candidacy for congress, has sent out an email asking their supporters to sign on to a set of “standards” for a universal (socialized) healthcare program.
Dear WFP Supporter,
Everyone knows our healthcare system is broken.
But not everyone agrees on the fix. Who gets covered? Who pays how much? Who makes healthcare decisions - insurance companies or doctors? Those questions are all up in the air.
That’s why Working Families is backing the Standards for Universal Healthcare put forward the Healthcare for All New York coalition. It’s a set of goals we need to meet to make quality, affordable healthcare for everyone a reality. Lots of organizations have signed on. Now it’s your turn.
As we’ve stated here before on The Buffalo Bean, Jon Powers has described himself as a fiscal conservative… and there’s nothing fiscally conservative about socialized healthcare. And one doesn’t need to live in Canada or Europe to understand just how bad socialized healthcare is.
Still, since the WFP ardently supports socialized healthcare, and has endorsed Powers, we ought to know his position on the issue.
Posted in New York State on May 26th, 2008
Now, this is music to my ears.
Public authority reform in New York has hit the wall. Changes instituted a couple of years ago require more accountability in budgeting. That’s progress.
But as the Thruway Authority showed this spring in defying public will on rate increases, authorities are essentially what they’ve always been: high-level patronage mills with enormous power and near-unassailable autonomy.
Actually, there is a way to assail them. Authorities are creations of the Legislature and they can be undone by same. It’s time to pare back the number of authorities and return their functions to something resembling democracy.
State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, meeting with the Editorial Board last week, said the 300 or so state and local authorities might reasonably be reduced to a number far smaller — 40, he suggested. His point was less about the right number and more about the profusion of powerful agencies about which the public knows next to nothing.
Of course, the ultimate question is what the collective will of the people is with regards to reforming the state’s bureaucracy. My guess is the idea is dead on arrival.
Posted in New York State, corruption on May 20th, 2008
NO DOUBT, when Eliot Spitzer was attorney general - or, as he was more fondly called, the Sheriff of Wall Street - you know he expected his high-profile cases to be turned into thinly disguised episodes of “Law & Order.”Tomorrow night, he gets his wish - in spades. Too bad it’s not the scenario as it played out in real life.
For sure, back in the glory days, Eliot-the-Idiot was thinking it would be about his fight against Dick Grasso, king of the New York Stock Exchange. He wasn’t dreaming that “his” “Law & Order” ripped-from-the-headlines episode would be the one about a New York governor and a hooker.
As amusing as this is, I still won’t end up watching it. The real story was pathetic enough.
Posted in Links of the Day, New York State on May 20th, 2008
