It is amusing that the left refuses to take any lessons from from Scott Brown’s victory two weeks ago. They foolishly see his victory as a reason to reasses their strategy for getting health care passed, not a reason to reasses the legistation.

Hey, fine by me. If they choose to ignore the implications of the Massachusetts Miracle, that’s fine, they’ll just lose more seats in November.

Liman, sees fit to ignore to implications.

What we know about Taxachusetts is that fewer than 15 percent of its state legislators are Republicans, all their Representatives to Congress are Democrats, they haven’t elected a Republican to the US Senate since 1967, and they provide near-universal healthcare coverage for their own population. So what gives here?

Easy. The health care system in Massachusetts, signed into law by Mitt Romney (which I was very unhappy about when it happened), is only a few years old, cost way more than originally estimated and hasn’t increased access to or the quality of healthcare.

Yes, the economy was a major issue in the campaign, and Obama and the Democratic Party have certainly made a big mess out of it. But, Scott Brown specifically campaigned as the anti-Obamacare candidate — the 41st vote, if you will — and that message won over independents, and nearly a quarter of Democrats. It the final days of the campaign, voters were being told that if Scott Brown won, Obamacare would be dead. 

And of course, while Liman is willing to trust a poll commissioned by the AFL-CIO and done by a Democrat polling company, an election night Rasmussen poll found that indeed, health care was a top issue.

Health care has been a huge issue in this election. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Brown voters say it was the most important issue in determining their vote. Sixty-three percent (63%) of Coakley voters say health care was the top issue: 

But maybe Liman is right, it wasn’t a referendum on just health care… but Obama’s entire agenda. Polls regularly showed voters opposed to government intervention in the economy, opposed to trying terrorists in the country, etc, etc. There was an undeniable resounding rejection of the key aspects of Obama’s agenda.

Yes, Obama’s personal approval rating in Massachusetts, is pretty good, but one thing  worth noting is that his approval ratings have a noticeable disconnect between support for his agenda, which is a lot lower. Though the two are getting closer together as his personal approval numbers plummet…

The left can pretend that there is widespread support for Obamacare, but that will only contribute to them losing more seats in November. If Liman and the rest of the Obamabots want to pretend Scott Brown’s victory wasn’t a referendum on Obamacare and Obama, they do so at their own peril.

As several commenters have noted, Brown’s once-unimaginable triumph suggests the GOP could wage competitive races this November in fellow sapphire state New York.  Not only could Republicans pull off notable surprises and win senatorial, gubernatorial, or House races: a conservative could, too, in a place where the terms aren’t necessarily synonyms.

Notably, Brown’s party affiliation doesn’t have to be followed by the phrase “in name only.”  The Massachusetts Miracle perpetrator might not be a Jim DeMint clone, but he’s more to the right than, say, John McCain despite his supportive robocall on the Arizonan’s behalf. While he’s occasionally wavered from the right, most notably on Mitt Romney’s state health plan and abortion, he still didn’t run as a Scozzafava-style Republican.

In addition to offering the deciding health care vote, Brown established that he’s a prototypical conservative on security while being big on smaller government. If Brown, who’s ultimately replacing Ted Kennedy, working alongside John Kerry, and driving to Washington in his pickup truck with Barney Frank riding shotgun (possibly in theory), can win, a similar candidate could pull off the same feat in New York without divine intervention.

Unfortunately, residents of the state where Rockefeller Republicans were born may not get that choice.  If the past offers any indication, conservatives could instead end up supporting by default a Patakiesque candidate in many races or, even worse, George Pataki. In New York, the Republican is frustratingly often the one who wants government to grow at a slightly more sluggish pace above inflation than the opponent.

Even someone like Pataki himself, who ended his governorship more identifiable with Albany than his party, would make conservatives happy in some regards.  Any GOP senator would likely oppose Democraticare while supporting judges with restrained tendencies.  But those on the right would obviously prefer casting votes for a Republican they agree with more than intermittently.

Conservative Republican officeholders have been as rare in the Empire State as a sales tax decrease.  But those of a center-right/sympathetic independent mindset should make it known what kind of Republicans they want to support.  Any Tea Party sympathizer who has ever had the urge to represent his or her fellow New Yorkers on either the state or federal level should elbow into the arena posthaste.   Brown has proved that victory is possible anywhere if one offers a genuine alternative to the progressive syllabus.

Martha Coakley may have been a bad candidate.  But even a slick campaigner would have trouble overcoming being aligned with Obama: as a result of seeing his policies on the table or in action, many are cheering for the exact opposite course.

That’s true even in states the president won with ease.  In other words, New York could be the next Massachusetts, which was itself the next New Jersey. Conservatives running at any level could run strong here even without having Kirsten Gillibrand, Andrew Cuomo, or your local Democratic congresspersonsurmise that Jim Kelly is a Patriots fan.

So, what does this race mean for us in New York? Well, for starters, Obamacare is pretty much dead. Regardless of whether Scott Brown is the 41st vote or not, Democrats across the country have been sent a clear message: Support this plan at your own risk. When the people expect their leaders to represent their interests, and they ignore them, the people revolt.

Was it even conceivable even a month ago that the seat long held by Ted Kennedy would be filled by a Republican? Ted Kennedy was the head cheerleader for government-run healthcare, and even his hometown voted for the man who promised to stop government-run healthcare.

I see potential for Republican takeovers in two statewide races:

The Governor’s Race. This makes Cuomo’s currently lead in the poll almost meaningless. Don’t believe me, it only took about a month for Martha Coakley to go from 30 points up to losing by 5 points. In a midterm election in a year looking to be very big for Republicans, I think once Cuomo enters the race, his best days will be behind him.

The U.S. Senate. Kirsten Gillibrand was vulnerable before Tuesday and is even more vulnerable now. The right Republican candidate can take the seat back from the moderate Democrat who came to Washington only to become another left-winger in lockstep with Harry Reid. I don’t know if Bruce Blakeman is the man to defeat her, but any Republican who will vote against the unpopular agenda being pushed by Reid, Obama, and Pelosi has a chance to win.

Obama Is Lame Duck. Virginia. New Jersey. Massachusetts. Obama’s star power has disappeared. His political capital is spent. Martha Coakley and Barack Obama tried to tie Scott Brown to Bush/Cheney and the people of Massaschesetts rejected Coakley, who tied herself to Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy. What more evidence do you need that

The Left-Wing Hate Machine. Paying close attention to the special election in Massachusetts, it was clear to me that the Democratic Party is fueled by hate. It was illuminating to see how much disdain they have for the voters, and for those who have the audacity to oppose their agenda. The left smeared Scott Brown mercilessly. For them, that was easier than being positive about Coakley. Coakley herself showed disdain for voters by not campaigning early on and lying through her teeth when she did. She went negative when she saw the polls shift. Brown kept things positive and the people responded. If campaigns were more civil, and not all about gotcha politics, things would be so much better.

So, the Massachusetts Miracle is a warning to Democrats that their left-wing agenda will be their downfall. Independents who elected Obama nationally have turned their backs on him in favor of commonsense policies of smaller government. They are finding the solutions to today’s problems in the policies proposed by the Republican Party.

Tuesday was just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a red wave on the horizon, and it’s moving across the country.

To recap, Chuck Nasty churned out a letter intended to help, of all people, a troubled Massachusetts Democratic senatorial campaign.  Polls indicate Republican candidate Scott Brown is doing remarkably wellin a navy blue state. Ironically, Schumer’s reaction was to work blue:

Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy’s term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican.

That’s nice, Senator Sugarmouth.  At least he makes Coakley’s reporter-shoving rented henchman look good by comparison.  But it doesn’t forgive his juvenile working.

How many New York residents did he insult?  An even better question: when will he grow up?  He probably giggles at the limericks written on the walls in the Hart Building’s men’s room.  Fittingly in this case, many were undoubtedly written by the late Ted Kennedy.

Basically, a second-term senator employed language that one would expect from Janeane Garofalo.  Of course, one shouldn’t anticipate that a member of the Upper Chamber would use the same raunchy language as the “lady” “comedienne” anymore than we’d expect him to have prison tattoos.

Schumer unfortunately gets away with being a malicious little partisan in his particularly one-sided state for the same reason that a dog licks his, to use the left’s phrasing, tea bag: because he can.  At the same time, Schumer might not at present even be able to pull of a victory in a notorious Democratic hive like Massachusetts if he had to face the candidate he slurred.

Even if Brown loses narrowly, it will provoke panic attacks among the left; if he actually pulls it off, as some interesting sources think he will, we’ll get to enjoy the glorious sight of Harry Reid weeping in front of a white flag on C-SPAN.  Consider the way Big Daddy Chuck himself put it:

But it would be even worse for the decisive “no” vote to come from Ted Kennedy’s old seat.

That’s true, if by “even worse” he means “totally awesome and hilarious.”  Irritating Schumer is reason enough to support Brown.

As for Brown’s potential future coworker in Schumer, we shouldn’t expect such nastiness from a senator in general.  But we’ve come to expect it from this senator in particular.  In a Weekly Standard blog’s headline,Mary Katharine Ham used the perfectly accurate phrase “Schumer Goes Gutter.”  Experience says that he’ll stay there.  If we’ve learned anything, it’s that he’s a 59-year-old with a 12-year-old’s sense of humor.  Oh, that’s real mature, Charles.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who famously hammered then-Sen. Alfonse D’Amato for calling him a “putz-head” in their hot 1998 campaign, was accused Thursday of stepping into the gutter himself after he sent out a fundraising e-mail in which he called Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown a “far-right tea-bagger.”  

The two-term Democrat, in accusing Brown of being aligned with the conservative “tea party” movement, used a term that every tea party critic knows refers to a sexual act. 

“Chuck has a way of saying things that I don’t think he really understands or means, and it’s unfortunate,” Brown told Fox News Thursday when asked about the e-mail. “I’m not into name-calling. … so shame on Chuck.”

Liberal television hosts had a field day with the “tea bag” term last year when the tea party movement gained steam. It seemed to lose its luster after the joke got old, but Schumer brought it back as he urged supporters to vote for Democrat Martha Coakley in next Tuesday’s high-stakes special election. 

“Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy’s term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican,” Schumer wrote. 

Looks like Democrats are stooping to new lows out of desperation, as a new poll show Scott Brown 4 points ahead in that race.

As much as I agree that Chris Collins should have known better with his recent remarks, I find his comments far less objectionable (because they were made in jest) than the deliberate and derogatory comments made by Senator Schumer toward the female flight attendant or Scott Brown.

Sadly, far left-wing bloggers and media pundits have incessantly used the pornographic term “tea-baggers” to the point that Schumer’s comment will likely be defended by the same people who are ripping Chris Collins for some poor taste in jokes. Of course, the term in inappropriate for pundits, and even worse to be used by a U.S. Senator about someone who is on the verge of becoming one of his colleagues in the U.S. Senate.

Buffalo, a city with a vacant-housing crisis rivaling New Orleans and Detroit, is catching the eye of state and federal officials interested in making it a model of how to right-size and rebound.

Our politicians, The Buffalo News, and everyone else should wonder why this area is slumming with cities ravaged by a literal and virtual urban hurricane, respectively.  Perhaps a government that siphoned money out of our paychecks less ravenously might be presiding over wealthier people.  Instead, our politicians are unwittingly pursuing the same course which sunk the city in the first place, only more so:

Paterson, who will officially announce the strategy in his State of the State address in January, said Buffalo would serve as a pilot project for an initiative that will emphasize the rehabilitation of abandoned housing.

There’s good news for the same sorts who think a health care public option won’t drive private insurers out of business, as well as for anyone who thinks growing crops and flowers should be mandatory:

State officials say Paterson’s initiative is complementary, not competitive, and pointed to his proposal for a “Green Development Zone,” a strategy for rebuilding a 16-block neighborhood on Buffalo’s lower West Side.

 

The goal behind the zone, which would be located west of Richmond Avenue and south of West Ferry Street, is to create a national model for green-designed neighborhood revitalization.

 

The emphasis would be on housing rehabilitation and other green-friendly reuses of abandoned property, including community gardens and urban farming.

Can’t we garden and farm without Albany making us do so?  Some of us aren’t that outdoorsy.  To be fair, there are private groups involved with the new ploy.  It’s just that they happen to not trust the private sector at all:

“We’re excited that the governor is committed to working with us to create quality housing and jobs,” said Aaron Bartley of PUSH Buffalo, a West Side group partnering with the state.

Bartley said the project – a collaboration between the state and community groups such as PUSH, Homefront and the Massachusetts Avenue Project – will include an emphasis on creating good-quality jobs as part of its investment in the neighborhood.

Who could oppose creating jobs?  Don’t you know that they give people a place to work and make money?

Even better, there’s no chance this plan could be empty talk that wastes money and actually harms the economy.  That’s not the government’s style.  Um, right?

Regardless, the governor’s solution is to enact more programs that by chance he would ultimately run:

While Paterson’s primary focus is on housing rehabilitation, his strategy also includes a newly created state fund to pay for the acquisition and demolition of vacant buildings that stand in the way of positive development.

Unfortunately, he’s oblivious to how he himself is an inadvertent foe of said positive development.  Like most politicians at every level in New York, he has been messing with the economy for as long as he’s held power.  Now, he and the others wonder what could have gone wrong.

But don’t worry: they think this time will be different.  It’s not that they’ve deviously steered the area into incessant poverty for hegemony’s sake, as that would imply they knew what they were doing.  In reality, they don’t even realize they caused the initial problem.

Government is not suddenly about to turn good when it interferes with the economy.  This particular initiative stands as the perfect alliance between extravagantly officious politicians, self-appointed community leaders, and a local rag that has once again proved how unwilling it is to criticize bureaucratic intervention.  They’re uniting to form a Bizarro Voltron that will stomp on the areas they intend to help.

Those involved in the plot don’t want us to consider that their efforts led to the city’s current desolation.  We should know better.  Letting them attempt to fix what they keep breaking would be like staying with an abusive spouse.  They want us to think they’re capable of change at a time when we should be bailing out, changing our names, and canceling our credit cards.

Most importantly, this should be the empowering moment when we realize our capacity for independence.  We don’t need them, and never did.

The county’s two elections commissioners Wednesday said the Independence Party primary for Erie County comptroller has landed in a tie because they cannot settle some outstanding issues.

As it stands now, 937 votes each went to Michael J. Abramo of the Independence Party and Philip C. Kadet, a Republican seeking the Independence line.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Kadet said later.

Dead heats are rare, and this one hinges on the scrapping of a half-dozen votes because of quirks at two polling places.

The two commissioners—Republican Ralph M. Mohr and Democrat Dennis Ward — agreed the candidates can now go to court in their attempts to obtain the Independence line for the Nov. 3 election.

As long as this “fushion voting” exists, candidates will continue to waste time pursuing minor party lines, or creating their own minor party line… and it seems like those pursuits usually end up being debated in court. From Alice Kryzan wanting the WFP line after Jon Power lost the Democratic primary, Kathy Konst creating her own Integrity Party, or the equally meaningless Taxpayers First Party, belonging to Chris Collins.

Waste. Of. Time.

Isn’t it about time we put an end to this madness? Even Massachusetts voters were smart enough to reject it in 2006.

Gov. Paterson blamed a racist media Friday for trying to push him out of next year’s election – launching into an angry rant that left even some black Democrats shaking their heads.

“The whole idea is to get me not to run in the primary,” Paterson complained on a morning radio show hosted by Daily News columnist Errol Louis.

He suggested that Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the country’s only other African-American governor, also is under fire because of his race.

“We’re not in the post-racial period,” Paterson said.

It’s not Paterson’s (or even Deval Patrick’s) rock bottom poll numbers. It’s obviously a racial thing. It must be right? And just to be clear, Deval Patrick’s problems in Massachusetts have nothing to do with race, but everything to do with broken promises. Unlike Paterson, Patrick was elected in a landslide. But, Patrick failed to deliver the “hope” and “change” he promised. That is buyer’s remorse. Plain and simple.

As for Paterson, he clearly has a different situation. He wasn’t elected governor. Many feel that when he filled the vacancy left by Eliot Spitzer that he was in over his head. It seems obvious to most who are paying attention that Paterson hasn’t done a good job. I thought he showed promise in the beginning, but he just lacks the leadership, and has become a liability for New York Democrats statewide.

That is why he is being called on to abandon his campaign.

It is a sign of desperation to play the race card. It is easier to accuse your adversaries of being racists than to make the case for your own position or candidacy. Paterson also suggested that opposition to his ridiculous health care plan is racially motivated. Apparently Americans can’t legitimately oppose government-run health care… they just oppose it because Obama is the head cheerleader. Why is it that proponents of Obamacare can’t argue the facts of the bill, they just attack the opponents, and call them racists? It’s a cop-out. It’s a sign of their inability to defend themselves, their positions, and their record.

If Paterson, Patrick, and Obama each lose their reelections, it won’t be because of race. It will be because each, despite their own inexperience, were given the benefit of the doubt and failed to demonstrate real leadership.

A gun buyback program is being hailed a success by city officials but some residents are troubled by the recent spike in violence, including two shootings in Buffalo in the last 24 hours.

The Gun Buyback Program is exactly as how it is billed: the city will buy back your gun, no questions asked. Its an effort to take weapons off the streets. But residents who live in the neighborhoods where the gun warfare is waged say that this program is not staving off the summer spike in violence.

Jack Saviola picks up a tattered piece of yellow crime scene tape. “More crime scene tape,” he said. “This is getting to be regular occurrence in this neighborhood.” Saviola has lived in this westside neighborhood for 22 years, and he’s seen it go from bad to worse.

“Since the last 6AM drug sweep about three months ago, there’s been more violent crimes up and down this block than anywhere else in the city,” said Saviola.

Last night, two teen boys were shot while riding their bikes at the corner of Auburn Avenue and Dewitt. And this morning on Plymouth Avenue, someone was shot in the leg. All victims are expected to live, and Saviola doesn’t expect anything about this culture of street warfare to change.

“I’m not hearing anything from city officials. They’re talking about gun buybacks and job programs. They’re not doing anything to get these punks off the streets,” said Saviola.

Let’s not forget that this was not the first gun buyback program… it was third. And this was not the first one to be dubbed a “success” either. Sure, Byron Brown gets to look like he is doing something about gun crime, but gun buyback programs don’t have a record of result beyond the numbers of guns collected. When I lived in Massachusetts, I saw how the gun buyback failed to reduce gun crime in the city, but gave the mayor of Boston some positive press. Here in Buffalo, I see the same thing happening, and it is just sad how no one learns.

The report says a major price differential resulting from the new tax will encourage consumers to travel across state lines or onto Native American reservations to purchase tax-free soft drinks.

“If the soda tax is implemented, it will produce a massive shift of business and wealth to neighboring states and Indian reservations,” said James H. Watson, director of the Capital Hill Research Center based in Albany.

The effect will be especially pronounced along the borders with Massachusetts and Vermont, which exempt soft drinks from taxation, and in the communities adjacent to the state’s three main Native American reservations, which do not charge state or local taxes.

The report notes that the price advantage of Native American retailers would increase from the current 29 percent to 47 percent if the new soda tax is implemented. (This is due to the combined effect of local and state taxes, plus bottle deposits, plus the new soda tax, none of which would be administered by reservation retailers.) 

The report also says that in the Southern Tier of the state retailers stand lose even more sales to retailers in northern Pennsylvania. The estimated jobs that could be lost by Paterson’s soda tax is 6,100.

So, Governor Paterson, is it worth it?