Shouldn't Organized Labor Back the DOT's Route 11 Plan?

Local organized labor, a big handful of politicians and at least one local Economic Developer have spent a lot of their time and the public's money promoting the I-98 fantasy.

But shouldn't they all be embracing the NYS Department of Transportation's decision to spend the "rooftop highway" planning money improving US Route 11?

After all, upgrading and updating Route 11 would create construction jobs now, while more study of the I-98 folley would do nothing more than enrich engineers and consultants and create no new jobs.

Of course, that would mean the I-98 backers would have to admit that their claim that the "four-lane highway has never been closer" is a lie.

It would be like Jim Hidy and I saying a nuclear plant has never been closer just because we started talking about it last year. The nuclear plant is not any closer because companies are not willing to jump into the process of building nuke plants due to fear over the current state of the energy business.

Economic development and organized labor are supposed to be promoting employment for union and non-union workers. That is exactly what the DOT is proposing.

If I-98 can't get funded with a Democrat in the governor's mansion, another in the White House, and Democrats in control of the US Senate with two NY Senators in that majority, when will it ever get funded?

Truth is, it won't get financial backing anytime in the next 20 years.

I give Jason Clark and his mythical Northern Corridor Transportation Group credit: they have built a Trojan horse based on public relations and insider Democratic Party politics. They have also created some rifts and cracks in the county Dem machine which at one point a few years back seemed poised to take full control of local, county and state politics in the North Country.

Patti Ritchie, Ken Blankenbush, a few new county legislators and some GOP victories in local races slowed that progression.

And the internal party fight over I-98 may cause the wheels to completely come off the Donkey Juggernaut that was created by Eliot Spitzer before he crashed and burned. 

One would think it would be good politics to support job creation in these tough economic times, but the I-98 crowd doesn't seem capable of seeing the handwriting on the wall.

Their blind promotion of the fictitious "if we build it they will come" philosophy may be their further undoing as they continue down that road, or should I say Interstate Highway.

Stop The Needless School Capital Projects to Cut NYS Deficit

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/States-Financial-Challenges-Continue-In-2010-136220418.html

Watch the television story at the link above, then read this blog post.

My alma mater, St. Lawrence Central, recently passed a capital project vote. It will supposedly perform some much needed improvements to school buildings and will undoubtedly include some frivolous, costly expenditures - widening the swimming pool for example.
Canton Central is poised to hold a similar capital project vote in the not to distant future. This one will include some "necessary" upgrades to the school's heating system. One has wonder why something as important as a heating system wasn't fixed sooner.
The Massena Central District, where I live, is finishing a capital project that seems like it started a decade ago and included a million dollar artificial turf athletic field and fancy scoreboard that flashes important messages around the clock and year 'round - like the vitally necessary "Seasons Greetings" art work we see up there currently.
But how many millions of dollars could NYS save if these capital projects were trimmed down dramatically or ended altogether?
Many, many millions, that's how many.
I worked for the NYS Senate for over 12 years for two different Senators: first Ray Meier, the Joe Griffo.
One time during the perennial budget battle I said something like, "Senator, I could trim a lot for money from the state's budget in a hurry."
"How?" the Senator asked. (I'm not going to say which one, by the way.)
I said, "Stop all non-emergency capital projects. If you roof is failing or part of your school was blown down by a tornado, then you can do a capital project. But if you want a new artificial turf field or wider swimming pool, it's not eligible for 90-percent-plus state aid. Would that save any money in the state budget?"
The Senator assured me it would make a huge impact.
Unfortunately, he never had the guts to put my idea forward though.
So, we continue with these follies. The architects design bigger and bigger projects to line their pockets, and district voters approve them because "it's free money. The state is paying almost the entire thing," we hear.
And "If we don't take this money and do the capital project, it will just go to someone else."
Well, that pretty much sums up the problem, doesn't it?
This money isn't free! We're paying for it! If it were eliminated, no one would get to waste it on middle schools, or bigger gyms, or fancy baseball fields.
Whenever I hear that stupid argument that someone else will waste it in their district if we don't waste it in ours, I hearken back to my childhood: "Why can't I?," I used to whine. "Everybody body else is doing it!"
To which my parents would predictably reply, "Well, if everybody else was jumping off a bridge would you do it too?"
Unfortunately, when it comes to capital projects, a whole lot of people are jumping off the bridge too and we're all paying for it.
Too bad my Senator never had the guts to put the idea forward, but it probably would have been voted down anyway. After all, somebody's going to spend it....

Why We Can't Legalize "Pot"

On a regular basis, I hear people say, "Why don't we legalize marijuana? It's no worse than alcohol and the government could use the money that would come from the taxes on it." Of course, the ones making the comment are probably regular consumers of the "herb."

You know, the argument seems pretty sound.

Pot isn't a "hard" drug and it is used recreationally by plenty of people. And there is the "medicinal" use of marijuana. (In reality, most of that is just an excuse to get stoned because it makes you feel better, although some symptoms are lessened by smoking some dope.)

Why not legalize it, tax it and bring its sale and use out of the shadows? Just like alcohol.

Because.

There is one HUGE difference between booze and pot, and that difference is why no reasonable person can support the legalization of marijuana.

Simply put, we have no way to measure the level of intoxication from smoking marijuana.

When Charlie tokes up, jumps into his car and hits a kid riding a bike, we have no way to know if Charlie smoked one joint or one ounce. How high is he? What do we charge him with if the kid dies?

So, until someone invents a test to quantify the how high a marijuana smoker is, we simply cannot legalize the substance.

Here's another difference between alcohol and marijuana: I can consume alcohol and not get drunk.

Can you smoke dope and not get high? If you can, why smoke it? I may enjoy the taste of a beer, but can anyone truthfully say he/she enjoys the taste of a doobie?

But that's an argument for another post.

Until we can measure the level of marijuana intoxication, the debate over legalizing pot is just a lot of hot air.... Or maybe it's smoke.

Hey, "Occupiers," Guess What? Wordlwide You are "The 1%"!!

What started as two-bit protest has become a worldwide movement, the liberal media claim. Trouble is, no one really knows what it's all about and the protesters can't seem to tell us.

I continue to be puzzled by this "Occupy Wall Street" effort, which has since popped up in a handful of cities. What exactly is their point?

Oh, I know, the rich are getting richer and these guys aren't getting their share of the pie, right? Well maybe if each one of them got a life and did something positive they would have less time to protest.

They also need to take stock of their lives in America.

Compared to the rest of the world, the poorest Americans are probably still among the richest one percent in the world.

I can't take credit for this thought. It comes from my cousin, Susan, who told me the other day that she was thinking about how fortunate we all are as free Americans. She pointed out that she doesn't have to walk 10 miles to find clean drinking water. Nor, according to Susan, does she have to fear being gang-raped by soldiers in the perverted 21st century version of war carried out in some countries. She also said she doesn't have to worry about finding a way to get her children to the safety of a refugee camp.

Over the past two weeks, I've thought a lot about my conversation with Susan. And I've watched the no-so-articulate "occupiers" try to justify their tent cities. I listen to them complain how "the man" is tearing down their shanties because normal people can no longer tolerate the drumming, and the filth, and public urination and defecation, etc.

So, maybe it's time for the "occupiers" to take a step back and assess exactly what they possess compared to most of the world around them. I'm sure thousands of refugees around the world would love their tents, their blankets, their coats, their food,...even their drums. 

How about the protesters and the unions, anarchists and left-wing splinter groups who them support band together and do something positive to help the real poor of this world.

The '60s are over.

Get real, stop feeling sorry for yourselves and make a difference in our world, not just a whole lot of excess noise.

What is the Point, Don?

If self-proclaimed anti-cancer guru Don Hassig ever had any credibility in the public's eyes, he loses more of it ever time he is arrested for acting goofy. Although  he is still revered and admired by some of the far-out left wing and tends to be worshiped as a Pied Piper by immature students on some local college campuses, Hassig's continued foolishness makes him nothing more than a one-dimensional cartoon character.

The latest target is the Post Post Office.

The Post Office? Really Don? Is that the best you can do?

Looks like it's time for you to fold your carnival tent and head back under you rock. You are apparently retreating further from the parameters of normal life and further marginalizing your message and your phoney "movement."

Give it up, Don, you're looking desparate.

But then again, it's really not about pollution, or chemicals or cancer with you, is it Don? It's all about you and

you quixotic quest for attention and money. The more you're out there, the more publicity you get and the more opportunity you have to capitalize on everybody's worst fear - cancer.

How much money do you make on this Don? And who's paying you to do it?

It's time for you to come clean and be honest with the public for once about who you are and what you're really after.

Here's a summary of Don's latest escapade:

This news item is lifted from the NorthCopuntryNow website.
"Environmental activist, Congressional candidate arrested at Potsdam post office

Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 9:34 am

POTSDAM – A long-time environmental activist was arrested Saturday for refusing to leave the Potsdam Post Office, according to village police.

Donald L. Hassig, 56, Colton, was charged with trespassing at 12:10 p.m. He is known for staging one-person protests in public places.

In October, he was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest at the St. Lawrence County Courthouse after he allegedly was verbally abusive with county personnel and, after being asked to leave the building, refused.

In August, Hassig said he has founded the Kick Ass Revolution Party and will run for the 23rd Congressional seat on a platform of “good changes that will immediately spark the poisonous dislike of nearly all members of the corporate-government tribe.”

Just recently, Massena Town Supervisor Joseph Gray said he and the town council were duped by Hassig into passing a resolution now being used as 'outlandish propaganda' against local business and industry.

Gray, in a letter to NorthCountryNow.com, said Hassig issued a self-serving press release to the media after the town council 'adopted a resolution in support of federal and state government educational outreach programs to warn citizens of the cancer hazard imposed by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) exposure from food contamination.'

Earlier this month, in a letter to the editor, Hassig maintained it is time for an environmental revolution in the county."

2011 Local Election Failures: Media, Political Parties, Citizenry

Well, as I write this, the 2011 local and county elections are history. Unfortunately, this just past election season highlights plenty of failures on several parts.

Failure #1) Media - Let's face it, the two candidates for St. Lawrence County Family Court Judge ran stealth campaigns that never really discussed  the role of Family Court or the need to overhaul this bloated, over-reaching judicial bureaucracy...and the media let them get away with it.

There were no real debates or candidate forums. We heard virtually nothing about how either of these candidates would perform their duties had they been elected, and the media, along with the League of Women Voters, New York Professional Women, or any other typical sponsors of forums did nothing to correct that.

Family court is by nature secret. In fact, far too many of our court proceedings are done outside of public view. Why, for example, does Family Court assign "case workers" to kids who habitually get into trouble in school? These kids aren't in the legal system or the Person In Need of Supervisor (PINS) system, yet Family Court sees fit to assign them a case worker. Why? And how much does that cost the taxpayers of this county?

What else does Family Court do? I don't know and no one, especially my former colleagues in media, lifted a finger to educate us. That's truly unfortunate.

Failure #2) The political parties' failure to field candidates in many, many elections across the county and the state is deeply disappointing.

My town and party is indicative of the problem. We had one Town Councilman run unopposed and, while I enjoy working with this particular individual, voters should be offered a choice. The worst failure in Massena was the Republicans' inability to field a candidate in the race for a vacant seat on the Town Council. With only two unopposed races, there was no discussion on where either of the candidates stood on any issue or what his plan was for Massena's future.

But Massena is not unique, go the county's Board of Election website and see just how many races were unopposed. Part of the blame for that lies with the political parties themselves.

Failure #3) The citizenry takes the rest of the blame for unopposed elections. As a former political party chairman, I can tell you it is damn near impossible to find candidates. Almost everybody likes to bitch about the government and their taxes being too high, but when it comes time to actually put their time and money where their collective mouth is, the citizens run the other way.

It's easy to call politicians crooks or good old boys, but it's a little tougher to get off the couch and go out and do something for your community and its government.

Heck, it's extremely hard to even get people off their duffs to go cast their ballots. The privilege to vote in free and democratic elections is probably our greatest right as Americans. Sadly, too many people don't even register to vote, let alone step out to actually cast a ballot.

What do you have to say on the matter?

Governor Cuomo Starts His 2016 Presidential Campaign Already

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently told the Public Radio audience that his foolish tax cap legislation was a "wake-up call" for local governments. How ridiculous.
The Governor obviously has no sense of what local governments are up against. Why would he, he has spent his entire political career in the marble halls that are Albany and Washington, DC.
If he's really concerned about local governments having to "...deal with the same economic reality the taxpayer has to deal with" then why doesn't the state have to deal with the tax cap, or New York City or New York City school districts.

Why doesn't it apply to the state, or NYC or its school districts like the rest of the districts in New York State? Why doesn't the Governor cap his own budget at two-percent?
This tax cap legislation was poorly conceived and even more poorly implemented. It fails to take into account some the restrictions placed on local and county governments by New York State.
I attended a workshop on the tax cap legislation a couple of months ago in Plattsburgh. It was to explain the legslation and offer tips on dealing with the tax cap.
One of the "tips" offered to local governments by State Comptroller Dinapoli is to "grow you rtax base." Thank you Captain obvious!
Try doing that in New York where no sane company wants to do business because of crippling state taxes and uncontrollabe bureaucratic regulations.
The tax base in my town decreased by $10 million last year due to the closure of the GM plant here, but the geniuses who created this foolish legislation in the Governor's office and the Legislature never considered a scenario like that. Their answer is to cut local government but they do nothing to lift the burdens they place on our communities and our economy.
This bill was purely political, designed to cater to the Tea Party, ensure re-election of the incompetents who comprise our state Legislature.
It is also intended to burnish Cuomo's credentials for a future run for the presidency.
When is the "wake-up call" for those of us who are struggling to rouse ourselves from the suffocating slumber imposed on our communities and our economy by the "experts" who are running New York State into the ground?