High Speed Fail

New York is expectedly excited about the prospect of consuming more federal money on high speed rail. New Jersey's Chris Christie went the other way and refused putting the state into more debt when Amtrak could invest in a rail project instead. I think Amtrak sucks, but at least he's saving money.

Trains are kind of an antiquated technology. High speed rail is advanced train technology, but it has some of the same limitations. Trains are fast, but they mostly go in one path and all the points are fixed after construction. One thing Rome has is a train station. It's because we were a major boat path a century ago. We're nowhere near the Thruway and Greyhound doesn't even come here. We still have the train, though, because the train has no choice. Since it's a captive audience, the city decided to renovate the train station almost no one uses.

The train is good for one thing, though. You can travel to Utica's train station. They have a bus depot there.

Long Shot

This may be the first time in years where voting a Republican into state or national office is not out of the question. Kirsten Gillebrand is vulnerable (for NY) and Cuomo has no idea how to run for an office he's not been anointed to.

Then again, we have Carl Paladino running. It seems like the best fighters are the crazy ones. If I've learned anything, a trained monkey can run this state. I'll still take Paladino.

In 2009

Disturbingly, my prediction last year of Hillary Clinton losing the Iowa Caucuses (sans laser fueled rampage) was accurate. Sadly, Obama, and not Sanjaya was the American Idol whose performing abilities won America's heart. And since there is still a planet in 2009, here we go.

Predictions:
1. The Federal government tries to make money by putting every political office up for sale, except for president. That was bought by George Soros already.

2. GM, Chrysler and Ford merge into one automaker, calling itself Crapload. Their marketers are as good as their engineers.

3. MSNBC airs all Obama, all the time. Not much of a change, except Lock-Up stars political associates of his from Chicago.

4. Chris Matthews is asked to resign from MSNBC after spending an hour pleasuring himself to an Obama speech... for the fifth time.

5. Global warming is shown to be directly related to the hot air emitted by celebrities.

6. Governor Paterson initiates a Senator tax, leading to an influx of cash from Caroline Kennedy and a massive lawsuit by Chuck Schumer.

7. Former President George W. Bush gets a shoe endorsement contract in Iraq. That popularity eventually leads to his election as Iraq's next president.

8. Bush's oil industry connections, bold tax cuts and strong security policy leads to a successful and prosperous Iraq.

9. Barack Obama's mind control beam finally breaks down after 3 years of constant operation. One "um" laden press conference later and his approval rating drops from 90% to 40%.

10. Normal people sick of the Pacific Northwest and San Francisco political correctness move to Alaska. Through a process of intentional greenhouse emissions, part of the state is 60 degrees and sunny all year long.

11. China forecloses on America by cashing in all their debt at one time. Alaska suceeds and buys the country for a song. Sarah Palin becomes president by ownership.

Breaking News: Alaska Democrats Totally Corrupt

So, it turns out that Sarah Palin was found not to have violated any ethics laws as governor of Alaska. The actual decision making body deliberated beyond the snap judgement of one investigator to find she had done nothing wrong. i always wondered why no action was taken those weeks ago when she was considered guilty.

Regardless of what anyone says, go to the polls. Polls in 2004 favored Kerry by eight points. In 1996, they favored Bill Clinton by 9 points. Barack Obama's lead? It's less than 7.

McCain/Palin '08!

Breaking News : Alaska Democrats Incompetent

So, the verdict has come down on Tazergate. An investigation launched by Sarah Palin's Democrat political enemies and Republican political opponents before her selection as John McCain's running mate has reached a conclusion. Governor Palin did nothing wrong. Now, you may be confused. If she did nothing wrong, why was there a news headline that said she abused her power as Governor? Basically, this panel can make any determination they want. However, they have nothing they could legally sanction her for.

What happened? Well, the conspiracy theory is that Palin pressured her Commissioner of Public Safety to fire her tazer-happy ex-brother in law. That would be bad. The other possibility is that his public disagreements with Palin's attempts to curb the state budget made him a distraction. Given that she has the complete right to let him go, either one is acceptable. The second one, however makes her a reformer. The first one makes her the status quo. The investigation itself makes her a maverick because it was a bipartisan attack.

Clean Sweep '08 - Arcuri Edition

So, if this Paulson inspired bailout mess passes, I propose the election become Clean Sweep '08. Kick everyone out. And since Obama-Biden is made up of two senators and McCain-Palin is one maverick senator and one non-insider governor, I'm voting for McCain.

Our own Michael Arcuri has to go. Even under today's low confidence, no-pass vote, Arcuri dared to vote yes. And sometimes daring must be revealed for the insane meglomania that it is. So, remember that Arcuri wanted to take almost $10,000 per upstate family to prop up businesses that made up their financial records. We will never learn what something is worth until it reaches its real value.

The Difference Between McCain and Obama

So, I watched the biographies of McCain, Palin and Obama. McCain and Palin joined government, seeing it as a way to have a voice. Obama started off as a community organizer, basically getting neighborhoods that would have rose up by themselves in generations past to do so after riling them up. He saw government as a way to do things without the uprising part.

This is an important distinction. McCain (and to a similar extent, Palin) rose up through the ranks of government and started to see that the people in it were not serving the people, but their own interests. Obama saw what government did and became adept at playing the political game to get what he wanted done.

So there is a difference. Obama ultimately wants government to do more of whatever its doing, McCain wants government to do better.

Shut up, Bill

This is actually directed at O'Reilly and not Clinton. Bill O'Reilly is yet again on the oil issue with his frequent shallow grasp of the issue. I was going to write about oil in a blog post, but I thought I would point out the lack of solution in some of Bill's solutions.

1. Make the car companies produce flex fuel vehicles:
Manufacturers don't like to be ordered to make anything. The electric car fiasco of the mid 90s showed this. The fact is, GM and Ford make plenty of Flex Fuel vehicles. No one buys them. Something like 1% of gas stations in the US offer E85 ethanol and many of them are in the corn belt. Hybrids (like the Prius) and plug in hybrids (like the upcoming GM Volt) are the current trend in fuel saving cars.

2. Become the next Brazil and grow our fuel:
I heard this on his radio show. Someone called in and tried to explain that a country that close to the equator could grow sugar cane with a much higher energy content than anything in the US. In typical fashion, Bill ignored it. The US is not Brazil. We have further drives and we're not a socialist dictatorship.Plus, even the tiny increase in corn based ethanol production has lead to a food crisis worldwide.
Now, places like our own Rome, NY are looking into using waste products like wood chips and switchgrass for fuel. But they still have to get over the hurdle of needing as much fuel to cook the source material as they get out in fuel. Right now, corn ethanol has the same problem. With transpost and harvesting, ethanol is a net energy loser compared to petroleum.

3. Us vs Them:
The big bad Arabs at OPEC want to screw the USA. Maybe, but that's not the problem. The "price" of oil is a function of the dollar. A dollar buys less euros, yuans, pounds and commodities than before. Obviously, it's going to buy less oil. Oil trading is based on its future price, like the housing market. When that price becomes higher than its value, like the housing market, oil contracts will devalue fast.
And remember, our dependence on foreign oil does not stop at the US border. All our Chinese and Mexican made products require fuel to produce them. Plus, most plastic is made from petroleum. China has few qualms about buying oil from Iran and drilling in coastal waters. In fact, while the US won't drill on the Florida coast, China is partnering with Cuba to drill 90 miles away on the Cuban coast.

This Land is Your Land

Two fun decisions in the land of property tax imposition. All the local school budgets passed, with Rome getting a new slate of educator relatives for the school board. Plus, the feds gave Halbritter the 13,000 acres of land in "trust" that many of us expected.

Amusingly, the county plans to sue the government over the decision. Well, I'm sick of the filthy lawyers. I say the local government should do what it does best, interfere. Learn the example of "The Dukes of Hazard" and impose some Boss Hogg style tactics.

I think we need a massive, multi-year road construction project on route 365. And how about the environmental concerns of all of Turning Stone's water usage? I think we should rethink the wisdom of trying to support such a large resort. And who zoned the water usage for that anyway? For the sake of the canal system, we should cut them back to a water level equivalent to the water tax they pay.

More Payoffs for Jobs

Remington Arms is getting about $1.5 million for an expansion that may create 100 jobs, i.e. bring 100 people from another plant to Ilion. If Remington Arms is thriving and willing to put about $10 million into it themselves, what exactly is the point of giving away taxpayer money?

Apparently, New York gives money to failing businesses that need to be propped up, successful businesses that NY wants to stay in the area, and businesses that lose money and employees. I have two words for the legislature: Tax Relief. The other words are : for everyone.

Year One, 52 Percent

The promise of the Spitzer administration was tax relief and better economic conditions for upstate. Now, at the same time the governor proposes non-specific monies for ill-defined projects upstate, he drops the economic bomb. Instead of the five decade long practice of taking half the public assistance costs mandated by the state from county governments, Spitzer wants to raise it to 52%.

This increase is a direct swipe at the upstate economy. In this economically depressed area, where a skilled job pays about half as much as a similar position in NYC, the costs of living are slightly cheaper than that area. Upstate is experiencing a migration of downstate people with no jobs taking their New York State benefits up here. That means the upstate counties are footing an ever increasing bill.

This is what we call an unfunded mandate. If Oneida County could decide what we covered in Medicaid, it would be less expensive and less desirable. Instead, liberals in Albany run right over our region. If the middle class is shrinking in this state, it's not Bush's fault, we're just leaving for a state where we have a voice.

The Taxman Stayeth

Well, after Oneida County's temporary tax increase for the last 2 years, the sales tax will now sunset to 8% with New York's reduction in its share of sales tax revenue. At least it would, except that it hasn't

Bringing in $30 million to cover a $10 million Medicaid deficit per year didn't quite work. So Anthony "Grinch" Picente will RAISE OUR TAXES by 0.75% or 9.4% higher than it should be. What's more, 8.75% will still be 9 cents tax on a $1 purchase. It will mean one cent less for a Little Caesar's pizza and less than $50 savings on a new car. What a lovely Christmas present. Maybe we can vote your ass out of office for a future Christmas present.

I Guess Spitzer is Back from Vacation

Elliot Spitzer plans to make driver licenses available to illegal immigrants with little documentation. All a foreign applicant would need is a foreign passport of possible questionable security. This flies in the face of New York's measure about a decade ago. Under the guise of catching "dead beat" dads, the state required applicants to provide a Social Security Number in what was considered an infringement on people's privacy.

Obviously, as a Democrat, Spitzer is going to try to garner the illegal "vote" by giving them the means to vote, even in the case of an ID requirement to go to the polls. But this may represent something even more cynical. New York has been increasing the term of a license in order to get more money into the budget and to disproportionally punish people who live in the parts of upstate (like Rome) where driving is an absolute requirement to have a job.

Democrats have often criticized Bush for not following 100% of all the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Guess what? One of the recommendation is to make the driver license more secure. New York will have the distinction of being the biggest of 8 states that allow any jerk with unverifiable documents to have one of the (previously) most secure documets in the country. Is this job one, governor? Because property tax relief hasn't come yet.

This is why I don't vote for Democrats in this state, and why I'll still vote for the sad excuses for Republicans this state offers.

An Ill Wind

Today's Syracuse Post Standard is exactly why being conservative and for alternative energy can drive me nuts. Frank Congel, in a piece for the paper, argues why wind is bad and nuclear is good. Why some arguments are lacking, (low power output, a blight on upstate vacation homes) I am disturbed by the financial ones. Wind energy is being subsudized in NY with property tax breaks and a surcharge on energy used by consumers. Hold on here! I thought wind was being paid for by the dupes who are buying green energy, not those of us who are trying to keep their green. Now nuclear is subsudized too, and I'm not ready to go out and build a plant on the base.

I am, however, a little concerned that NY is creating a magnet for companies to come in for a 25% return on an investment made unwillingly by citizens who pay the highest energy prices in the nation. Local govenment has continually dropped the ball on energy policy. First, Julian screws up on municipal power, paving the way for NYRI to come in. Then, NY tries for more and more "alternatives" to actually delivering needed power to the locations that demand it. The state might as well give a price break for any household that uses less than 3000 kWh per family member anually.

There's a Fair in New York State?

It appears that there will be no governor at this year's Governor's day at the Fair this year. This is the first time a governor hasn't attended the opening day in nearly 20 years, and would make Spitzer the only governor who never appeared at the opeing in about 3 decades. His reason? A previously scheduled family vacation. Good planning there. And where the hell is that Day 1 tax relief?

I'm getting a little sick of NY politicians like Bloomberg and Spitzer treating their offices as stepping stones to national office and treating upstate residents like backward hicks. Or in the case of Bloomberg, treating NYC as his own personal fat-free Petri dish. Going to these events, admiring the butter sculpture and kissing a few babies is literally the least you can do as an elected official.