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.

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.

No Health Care in Canada

I came across something interesting on the Urban Legends website snopes.com. This posting (warning: heavy on pop-ups) is about an e-mail explaining all the problems with Health Canada. The explaination of the e-mail is what I found most interesting. Health insurance coverage in Canada is not "universal" in that it varies in degree of cost and service by each of the 13 provinces in Canada. Your financial burden, your wait times, your access and your treatment can depend on where you live and your financial circumstances. Basically, Canadian health care is like American health care, there is no one magic bullet.

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.

98% of Teachers Will Keep Jobs

I thought I would claify The Daily Sentinel's subheading last week that said ten teachers will keep jobs. Basically 10 out of 22 teachers that were given pink slips can tear them up. Of course, those ten are the newest and lowest paid teachers. They're probably the least financial burden on the 98% coverage health plan that Rome teachers have.

The property tax increase is currently stated as 2.5%. This is not the increase in the budget itself, which is still in the red by nearly $1 million. Based on my last estimate, the new budget increase amounts to over 8%. The contingency increase is 3%. The vote is in 38 days.

There's also a new website for Rome's insane bond issue of $72 million. The address is http://blogs.rny.com/romeschools/ and it uses the same terrible comment interface the Sentinel's website uses. Just remeber, don't contradict our betters because, according to the blog, "Anyone is welcome to read and those who wish to contribute positively may sign up to contribute to the discussion." I positively refuse to pay higher taxes.

The Stone Has Turned

It appears that Ray Halbritter has officially reached the bargaining stage of grief in the Casino Tax battle. The Supreme Court has decided the Oneida corporation has to pay taxes on bought land. Ray's last ditch choice of the BIA has kicked the ball back to the state because of the dubios nature of Governor Cuomo's unapproved back room deal that gave us the largest untaxed business in Central New York.

Spitzer has been handed a gift. A new agreement could give the Casino video gambling and produce enough tax revenue to keep Spitzy's promise of lowering property taxes on Day One.