The 12/30/06 D&C had an interesting article about Mapco. They’re the ones who donated serious cash to local GOP candidates, won the bid for running parking at the airport, and are getting sued for it, the accusation being that they won because they had inside info on how to bid and inside connections.

Apparently they bought the Civic Center parking garage from the county 3 years ago, to help the county plug one of big holes in their budget. (And donated serious cash to Maggie Brooks’ campaign at the same time.)

And yes, if you’re into noticing trends, and paid attention to the 2007 county budget, the county continues to be all about “1-shot” deals to plug budget gaps now, sacrificing future revenue.

But that’s not the most interesting thing to me about this. The article is all about how Mapco is raising rates at the garage. Big deal? Well, they’ve raised it 40% since taking it over in 2003. That’s pretty significant, since the garage is

…a popular parking venue for jurors and other users of the county Hall of Justice

The other interesting thing is that

Mapco donated more than $22,000 to Republican campaign committeess in the first six months of 2006 and at least $45,000 to the county Republican Party in 2004 and 2005.

County Legislator Ted O’Brien, D-Irondequoit, said of Mapco:

“It seems to me they’re raising fees to pay back the Republican Party locally”

Predictably, the response:

Republican Majority Leader Bill Smith, R-Pittsford, called O’Brien’s comments a “contemptible political smear.”…adding that the Republican majority is doing a good job running the government if the Democrats must resort to such accusations.

HAHAHAHAHA! He’s clever, no doubt about that. Nice “false choice” there, my friend. News flash– it’s not either/or. You can run the county crappily, AND therefore have many, many crappy things to complain about, big and small. And they’re not small if they add up to a trend.
Oh, and it’s not a partisan thang, either. Even friggin’ Bob Lonsberry called foul on these Mapco dealings.

That’s what this New York Times piece on Bruno sounds like. I know, I know, rumors of his demise may be greatly exaggerated..

But at what should be his crowning moment, Mr. Bruno finds himself on the defensive as never before. The F.B.I. is investigating his business ties, newspapers are exploring his financial relationships with people seeking help from the state, some Republicans are grumbling that he is tarnishing their troubled party, and for the first time, a member of his conference, Senator John J. Bonacic, a Hudson Valley Republican, is calling on Mr. Bruno to step down.

Happy New Years to all!

My dad bought and worked a small farm in rural western Pennsylvania in the last years before he died. He was a friendly guy, and the local farmers would come help him when he was having trouble with the Farm-All or whatever.

They often would say mysterious things in the context of the phrase “Come the revolution…” Things like, “Come the revolution, we won’t have to worry about taxes anymore…” Eventually my dad got up the courage to ask what they meant, and found out it basically meant (I’m paraphrasing here): “When those damn liberal gay coloreds come to take our guns, we’ll rise up.”

My dad and I had a good laugh at that, mixed with sadness. Funny because, I mean, come on– cuckoo! Sad because they were so adamant that their world view was the right one, and so was their response.

I told the story to my wife, and we’ve adopted the phrase, but in different contexts. It’s basically our generic phrase to cover any number of doomsday scenarios: global warming, peak oil, economic collapse. “Come the revolution, we’ll be simply NOSTALGIC for these days when the worst we had to deal with was all these poopy diapers.”

But I had a suddenly serious conversation recently with someone who had just survived a major layoff at his company. About “the revolution”. This guy is one of the most down to earth folks I’ve met recently. He talks like he’s salt of the earth, but underneath he’s very well-read on history.

“Hey chief,” I said to him, “anything exciting happen recently?” He said exciting was one word for it, then proceeded to fill me in on the layoffs. I commiserated, and we joked about how what they ultimately want is just a CEO to hold press conferences, and a CFO to collect the money.

I know this guy isn’t a flaming progressive like me, he’s more an independent, used to like McCain for prez until recently, etc., so I usually tiptoe around any politics. But this day I decided to be brave and said, “I just wonder what’s going to become of the middle-class. I mean, where’s our country heading?” He grunted. I pressed him. “What do you think?”

He shook his head, “You don’t wanna know what I think.” “C’mon.” “It’s not pretty.” “Try me.”

He proceeded to explain to me that “Basically, all levels of our society and government, from the prez on down, is controlled by business.” I agreed. “And what they want is to make as much money as they can. And you and me and anyone like us that’s making above minimum wage is getting in the way of that.” Uh-huh, go on.

“So what they’re doing is more and more people are, I dunno, shaken out of the middle class into a bigger and bigger pool of poor people. You end up with a few very rich people, and a big big pile of poor people.” OMG, is he going where I think he’s going?

“Now if you read your history,” I told him I’m a huge fan of history, “ok, well, you know when that kind of situation happened in France and Russia and other places in the last couple hundred years, what happened?” I was silent, but he could tell I was already there.

“That’s right. Revolution. They may talk all fancy about it, like it’s about liberty and all that, and that may be partly true. But underneath it’s all about the little guy getting screwed economically.”

“See?” He smiled. “Told ya you didn’t wanna know.” I smiled back. It was nothing I hadn’t thought or read about, but man was it weird coming from him.

I hope we learn from history before it comes to that.

The Iraqi government hanged Saddam. Does this mean the war is over or we just created a martyr.

I caught the end of an NPR report which outlined Saddam’s reign and prompted this post. This closing line in particular.

Yep. ‘enuf said. But the language almost says that it was Saddam himself has caused the turmoil and sectarian violence currently beseiging Iraq. I don’t think so. It starts with those who enabled him a long time ago and culminated with a foreign occupying power and understanding why Iraqi’s still don’t have the basic needs.

Need / want an unbiased analysis on the implications of Saddam’s execution?  Read Juan Cole’s article on Salon.

Dec. 30, 2006 | The body of Saddam, as it swung from the gallows at 6 a.m. Saturday Baghdad time, cast an ominous shadow over Iraq. The execution provoked intense questions about whether his trial was fair and about what the fallout will be. One thing is certain: The trial and execution of Saddam were about revenge, not justice. Instead of promoting national reconciliation, this act of revenge helped Saddam portray himself one last time as a symbol of Sunni Arab resistance, and became one more incitement to sectarian warfare.

The rest is here

Revenge or Reconcilation?
Oh, you want to recall Bremer’s speech announcing the the capture? Click on We got him.

Good letter in the Star-Gazette today on NY-29:

Star-Gazette Associate Editor David W. Kubissa is still trying to prop up U.S. Rep. John R. “Randy” Kuhl Jr., after his squeaker of an election to Congress on Nov. 7 over Eric Massa.

Kubissa’s Dec. 17 editorial continues the same theme song Randy’s been singing, namely “I can still bring home as much pork now that Republicans are in the minority.”

Kubissa concludes that if Kuhl “can repeat his track record in a Democratically controlled House, he’d be able to make an even stronger case in 2008 as the district’s go-to-guy in D.C.” And what if he can’t, David?

I have it on good authority that Massa’s 2008 campaign will be supported by some heavy hitters, such as former President Bill Clinton and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

There’s some amusing comments from right-wing whack jobs below the letter too.

It looks like Michael Balboni wasn’t the only Republican Senator from a Dem-leaning district that Spitzer asked to serve in his administration. The Newsday blog reports:

Nassau Republican sources say Spitzer has reached out to other GOP senators who have Democratic-leaning districts — including Serphin Maltese, who represents part of Queens and who barely won re-election last month.
Unlike Balboni, who accepted Spitzer’s offer to become the state’s homeland security chief, Maltese, a longtime Conservative Party activist, turned aside Spitzer’s approach, sources said.

It sounds like the Dems missed a big opportunity to unseat the Falcon in 2006:

According to the tentative tallies, state Sen. Serphin Maltese, an 18-year Republican incumbent and longtime conservative activist, held his 15th district seat by a mere 783 votes against Democratic challenger Albert Baldeo.

Baldeo, 46, an attorney, nearly pulled off the upset against Maltese - the Queens Republican chairman - without party support, defying insiders’ expectations.

(snip)

For the moment, some observers see the Democrats as having already blown a big chance.

“They were so focused on the statewide races and they built up these huge margins, they squandered this huge opportunity for a Democrat to unseat a dinosaur,” said Doug Muzzio, a political science professor at Brooklyn College.

This really frosted my cookies. Kos said it better than I could (emphasis mine):

House GOP salivating at Dem patsies

So Pelosi and House Democrats have decided that they’re not going to stifle the minority party in the House, changing the very rules that kept Democrats marginalized and irrelevant for the last decade.And how do Republicans repay this completely unnecessary act of kindness?

Republicans are hoping Democrats stick to their guns and allow the minority a stronger voice on legislation. The opposition leadership said it would take the opportunity to put forward initiatives that could be potentially troublesome for newly elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts who within months will have to defend their hard-won seats.

“There are going to be days when we will offer alternatives in ways that are going to be very appealing to Democrats in districts the president carried just two years ago,” said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, who will be the second-ranking House Republican in the 110th Congress.

Republicans see the ability to force tough votes — which they avoided in the majority by stifling Democratic alternatives — as having two potential benefits: It can put vulnerable Democrats on record with positions that might not be popular at home, or it can fracture the untested Democratic majority. Mr. Blunt noted that even senior Democrats who served in Congress when Democrats held control had no experience dealing with a relatively thin, 16-seat majority that will not allow many lawmakers to avoid tough votes.

That’s not to say all Democratic rollbacks are bad — 15-minute voting periods will actually stay open 15 minutes. That’s good. As will the notion that lawmakers have time to read legislation they will be voting on.

But on collegiality — If Pelosi and company are just blabbing about “cooperation” for PR purposes, that’s fine. But it should be nothing more than rhetoric. We’ve already seen that Blunt and Company can’t help themselves and even bother reciprocating the empty platitudes. They respond to them with insults and threats of political gamesmanship.

This is an era of hardball politics, and the GOP clearly has no intention to play nice. They aren’t even going through the motions or pretending to be more collegial. So while our side can talk nice, their actions should reflect the current political reality.

And this isn’t just about politics. Politics, IMO, isn’t even the most important part of this. This is about the fact that for the last 6 years, unchecked GOP control of all branches of government has led to disastrous, self-serving, idealogically-driven changes. Our country is hemorraghing, a train way off track and heading off a cliff. Off the top of my head:

* Where is a comprehensive energy policy that stops lining oil companies’ pockets and starts creating new jobs, tech, lower energy prices, and self-reliance through sustainable energy?

* Where is a comprehensive healthcare policy that stops lining insurance and pharma pockets and starts helping everyday Americans with spiraling health costs? (Hint: how about single-payer, universal health care so we can catch up with the rest of the industrialized world?)

* Fill in your own here. To type out a full list of the ways we need to quickly, decisively get back on track would give me carpal tunnel.

Bottom line: We need to do everything we can to stop the bleeding and get back on track, not give the GOP whatever it needs to continue putting party over people, party over country. Let’s take 2 steps forward first, please, before allowing them to take a step back.

Hey, I heard my congresswoman is involved somehow with that House Rules thang. Wonder what she thinks?

In a Wednesday afternoon swearing-in ceremony Justice Stephen Lindley started his 14 year term as a State Supreme Court Justice. The ceremony was fittingly in an overflowing Court Room 7, the same place 5 years ago he started as a City Court Judge.

It was a solemn yet light hearted ceremony - who knew Jurists had a sense of humor. Thanks and praise was heaped upon family and friends especially Justice Lindley’s wife Ardis who managed the campaign as well as 3 young kids and gave birth to a fourth 2 weeks before the election.

Justice Lindley’s father was there, the former city councilman gave a wonderful tribute of how his “fame” has ebbed and now he is known simply as Stephen’s father. Stephen’s mother swore him in.

A wonderful and touching ceremony.

Of all the speeches given, what struck me were the words U.S. District Court Judge Siragusa said when referring to Justice Lindley’s new role.

…it is not about the person it is about the position.

Being a Justice is a solemn position. They intepret the law. Their rulings affect the future. None of that is news to Justice Lindley but Judge Siragusa’s words serve as advice to anyone in elected office.

It is about the effective stewardship of the office for the greater societal good as opposed to elected individual accomplishment.

That struck me as a fundamental difference between a progressive philiosophy and what passes for that of a stereotypical politician.

Now, I’m just typing here so I’m sure with more time I could come up with some treatise that effectively outlines the differences between progressive vs non-progressive philosophy but this is a blog and my posts are usually too long anyway. So, the condensed version follows.

Progressives use their position to provide benefit to the most, those in need, and always with a sense of fairness and an eye on the future. Progressives tend to take a longer view and realize the interaction between events. Global warming to homelessness there are causes and effects and progressives look to solve the cause not the effect.

The other side, of course, promotes themselves, what they personally did as opposed to what they enabled the general population to achieve.

Folks - Our government is really about us - not them and we expect our leaders to enable our society to achieve greatness.

As time marches on towards yet another November, listen to the people running for office. Who is it about? Us or them?

Man, are things moving fast for a post election season. With Andrea Stewart-Cousins toppling Nick Spano in the 2006 election, the state senate was a mere 3 seats from Democratic control.

Governor-elect Spitzer just named his Homeland Security czar, and it’s Senator Balboni, a Republican, like Joe Robach, in a Dem-majority district. Apparently the senator is gung-ho on security, and Spitzer can add a little “bipartisan” merit badge to his scout uniform. Win-win. From NewsDay:

In short, Spitzer got a rare lawmaker who understands his new portfolio bottom up and top down. In an administration heavy on brilliant legal bureaucrats, that combination will be helpful to the new governor.

What makes it interesting, is that there will be a special election to replace Balboni. In a Dem-majority district. With a new GOP contestant who hasn’t bought some love via member items, etc.

Politically, naming Balboni is what one stunned Republican called “an act of genius.” And it goes beyond the obvious, that Spitzer is making a gesture of bipartisanship by entrusting a crucial task to a Republican.

What elevates Balboni as a master political stroke is that his seat has a great chance to go Democratic in an upcoming special election. The GOP recently lost every statewide race. With its Senate majority down to three seats - Balboni caved in to party pressure last year not to run for attorney general - the loss of his seat could hasten the fall of the state’s last GOP bastion of power.

Not that Balboni’s district is a sure thing for Democrats. The Republicans have at least two popular officeholders in the area who, with the enormous amounts of money the GOP will spend, would have a fair shot to win. Democrats also have internal rivalries, as well as a half-dozen viable wannabes, that could produce some self-destructive scenarios if not quelled.

Should be interesting, especially with Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno under federal investigation and all. Pass the popcorn.

But with a GOP-dominated senate flipped to Dem control, Albany Dems will no longer have anyone else to blame for not enacting needed reforms, like those proposed by the Brennan Center. So we’ll have to do what we can to emotionally prepare them for doing the right thing.

The Albany Project is all over this one.  It doesn’t sound very good for Bruno, but it’s early to say exactly where this one is going.

America’s mayor is pestering the the relatives of 9/11 victims for their endorsement in the 2008 presidential race:

Marian Fontana, who lost her firefighter husband on 9/11, said she got an invitation to go to a Giuliani exploratory committee dinner last week from a former firefighter working with Giuliani’s committee. She described the invite as “last-minute.”

Fontana said she was appreciative of what Giuliani did after 9/11, but would want to know a lot more about any candidate’s stand on a variety of issues.

“I feel like I’m not ready to endorse,” said Fontana.

It sounds like not all of the 9/11 victims’ relatives are big Rudy fans:

Some 9/11 family members have been deeply critical of Giuliani, blaming him for communications failures the day of the attacks.

Others have faulted his administration for allegedly not doing enough to protect rescue and recovery workers from polluted air at Ground Zero.

This is kind of interesting — from the Daily Gotham:

Governor-elect Spitzer has tipped Nassau Republican State Senator Michael Balboni for his top homeland security post - “deputy secretary for public safety security.” But it’s all good: Senator Balboni’s district has a Democratic registration advantage. As the Times points out, the appointment is yet another blow to the GOP majority in the state Senate. Nibble, nibble…

The New York Times has more.

And I mean, REALLY local. Like in your house/apartment.

I was looking at the choices for my area (SW Rochester suburbs), using the state’s PSC website comparison chart. It’s pretty cool, type in your zip and it gives you the list, with this month’s rate, cost per kWh, etc. You can see it here.

Trouble is, for mine, there’s like 30 choices. Literally. Which is awesome that I get that kind of freedom, but I left my super-computer at home and only have my laptop and sleep-deprived brain to balance out all the equations and pick the best one.

I’m leaning towards the “Energy Cooperative of New York“:

We are a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, providing deep discounts to New York State businesses and residents

Of course I love the idea of co-ops, credit unions, and community supported agriculture, so I’d be all over this anyway, but the advertised price really caught my eye– the “current month cost” is $49 for ECNY vs $67 for RG&E’s fixed price or the low to mid-$50 range for Energetix’s suite of offers. And ECNY has a green power option as well for an additional 1.1 cent/kWh. Pretty sweet.

Anyone else make your choice yet? What did you choose?

This isn’t really political, but it is local: the New York Times had a great article a few days ago on the deaf community in Rochester. I knew that we had a large deaf community but I learned a lot I didn’t know, such as

Rochester is home to the nation’s largest deaf population per capita, with about 90,000 people who are deaf or hard of hearing living among the metropolitan area’s 700,000 residents.

(snip)

Three movie theaters show newly released films with captions. Nearly all of the high schools offer sign-language classes. The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester employs a deaf docent.

Holy crap! (If I can say that on Christmas.)

I emerged today from a couple days of nasty stomach flu where I was able to log in long enough to put out a couple of posts I’d “baked in the studio before the show”.

Figuring, of course that no one’s going to be posting on Christmas, I was feeling the stress of not being about to post.  Must…not…let…blog…go dark…so much injustice…left…to post about…

I couldn’t even send out an SOS email to folks on the blog team, nor did I want to. Even Scrooge gave Bob Cratchett xmas off, for crying out loud.

So I was totally blown away to not only see posts today, but a couple from the old playas optimusprime and my man J!  I feel like James Stewart’s character George Bailey at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life.  I’m the richest man in Greater Rochester’s Progressive Blogistan! (Or something.)

I mean, the slippers and cordless phone were great, but this ranks up there with them. (Although getting over the stomach flu may top that.  I like getting in touch with my humility and thankfulness, but man, that’s a heckuva way to do it, Brownie.)