Weekend Open Thread

I’ve been stranded by the snowstorm away from home so I’ve plenty of time to read. What would I do without State of Politics?
It just occurred to me that the legislature took a break after only working 7 weeks. You’d think they had all the time in the world. What’s with the mid winter break, anyway?

Looks like with just about one month to go the new Governor is picking up steam and heading towards the winners circle in the match with the two legislative “leaders.”
While the members were on vaca and Deano and Shellgame Silver were conspiring on how they may end run the Guv, the Guv and his talented staff were chalking up a major win by putting the Medicaid budget making number to rest. A little smoke and a little mirror by the preserved budget director brought the number in reach and with a few more items added by “staff”; a quick afternoon break- and voila: MA Task Force work completed before the deadline. True mastery of how to get something done in Albany.
Before they realize it, the legislative “leaders” will be advancing the Governor’s redistricting bill through their houses and conceding to ethics reform provisions that they never would have imagined.
Before most realize it, the residents of the Empire State will see firsthand that their executive in Albany is indeed serious about putting their interests first and bringing their state back from the brink of bankruptcy.
There’s more sage in Albany these days then the SAGE Commission.

SoP is hands down THE place to go to follow Smallbany and beyond.
While the dysfunctionals were on their well deserved vaca the mess continued and it was all right here to see.
Time for the new Governor to try his skills against a real pro and move beyond just toying with rollover FUD.

If I were King, I’d abolish the midwinter break for all. Give the kids the Presidents’ Day holiday and that’s it. Nose to the grindstone. We don’t compete globally by fostering a lazy, good for nothing atmosphere in our schools….or, in our Legislature. It’s time to take really punitive action against those clowns, as in vote them all out. Is anyone listening?

Question for the regulars (whether those who post or just read and laugh at us) : I’m just wondering if most of us are within 50 miles or so from Albany.
It seems there’s a lot of Capital District specific insider info on this blog and I wonder if we’re mostly locals.

Forget the regulars. The most important thing to do is to inform others that they can find out what goes on in Albany by checking this site. There’s more to the news than Charlie Sheen, American Idol and the latest sports score or trade.
If more people looked here, if only once a week, there really would be change brought to the halls of the Legislature. If voters really paid attention we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in in this state and there would be a chance of bringing representatives to Albany that care about the people who voted for them, not the people that paid for their ads or hosted their dinners.
But for the record I don’t “live” near Albany.

Born / raised / schooled / worked in Albany.
I’m currently about 50 miles due west.

Go Scott Go!

Looks like Scott Walker isn’t backing down. Can’t wait until more states follow his lead!

I have a home in the capital region and one in NYC. Best of both worlds. One for work and one for play.

Former Senator, Pedro Espada is trying to sell the co-op in the Bronx he claimed as his residence.

http://boogiedowner.blogspot.com/2011/02/325-e-201st-4b-up-for-sale-2br1bath-co.html

Asking price is significantly less than what he paid (well, he paid nothing — what he stole from Soundview is probably more correct) –

http://bronx.blockshopper.com/property/2032810001-4B/325_ea_201/

Here’s hoping the courts involved AG’s suit and the related Federal criminal case can somehow lead to a lien being placed on any sale.

I lived there. Not an insider.

Agree with you carpet bagger. They should be doing the work they claim they can’t do because of the ‘budget.’

Every year — that’s all you hear from legislators –”OH, I can’t look at that until after the budget.” They should be doing that ‘other’ stuff.

Assembly information/privacy related bills are getting national recognition. That’s nice to see. I should have put more effort into the assembly regarding FERPA.

Now that’s an excellent post, nick! 12 miles as the crow flies from Albany; childhood downstate and college in the south.

Rant alert!

If I hear or see another person use the phrase “private sector” one more time, I’m going to flip my lid and go on a shooting rampage!!! (Just joking….I am against violence and would never attempt to use deadly force against another person except in self-defense or defense of the life of a family member or loved one) However……it is #1, a hackneyed, worn out meaningless phrase that is used by lazy-thinking, arrogant blowhards (any resemblance to Smitty is purely coincidental, HA!) attempting to be erudite. It doesn’t work, and #2, an inaccurate phrase which conjures up Firesign Theatre albums making ominous references to “Sector R”…inaccurate because many businesses large and small, from farms, to banks and financial centers to a certain chip manufacturing concern, are heavily subsidized by government (read taxpayer) money and are therefore, anything but “private”. It’s a bullsh!t bingo word which has jumped the shark and needs to be relegated to the verbal scrap heap along with “viable”, “net-net” and other famous cliches such as “synergy”, “value-added”, “result-driven”, “strategic fit”, “proactive”, “empower”, “knowlege base”, “win-win”, “best practice”, “think[ing] outside the box”, “bottom line”, “leverage”, “game plan”, “benchmark” and “client focused”

Note: For the uninitiated, Bullsh!t Bingo is a famous game played by mid-level employees of any bureaucracy, be it government or corporate (excuse me, either “public sector” or “private sector”) to alleviate the extreme boredom they endure at meetings in which much is said and nothing is done. A sheet with approximately 20 blocks, each containing a hackneyed, cliched phrase as described above, is passed around before the meeting. Employees check off blocks when they hear the word or phrase contained therein mentioned, and when anyone gets a complete set vertically, horizontally or diagonally, they win and, in theory, are supposed to stand up and shout “BULLSH!T”

You just realized that most of the posters are from the Albany region ?

I guess thats why everyone loves ME since I am from the Big Apple and not part of the Albany cabal

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

You just realized that most of the posters are from the Albany region ?

I guess thats why everyone loves ME since I am from the Big Apple and not part of the Albany cabal

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

I guess that why your head is not on straight (LOL

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

I guess that why your head is not on straight (LOL

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Stop it 11201 you are an “INSIDER” and everyone knows it.

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Stop it 11201 you are an “INSIDER” and everyone knows it.

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Only the “RICH” can afford two homes or an over payed employee of the Legislature (LOL)

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Only the “RICH” can afford two homes or an over payed employee of the Legislature (LOL)

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Love you too, VJ.

BTW, I’m pretty darned sure the Oracle of Delphi preceded you….

Love you too, VJ.

BTW, I’m pretty darned sure the Oracle of Delphi preceded you….

I guess that sys it all, another member of the Albany Cabal (LOL)

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

I guess that sys it all, another member of the Albany Cabal (LOL)

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

I am older that the “Oracle of Delphi” Iron Mike and as I have said before I am the voice of “the gods” Hope all is well with you and take it easy you get to worked up over all this politics. “the gods” say relax and have s cold one

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

How about “going forward” ( do we have a choice?) and transparency, at the end of the day and sustainability?

Those are my personal pet peeves.

We have a dope on our city council who can’t speak without stringing together three or four of yours, IM. Come to think of it, neither can John Sampson.

But you’re from Schenectady, right Nick?

hmmm which is which, naughty Chinwan.

I was about 30 miles west when I wrote that earlier. Holed up at a hotel in Cobleskill waiting out the storm.
I’m from Schenectady – and fiercely proud of it. Educated at Albany State and a dozen or more Capital District bars.

Private sector. I had no idea it was so easy to set you off. Rant away.

Real upstate which is far from Albany. When we (from real upstate) travel to Albany we say “so that is what they did with our tax money”.

Well dang, I’ll listen to the gods! Out for a day of skiing.

Thanks for the well wishes and I hope your weekend is excellent as well, VJ.

Yes, CB, all your examples are within the zone of potential agreement (or “ZOPA”, as Malcolm Smith used to babble) LOL

Agree on Sampson, and let’s not forget vis a vis Parker.

Nope-
Not from Schenectady
I can’t even spell it without checking first

Hah! I took the 1,100-foot plunge down into the village yesterday, myself. “Coblepatch,” as I like to call it.

I think the big doin’ was the Ace Hardware 20%-off sale. I stopped down to pick up a prescription that the pharmacy said … my doctor never called in. Great.

Still trying to get a grip on this country living stuff — no one is in a big hurry to do ANYthing. Altho folks on the whole have been pretty helpful to this new kid on the block, waiting …….. for days, weeks and sometimes months for answers / services has become a new part of my way of life. Certainly a far cry from “Velveetaland” (a la the inimitable John Galt). But I’ll take it.

Your only 100 years there away from being a local.

Good one, Rog.
Judging from some of the folks I’ve encountered, you’re pretty much spot-on!

It is a DEPRESSION Buster. Paul Krugman said so last June. And it is only beginning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html?_r=1

This is how the leveling down of wages is playing out:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/A-US-Recovery-Built-on-bizwk-3826874585.html?x=0

In the private sector, people lose their jobs and get another job at a lower wage. Management jobs are being thinned out too.

Years of borrowing and spending at the Federal level have left us with little capacity and less appetite to re-activate our economy with Keynesian stimulation. We should be taxing the rich much more at the Federal level. Let them leave the US if they don’t like it.

As the gasoline prices increases this past week (and more so this coming week) show, we need to drastically change our energy and transportation infastructure. We should be borrowing from ourselves (ala the WWII war bond drives) to pay for that changed infastructure and the Keynesian stimulous it would provide. We need a vast increase in domestic electricity production and new electrified rail to move people and goods.

I do extremely well, and I make no apology for it. Started with nothing but some education loans and worked my tail off. Worked in government briefly out of school, which was an education of another kind, but for the most part my career has been in the private sector. Enjoyed every minute of it, and I still do. Importantly, anyone in this country who is similarly inclined has the opportunity do the same. That’s why I (and I assume most of the “regulars” who follow Liz’s blog) follow politics so closely, because freedom needs to be nurtured and protected, not taken for granted and neglected.

“the gods” know best, enjoy

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Yes, you are an example of hard work pays off, as for the Albany Cabal who follow Liz I am not to sure about that.

Sometimes they seem to want only their view point and “attach” others who don’t share their view, I know first hand, but that is the past and since they have not be able to silence me we “coexist”

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

A surprisingly good article in the NYT on the impact of collective bargaining reform in Indiana’s public sector:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/business/27collective-bargain.html?_r=1&hp

While the increased employee contributions to pensions and healthcare are necessary in the near-term, they are inadequate to addressing the greater problem, particularly if the state is reducing aid to localities. Collective bargaining power in non-wage issues effectively ties the hands of local officials and school boards when they attempt to improve efficiency of their organizations. It prevents workplace re-design, department consolidation, opportunities to outsource non-core work to private companies, and locks in high price solutions, like union sponsored insurance plans.

While it is virtually certain that NYS will never go in this direction, it is encouraging to see that other states have confronted this issue and challenged the power of the public sector unions and their unaffordable grip on state and local governments. Suffice it to say that they will not be burdened with “rubber rooms”, LIFO retention policies, and pension enhancement scandals, and other gross inefficiencies, all of which will all plague NYS far into the future.

Little Valley, NY– pretty close to being as far away from Albany as you can possibly get… which explains my perspective on things.

Careful Chinwan. IronMike is going to go all Mike Tyson on your use of “private sector”.

“Sometimes they seem to want only their view point and “attack” others who don’t share their view…” and in spades I do add!

Smith — You recently said that Nobel Prize winning economist Krugman was an idiot and that you understood the economy better than him. Ironically, you’re now quoting him. Unfortunately you didn’t comprehend what he said.

What Krugman said in the article you reference is: “We are now, I FEAR, in the EARLY stages of a third depression.” The emphasis is mine. Krugman’s statement was merely conjecture about the future. He makes it clear that he FEARS a depression may come….not that we have definitive proof that it has come. If you read Krugman’s entire set of articles since June 2010, you’ll see that he never re-posits that we’re in a depression. In fact, he frequently refers to the RECESSION. He even mentions the NBER and the fact that we are now in a (weak) expansion period.

Krugman’s use of the provocative word DEPRESSION was also a little bit of salesmanship for his book first published in 2008:

http://krugmanonline.com/books/the-return-of-depression-economics-and-the-crisis-of-2008.php

I haven’t read the book, but I already know what it’s about (in depth). Even in the book’s description he never uses the word depression, just recession. Since he was writing in 2008, it would have been a tad premature to discuss a friggin’ DEPRESSION. He makes it clear that we are only dealing with a recession caused by financial sector shenanigans — a fact which you refuse to recognize. As for depression related maladies, hell, unemployment, falling production etc. are RECESSION related maladies, too. Economic maladies are economic maladies. Be careful how you parse words, Smith, and where you put the emphasis.

Also, note that the tools for dealing with a recession/depression/economic downturn haven’t changed since the 1930′s — you’ve got fiscal policy and monetary policy. Period. It’s our UNDERSTANDING of how they work that’s improved. The federal government didn’t know jack sh*t about monetary policy at the time of the Great Depression. Amazingly, they did EVERYTHING that they could possibly do WRONG during the Great Depression. Now THAT is quite a feat. Monetary policy was working AGAINST a recovery.

Many of Krugman’s NYT articles and the book just mentioned are trying to explain to people like you, Smith, that there have been for two (somewhat) competing schools of economic thought since the Great Depression. The Keynesians, named after the late economist John Maynard Keynes, believe in government intervention via fiscal policy during economic downturns. The fiscal tools that the government controls are government spending (G) and federal taxes (T). If the private sector won’t get the recovery ball rolling with more consumption SPENDING (as you and I buy crap) or more business investment SPENDING — either of which leads to more production then more employment then more spending then repeat and rinse — the federal goverment has got to do the spending instead. Keynesians believe that it’s government’s role to “spend our way out of a downturn.” This is how we stimulated the economy to get ourselves out of the Great Depression — massive government spending on public works via the WPA and such. Surely you read about this in that one book you own on the Great Depression, Smith.

Of course, that massive government spending required running a *gasp* deficit (G >T or G – T >0) for a number of years. But, hey, it got the job done. Keynesians don’t want to tie the feds hands with a balanced budget amendment — an issue which rears its ugly head from time to time at the behest of Republicans.

As opposed to the Keynesians (like Krugman), there are the (more recent) Monetarists. Their leader was the late Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman for whom monetery policy was the answer to any and all issues. Milton Friedman was on the faculty of the U. of Chicago. He was the founder of the “Chicago school of economcs.” The U. of Chicago economics department is the bastion of free market economists. Whether you agree with them or not, the U. of Chicago has been home to a large number of brilliant economists…and Nobel prize winners and Bates prize winners. You, Smith, should read Friedman’s “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960″ rather than popular magazine articles. It’s a little pricey but it’s a seminal work.

Actually, the divide between the Keynesians and Monetarists isn’t as hard core as it may sound. But labels can be useful for understanding things.

BTW, I find it odd, Smith, that you are now touting MORE government spending (than Obama has done so far) which WILL require increasing the federal deficit. That contradicts your screaming for less taxes and less government spending at the state level. News flash: Andy’s and your desire for a smaller budget (i.e., a balanced budget at a lower level than last year’s balanced budget…balanced being a tricky word in NYS) works AGAINST expanding the NYS economy. It’s moderately countercyclical. Andy’s plan will lessen any improvement that we’ve made since Wall Street collapsed. Oh, well.

And now…I’m tired of explaining reality to you, Smith. I’ve got more important things to do. Start reading and educating yourself. That’s what you’re supposed to learn to do in college, IMHO. I’ve been working at it for a long time. I’ve definitely read a lot more books than you.

For a long time the word “interface” (as a verb) was a popular buzzword. I’d still like to beotch slap anyone who uses the word interface…unless they’re a carpenter or something like that.

Looks like the Dems aren’t backing down either.

It’s time to break the backs of union busters like Scott Walker. Nip their gambit right in the bud.

No surrender, baby!

God I love it when I get your goat Buster.

“You recently said that Nobel Prize winning economist Krugman was an idiot and that you understood the economy better than him. Ironically, you’re now quoting him. Unfortunately you didn’t comprehend what he said.”

Gotta love it when you misquote me and call it fact.

“Krugman’s statement was merely conjecture about the future.”

Ah…so you are qualified to dismiss his statement as “mere conjecture”? Your opinion is simply opinion. No greater than that of anyone else.

“I haven’t read the book, but I already know what it’s about (in depth).’

Your arrogance is amazing.

“BTW, I find it odd, Smith, that you are now touting MORE government spending (than Obama has done so far) which WILL require increasing the federal deficit. That contradicts your screaming for less taxes and less government spending at the state level.”

Apparently you don’t comprehend the difference between state and federal governments. The federal government controls the money supply and can run a deficit to stimulate the economy since it is a national economy. The states can’t do that. The state needs a balanced budget just like a household does. With state revenue falling, state expenditures need to shrink to match.

More government spending is necessary but the most important part is where and on what it is being spent and how it is raised. Doing what was done in the past is not going to work for the future because we are not going to have a future with cheap energy.

“Start reading and educating yourself. That’s what you’re supposed to learn to do in college, IMHO. I’ve been working at it for a long time. I’ve definitely read a lot more books than you. ”

Your arrogance is shown by your entire post here. I have a college education and a considerable portion of it is in economics and finance. What you fail to understand are the global changes which have taken place and how that has affected the US. We lost our manufacturing base to countries with a strong comparative advantage in labor. We’ve been borrowing from those countries to finance continued consumer spending as if we were still a producer nation. Sure the greed of an unchecked explosion in housing and home finance was the explosive primer which caused our ongoing economic explosion but the explosive was the teetering economic house of cards we had been living with.

We are not going back where we were before. We have a lot of economic leveling down to go and that includes a lot of wage and income readjustment. You just don’t want to accept that and that is understandable.

Your self-righteousness will be your downfall.

[I do extremely well, and I make no apology for it. Started with nothing but some education loans and worked my tail off.]

Kudos to you, assuming you got your dough by hard work rather a trust fund or cheating someone.

I also think it’s a trivial request for you to help the state out a little more via the “millionaires tax.” Don’t be a cheapskate.

As I suspected, the handle “nick from niskayuna” is deceptive advertising!

For the non-Capital district readers, the Town of Niskayuna is a very nice section of Schenectady County. It abuts the downwardly-mobile CITY of Schenectady. People who choose to “live in Schenectady” and commute to Albany — as opposed to people who actually live in Albany and, of course, work for the State — often move to Niskayuna to avoid the crappy Schenectady schools…and the crime.

I live in Schenectady County, but outside the city, too. It will be a cold day in hell when I vote to approve any kind of consolidation with the City of Schenectady. There are many people who feel the same way.

Did I hear correctly, that folks are being shipped in from out-of-state to join in the protest?
Seems to me, this is a Wisconsin issue.
And again, there’s something about “protesting too much.”

The price of gasoline will probably become the conversation this coming week. The price a barrel of oil is misleading as this article shows:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703933404576170211403452904.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

West Texas Intermediate is not available in sufficient quantities to be a good benchmark price anymore. Refiners are paying a lot more than that price.

Our gasoline prices will be going much higher and very rapidly. This article from the Buffalo News covers the consumer side but they don’t get the complexity of the producer pricing.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article352791.ece

With the sales tax on gasoline capped, all the extra money spent on it will come from other taxable discretionary consumer spending causing lower sales tax collection.

Not to toot my own horn, but while on the subject I thought I’d let the world know that I “went for the gold,” in helping NYS out of its $10 billion hole.
I just renewed my car’s registration, and payed the max so I could get those classy new plates, AND keep the same plate number.
There, … now I can sleep nights.

Duh. “Paid.”

Smith — Once again you try to deflect attention from your stupidity by claiming that you got somebody’s goat or some similarly goofy comment. You are obviously threatened by someone who actually knows what they’re talking about, unlike yourself. You repeatedly confuse my confidence (that comes from real knowledge) with arrogance. It’s YOU who are terminally arrogant.

You are one of those folks, Smith, who toss around a lot of words but never make a cogent point out of them. You are a bargain rate version of the right wing crackpots on the radio. You flail your arms and rant and rave at anyone who sees through you. Bad news, Smith, but the miniscule amount of information that you’ve managed to absorb will never be mistaken for real knowledge. Whoever was crazy enough to give you a passing grade in economics/finance/whatever, should be ashamed of themselves. Sadly, social promotion and grade inflation happen in college, too. Private colleges are the worst offenders.

You are a lazy thinker, Smith. You’re a lazy reader, too. You wouldn’t know the difference between superficial reportage and scholarly articles if somebody whacked you over the head with a couple of examples. You are a man who doesn’t understand quality.

A man (or woman) has got to know their limitations. Your failure to recognize your own will be your downfall.

You are truly a man of the people! God bless you, CP.

Ashamedly, I confess that I kept my old plates when I recently renewed. Leave them on my car until the state forces me to rip them off!

Hi Bronx Voter – keep us posted please.

Smith, with all due respect to your research, I’ve decided to just throw up my hands in disgust, and pay what I have to — just like everyone else.

Gasoline out here Coblepatch rose 15 cents in less than two weeks, over what … unrest? There’s always a different reason for oil / gas prices rising; but when there’s an obvious reversal of those same reasons, somehow the pricing doesn’t follow suit.

In my mind its all calculated BS, and there’s not a thing we can do about it, except complain and pay, and pay, and pay …

20% off anything you can put in a paper bag. I didn’t know what that meant so I stayed away.
The Cobleskill Diner has the best cream pies I’ve had since summer camp at Camp Pattersonville in the 70s.
Even better than the Blue Ribbon diner in Schenectady – although no one can touch their cheesecake – not even Juniors.
Hows that for local?

If I gave you three seconds to tell folks where Brent crude comes from, Smith, could you do it? I have no doubt that the answer is “no.” You only regurgitate what you’ve last read.

I also have to laugh at your typical comment: “[B]ut they don’t get the complexity of the producer pricing.

There are only a few words that you need to know to explain producer pricing. They’re not all that complex. They are C-O-L-L-U-S-I-O-N and P-R-I-C-E G-O-U-G-I-N-G.

Around here, they don’t use WTI for most gas. They use Penn Grade, which has a lot more gasoline in it… it also happens to be about $10 cheaper per barrel than WTI. But, thanks to the great state of New York, our prices are still higher than the national average.

I’m sure we passed in traffic.
Sorry I missed you.

Back to basics:
- After all the billions of barrels of oil that have been extracted from Mother Earth over the past decades, … what is its source?
- How was it formed in the first place? “Dead dinosaurs and vegetation,” like we were all taught?
- Is it somehow being replenished, right beneath our feet?
- If so, how?
- If not, when / where / how does it stop?
(Hold on. I’m resizing my tin foil hat.)

I know how bad it is inside — and how it works. If that qualifies me as an insider then you’re right. Other than a trip to the Capitol with my father 4 years ago — and a meeting a couple of weeks ago — I hadn’t been in or near the Capitol for 11 years.

However, nothing has changed.

I heard Schumer on NY1 talking about http (not secure) and https (still not secure.) Maybe someone on his staff will look back at their notes and contact me regarding FERPA. It’s so ugly. The huge database of information about children from pre-school to work (using SS# to ID) should be on someone’s list. Schumer is on the Privacy Committee with Al Franken. Haven’t taken that route yet. It’s a new committee. FERPA is going under the Privacy Commissioner (not sure of title.) They’re not the same committees. The problem is they’re focusing about online protection and giving away PII about children. Doesn’t make sense.

Sorry for the long off-topic post.

Am I an insider? I don’t think so.

Hi Buster. I probably made the wrong choice. I went for a new license plate and new number. I need to get the new plates on the car before I get a ticket. It’s only been a couple of weeks.

Well, I pay my taxes whether I like it or not. And I have not de-camped to Florida, like many people I know. One thing I would point out, however, is that like many people, I am involved with several charitable and not-for-profit entities (including a hospital and public education corporation) and I write big checks to them. I also write checks for other organizations and causes that I believe do good work to help improve our communities, and those who need extra help that they are not able to provide for themselves. So while I understand the viewpoint that those with a little more should pay a little more, I also think it is unfair to assume that those with a little more are not already paying a little (or a lot) more. Again, I pay my taxes, in-full and on-time. The donations I make, however, give me a “say” over what organizations and causes I wish to support with my post-tax income. There may be some miserly Scrooges who horde their good fortune, but I believe those people to be in the minority. Certainly the people I know with a little to spare are constantly being asked to contribute for the good of the community, often by me. And I never cease to be amazed by how freely and willingly most do in-fact open their wallets, over and over again. So there-in lies the rub – many people I know are more than happy to donate their money for public causes, but they resent (after a certain threshold) being taxed to support the waste and corruption of government when they know full-well that a direct donation to a worthy cause will go much farther toward helping someone or something in need of the funds.

So, for what it’s worth, that’s the other side of the story that may not be readily apparent at first blush.

Happy weekend, Buster. Back to the grind!

It’s not a Wisconsin issue when it is happening in five states with new Republican governors at the same time. It is coming from the Republican Governor’s Association, which happens to be meeting today.

So what happens when it’s NY’s turn?
A different media spin, sans Obama?

This open thread looks like a record number of posts.
We’ll have to check the tape to confirm whether or not the SoP’ers will in fact set a record.
But be forewarned that some posts will be disallowed because they include name-calling or insults aimed at another post’er.
Be civil all.
It’s OK to target the pols, but not one another…..

That is why you aren’t making decent pay arndare relegated to taking your frustration out here Buster. Ignorance.

The oil companies base the price of wholesale gasoline on their average crude cost which isn’t reflected in the price of WTI because WTI is supply constrained. In Buster terms that means they can’t gouge the price of it because they can’t ship it from their hub. So, while other crudes have gotten a lot more expensive, WTI (the benchmark) hasn’t. Not knowing that leaves some reporters perplexed.

I have to remind you OPEC is a C-A-R-T-E-L which means they can charge as much as they can get. That means they don’t care about you or how their price affects you. If you were benefitting from OPEC you wouldn’t care about you either.

You spend too much time looking in the mirror Buster.

Ah…so you want a better off guy like Chinwan to pony up and pay more in taxes but you live in a better off part of the County and don’t want to share your wealth with the poorer residents of Schenectady?

You want, want, want but there is no give to you at all.

You have a glaring moral deficit. Shame on you Buster!

Hey, you’re not on CapCon.

I’m with you Chinwan. I read somewhere that it’s easy to give away money — to do it responsibly is the challenge/goal.

[That means they don't care about you or how their price affects you.]
I rest my case.

However, Chinwan — I do think the super rich should pay more in taxes because it’s the right thing.

… Casey’s still busy moderating Friday’s comments.

[And next week promises to be even busier, as the Legislature returns to work...]

Well, the school kids …er, ah, I mean … the NYS legislators are returning from their Presidents Week break.
I’m hoping to see some meaningful accomplishments come screaming across the headlines this week.
(That’s my heart speaking; my head knows better.)

The Dem senators do not have a winning strategy, and I do not see how they win this standoff. Yes, they are delaying the process while getting all kinds of support from the usual suspects, but they lack the votes to prevail in the end.

At most, they will succeed in forcing Walker’s hand on layoffs to achieve the required cost savings. I do not see how that qualifies as a victory, when it is their supporters that will pay the price of their boycott.

Walker will win this, and all they will get out of it is an issue for the next election. By then, the voters should have a pretty good idea as to whether it helped or not; a situation that Walker looks forward to

It’s not “private”, no one knows what the hell a “sector” is and it’s a hackneyed old phrase which has jumped the shark and is no shorthand for intelligent discussion. I’ve said my piece, now I’m done with it!

Skiing was awesome, by the way.

Chinwan, I admire your forthrightness and your philanthropy, but I don’t understand why you need to toot your own horn so much. Is that just being defensive to Buster?
The classiest people quietly and anonymously give back to the community with no expectation of plaques, honors or publicity, in my experience.

Seriously, there is absolutely no reason why the best minds in business, academia, science, engineering and technology can’t mass produce a vehicle before the end of this decade which runs on anything, be it decaying vegetation or, literally, excrement, which is renewable, can be produced in virtually unlimited quantities and is loaded with methane gas. Talk about a source of energy! The country that put a man on the moon more than 40 years ago after declaring that it would 50 years ago is more than capable of making petroleum obsolete. The obstacles are corruption and a lack of will.

Maybe…

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mass-company-making-diesel-apf-1697852073.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=

Yeah. So there it is…..

By the time it gets to NY, the Teamsters and other unions had better be ready to shut this country down.

By the time it gets to NY, the Teamsters and other unions had better be ready to shut this country down.

Finally, you’ve thrown in the towel. Good. Stop wasting everyone’s time with your b.s.

Once again, you are spewing words/sentences that don’t clearly and definitely address my comment about collusion. In fact, your post doesn’t tell a coherent story about anything. It has no point at all. It’s just gibberish masquerading as an argument. You do this ALL the time. You will never understand why it’s crap. Thank god that you’re retired and can’t do any more damage in the workplace.

Your post is a refreshing change of pace from Smith’s nonsense, J. Myrle. I know exactly where you’re going in your last sentence. Shhhhh.

Buster why do you always keep on badgering posters who don’t agree with you?

I know you are the ring leader of the Albany Cabal

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Buster why do you always keep on badgering posters who don’t agree with you?

I know you are the ring leader of the Albany Cabal

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Yes, Buster is part of the “RICH” and the leader of the Albany Cabal

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Yes you are an “INSIDER” nothing to be shamed of, I was once an “INSIDER” now I am an “OUTSIDER” who is “the voice of the gods” and the “INSIDERS” have to listen to what “the gods” say or risk destruction.

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

All you with gas gouging cars that spread Green House Gasses and are destroying the planet we live on.

I have no car-use public transportation-and legs to get about, but sometime I do “FLY” but not in a plane.

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

If the super rich pay more in taxes should they have more than one vote ?

Maybe they should say how “THEIR” money is spent ?

Maybe we can give them a form and have them say where their money should go?

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

See Iron Mike “the gods” were correct in telling you to realize and have a cold one

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

Because, my dear VJ, Smith is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Furthermore, when someone (like Smith) assails an undoubtedly fine piece of analysis that I’ve written (e.g. the Keynesians versus the Monetarists), I’m going to defend myself. Actually, I’m going to beat beat the perpetrator to a bloody pulp. It’s a matter of imposing a price on him for his disrespect. It is what it is. I’m not going to change any more than you’re going to stop posting repetitive stuff.

Retired? LOL! Collecting retirement but working full time. I’m in great demand.

If you can’t grasp my posts, you might consider getting your cognitive ability checked by a qualified professional.

Retired? LOL! Collecting retirement but working full time. I’m in great demand.

If you can’t grasp my posts, you might consider getting your cognitive ability checked by a qualified professional.

Really Buster? Tell us all where he is going.

That is a process called active listening whereby you re-phrase and re-state what the other person has said.

Yeah. I had a dog named Buster once and I learned then you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

In the part of upstate I come from, one colloquialism which was common around the time Buster was probably born was to use Buster as a replacement for Junior. Are you a Jr. Buster?

The teamsters are no paragons of virtue.

Casey’s moderation is a drag. They all go home for the evening and by the time your post is ok’d it’s yesterday’s news.
Besides, he’s not Liz.

VJ you live in the City – of course you don’t have a car. I lived in Schenectady ( the sh**y part ) without a car growing up. It was CDTA or my bike. That was back when kids actually road bicycles.

Unless his name is really Chinwan I think this classifies as anonymous, Iron Mike.

You mean the people with both eyes on the same side of their nose? I think they’re from Munnsville.

Vanity—-Buster do you remember who said it and it what movie

“the gods” love those who have “VANITY” because they are so easily destroyed by it.

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

When I lived in WoodLakes I used the bus to and from the Capital and bars, and I walk to the stories to buy food there was a big supermarket down the road I also waked to the “MALL” also I had a bike to use on weekends I did this for a number of years you can get by without a car.

Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.VJMachiavelli.blogspot.com
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High

It scares me to think that there’s an organization in this country that wields the power to do just that.

There is already one. It is called the Tea Party. A balance of power requires two.

Agreed. And those who are colluding to destroy the unions are?

Carpet Bagger has the correct response. Obviously, if my identity were known to the group, you would not hear a word about my finances (or philanthropy). The reason “toot” on this site is to attempt to inject an alternative point of view. It seems to me in reading the blogs, when only one point of view is being expressed (be it political, social, religious – whatever) the tone becomes very angry as those in agreement feed off their common dislike or distrust of the “other side” not present in the discussion. Now we still have some spirited disagreements on this blog, and yes sometimes it becomes personal and nasty, but I think the old adage is true that things look different once you walk a mile in the other guys shoes (be they work boots or wing-tips) and while I do not expect to change anyone’s opinion – nor am I interested in doing so – I do try to bring a different point of view to the party. If we were all similarly situated and like-minded, I don’t think this would be a very interesting exchange. I know I wouldn’t bother if that was the case.

p.s., I’ve made peace with Buster. I used to use this site to vent my frustration with his alternate view of the world, but I’ve decided to embrace Buster as he is and live and let live. As Bill Cosby used to say at the beginning of “Fat Albert” – “Enjoy the show, and if you’re not careful, you just might learn something!”

Carpet Bagger has the correct response. Obviously, if my identity were known to the group, you would not hear a word about my finances (or philanthropy). The reason “toot” on this site is to attempt to inject an alternative point of view. It seems to me in reading the blogs, when only one point of view is being expressed (be it political, social, religious – whatever) the tone becomes very angry as those in agreement feed off their common dislike or distrust of the “other side” not present in the discussion. Now we still have some spirited disagreements on this blog, and yes sometimes it becomes personal and nasty, but I think the old adage is true that things look different once you walk a mile in the other guys shoes (be they work boots or wing-tips) and while I do not expect to change anyone’s opinion – nor am I interested in doing so – I do try to bring a different point of view to the party. If we were all similarly situated and like-minded, I don’t think this would be a very interesting exchange. I know I wouldn’t bother if that was the case.

p.s., I’ve made peace with Buster. I used to use this site to vent my frustration with his alternate view of the world, but I’ve decided to embrace Buster as he is and live and let live. As Bill Cosby used to say at the beginning of “Fat Albert” – “Enjoy the show, and if you’re not careful, you just might learn something!”

Yeah, Smitty, I understand Mickey Dees loves those retirees who are willing to work the drive thru nights and weekends LOL

That’s cool, Chinwan. I’ve found your opinions to be an acquired taste, but I do agree with you on some things and I do break the labels and the stereotypes myself from time to time. Glad to have you aboard, bro.

LOL. I was assuming he was a bagger at a grocery store. Those old folks know how to pack a grocery bag right!

It’s all good, Chinwan, but Buster’s a broad like me. So’s 11201. I like your alternate point of view.

[It's all good, Chinwan, but Buster's a broad like me.]

People’s assumptions about Buster are an interesting comment on stereotypes.

No offense meant, Chinwan, however you’re starting to sound like Charlie Sheen.