Nozzolio to Address Gun Owners

UNITED GUN OWNERS OF NEW YORK STATE

2nd MEETING

SUNDAY MARCH 10th

at 2:00 PM (DST!)

GUEST SPEAKER SENATOR MICHAEL NOZZOLIO

SOUTH SENECA SPORTSMAN CLUB

6894 YARNELL RD

OVID NY 14521

OUR GOAL IS TO MODIFY THE NYS SAFE ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF OUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS.

                 BRING FRIENDS AND FAMILY
 
      LEARN HOW TO GET INVOLVED AND HELP
 
      PROTECT YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

Idiots

The former Empire State's Schumer, Gillibrand

One Piece At A Time:

Our morally and intellectually superior two-headed monster, Chuck and Kirsten, should have known that voting on Marxist ideological grounds for bills that you haven't actually read has consequences.

Idiots, indeed.

Cuomo looks to 2016: Thruway toll hike postponed

When we were really the Empire State:  Thruway opening ceremony, 1955

New York's unemployment rate is 9%, Staten Island residents are entering their third week without food, water or heat - time for Andy Cuomo to run for President!

It’s only days after the presidential election, but the buzz is already under way about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s potential run for president in 2016.

Time magazine put him on its short list, calling him the “rough-hewn son of a Democratic icon.”

Coincidentally, our "rough-hewn" multimillionaire second generation governor seems to be backing off from his economy-hammering, rural highway death rate-increasing 45% Thruway toll hike.

The state Thruway Authority again postponed a meeting to consider a major toll increase on trucks on the 570-mile thoroughfare.

The Authority's website said the meeting scheduled for today at 11:30 a.m. in Albany has been postponed. No new date was announced, and no explanation was given for the delay.

It's the second time in a week that a vote on a potential toll increase has been postponed. The authority was originally scheduled to meet Friday in Rockland County, but canceled just hours before the meeting.

Rest assured New York bloggers will be working overtime when Cuomo the Younger, architect of the nation's financial crisis, throws his hat into the ring.

Staten Islanders - you're on your own!

FEMA office, Staten Island, today.  You voted for these clowns!

Why did we fire Dan Maffei?

Gillibrand stands with Obama

New York's junior senator may be backing a loser. Her official position:

Kirsten Gillibrand is doing everything she can to support New York's working families and help President Barack Obama achieve his vision for lasting change.

Gillibrand and Sharpton: "No Justice, No Peace!"

Why did Cuomo delay fracking decision again?

What's that look about?

Why has Andy Cuomo suddenly decided to delay hydrofracking for another twenty-eleven years?  Today, Assembly candidate Bill Nojay theorized why Cuomo the Younger would write off the Southern Tier's 20 percent unemployed workers, and we think Bill has hit the nail on the head.

Bill blames Cuomo's decision to study the "health effects" of hydrofracking on the Lybian terrorists who raped, murdered, and mutilated our ambassador.  According to Nojay, the breaking story that our diplomats in Benghazi had requested increased security before the embassy was attacked, but were denied by Hillary Clinton's State Department, will mean the end of our former junior senator's political career.  And no mo' Hillary means Andy has an open shot the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination.   So, Nojay hypothesizes,  our most recent Governor Cuomo needs to keep the Democrats' environmental wacko majority on his side.

We think Mr. Nojay is on to something. 

Wendy Long in Potter

Wendy Long at Potter Park Onion Festival, Yates County, August 18.

For contemporary news reports of Yates County's legendary Branchport onion truck crash in 1952, click here and here.  As we recall, locals were still talking about it 25 years later.

Photo: Wilson Simmons

Cuomo backing off thruway toll hike?

The two-lane is still toll-free!

Second generation New York governor Andy Cuomo has been supporting the absolute necessity of billionaire Howie Milstein's "modest" 45 percent Thruway truck toll hike. 

“The Thruway Authority has to be financially capable,” Cuomo said in an interview Friday on public radio’s “Capitol Connection.” He said the authority created to operate the statewide system decades ago must be able to meet its debt payments from capital borrowing. Compared to other states, Cuomo said, truck tolls “are not that high.”

The toll for a three-axle truck traveling from Buffalo to New York City is about $88. That could increase to $127.

We're not sure that Andy's view from his cozy Albany/Washington bubble allows him to understand how increasing Thruway tolls forces more traffic onto rural two lane roads, resulting in more traffic deaths for his Upstate constituents.  Perhaps Andy's presidential aspirations have cleared his head, however, as yesterday the millionaire career politician seemed to backing off a bit.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday agreed a toll increase must be a last resort, but he said the Thruway Authority run by his appointees need to make sure it is fiscally secure enough to pay its contracted debt. Mr. Cuomo also said public hearings under way are also considering the option of raising tolls for passenger cars as a way to spread the burden. Car tolls were last raised in 2010.

"The first question for them is, can they find more efficiencies?" Mr. Cuomo said. "The economy isn't coming back. The answer can't be more taxes. So the answer must be finding a way to run that organization more efficiently."

So car tolls haven't been raised since 2010?  Most Upstaters, if they're still employed at all, haven't had a raise since 2008.  We predict these outcomes:  higher tolls for trucks, higher tolls for cars, higher salaries for Thruway employees, and higher accident rates for Finger Lakes roads.

DiNapoli to audit Thruway?

Gov. and Mrs. Dewey open Thruway, 1954

While many Upstaters consider New York's economy already dead, billionaire Cuomo donor and Thruway honcho Howard Milstein wants to bury the corpse six feet deeper.  Milstein, an influence-buying  Manhattan tycoon, wants to raise Thruway truck tolls by a "modest" 45 percent.  While we suspect Milstein, Cuomo and their jet-setting pals could care less that about that massive increase in business costs, every penny of which will ultimately be paid by consumers, a handful of drowning New Yorkers are sending up a warning flare.

A major state business group is demanding a thorough audit of the state Thruway Authority before it raises tolls by what the authority called a "modest" 45 percent for larger trucks.

"We will all pay the price for this toll hike if we don't stand up and demand that the Thruway review its own finances before taking money from the rest of us," said Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate.

The toll increase on trucks with three or more axles would threaten distribution jobs and increase the costs of food, clothing and other articles hauled by trucks while slowing New York's "tenuous" economic recovery, he said Tuesday.

In what may turn out to be nothing more that a political smokescreen, Democrat New York state comptroller Tom DiNapoli  is hinting he may just audit the bloated Thruway Authority's books.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli opened the door to possibly auditing the Thruway Authority's financial books Tuesday as the agency seeks to push through a controversial 45 percent toll hike on trucks.

The comptroller said the agency failed to thoroughly implement many of the recommendations he made in 2009 when it pushed through a previous toll increase. Had the findings from that audit been followed, he said, "many of the same problems that exist today would have been addressed.''

"Our Thruway system helps sustain the upstate economy. Increasing tolls could have a negative impact on our fragile economic recovery and hurt small businesses and consumers,'' the comptroller warned.

Bold added.  A few surviving Upstate residents may recall that Thruway tolls were supposed to disappear when the bonds were paid off in 1996.

The Thruway was built beginning in the 1950s and tolls were supposed to have paid off the superhighway in 1996.

 Ah, yes, 1996:

Wendy Long statement on Obamacare decision

Earlier today:

“Although I have yet to read fully all the opinions in this complicated ruling, I respectfully disagree that Obamacare’s individual mandate is justified as a tax. But now that the Court majority has called it a ‘tax,’ as New York’s next United States Senator, I will work to repeal this tax and replace it with a sensible plan to improve health insurance coverage for all Americans.”

Long to face Cuomo croney Gillibrand

Wendy Long appears to have easily won the New York GOP primary race for US Senate.  She'll face Kirsten Gillibrand, the most liberal member of the Democrat-controlled Senate and a long-time Andy Cuomo crony.

Long, who was endorsed by South of 5 and 20, got 51 percent of the vote in a three way race. 

If you just tuning in to Wendy, try this for starters:

The main purpose and idea of my campaign is not original. I can't claim authorship. An inspired group of New Yorkers and other Americans came up with the idea, about 225 years ago.

It's called limited self-government, of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Wendy Long for US Senate

Wendy at the range

We endorse Wendy Long in Tuesday's Republican primary.   Wendy deserves to replace America's most liberal senator, former tobacco company lawyer Kirsten Gillibrand.

With so many serious issues and responsibilities before the United States Senate, New York needs a Senator who thinks for herself - not just someone who rubber-stamps the Obama agenda or checks with Chuck Schumer and says, "Me too!"

Independence is a quality that New Yorkers used to count on in our Senators, regardless of party. Think of names like Kennedy, Buckley, Moynihan, Clinton, D'Amato: a lot of political differences come to mind. But they have something in common, too: they are names associated with purpose, with ideas, and with stature worthy of a Senator from New York, not a cheerleader on the sidelines of an administration whose policies have so clearly failed.
And this brings me to the heart of my candidacy.

The main purpose and idea of my campaign is not original. I can't claim authorship. An inspired group of New Yorkers and other Americans came up with the idea, about 225 years ago.

It's called limited self-government, of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Politicians wake up to toll increase

Will billionaire Cuomo campaign donor Howard Milstein get away with his stake-through-the-heart Thruway toll increase?  Maybe not.  In the Finger Lakes:

You won't find any supporters of a proposed New York State Thruway toll hike among Cayuga County's state legislators...

The potential toll increase was criticized by Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, who said that it's another example of New York "not being open for business."

"It would increase the cost of goods and services and increase costs at a time that people do not need any more increased costs," he said.

Assemblyman Gary Finch, R-Springport, shared Kolb's position.

"At a time when we're trying to get the economy to come back, in addition to the high cost of fuel, we're putting an additional burden on trucks that will be reflected in the costs of goods and merchandise to the consumer," he said.

Assemblyman Robert Oaks, R-Macedon, and state Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, also oppose the proposed toll increase.

And from the remote Western New York outpost of Amherst:

Representative Kathy Hochul (NY-26) sent a letter to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo expressing her opposition to a proposed 45 percent increase in tolls for trucks on the New York State Thruway stating that the increase would negatively impact Western New York’s economy.

In the letter Hochul writes: “If implemented, this would seriously hinder economic activity in our region. I spoke to truckers just today who say they will have no option but to either pass on the additional costs of the higher tolls to their customers, or to avoid the Thruway altogether by using secondary roads. The Thruway Authority’s proposal would make the cost of business in our state even higher, especially in rural communities that depend on trucks for freight service.”

We remind Rep. Hochul that people who depend on truck transportation are not confined to New York's rural hinterlands.  Every man, woman and child in the United States depends on trucks for the necessities and luxuries of modern life. 

Bloomberg supports giant donuts

The multiple visions of the self-anointed:

At Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s press conference touting his efforts to stop the sale of large soft drinks in restaurants, one reporter in attendance brought up the interesting fact that his administration also supporting “National Donut Day” tomorrow and inquired as to whether that muddled the mayor’s message on the issue.

Indeed, at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, Entenmann’s will be unveiling “Custom-made Entenmann’s large donuts, 1-foot in diameter” at Madison Square Park at the same time they unveil a “Proclamation Letter by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.”

State to push more heavy trucks onto rural roads

Aurora, NY - April, 2010

2008:

“For far too long, people living throughout the Finger Lakes in Onondaga, Cayuga and Tompkins counties have been suffering, trying to get big rigs off the back roads winding through the region,” said Governor Paterson. “Residents have rightfully voiced concerns about trucks spilling garbage into lakes and watersheds. People also have expressed concern that the large trucks are damaging roads and houses, emitting fumes, creating noise and making it dangerous to walk or ride bikes on the roadways. I am pleased to announce that I have directed the New York State Department of Transportation to develop a new regulatory policy aimed at keeping large trucks off the Main Streets of Central New York and on the Interstate System, where they should be.”

“These state regulations are something that the people of Skaneateles and the Finger Lakes area have sought for a very long time. There is finally light at the end of the (garbage truck) tunnel,” said Senator Schumer. “Governor Paterson, to his credit, has seen that state regulations are the way to go to get trucks – whether they be public or private, from New York City or elsewhere – off our community roads and onto the highways where they belong.”

 2011:

The state Thruway Authority on Wednesday proposed a 45 percent increase in tolls for most trucks on the superhighway to help bail out the financially strapped agency.

The authority’s board voted Wednesday to allow executive director Thomas Madison to “proceed with necessary actions” to implement the toll hike, which would apply to trucks with three or more axles.

Everyone is safer when big trucks stick to divided highways, which is one of the reasons we have a Thruway in the first place.  We believe the increase in heavy truck traffic on the Finger Lakes' rural roads has been the direct result of Thruway toll increases.  Its long past time to fire Howard Milstein, disband the Thruway Authority and remove all tolls.  A toll-free Thruway will make Upstate safer while slowing the disintegration of the Empire State's economy.

Billionaire Cuomo donor to raise Thruway tolls

How can our state government help revive Upsate's reeling economy?  Raise Thruway tolls, of course!

A top official at the state Thruway Authority on Wednesday didn't rule out a potential toll increase as the authority develops a long-term financial plan.

Yeah, that's the ticket!  Raise the cost of transportation!  Take more money out of Upstaters' pockets, while at the same time raising the price of all the goods and services thy need to live!

Who's responsible for this brilliant insight?  While, its Howard Milstein, a billionaire real estate developer from Manhattan who also happens to be one of Andy Cuomo's biggest donors!

Milstein, a billionaire banker and real estate businessman and a major donor to Cuomo and other state Democrats and Republicans, is the governor’s choice to head the Thruway Authority. Cuomo rejects the notion that Milstein’s donations had any link to his appointment, and maybe that’s possible. What does a billionaire want with a high-level patronage job, anyway? Defending the appointment, Cuomo said, “He’s an extraordinary businessman and having a private sector businessman who’s successful in real estate and finances makes total sense for the Thruway Authority.”

Well, maybe. First, though, you have to define successful. The fact is that Milstein’s real estate record in Niagara Falls has been abysmal. Milstein and his brother, Edward, have purchased about 441 parcels in downtown Niagara Falls over the last 12 years under the company name of Niagara Falls Redevelopment.

The Milsteins have done virtually nothing with these properties. They have outsized influence over economic development in Niagara Falls and that influence is shown in a swath of vacant, unimproved properties. Now—from the perspective of Western New Yorkers, at least—that disastrous record is being rewarded with a plum assignment from the governor. It’s deflating.

Bid out Thruway maintenance to private contractors?  Privatize the whole thing?  Don't be meshuggina.  It won't bother Milstein to an spend an extra buck to see a specialist in Rochester, or take his kids to the State Fair.  And as for you, who cares?

Nozzolio: force NY taxpayers to subsidize Virginia millionaire

AES Cayuga

The combination of an anemic Upstate economy, fanatic environmental regulations, and the abundance of cheap, clean natural gas being produced in neighboring states has resulted in hard times for the AES coal powered generator on Cayuga Lake.  In fact, AES had made the difficult business decision to enter bankruptcy, and has shut down operations at its AES Cayuga plant.  The facility's landmark steam plume has disappeared from Cayuga's shoreline, except for for brief periods this winter when the plant, which has no heating system, had to be operated to prevent freezing. 

As we've previously reported,  financial difficulties at AES have sent shock waves through local governments in the Town of Lansing, Tompkins County, and the Lansing Central School, all of whom have feasted on the millions in property tax revenues paid every year by AES.  An economist might point out that all those millions actually came from Finger Lakes residents, who pay the highest electric rates in the continental US.

Tax addicted local governments, terrified that they might loose some of their historic ability to coerce gold plated pay and benefit packages from struggling peasants, however, can rest easy this morning.  "Republican" State Senator Mike Nozzolio has decided to use the power of government to force taxpayers to buy AES' otherwise unsaleable product.

This proposed legislation, titled S.6842, recommends the establishment of a power purchase agreement with the New York State Power Authority. The legislation would ensure that the AES Cayuga plant reopens and remains operational for a minimum of three years.

Power produced under Nozzolio's little experiment in serfdom will be doled out, not to Finger Lakes homeowners, but to politically connected fats cats.

Under the legislation, energy purchased from the AES Cayuga plant would be directed to supplement the state's ReCharge NY program. The ReCharge NY program allocates low-cost power to New York State employers.

Harker

And while local taxing entities are thrilled that their cash cow will be spared, let's not forget Victoria D. Harker, CEO of AES and the real beneficiary of Nozzolio's generosity with your money.   Despite the recent problems with her coal burning operation, and unlike many of her Upstate ratepayers, Vicki will still be able to afford dinners out.  Forbes reports Ms. Harker's total compensation from AES in 2010 was $2,661,548.00, with an additional $142,578.00 provided in director's fees from Darden Restaurants.



Updates:  

The well compensated Ms. Harken's actual title is "Chief Financial Officer and President of Global Business Services."   Vicki is reported to be planning to be out the door this summer.

For the truth about New York' s feudal "ReCharge NY" program, see One of Nine.

His mandate is broad, indeed

Oops!

Worried about poor results from New York's most-expensive-in-the-country public schools?  Relax, Andy Cuomo has appointed millionaire vineyard owner Richard Parsons to fix everything.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that he has named leading education officials to a New York Education Reform Commission to look at ways to improve the state's school system.

Richard Parsons, the retired chairman of Citigroup, will chair the 20-member commission.

The commission's naming comes after Cuomo and state lawmakers agreed in February to a new evaluation system for teachers. He and the Legislature are also deciding whether to make teacher evaluations public.

Cuomo said the "mandate before this commission is broad."

Actually, Parsons is a man who dated a broad.

It's no secret that Citigroup board Chairman Richard Parsons has been working for months to repair the financial giant.

But, until now, even his closest associates didn't know he also was wrestling with a personal crisis - how to tell his wife and three children he has fathered a child with another woman.

Parsons and model-philanthropist MacDella Cooper are the parents of a baby girl named Ella.

Andy, if you want to be president, you'll need to man up to the teachers' unions and support school choice.

Planning to visit Rochester?

Kodak Park demolition

Finger Lakes travelers, be aware that Rochester's fastest growing revenue source is red light cameras.

Net revenues from red light tickets are three times the city’s budgeted estimates, records show — with 2½ months to go in the fiscal year.

The additional $400,000 in fines collected to date is attributable to a faster deployment of cameras and improved collections, officials said.

Forget about that antiquated right to confront your accuser in open court.  Tickets are mailed to vehicle owners, regardless of who was driving.  

Violators receive a $50 ticket in the mail. The fine jumps to $75 if not paid, and eventually the car can be booted or towed. Fines are levied against the vehicle owner, based on the license plate.

Tim's Cogitorium follows the money, and guess what?

While the city has collected $141,045 in fines so far, that’s only half the amount that’s outstanding because over 50% of the tickets remain unpaid.  Nearly 1 in 4 tickets are in default or in collections, meaning the chances of ever getting paid are slim.

But hey, $141k isn’t pocket change.  That’s a good profit, right?  It turns out, not so much.  You see, the cameras were installed and are maintained by Arizona-based vendor Redflex Traffic Systems.  Over the same period, they have billed the city $145,164 for operating the system.  Fortunately, there is a clause in the city’s contract with Redflex saying they can’t be billed more than they take in.  So, all totaled, the city has seen a net cash influx of… let me work the arithmetic out here… carry the 1… ah, yes… $0.

While the red light scam is taking money out of citizen's already depleted pockets, one Rochester guy is still doing OK.

Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy had a big day at Saratoga Race Course, winning $2,628 one day there last summer, his tax returns showed.

Duffy’s income in 2011, in fact, was significantly higher than his boss, Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Their returns were released Tuesday.

Duffy earned $76,770 from his police pension — he’s the former police chief in Rochester, as well as the former mayor — and $152,823 as lieutenant governor.

Along with some investment  earnings, his and his wife’s total taxable income came to $237,995.

Upstaters should recall that Duffy is in charge of your economic development.  Does he think we live in Arizona, or Australia?  Perhaps we should all got to the track.