Where is OC Planning?

Another development in New Hartford! This time further out on Seneca Turnpike. This is pretty close to the edge of the urbanized area, pushing sprawl further out. While town officials think this is a good thing, town residents already know otherwise based on some of the comments to the OD article.

One has to ask, where is Oneida County Planning in all this? If anyone, those professionls Should understand the harm that sprawl causes the entire region... that the entire region is becoming unsustainable because there are too few of us to afford to pay for and maintain the additionl infrastructure needed to support it ... But they seem to rubber stamp anything a politically connected developer wants to do.

OC Planning rubber-stamped all the new suburban developments that plugged sanitary sewage
lines into a combined sewer overflow which led to our expensive Consent Order that we pay for in our sewer bills. OC Planning ignored its own planning documents when the County pushed to send Utica water to Verona. OC Planning sat idly by while a nice-sized airport was traded in for something our population cannot possibly justify.

Read Will Greater Cleveland squander its chance for sustainability planning. They could be talking about Greater Utica.

Why do we pay for a county planning department that misses the forest for the trees?

Challenge Federal Jurisdiction . . .

This nonsense has really gone on long enough: Officials wait for decision on need for permit for nano site.

But the Army Corps doesn’t want the site’s wetlands to be touched until a buyer is found.

The theory for federal control and the need for federal permission to develop the site is that the "wetlands" on the site are somehow connected to the navigible waters of the United States. But the federal government has really been pushing the envelope on this to the point where people cannot even develop their own homesites because a drainage ditch runs across their premises.

First, whatever is done to the Marcy site, there is no impact on interstate commerce whatsoever -- meaning that the federal government has no jurisdiction.

Second, there are no "waters of the United States" that could be potentially affected. Unlike non-colonial states that were carved out of federal territory which would have federal waters, New York State was an original colony. It was sovereign after Independence was declared. The waters belong to the state and not the federal government.

No one wants to challenge federal jurisdiction because of the potential loss of federal funds -- the strings holding our puppets. But this needs to be done, otherwise more and more decisions are going to be made by a far off bureaucracy that is unresponsive to local needs . . . unresponsive like King George was unresponsive to the colonies.

Assault on Private Business, Taxpayers, Insurance Buyers

Three recent stories in the OD:
Utica’s ambulance controversy becomes state issue
Utica fire officials urge state lawmakers on ambulance law
Proposed state law could end fight over Utica ambulance service

Changing the law to exempt municipalities from having to show a public need to run an ambulance service is a terrible idea.

First, it opens the doors in many places to government competing directly with existing private businesses in many communities.  Do we really want to encourage expansion of the roll of government?

Second, since government is almost never as efficiently run as private businesses, undoubtedly the taxpayers are going to wind up paying for some of this.  In the case of Utica, we have yet to see a complete accounting for what the ambulance service is costing taxpayers, particularly in the areas of overtime and increased cost to cover increased pensions generated by more overtime. Of course the fire department will support this!

Third, at least in the case of Utica according to news reports, charges to insurance companies for ambulance services have been significantly higher than what is being charged by the private ambulance service.  This will result in increased health insurance rates for the region.

The proposed law is anti-business and will wind up costing taxpayers and health insurance buyers more money.

Here We Go Again!

Western Oneida County Leader:'We need more water'

1. Western Oneida County municipalities which hope to grow and/or the Turning Stone Casino need to make the investments already made by Utica and its surrounding municipalities in developing their own water supply resources instead of Johnny-come-lately merely tapping into Greater Utica's/Herkimer County's supply. To the extent the Utica area has water to spare (legally doubtful) it needs to be kept in reserve for future growth in Greater Utica.

2. Oneida County needs to follow the water supply study it commissioned back in the late 1960s along with the State Health Department. It looked at all potential water supply resources in the Region and planned for significant future growth. No new study is needed. The plan is there. Other sources exist that are more appropriate for western OC to use.

3. Oneida County needs to understand that the water supply belongs to certain communities in Greater Utica and not to the County, and that certain Herkimer County municipalies already have been given rights to the Greater Utica supply. The communities with rights are specifically listed in MVWA's permit. Western Oneida County is not included.

4. The City of Utica, New Hartford, Whitestown and other municipalities currently listed in the permit need to impress upon their MVWA reps that any proposal to share water with Western Oneida County will limit potential future growth in THEIR areas.

5. Mr. Becher needs to be replaced.

ODstrich!

This is just so maddening: OD's View: We-need-to-work-on-improving-our-self-esteem
NO, WE DON'T!

There are many of us who see the good in Utica, promote it, and help Utica in whatever way we can.  But we are realists.  We are not going to pretend there are no problems.... Ignoring problems is a sure fire way of keeping them from ever being solved.

AND WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.

But silence is clearly what the O D wants of us if we cannot support the vision of the Editorial Board and the regional power structure that it supports.

The problem is not the people who are complaining. Rather, it is an arrogant regional elite who think they are smarter than everyone else, think only of themselves rather than the people they supposedly serve, and refuse to acknowledge the failure of their policies; and an Observer-Dispatch that lets them get away with it.

A Diploma for Every Occasion! or Purpose . . . or Whatever . ..

Seems like Global History is getting the short shrift in the latest "improvement" to come out of our Albany Educrats.

From OD's view: Regents' plan for diploma options should get OK

Beginning in 2013, students entering ninth grade would have a choice of three possible pathways to graduation:

The traditional Regents diploma. . . .

A Career and Technical Education diploma. This would require students to pass Regents exams in English, math, science and U.S. history. Instead of the global history exam, they would take a CTE assessment that meets the college and career-ready level of rigor.

The STEM diploma. This focuses on science, technology, engineering and math. Students who choose this path would substitute a second math or science assessment for the global history requirement. . .

What do the Regents have against Global History?

Read between the lines: The Regents are preparing students either for college or for some line of work as though those are the only two purposes of a public school education. 

What ever happened to the idea of creating a knowledgeable population that can think for itself?

While many fail to see the importance of learning history (I was once in this category) the things that are happening today in the news are really not that different from what has happened before. People should be aware of global history to be aware of where their society may be headed. With awareness comes the power to avoid the mistakes of the past through the power of the ballot box . . . Ignorance will doom society to repeat the sins of the past.

The intent of the Regents seems pretty apparent: The Regent's Diploma students get Global History. They are being groomed to be the future leaders of a new global society. The rest are trained to be cogs in that society's machinery, merely to produce needed goods and services. Deliberately keep them ignorant of global history and they won't be able to muck up the New World Order.

OD Blackout: Paladino Endorses Kicinski

From the Amherst Times: Paladino Endorses Kicinski for Congress
From WNY Media's Albany's Insanity: PALADINO ENDORSES KICINSKI FOR CONGRESS

  “In 2010, the TEA Party supported and campaigned for their present representative,” said Paladino. “But it is clear from the incumbent’s voting record that he is not listening to or representing the people of the district,” Paladino continued. “Mike can be trusted because he knows he is accountable to those who support him.”

Interesting . . .

Fishing for $$$!

This makes me crazy . . . 

Local resort receives $700,000 federal tourism grant (5/14/2012)

Fish Creek Cabin Resort has received a Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan for rural development totaling $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer announced Monday. The funding will allow the resort to purchase cabins and rental equipment and grow business beyond kayaking and canoeing to benefit skiers, fishers, and hikers as well, Schumer said.

Tourism grant awards announced (5/14/2012)

Oneida County Tourism has announced the recipients for its new Tourism Marketing Grant Assistance Program. The awards provide financial assistance for the promotion of tourism attractions, events and activities taking place in Oneida County . . . Fish Creek Cabin Resorts,. 5,625.00,. . .

Microenterprise Grant assists Fish Creek Cabin Resort to begin operations in Taberg, NY (10/27/2011)

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. announced today that Fish Creek Cabin Resort, LLC has received an Oneida County Microenterprise Grant in the amount of $34,200 to assist its startup operations. The Oneida County Microenterprise Grant program, administered by Mohawk Valley EDGE, utilizes Community Development Block Grant funding . . .

The grant will assist Fish Creek Cabin Resort with working capital as they commence a $1.44m civic, recreational and eco-tourism destination project that is transforming a once blighted landscape in the Town of Annsville from an income dormant rental housing community into a 7-acre four-season economically viable recreation campus. 

From a March 2011 OCIDA Notice of Public Hearing we find out that OCIDA

will provide financial assistance to the Company in the form of issuance of a lease for a term of five (5) years, exemptions from mortgage recording tax, exemptions from sales and use taxes and abatement of real property taxes for a period of five (5) years

and buried in this article Indium Corp. makes plans to expand (10/15/10)

the IDA also approved an initial authorizing resolution for the Fish Creek Cabin Resort, which would be located in Taberg and primarily target kayakers visiting the area.

What ever happened to people putting their own capital at risk?  or going to a Bank for a loan? or selling shares to investors to raise capital?

Through their government the Taxpayers have been a silent "partner" to this little Oneida County start up business -- or making "investments" as the politicians like to claim -- right from its inception. But unlike a real partner, they get NO right to a return on the investment of THEIR money: 

It seems like there's no such thing as a free market/level playing field anymore.  Government is involved in everything.  This is discouraging to those who don't want handouts because Government becomes their competitor.

Upward Bound: DEBT!

Per the OD: MVCC receives $250,000 grant to help students.

Mohawk Valley Community College will receive a $250,000 federal grant to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna announced this morning.

Wow ... this sounds like great news.  Who could be against helping disadvantaged students?

MVCC's Upward Bound program "aims to generate the skills and motivation necessary to complete a higher education degree," according to a news release. Students eligible to participate include first-generation college students, low-income students and those with disabilities.

Nice -- but how is this different from what we are already paying for?  Aren't our schools supposedly already geared to generate skills necessary to complete a higher education degree?  

And how does a federal program generate "MOTIVATION? The implication is that first-generation college students, low-income students, and those with disabilities somehow are not motivated.

Now consider that about 40 cents of every dollar of this grant (or about $100,000) is being borrowed by the federal taxpayer.

One's education is the responsibility of the parents, and ultimately, the students themselves.  There are so many opportunities already out there that no one should be lacking the education they want if they are really motivated.  No federal program can substitute for what must come from within.

What this program is ... like many others ... is to foster a culture of dependency on the federal government.  Look at the "Life of Julia" scenario promoted by the current administration.  The implication is that people need the federal government to get by.  But they don't . . .

The only thing Upward Bound by this program is our National Debt .... Debt to purchase government control of many people.

TEA Party: NOT Going Away!

As much as some Republicans wish it, the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party is NOT going away. Six Term US Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind) appears headed for defeat tonight in today's primary at the hands of Richard Mourdock, who was backed by Tea Party members. Surely his support for the UN's Law of the Sea Treaty, which was supported by both Bush and Clinton administrations, did not win any support among Tea Party members who view the treaty as an affront to US sovereignty.


In our own backyard we have a Tea Party Challenge to Representative Richard Hanna on the Republican ticket June 26 by Michael Kicinski of Earlville.  The OD (unsurprisingly) merely reported that Kicinski was running in a short blurb today not mentioning that Kicinski fought off a challenge to his petitions by the Oneida County Republican Establishment.

Unreported by the OD whatsoever is the fact that long-time local Conservative leader Julie Miller of Utica also filed petitions to challenge Mr. Hanna on the Conservative line. You have to read the Binghamton Press-Connects to find that out.  

Mr. Kicinski may seem like a long shot -- but maybe not. Mr. Hanna won with Tea Party support in his last run, but cannot count on that support now. The Tea Party favors limited government and fiscal responsibility, and abhors politics-as-usual. It thought it had a champion in Mr. Hanna who was not a politician.  However, Mr. Hanna not only has sounded very much like a politician after taking office, he has disappointed many with his votes to increase the debt ceiling three times and for more government programs. He gives no comfort to those who fear that government has simply become too intrusive into every-day lives, nor to those who fear that our national debt will become this nation's undoing.   Mr. Hanna could be viewed as an out-of-touch "1% er" -- in tune with the "global elite" compared to Mr. Kicinski who unabashedly admits to being unemployed on his web-site -- who like many others, has been the victim of an economy that has been shedding jobs to overseas locales under policies promoted by Democrats and Republicans alike. 

This could be a very interesting primary.    

Metro Government: Let's Get Started.

Every now and then, something comes along in the Observer-Dispatch on the subject of consolidation of regional services or "Metro Government."  Usually promoting the regional agenda of our "powers that be" that already control things  (you know, the people who always seem to manipulate government to wind up on the receiving end of the taxpayer largesse -- see recent posts in NH Online for the latest example), today's edictorial "Time to talk about metro government" is no exception.

The editorial gives three examples of businesses that have been/are being moved to Rome from Utica with county taxpayer (i.e., including Utica residents') participation. These moves manifest the "regional agenda."  Those who call these moves "hijacking" are dismissed by the O-D as "parochial." To the O-D:

The silly turf wars need to stop. We must see ourselves as a region . . .

I agree. The question is, is the Observer-Dispatch serious about our creating a true regional government that will REPLACE our current patchwork, or does the O-D want just enough "consolidation" to continue implementing its friends' current policies which have promoted one unit of local government cannibalizing another (with Utica seemingly always being the one eaten).  

The O-D needs to be reminded that these policies have created sprawl and given us a public infrastructure that far exceeds the needs and ability of our stagnant regional population to sustain.

To be Fair to the residents of the municipalities involved, "Metro" needs to be an "All, or Nothing at all" proposition... Responsibilities for both the good and bad in the region must be shared. One community should not be built up at the expense of another.

So, Observer-Dispatch, when you use these examples of businesses moving from Utica to Rome and promoting "Metro" government, are you ready for a merger of Utica and Rome and environs? Though more ambitious than what this blogger has proposed in the past, I actually think that would be a great idea! That way, when former Rome's tax-base gets augmented while former Utica's declines, some of that money will find its way back to pave roads in former Utica... and it will come back because more than 2/3 of a Utica-Rome Metro Council will be from former Utica and vicinity.

The "devil" is always "in the details,"  isn't it, O-D?


Somehow I don't think the Observer-Dispatch is really interested in Metro government, at least not one where ALL participating residents will share the benefits, ALL will share the burdens (including the cost of negative results such as declining tax base or incomes), and ALL will share in the decision-making. The O-D has always been there to demand that Utica "share" its benefits with the region, but has never demanded that the region share Utica's burdens . . . The region's principal city, Utica, is always left to fend for itself.    Like the pot calling the kettle black, perhaps the O-D is the one that is being parochial.....

But I could be wrong.   This is 2012 and some say the world as we know it is about to end.  If so . . .

Metro Government: Let's Get Started.

Cannabalism . . . While Utica Sleeps!

OD 10/15/10 Indium Corp. makes plans to expand

Indium Corp. is looking to expand its space of operations by moving into an additional building at 6149 Sutliff Road in Oriskany, company officials said Friday. . . .
The 64,000-square-foot building Indium Corp. is looking to purchase has an assessed value of $773,000 . .

Rome Sentinel 7/21/11: Rome? Georgia? China?

Indium Corp. wants to open a manufacturing plant in the West Rome Industrial Park and create 30 jobs over time, but the plan comes with some conditions. Before Indium buys and renovates the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive, it wants incentives from the county Industrial Development Agency and the state. While Kevin Martin, outside counsel for Indium, says Rome is the preferred location, he notes the company also is considering sites in Fulton County in Georgia, and China. . . .

Indium has its global headquarters in Clinton and a facility in Utica. It has 302 direct employees in Oneida County, plus contract workers that bring the total number to around 400, said Martin. The addition of a Rome plant would not affect employment at the other two locations in the county.

Rome Sentinel 4/20/12: $1M in grants and credits for Indium Rome expansion

 The company has already bought the former ConMed building at 5836 Success Drive and begun renovations. The new location will create up to 24 new full-time jobs. Indium currently has about 320 employees at its Clinton and Utica facilities.

Empire State Development Corp., New York’s economic development agency, is providing the company with a $347,939 grant to help offset the cost of the purchase of new machinery and equipment, as well as $652,061 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax benefits over five years.

 The project, estimated at $10 million, includes the relocation and expansion of some operations from Indium’s Lincoln Avenue location in Utica, including existing machinery and equipment. . . .  

116,124 square feet . . .

So plans have changed from "not affect"ing employment at the company's other two locations (July 2011) to relocating operations from Lincoln Ave to a location almost 21 miles away on the FAR side of Rome in April, 2012.  Pretty sad for a company founded in Utica in 1934. Indium can certainly do what it wants, and should do what it needs to survive and thrive, BUT

Why should taxpayers participate in this?  And where the heck were Utica officials all this time?

The answer to the last question may be that Utica officials and residents were already tapped out by this corporate pan-handler . . . 

OD Editorial 10/09/2007:  Indium deal lacking job information.

In its deal between the city of Utica and Indium Corp. that could be worth nearly $1.2 million, it’s not clear to the public whether Indium will be living up to its part of the bargain because it’s not fully forthcoming on job totals and job goals. By refusing to disclose that information, the company fails to provide specifics the public has a right to know as a partner in the deal.  That deal was announced last week following preliminary approval by the Utica Industrial Development Corp. of a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program and mortgage recording tax and sales tax exemptions that could total $545,000 over the next decade. That would be in addition to a $600,000 loan, approved by Utica’s Department of Urban and Economic Development in July. . . .

The $600,000 “loan” won’t have to be repaid if the company maintains 120 jobs at two Utica sites for five years. 

2007 to 2012 is -- 5 years!  Yup -- time to move on to the next community teat to milk. 

Enough is enough. Handouts are wasted money.  They do not fix the problem.

Cannibalism!

Indium receives $1M from state to expand 

Indium Corp. will move “selected” operations, including machinery and equipment, from its offices on Lincoln Avenue to a new facility on Success Drive in Rome.
The project will be supported by $1 million in a state grant and tax benefits, and $100,000 via the city of Rome.

It's interesting how often taxpayers pay for companies to move from Utica to Rome. Now people will have to drive farther (with $4.00/gal gas) to go to work! Even a move to the NH Business Park would have been preferable.

And Utica just sits there and takes it

Disgusting.

Viva la Résistance . . .

Per the OD: Utica teachers reject contract: What's next? 

Monday’s defeat leaves $5.8 million out of the budget that would have restored 90 classroom jobs, including full-day kindergarten. . . . 
Approximately $2 million of the $5.8 million would have come from a wage freeze. The remaining $3.8 million is promised in increased state aid if the teachers’ union and the administrators’ union agreed to the teacher and principal evaluation system negotiated in Albany this winter. [emphasis added]

There may be a lot more here than meets the eye.  Undoubtedly, some teachers may have voted down the contract out of greed . . . not wanting to give up the pay increases that almost all other public employees have given up. . . and not caring about the public's ability to pay.    For many, however, the evaluation portion may be the bigger issue.

Instead of being evaluated in accordance with standards set by their supervisors or local board of education, they will be evaluated per standards set in Albany . . . and ultimately Washington where this program is originating.

People take on debt to build their homes.  The nation is taking on debt also to build a structure:  A NATIONAL structure to control our local schools.

Control what goes on in our schools, and you control the population.

Viva la Résistance!

Marketing Effort? . . .

or Marketing Study?

Per the OD: Our view: Airport needs more aggressive marketing effort

According to the editorial, Fixed Base Operations at Griffiss "International"  Airport simply have not produced the profits anticipated (hoped-for) by Oneida County. But the OD has the answer:

What’s really needed is more aggressive marketing of the airport. That needs to be a combined effort, with the county, Mohawk Valley EDGE and the airport commissioner working in partnership with Million Air — Freeman Holdings’ franchise name — to secure more business. Their success would benefit everyone.

The unstated assumption, of course, is that there is a market for what Griffiss has to offer. . . This seems to be a reoccurring error of our "build it and they will come" county leaders who repeatedly show their ignorance of business basics by spending lots of money on facilities without knowing precisely what needs are currently unserved or underserved locally, how local people are coping with their needs, and who this region's competition might be. This blog talked about the County's lack of basic business information back in 2008 for example.

While it is possible that there is a perfect niche for Griffiss "International" Airport to fill, it is not clear what that niche might be (though there were signs of needs in the air cargo department about 10 years ago).  What is needed is a Marketing STUDY to determine what niches GIA might fill.


Diving into an "aggressive marketing effort"  without knowing the market may result in Oneida County spending a ton of money and effort on the equivalent of marketing snow to Eskimos.

Le Tour . . .

Le Tour de France is the world-famous bicycle race ... this year starting in Liège, Belgium, and traveling in stages over a three week period through numerous French cities (and part of Switzerland) from the English Channel south through the Alps to the Mediterranean Sea, then west to the Pyrenees Mountains then north to end on that famous Boulevard in Paris, Les Champs-Élysées (which handles some 90,000 cars a day when Le Tour isn't running).  People far and wide follow the Tour de France . . . Win it, and you are an international star.  But Le Tour de France is not the only bicycle Tour . . .

Le Tour d'Utica is . . . not quite as famous . . . nor nearly as long (about three hours)  . . . and not even a race.  It's just a time for bicycle enthusiasts to get together and have some fun taking a themed tour of their favorite city -- or least the one that they are closest to.

This year's theme is coffee ... and several stops are planned with coffee in mind.  So while Tour de France followers may want to check out the champagne cellars in Epernay, France, Tour d'Utica participants can check out the roaster at Utica Coffee Roasters on Baggs Square West.

Click on the image at left or visit the CNY-BAP home page for more details.

Join in the fun . . . You might even spot a famous gold bicycle on your ride.

Going Batty in New Hartford . . .

Per the OD: Newest obstacle in N. Hartford storm-water project? Bats The endangered species Indiana Bat to be exact . . .

The town is working to improve storm-water drainage in areas that have historically been impacted by flooding. . . .

But while environmental scientists were examining the upper portion of Beechwood Road, where phase two of the project will begin, they noted that the clearing and removal of trees may interfere with the bat species, said Senior Managing Engineer Charles White of Barton & Loguidice. 

 The firm alerted the Town Board of the issue earlier this month. Now, Barton & Loguidice will perform an environmental study costing about $11,000 to identify if the bats are in fact roosting in the trees. . . .

The bats have been on the endangered species list since 1967 and if they are found here, trees cannot be cleared until fall when the bats head back to the Indiana caves where they hibernate.  [emphasis supplied]

HELLO???   Based on the statement above, the prudent (and less costly) thing would seem to be to assume that the bats actually roost in Beechwood Road's trees and then do all tree clearing between the fall and the time that the bats return from Indiana, whenever that is. [There may even be time now if they hurry.]


Why spend money studying bats when tree-cutting can be timed for when they won't be around?

Not Budging . . .

At least that was the overall impression left after attending a rather frustrating meeting last evening with DOT officials about our favorite topic: The North-South Arterial.

Oh it was not that blatant.  There were the usual conciliatory tones that DOT is looking into "this" or "that"  alternative. . .  but we've been through the drill often enough to know that DOT only looks far enough to justify its own position which can be summarized as "My way IS the highway."  Then it becomes a matter of "expertise" (members of the public are not traffic engineers, you know) and current highway standards require X,Y and Z (i.e., DOT can't accommodate those needs).  The bottom line is that it's always a highway.

The inescapable fact is that the N-S Arterial is also a street -- an integral part of Utica's street grid -- but the proposal continues a 50 year tradition of making that local street system less functional by forcing people to drive out of their way for short local trips and to follow routes that are not intuitive.

Several Utica Council members being in attendance was no help.  Holding on to 62 million dollars seems to be their main concern as opposed to the dysfunction that 62 million will create in the Utica street grid. If I hear that we need to take a "regional"  perspective of the highway design one more time from one of these people it will be one time too many. Utica residents and businesses should not have to be inconvenienced to meet a "regional" need. If Utica goes down the toilet, the whole region will follow.

The take-away is that Sunset Avenue will ultimately be closed and a pedestrian bridge that few will use will take its place. 

Is DOT really incapable of designing a city street or streets that can accommodate the traffic of those who merely want to pass through? Somehow I find that hard to believe.

Sticking a Finger in Your Eye . . .

And Twisting It!

That is what a lot of local Republicans must be feeling today after reading of Congressman Richard Hanna's comments at an Equal Rights Amendment rally in the Huff Po article: Richard Hanna, GOP Congressman, Tells Women To Give Their Money To Democrats. 

"I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault," he told the crowd of mostly women. "I'll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side -- my side -- has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help."

"Precarious times for women?" Women aspire to the highest office in the land and head some of the nation's largest corporations.  Some would say these are the best of times for women.  .

"So many of your rights are under assault?"  Exactly which "rights," Mr. Hanna? Please be specific.


"You need to remind people that you vote" ... Really? In this day and age of minute-to-minute polling that slices and dices voting data among gender, age, racial, ethnic, sexual and political orientations?   

There are reasons why after 40 years the Equal Rights Amendment still has not been ratified by the required 38 states not the least of which are (1) it is not needed and (2) it will be used to distort rational decision making by elevating gender over other considerations.  But this post is about Mr. Hanna and not the ERA.  

When HuffPost asked Hanna after the rally whether he was bucking his party by encouraging women to give their money to "the other side," he said that he wasn't.
"I'm trying to help [the GOP]," he said. "I think it's the appropriate thing to do."

Mr. Hanna, you were nominated for your office by local Republicans as their standard-bearer with the full knowledge that you were an independent thinker and would not always "tow the party line." However, your nomination and election should not be confused with a willingness to be lectured by you as to what Party members should believe. 

You were elected to represent the people of this district in Congress, not to "help" the Republican Party.  Telling women to support Democrats is not "appropriate" because it undermines the Republican Party and many of your supporters rather than "help" them.  If you undermine your supporters, why should they continue to support you?

Mr. Hanna, you may have just lost Utica-Rome's seat in Congress to someone from Binghamton.

Not Buying It . . .

Officials: More money needed to protect Griffiss assets 

“New York needs to come to the table and they need to do it in a big way,” U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, said. “The governor has committed $500,000? I don’t think that’s near enough.”

Just exactly what will this money be buying?