Health Care fiasco

Why has all the hoopla died down about health care in the news? This isn't over. They have to reconcile (read water down) the Senate proposal with the House version. There is still time to challenge this fiasco!

Where is the outrage about Senators selling their votes? The last remaining Democratic Senators literally sold their vote and the leadership(?) bought them. The new bill seems to be so watered down that no one will benefit from the changes. This is ridiculous and blatant!

Terrorist Attack

Janet Naploitano says, the system worked. Really? The terrorist who tried to blow up a Northwest Airliner was 80% successful! He got on boar with a bomb and ignited it. Thank God it was defective. Just how did the system work that allowed this person to get on a plane with a one way ticket which was reportedly paid with cash and had little or no luggage. He was on a watch list, but not a no-fly list. This is the same list Ted Kennedy was on, remember that? So just what part of the system worked? The other passengers and crew jumping the guy (and hopefully beating the hell out of him)?

I wonder what the liberal press would be saying if this happened on George Bushes watch, where is the outrage about the lack of controls on suspected terrorists? After all this guys father pleaded with our embassy to watch his son!

Valkyrie

I just watched the History Channel about the Nazi regime and the assassination attempts on Hitler by some members of his army. As a first generation American of a German born jew, I have grown up with movies, stories and first hand accounts of the horrors of the Nazi regime. The similarities of how Hitler rose to power and the hunger of the German populace to embrace change is eerily similar to how our current President rose to power. I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL LEAD US INTO ANOTHER HOLOCAUST AND/OR WORLD WAR, but I am concerned with the move to a socialist platform for our country. Will we go as far as the Third Reich went to make the population dependent on a central federal government? Are the right winged Democrats following the same path (knowingly or unwittingly) bad mouthing those who would challenge their motives? Can we get to a point of rioting and civil disruptions causing class, race or religious wars within our own boundaries? I am scared! I am concerned for the future of this country. We ALL need to get involved, as citizens, in our governing. We can do this most effectively in our towns and cities where we can have a direct input. We need to get involved in the existing parties rather then attempting to create a third or fourth party. By getting involved at a grass roots effort (real grass or astro turf)we can have a say in party platforms and candidates for office. If we stand by the sidelines, we will never have a say in anything.

Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative, get involved. Get educated and help put the right people (your choice) into office to straighten out the mess we are in. Only by having a vested interest in our future can we affect change. Keep the debate based on facts, fair and open. If you have a different point of view, learn about the issue and debate the issue, don't attempt to smear the opposition. Please, we are all Americans. I truly believe none of us want to destroy our country or our way of life, but we need to get back to the basics. Get a copy of the Constitution and READ it. This is the blueprint we need to follow. The federal government is getting too big and destroying our rights. We need to take responsibility for ourselves, our families and our neighbors and not look to the federal government to look after our families and neighbors in tough times or natural disasters. We need to take care of each other and take responsibility for our actions and inactions.

Bruen Rescue Squad update

At the December Town Board meeting, I reported seeing a Bruen ambulance responding to a call and the driver was talking on a cell phone as he navigated through the intersection of Red Mill Road and Route 151. Apparently, Rick McCabe gave my letter to Brad Rose, of the rescue squad, and Brad called me the next day to get more information on the call. Apparently there was no call at the time and date that I witnessed this incredibly poor showing of judgment on the part of the driver. Brad stated there was only two calls that day and neither were at 3:30 pm. That tells me that either I can't tell time or the driver was utilizing the lights and siren for a non-emergency event. I would like to believe that I can't tell time as I not only saw the ambulance, but two EG police cars and and EGFD chief's car responding. But I digress.

Brad assured me he spoke to the crew that was on duty the day in question and further indicated that he told them it was not wise to operate an emergency vehicle in emergency mode with the driver talking on the phone. If it is a call related to the response someone else should be on the phone and if it was a private call, simply hang up! That said, I expect not to see this repeated.

I do appreciate Rick McCabe and Brad Roses rapid response to my concern.

East Greenbush now has a junk bond rating! All of a sudden we are in debt to the tune of $2.6 million! What is the first reaction from a spokes person from McCabe’s office? A 15% tax increase!!! That’s right Fred Nero stated they knew about this all the way back in 2008! Well why didn’t you do something? The town supervisors office also sited several developments that are on the planning board that will raise income for the Town. Really? Do they have any tax breaks for building in Town? How much will they add and how much more will it cost for infrastructure. Hoping that non-built developments will bail us out of this is like the State using next year’s stimulus to pay this year’s shortfall.
Rick Matters and Phil Danaher, both of whom I like on the board, said they were unaware of this deficit and that they were recently told that everything was financially fine by the Supervisor. That is unbelievable! Doesn’t the Town Board, you know the governing body of our local government, ever review the income and expense sheets? These should include amounts of borrowed money etc.? If not why aren’t the board members either demanding to see them and/or making it public that they are not allowed to see the books? Why is McCabe apparently able to hide things from our other elected officials?
Now is the time people. We need to tell our elected officials we have had enough! Call and write to our officials and tell them NO TAX INCREASE! Here’s an idea, do what we have to do in our homes! Cut the budget, that’s right 15% to start across the board! Yes that will include layoffs, cut services and reduce expenses. It means opening contracts and renegotiating union contracts. How about the dispatchers $1,000.00 per year, every year for longevity pay. Yep, every year the dispatchers get paid up to $20,000 each in longevity! How many get $20,000? At least two that I know of. That’s $40,000 savings right there, plus the lesser amounts for the other dispatchers with less seniority probably another $10,00- right in one department. What would we save if we closed down our dispatch center and paid the County to dispatch our services (like most of the rest of the county municipalities)What do the other contracts look like? How about clothing allowance for DPW workers? Do they need all the uniforms they get or can we cut the budget a little there? The Town board took less of a cut in pay then other boards in the Town (per Dean Kennedy), let’s have another look at their salaries and covered expenses. This is the level of government where we have a direct say. Get involved! Attend Town Board meetings and discuss your concerns!
DO WE NEED A TEA PARTY IN FRONT OF TOWN HALL???????????

Contacting our Legislators

I have been fed up with the State politicians for a long time. I have written emails and received responses from their offices. My latest complaint is the lack of responsibility for closing the State shortfall and the Governors plan to not pay state aid to localities so there is enough money to pay the bills. Well, it is my opinion that state aid to localities is indeed a bill that the State must pay. I contacted my Senators office and a very polite person listened and stated someone would get back to me regarding my concerns with the legislators lack of proper fiscal responsibility after speaking with the Senator. I then called my Assembly person, Ron Canastrari. I was told the Assemblyman was out of the office until Monday and would get back to me regarding my concerns. On Friday morning I was driving to the Cape to help a friend move and listening to tunes in my pickup. The music was good and loud and I missed the call or the Berkshires blocked yet another signal, anyway, I had a voice mail not from Canastrari's office, but for Canastrari himself! He indicated he was traveling, but wanted to discuss my concerns. WOW! I called back to the number he left which was different then his main office number, and left a message. Say what you want about politicians, but here was a man, who I don't agree with a lot of his choices, but took the time to listen to one of his constituents personally. He has my attention. Once I speak to him, I will follow this post up. My concern revolves around utilizing next years stimulus money for this years debt and not getting enough money to close the entire gap.

poor snowplowing

With the first snow event of the season out of the way and a dismal showing of road clearing ability, I read the Times Union article stating that budget cuts had no effect on the snow removal. They quoted Albany County Public Works Commissioner, Michael Franchinni, as saying it was a fast moving storm of short duration that led to the early morning commuting problems. I don't doubt that the timing of the storm played a part of the problem, but if budget cuts become an issue, as he further stated some positions have been eliminated in the 2010 budget, perhaps they can follow the example of the fire service. Put a contingent of volunteers to work to augment the paid staff. In fact you could replace all the paid staff with volunteers. After all you know when a storm is scheduled, as we have highly paid T,V, meteorologists and their predictions. Simply page out the volunteers to drive the plows and sand trucks. Come on now, we all know someone and some have said ourselves, we could do a better job at plowing. Think of all the money you would save by not paying professionals to do the plowing and replace them with volunteers.