Joe Bruno, that is.

He was on the state payroll for 39 years, and his base legislative salary was $79,500. But you will be financing his retirement with an annual pension of $95,000, based on 41.7 years of pension credits.

How’s that?

Well, the pension calculation also takes into account an additional “stipend” of $41,000 he got as majority leader. And he gets an extra two years of pension credits as a Tier 1 system worker qualified for Section 80-a benefits for legislative employees who began before July 1, 1973 under a law that somehow got through the Senate in 2000 — while Joe Bruno was majority leader.

So, he passed a law that approved more money for him.

Jack Davis at the Center for Inquiry on February 1, 2008. It’s an “invasion”.

Here’s some handy de-bunking of Jack Davis’ misinformed and patently xenophobic venom.

Here’s him talking about his three-pronged platform:

Senator Larry Craig on oil:

In other news, Larry “wide stance” Craig is still a Senator.

HT Wonkette

This has been stuck in my mind for the past couple of weeks:

In his letter, Issa also confirmed he is having difficulties obtaining a visa to travel to the United States.

“At the present time I am awaiting my travel documents to be returned by the [U. S.] Embassy,” Issa wrote.

Issa is a British citizen. The UK is part of the visa waiver program:

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables nationals of certain countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa

Why does he need a visa, and why is he having difficulty?

I’m wondering what, if anything, will top this from last year’s election season:

Hi, this is Bill O’Loughlin calling.

What I’m about to say to you I’d like to say in person, but I never have a chance to do so, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to the Park Country Club to do it, so therefore I choose not to, and since I don’t see you anywhere else, I thought I’d leave a voice mail to try and let you know what I have on my mind. Read the rest of this entry »

One down, one to go.

The disbursements for Jack Davis’ campaign are almost as fascinating as his receipts. Let’s home in on two notable inclusions.

Coastal Consulting South
820 South Green Circle
Venice, Florida 34285

That outfit received $1,250 per month, a total of $5,000.

Coastal Consulting at 820 South Green Circle? Yeah, it’s owned by one:

ORSINI, ANTHONY LOUIS
820 S. GREEN CIRCLE
VENICE, FL 34285

And there’s another political consultant whom the Davis campaign has on its payroll.

Blanca Semidey
2 Loring Place
Rochester, New York 14624

Blanca Semidey is using her maiden name. She is otherwise known as Blanca Colon, the wife of Monroe County Independence Party chairman Rafael Colon. She, too, was paid $1,250 per month, a total of $5,000, as a “campaign consultant”.

Why has Jack Davis’ campaign spent $10,000 to Independence Party operatives in Monroe and Erie Counties?

Why are the disbursements listed in such a way as to not be obvious payoffs to the IP?

What promises were made or guarantees given in exchange for the $10,000 in payments to Colon and Orsini?

Why pay these people off if the IP line will be held by Anthony Fumerelle?

Which will attract more visitors to Buffalo?

“Bifocal intellectuals” looking at architecture and our “sense of place”?

or

The Buffalo Creek Casino?

I can’t believe that this actually merited a news story, (or a blog post - yes, I see the irony).

I would never put a pool in my backyard because it’s a huge outlay of money, dubious return on investment at resale (although I’m not planning on selling anytime soon), and it boosts your insurance rates (attractive nuisance).

So, yeah, we use the town pool and we use the playgrounds at the town parks because I’m too cheap to stick a swingset in the backyard, too.

Uses the “n” word.

Blow the whistle on fraud, waste, and other abuses of the system. The county has a budget within which it has to operate, and if people you know are futzing with the system in order to unjustly enrich themselves or otherwise cheat the county, everyone suffers. Not just the taxpayer - but you, because your job might be the one cut to make up the difference.

whistleblower@erie.gov is the email address to use.

858-7722 is the phone number to call.

Or click this link to go to the web form.

All tips will be kept confidential.

Real estate “heat” map for Erie County:

Buffalo:

Given Buffalo home prices, why do we have public housing projects again?

To eject Dale Volker from the State Senate this November.

Look at all the people willing to make an investment in his campaign:

Oh, and his disbursements don’t reveal any license payments to anyone for the use of copyrighted songs.

Almost immediately after pledging on Buffalo Issue Alerts to stop posting CACGEC updates at that listserv, Joel Rose posted this:

In the fight to keep casino gambling out of Buffalo and Erie County, the tide has turned, and we can now see victory within our sights. We have battles yet to wage, but Judge William Skretny’s decision of July 8, 2008, marked the turning point in our efforts.

As promised, we’re having a victory celebration party! We don’t have the details worked out yet, but we do have a place and a date, as well as a probable time. So I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible so you could mark the event on your calendars.

Date: Friday, August 15, 2008
Time: 7-10 pm (tentative, subject to change)
Place: Niagara Frontier American Legion Post 1041
533 Amherst Street (at Grant)
Buffalo, N.Y. 14207

By the way:

Bingo Night at the Niagara Frontier American Legion Post 1041 is Mondays at 7:30. KTHXBAI.

While Donn Esmonde goes off on a sarcastic rant about how great it is that the casino is (he says) not going to open, I have to say that my thinking on the casino downtown has morphed from ignorance to opposition to indifference. (As my dad’s joke goes, Q: What’s the difference between ignorance and indifference? A: I don’t know, and I don’t care.)

Does anyone think for a second that the Seneca casino won’t stay open or that the current hotel project is going to be halted? I strongly doubt it, because the Senecas will counter the request for an injunction by arguing that they opened their temporary casino and began constructing their property in good faith based on the government’s approval, and that it is they who would be irreperably harmed by a shut-down - not the casino opponents. In the meantime, the Senecas can go about an alternate procedure to ensure that the land can be used for gaming.

Although the Citizens for a Better Buffalo and CACGEC will continue to fight and oppose this casino project, and although the Margaret Wendt foundation will continue to fund the legal battle, I no longer care.

The casino won’t be a silver bullet for the city. It isn’t a great deal that Pataki negotiated for the city. It will engender even more litigation between the county and the city, who will compete for “host community” status under the compact. The casino won’t pay property taxes or income taxes to the state. It’s a crappy deal.

One of many.

Look at Niagara Falls. People like to point out that the area surrounding the casino is just as full of fail as it was before the casino came in. That’s true. But it should come as no surprise, since Niagara Falls has more than its share of fail. But at worst, it’s the status quo.

People don’t leave casino grounds to go for a walk around the neighborhood? What neighborhood? Where are they supposed to go? The dilapidated, crumbling, in-breach-of-contract Rainbow Centre acts as a physical and psychological barrier blocking pedestrian access from the Casino to the Falls state park. And what’s past there? After dark, not much. A balloon ride? Some street vendors? A gift shop? A crappy Hard Rock Cafe? At least the old, leaky convention center got fixed up and is used on a daily basis.

Will people leave the Buffalo Creek Casino? If there’s stuff to do, they will. Canal Side will be mere blocks away. It will feature hotels, restaurants, shopping, a boardwalk, etc. The Sabres play at HSBC Arena. A casino won’t solve a lot of problems, but it adds one more thing to do downtown. It adds a world-class hotel to add to options limited right now by a shitty, subsidized Hyatt and an Adams Mark that looks like it was airlifted from Cold War-era Soviet apartment blocks. (More concrete, Sasha!)

What’s done is done. The casino will undoubtedly be completed. The Senecas will make loads of money. People will come from near and far to check it out. The city will make money off the slot revenue. So will the state.

And so will the food distributors who employ people and pay taxes. So will the liquor and beer distributors who employ people and pay taxes. So will the people who live locally and work at the casino and pay taxes. So will the suppliers and construction workers and furniture wholesalers who will all make money off of this project. So will the architects and landscapers.

So, I’m now indifferent. If it’s blocked, great. If it goes up, great. Either way, my day won’t change. But if I’m leaning in any one direction, I’d say build the damn thing already. Build it nice, build it big, and build it in such a way so as to maximize pedestrian entry and egress from the property. By cooperating with the Senecas, we can help make it a project that is integrated into its surroundings, rather than an island surrounded by a sea of useless parking.

The city is trying to take away take-home cars from several high-ranking police officials because it would save a lot of money. Seems pretty simple, right? I mean, I use my own car to get to and from work. You probably use your own car to get to and from work. If I use my car for work, I submit for mileage reimbursement and get a check cut at the end of the month.

Both the News and Channel 2 report that fifteen of the twenty affected police officials live outside city limits. Since there’s no rule requiring them to live inside city limits, it’s a big “so what” with a side of “if you don’t like it, Albany has to change it.”

One officer makes a 70-mile roundtrip trek from a home in Springville each day and drives a city-owned Chevrolet Blazer.

Chevy Blazer? Nowadays? For a 70-mile commute? I can’t imagine a dopier use of taxpayer money. That thing gets what - 22 MPG highway?

But if there’s one constant here in Western New York, it’s that in a time of crisis, the leaders of our public sector unions can be called upon - and invariably will - say something inflammatory.

Police union chief Bob Meegan is this month’s provocateur, suggesting to Channel 2 that taking away take-home cars from these people will sacrifice public safety. Because, apparently, they’re too poor to afford a car.

How would you like to be laying in the street with a bullet all over your head or in your body and a homicide detective [says], “sorry I won’t show up till tomorrow morning because I don’t have a car until my wife comes home from work?”

But the News reports that the average pay for the affected officers is $106,143. I’m pretty sure you can afford to buy your own car if you earn that kind of money in Buffalo.

Had Meegan just stuck to the point - the city shouldn’t try to implement this stuff without negotiating with the union - he’d be just fine. Pleading poverty is absolutely ridiculous and insulting.

Give up the cars and show that you’re mindful of the fact that the city needs to be as frugal, for once. Maybe we’ll get rush-hour registration checkpoints out of it.

And (maybe) break the law.

Try this on for size: a radio ad done to the tune of Brooks & Dunn’s “Brand New Man”. Nothing like a little copyright violation to kick off your campaign. Oh, and it just plain old sucks.

Well, we’ve seen the light, and it’s high time, That we send a new man down to Congress this time, Jack Davis will take a stand…and be that brand new man!

Western New York is talkin’ ‘bout those lines they’ve been crossin’ down in Washington They doin’ too much harm…to our jobs and farms!

Jack will clean up the scandals, and he knows how to handle all the challenges that he’ll face, And he’s got the backbone, to vote our soldiers home!

Well, we’ve seen the light, and it’s high time, That we send our own man down to Congress this time, And Jack Davis will take a stand…he’s our next Congressman!

Brand New Man?! I’ll bet Brooks & Dunn’s lawyers would love to have a word with Mr. Davis.

This post from anti-casino activist Joel Rose:

Cynthia Van Ness, who runs the BfloIssueAlerts list, sent me a private note the other day which, with her permission, I want to share with you all. While it depressed me, I thought it captured the Seneca Niagara Casino perfectly. Here’s the note:

——– Original Message ——–

… I got my first look inside the Seneca Niagara casino on Monday evening. I was with a group of German tourists, and our hosts decided to have dinner at the casino buffet. It was a dramatic exercise in wretched excess. A gazillion deserts, all kinds of seafood flown in from who knows where, lots of red meat, you get the idea.

But quite apart from the food service, the place was dispiriting. The customers looked grim and visibly underwhelmed by all that manufactured “excitement.”

The private luxury surrounded by the public squalor of Niagara Falls made me ashamed of my country, ashamed in front of these German tourists to be an American.

My response:

I don’t mind reading Joel’s updates about the No Casino efforts, because it’s interesting from a political and “built environment” point of view, the latter of which renders it on-topic.

Although I agree with the issue that sovereign Indian exclaves should not be carved out of downtown to circumvent the state prohibition on Class III gaming, I do not subscribe to the whole “we have to protect people from themselves” aspects of the anti-gambling efforts. It’s patronizing and ignores loads of other, more pervasive, vices that are readily available in every neighborhood, which can destroy lives as handily as any casino debt bankruptcy.

So, when I read this patently off-topic opinion of Cynthia’s with respect to the buffet at the Niagara Falls Casino, I have to ask so what? Why is it here?

First of all, for most BIAniks, you’re preaching to the choir. Secondly, who cares? It’s a casino buffet - what did you expect? Ration cards and vegan food with lemongrass juice?

I’ve been to the Seneca Niagara casino on several occasions, and it’s not my cup of tea, but I leave it at that. I don’t judge the people who go, because it’s none of my business. Ever been to Oktoberfest? That’s just as much an exercise in wasteful excess as any casino buffet in the world, so the delicate sensibilities of the German tourists were, I’m sure, unoffended. Oh, and there’s loads of squalor juxtaposed with incredible wealth in Germany, so you needn’t feel quite so ashamed. Not only that, but casino gambling is quite prevalent in Germany: http://gogermany.about.com/od/nightlife/a/casinos.htm.

As to the “grim” “looks” on the patrons, unless you actually went and spoke with them, you have no idea whether they were really grim at all, or what they might have felt grim about. When I’ve been there, I’ve seen grim people and happy people. I’ve seen people smoking cigars, sipping drinks, playing blackjack, and having a good time. Ever been to the Fallsview Casino in Ontario? Gorgeous facility, amazing shopping and food within walking distance, happy customers, and loads of people having fun.

HT Politico

An anonymous blogger at New York City’s Room Eight wrote some not-nice things about a political figure. The original posts are now gone, but Ben Smith outlines them:

Republican Dissident – whose blog appeared on the back pages of this site until he took it down April 15 – wrote as a harsh internal critic of the Bronx Republican Party which, in a quirk of local politics, is closely aligned with the Bronx Democratic Party. He attacked in particular Dawn Sandow, a Republican hire to the Bronx Board of Elections staff of the county party. City investigators, according to the New York Times and the New York Post, have been looking into questions of her residence and her relationship with the chairman of the Bronx Party, Jay Savino.

Republican Dissident also took issue with the district attorney himself, calling for the Bronx Republicans to run their own candidate against Johnson, a Democrat, and calling for him to be removed from an investigation of the Bronx Republican Party. “I would get another prosecutor than Bronx DA Robert Johnson, Bronx County GP always endorses him in every election he runs in,” Republican Dissident wrote.

By Buffalo standards, that’s pretty benign stuff. Nothing that any politician would get all huffy about.

But the Bronx DA issued a grand jury subpoena demanding that Room Eight reveal the name of “Republican Dissident”, as well as the identies of several anonymous commenters. In addition, the subpoena carried a caveat ordering Room Eight to not disclose the existence of the subpoena itself, under penalty of law.

From Ben Smith’s Affidavit:

I believe that there is a substantial possibility that the subpoenas that we have received represent harassment of those who criticize major figures in Bronx politics, and especially in the Republican Party, partly because it seems to be only critics whose identities are sought; partly because the District Attorney has refused to be specific about why he believes that the speakers posts reflect wrongful conduct; and partly because the subpoena was originally issued shortly after Dawn Sandow contacted Gur Tsabar to threaten prosecution because she had been criticized on Room Eight. The District Attorney has refused to be specific about why he believes that the speakers posts reflect wrongful conduct. On their face, it is difficult to conceive of how any of the criticisms posted – regardless of how tasteless – might be relevant to any grand jury investigation of alleged criminal activity.

In other words, there was no explanation given as to the supposed indictable crime the DA was allegedly investigating. It seems as if it was the political speech itself that was the subject matter of the investigation, and the Bronx DA’s office was patently abusing its subpoena power to try and expose, embarass, and punish “Republican Dissident” and commenters on Room Eight. I don’t think I can recall ever seeing such a blatant and outrageous violation of the First Amendment. Read Room Eight’s attorney’s affidavit for more detail about the DA’s position.

Ultimately, the Bronx DA withdrew the subpoenas, but Room Eight threatened to file suit if it wasn’t permitted to disclose the subpoenas’ existence on the site. The DA relented.

Blogging is no longer the unique form of expression it was four or five years ago, but there isn’t a lot of jurisprudence out there on the issue of criminal liability for blog posts and comments. Usually, cases are brought civilly for defamation. It seems like a complete overreach for the Bronx DA to have tried to chill protected political speech in this way, and there should, frankly, be an independent investigation carried out about this. Congratulations to Room Eight for standing on principle and fighting this illegal attempt to silence critics of the powerful.