Did you know someone was running against Brian Higgins? It’s true. There is an actual Independence Party candidate running in that race to replace South Buffalo’s Boy Wonder.

That IP member is Dan Humiston. He’s also running, BTW, as the endorsed Republican.

In several recent bigger races, the Republican party in the county of Erie has pretty much resigned itself to running bored millionaires who can do a lot of self-financing of their campaigns. (Hi, Jack Davis! Too bad Cheney snubbed you a few years ago!). Chris Lee, Republican running in the 26th, is the unemployed scion of a formerly locally-owned manufacturing concern which was sold out for megabucks to a New Jersey multinational.

Humiston is, like Davis but unlike Lee, a self-made millionaire. He runs the Tanning Bed franchise throughout Western New York, peddling melanoma to local gum-clacking teens and those who still think they are. He’s the current president of the Indoor Tanning Association. (A “healthy tan” is not unlike the ads for Camel - more doctors smoke ‘em!)

Humiston has raised a decent amount of money, according to his latest filings. His largest contribution comes courtesy of a sweaty gentleman who combats allegations that he defends pedophiles by surrounding himself with children. Tom Reynolds’ TOMPAC gave the legal max to Humiston - $5,000.

Humiston did receive one more $5,000 contribution from another PAC, however. The “Indoor Tanning Association PAC“, which is run by the operation of which he is President. There are also loads of big contributions from melanoma huts all across the country. You can track how excited the tanning proponents are about Humiston’s run for congress, and they have a great conversation about how Dan Humiston can advance the melanomian cause in Congress.

Dear tanning industry friends,

Today is a big day in my race for Congress, March 31 is the last day I can collect money for my first FEC filing. The FEC reports have to be done quarterly so that the country can gauge my potential as a candidate.

I officially became a candidate in March; so far all my fundraising efforts have been directed towards our industry. My feeling is that it sends a strong message to the country that the tanning industry believes that their president will make a good congressman.

While many people have generously supported and helped spread the word I still have a ways to go to hit my goal. If you haven’t had time to go to my website www.humistonforcongress.com and make a contribution, can you please do it now?

Thanks
-DAN

And the Republicans criticize people for taking money from a strip club owner? Stripping doesn’t give people cancer.

The Indoor Tanning PAC’s mission:

In an effort to create a unified voice for the industry, the ITA decided to form a PAC to educate and make financial contributions to federal candidates who support the public policies that are important to the ITA’s members.

and

The ITA actively lobbies against legislation that would place unfair restrictions on salon businesses.

For instance, the ITA is lobbying to strike legislation in Ohio that would ban indoor tanning for teens under 18, and a similar bill in Massachusetts for teens under 16. I’m pretty sure that another cancer-causer - cigarettes - are prohibited from being sold to teens under 18 even when they have a note from home, so I don’t see the issue. (Evidently, his campaign obtained the Tanning Bed’s email list. Convenient. There’s also $2,500 to one Joseph Illuzzi, who apparently resides at 123 ABC Street in Alabama 20001.)

The one unifying theme among the Bored Republican Millionaire candidates is that they will operate government like a business. This is silliness, because businesses have a different mission altogether from that of government. The smart ones explain that they wish to maximize efficiencies and eliminate waste. They will keep a close eye on public finances and make sure that deficits are guarded against, found, and remedied as soon as possible, right?

Well, another supporter of Humiston’s is Nancy Naples-O’Neill, erstwhile State DMV Commissioner, which is a position to which she was appointed after holding the Giambra Administration’s water for so many years, (delaying until the last possible moment her decision to alert the people to what became the Erie County Budget Crisis of 2004 - 2005). She gave Humiston $1,000. One hopes he won’t take public finance advice from her. BTW - she lists her occupation now as “Amtrak Commissioner“. Christ almighty, there’s no trough from which she won’t gorge.

Humiston and Lee are supposed to be cut from the same cloth as Chris Collins - a businessman whom the Republicans run with great success last year. And they won’t come asking to bum money off the party, either.

The thing is, Brian Higgins works his ass off every single day to change people’s minds about Buffalo and WNY. When Humiston charges that Higgins is part of the status quo, that is sheer idiocy. Taking money from Tom Reynolds, cancer purveyors, and Nancy Naples is more of the same. Not Higgins, whose accomplishments are many and whose record does not pigeonhole him as some sort of ultra leftist liberal, but instead a pragmatic and forceful proponent for Western New York and the regular folks who make up his district.

John McCain in 2004:

QUESTION: Let me give you a hypothetical, senator. What would or should we do if, in the post-June 30th period, a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there? I understand it’s a hypothetical, but it’s at least possible.

McCAIN: Well, if that scenario evolves, then I think it’s obvious that we would have to leave because— if it was an elected government of Iraq— and we’ve been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government, then I think we would have other challenges, but I don’t see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people.

The elected head of state of sovereign Iraq said this to Der Spiegel this past weekend:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded “as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned.” He then continued: “US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.”

and

“So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat,” Maliki told SPIEGEL. “But that isn’t the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias.”

The Bush Administration first blundered by promoting the Spiegel article to its press distribution list rather than an internal distribution list, and then sometime on Sunday, Maliki issued a “clarification” of his remarks, which was puzzlingly released through the US Central Command.

Oh, and did I mention that Maliki’s “clarification” came after the White House called him to tell him to “clarify”?

From the New York Times:

Mr. Maliki’s interview prompted immediate concern from the Bush administration, which called to seek clarification from Mr. Maliki’s office, American officials said.

Scott M. Stanzel, a White House spokesman with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., said that embassy officials explained to the Iraqis how the interview in Der Spiegel was being interpreted, given that it came just a day after the two governments announced an agreement over American troops.

“The Iraqis were not aware and wanted to correct it,” he said.

So, the Iraqis trotted out a guy to say that Spiegel screwed up the translation.

Diplomats from the United States Embassy in Baghdad spoke to Mr. Maliki’s advisers on Saturday, said an American official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss what he called diplomatic communications. After that, the government’s spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, issued a statement casting doubt on the magazine’s rendering of the interview.

The statement, which was distributed to media organizations by the American military early on Sunday, said Mr. Maliki’s words had been “misunderstood and mistranslated,” but it failed to cite specifics.

“Unfortunately, Der Spiegel was not accurate,” Mr. Dabbagh said Sunday by telephone. “I have the recording of the voice of Mr. Maliki. We even listened to the translation.”

But the interpreter worked for Maliki - not Spiegel, and the Times got a hold of the tape, and offers this direct translation from its original Arabic:

“Obama’s remarks that — if he takes office — in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq.”

He continued: “Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.”

And all of this comes during a campaign where McCain and Bush have steadfastly refused to consider a timetable for American troops to leave Iraq, lest it be perceived as failure. The Republicans have been trying to apply the “cut & run” language they used against Kerry against Obama, but 2004 is different from 2008. So different, in fact, that the White House itself has had to acknowledge that some sort of pullout is going to happen, but they prefer to call it a “time horizon” or somesuch.

By talking pullout, Bush and Maliki have effectively removed one of the big rationales behind McCain’s candidacy.

(EDITS: Links added, corrections made)

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.

A proposition…

The proposal to build an 800-mile system of 200-mph trains linking Southern and Northern California, by way of the Valley, has made a great deal of sense throughout its two-decade gestation. Proposition 1, the $9.95 billion bond measure, is the necessary first step.

High-speed rail will be an engine of economic development that we badly need in this state, creating tens of thousands of jobs in both its construction and its operation.

It will have a dramatic impact on our environment, removing thousands of cars from California’s highways. Less congestion will make the remaining vehicles more efficient for those that remain on the road. Conservative estimates suggest millions of barrels of oil could be saved annually, and as much as 22 billion pounds of carbon dioxide kept out of the atmosphere.

The rail system would also reduce the need for many short- and medium-haul airline flights, which pollute the atmosphere at an astonishing rate.

Now, with gasoline at $4.50 a gallon and rising, high-speed rail is no longer just a good idea. It’s imperative.

High speed rail with Buffalo as a hub connecting Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, Albany/Boston/New York would be a pretty dandy thing now in the days of $4.50/gallon gas, hourlong TSA lines, and Amtrak dreck-o-rama.

After much ribbing about the non-existent and/or empty “views” section of his website, Republican candidate for Congress in the 26th district has finally gotten around to having some.

I am running for Congress to bring real change to Washington, D.C., restore accountability, get people to stop the partisan bickering and start solving the problems families are facing. This is what Western New Yorkers are demanding, and it is what they deserve.

By working together we can make these things happen, and we can get Washington working again for Western New York.

If we do that then we can help create jobs at home, lower taxes for hard working families, develop a real energy policy, and ensure access to affordable healthcare for all Western New Yorkers.

Washington working for Western New York. That’s a great idea. Um, what’s his predecessor been doing along those lines for the past 10 years? It’s all platitudes cribbed from some primer on how to run as a Republican but sounding like a Democrat. Republicans don’t give a shit about “affordable healthcare”. They’re far more concerned with taxation of the wealthiest 1%, not “hard working families”.

The most important thing for our families is having jobs not just for us, but for our children. Right now Western New York is facing the challenge of entering a 21st century economy and not having enough jobs for our children. Fortunately, Western New York is well equipped to face these challenges. We have a world-class workforce, excellent educational institutions and a work ethic second to none. What needs to happen is the government, in Washington and Albany, needs to get out of the way and let businesses do what they do best – create jobs. When I am elected, I will fight everyday for policies that increase the incentives for businesses to take risks, be entrepreneurial and ultimately create jobs.

How is Washington in the way, and would he do to get it out of said way? Taxes and spending, evidently - no surprise, coming from a Republican candidate. The problem is that the Republican party has put the Democrats to shame in terms of the growth of government and government spending at the federal level since George W. Bush came to office. Why are we to believe that Lee would not help perpetuate that state of affairs? Bush has grown government, kept taxes low to help the budget deficit balloon, engaged in nation-building adventures in the middle east and then shortchanged them when it got difficult.

Definitely Washington is broken. Definitely Albany is broken. What can Lee as a congressman do to fix Albany? Again - platitudes that sound phenomenal but have no meat to them.

Lee also says we need a “comprehensive energy policy”:

- Lessen our dependence on foreign oil by increasing American made energy through exploration;
- Promote new, clean, reliable sources of energy;
- Encourage conservation, and;
- Increase investment in research funding for alternative energy.

Respectively, how, what, how, and what? The call from McCain and Bush has been for drilling everywhere. Respectfully, that’s like putting a Band-Aid on an amputation site. Nice sentiment, but it would take literally years - if not a decade - before any such drilling would have any effect on the market. Furthermore, conservation is now in full effect, given the cost of fuel. Price is up, demand is way down. So, if all this is run by the market, why does lower demand equal ever-higher prices?

Again - demand for gasoline has been dropping, yet the price continues to rise. The idea that this is just market forces at work doesn’t fly. In 2008, it is high time that we develop and reach a consensus on a fuel for personal conveyances to replace petroleum. We’re using technology that’s over 100 years old.

Lee also believes that health care is an issue. The buzzword is “market-based”. Anything the Republicans recommend will be characterized as “market-based”, while they will criticize the Democrats’ plans as being “socialized medicine”. Meanwhile, all of the plans being suggested are market-based. No one is proposing socialized medicine.

While Mr. Lee complains that WNY is not getting its fair share of federal dollars, he also argues:

I will fight for a more transparent and fair system that will ensure real earmark reform. Any dollar being spent by the federal government should be done so in the light of day not behind closed doors. I want to change the way Washington does business by ensuring that we have an open system that holds our leaders accountable. Just like a CEO would want, Western New Yorkers deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent - that can only happen with a more transparent and accountable Washington.

How? What sort of transparency is he proposing? And which is it? More fair share, or fewer earmarks?

In other news, Chris Lee held a fundraiser last night. It was a swanky affair at the Marriott on Millersport. All of the Republican glitterati were in attendance, and Tom Reynolds introduced Lee to the crowd. Illuzzi was there enjoying the free food, making subtle threats, and writes:

I had the pleasure of attending what was truly an “All-Star” fundraising event last night kicking off NY 26 Congressional Candidate Chris Lee’s fundraising efforts.

Congressman Tom Reynolds declared the event to have set a new record for a first time candidate’s congressional fundraising event. Over 300 people in attendance!!! Early estimates are over $175,000 raised at the event.

That averages out to over $580 per person.

Lee is an unemployed child of wealth who inherited part of the sell-out of his father’s business. He’s pledged to spend $1 million of his own money on the race. Will he, like Chris Collins, forego his federal salary if elected? I recall Jack Davis making that pledge 2 years ago. Why should taxpayers cut a six-figure check with benefits and pension for a millionaire heir?

Running against Jack Davis (D-In Name Only) is like running against Mr. Burns from the Simpsons; a curmudgeony, bitter, angry man who is supposedly spending $3 million of his own money to run for congress a third time, after losing twice already. Oh, and did you know Davis doesn’t like the Chinese or Mexicans? Yeah, it’s true. In fairness, Davis has better hair than C. Montgomery Burns.

One wonders why he’s bothering to run again, seeing as he expressed “relief” upon losing to Tom Reynolds in 2006.

But Davis’ resemblance to the fictional Mr. Burns isn’t just limited to temperament and wealth. You’ll recall that Mr. Burns own the Springfield nuclear power plant. Well, Mr. Davis owns $35 million in energy stocks.

From a Powers campaign press release today:

Jack Davis revealed in financial disclosure documents that he owns up to $35 million in Big Oil and energy stocks. A recent poll released by the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg revealed that 76% of Americans blame Big Oil, George Bush, oil speculators, and OPEC for record high gas prices.

At a press conference held at a Mobil gas station in Amherst, NY, where the price for a gallon of gas was $4.19, Powers called for an end to corporate greed that is causing skyrocketing gas prices. The Powers plan for Securing Our Energy Independence calls for increased investment for renewable energy and curbing corporate greed by reigning in oil speculators.

“We now know Jack Davis has up to 35 million reasons to vote against lower gas prices. Exxon Jack is no different than George Bush and the politicians in Washington, DC who are already bought and paid for by the oil companies. Western New York needs a Congressman who will look out for their interests, not Exxon/Mobil’s bottom line” stated Powers Campaign Manager, John Gerken.

TOP 10 QUESTIONS JACK DAVIS MUST ANSWER ABOUT HIS OIL INVESTMENTS

· How can you say you are not beholden to special interests when you have up to $35 million dollars invested in Big Oil and energy while hardworking Americans struggle to fill their gas tanks?

· How can hard working Western New Yorkers trust you to lower gas prices when you profited by up to $280,000 off of Big Oil and energy last year?

· Why should Western New Yorkers believe that you will vote in our interests and not your own when it comes to Big Oil?

· Do you support drilling in ANWR?

· Would you vote against tax breaks for big oil?

· Is there really any difference between spending your own money that you received from Big Oil and taking special interest money?

· Isn’t it a little hypocritical that you made more than 5 times the median income of the district last year off of Big Oil and energy, but you say you understand the hard times Western New Yorkers are facing?

· What would you do in Congress to lower the price of gasoline and help the families in Western New York that you want to represent?

· Do you believe that renewable energy will help alleviate man-made global warming?

Davis won’t answer these questions because he never answers any questions. Not from voters, anyway. He doesn’t go out and meet them. He’ll show up and speak with reporters or party leaders and hurl invective at his opponents, but his stock answer to every problem, every issue is “foreigners”. Don’t believe me?

EDIT: VIDEO REMOVED FOR OBNOXIOUSNESS

That MacBook on Jack’s desk? Made in China. He also claims he won’t take special interest money.

His one big contributor is Jack Davis. He is his own special interest. It’s quite easy to make that pledge when you’re a millionaire.

On the other hand, Powers doesn’t make almost $300,000 per year off of energy stocks. His plan for energy:

An Energy Bill that Invests in Our Future – Provide tax credits to investors who empower scientists to develop renewable energy. Instead of giving away billions to Big Oil, we should provide funding to scientists and engineers to develop renewable energies. As of right now, Congress only provides an advancement of one year to investors who want to develop renewable energies while they provide billions to Big Oil. We need to extend these credits to 10 year allotments in order to provide scientists and engineers with the funds necessary to cure America’s oil addiction and make our Country safe.

A Menu of Options – There is no silver bullet solution to the energy crisis. The United States must not limit Americans to any one particular form of renewable energy, but provide several options in order to protect against future monopolies such as the one oil currently holds.

Apollo Sized Ambitions – When we come together as a nation, we can accomplish anything. The United States had a vision to get to the moon; we made the commitment and accomplished the task. If we are truly going to be energy independent, Congress must set firm goals of when America will be powered by renewable energy and then commit ourselves to making sure this happens.

A Government that Leads by Example – Jon Powers will support legislation that requires all newly purchased nonmilitary federal vehicles (including Postal vehicles) to be American made and use hybrid technology or E85 fuel within five years. We must also provide state and local governments incentives to move all non law enforcement vehicles to do the same.

Helping the Consumer Lead by Example – The federal government allows for a tax credit of up to $3,400 on hybrid vehicles. This incentive is only given to the first 60,000 models of each car sold. Jon Powers will work to make sure that all hybrid vehicles receive this tax credit until hybrids and other clean cars make up a majority of all vehicles sold. Jon Powers also supports housing tax credits for homeowners who invest in making their home more energy efficient.

Stopping Corporate Greed by closing the Enron Loop-Hole – Special Interest groups and Big Oil have created a loophole in the law that allows speculators to manipulate the price of oil and inflate it by $30-$50 per barrel. While Americans pay over four dollars per gallon of gasoline, Big Oil is making record profits. Jon Powers supports closing the loophole and forcing speculators to provide realistic estimates so our gasoline prices will go down.

An America that Leads by Example – Jon Powers will fight for legislation to require the use of safe, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydropower to generate 25% of the nation’s electricity by 2025. America must also invest in technologies to improve ethanol and convert to cellulosic ethanol so that America can grow its own fuel and it will not affect the food supply.

Forcing Oil Companies to Lead by Example – Jon Powers supports legislation that will require oil companies to install bio-fuel pumps at 25% of their stations.

Reducing Carbon Emissions – Jon Powers will support legislation to cap emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce them by 20% by 2020.

All I know is, Exxon Jack’s tank of ideas and solutions is running on empty.

As Richard Florida argues, it’s an idea whose time has come.

…mega-regions have replaced the nation-state as the economic drivers of the global economy. These are places like Bos-Wash (the Boston-New York-Washington corridor), Chi-Pitts (running from Chicago through Detroit and Cleveland and over to Pittsburgh), Nor-Cal (around San Francisco and the Silicon Valley), Cascadia (which stretches from Portland through Seattle and Vancouver), Europe’s Am-Burs-Twerp (from Amsterdam to Brussels and Antwerp), Lon-Leed-Chester (around London) and Asia’s greater Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.

Clunky sounding or not, the 10 largest mega-regions account for 43 percent of the planet’s economic activity and more than half of its patented innovations and star scientists. They generate all those pioneering breakthroughs while housing only 6.5 percent of the planet’s population. And to take an even broader overhead view, the top 40 mega-regions produce 66 percent of the world’s economic activity and more than 80 percent of its patented innovations and most-cited scientists, still while being home to just 18 percent of the world’s population.

Tor-Buff-Chester is one of the world’s very biggest mega-regions, bigger than the San Francisco-Silicon Valley megaregion, Greater Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and more than twice the size of Cascadia in the Pacific Northwest. Its economic might is equivalent to more than half of all of Canada’s. If it were its own country, it would number among the 16 biggest in the world, with economic output bigger than that of Sweden, the Netherlands or Australia.

Being able to run a great think tank — the Martin Rotman Prosperity Institute — in this great mega-region is what moved me back to it. I know both Buffalo and Toronto pretty well. During my time in Buffalo, I endured some large snowstorms, lived in the terrific Elmwood neighborhood, ate my share of real chicken wings and beef on weck and took in as many Bills and Sabres games as I could.

At that time, Buffalonians always would remind me of how, during the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, it was Buffalo with its manufacturing muscle and exciting downtown that was the more energetic, stronger city while Toronto rolled up the sidewalks at 10 p. m.

Times change, and these days Toronto has become the engine of the mega-region. Greater Toronto is growing at a fantastic clip, adding thousands of immigrants and 115,000 people a year. But it’s also clear that Buffalo’s economic hemorrhaging has stabilized. Despite shedding 17 percent of its manufacturing jobs between 2001 and 2005, the region’s manufacturing sector actually expanded its output by 3.5 percent, according to a study by UB’s Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth. The same report shows an increase in creative-class jobs in information technology, financial and business services, which I define as ones where people use their minds to create economic value.

Not only is Toronto growing, it isn’t resting on its laurels. One can whine all day about Canada’s socialism, cleanliness, friendliness, and aggressive drivers, but does Buffalo have an agenda for prosperity? Does Rochester? Or are we on the US side of this mega-region satisified instead to harken back to the good ol’ days of Xerox and Kodak; of GM and Bethlehem Steel?

Compare Toronto’s “doing business” section on its website to Buffalo’s, which recently got a re-vamp that actually added a “businesses” section.

The second section of Toronto’s site is its “agenda for prosperity.” In Buffalo, it’s “incentives“.

They plan for growth. We beg for stasis.

In any event, setting aside the completely different mindsets when it comes to growth and prosperity, Buffalo needs to re-focus its gaze in many ways. We need to stop wringing our hands over past mistakes and instead develop a plan to learn from them and avoid making similar ones in the future. We need to - and I admit I’m the biggest culprit of this - stop whining about Albany this and Albany that, and start looking beyond Albany - start looking beyond downstate’s comparative prosperity and figure out a roadmap to Western New York’s return to prosperity.

Look forwards, not backwards.

We need to look to Toronto, look to Rochester, look to the Southern Tier, look to Erie, and realize that the megaregion has much to offer. The border is an impediment to this, but it is not insurmountable. There are small, symbolic ways to begin the mental integration of this mega-region right now. It’s things like when Skybus was going to call the Niagara Falls International Airport “Toronto/Niagara” on its website. It’s things like the Bills playing a few games in Toronto or the Sabres playing a few games in Rochester. There is so much potential within a 100 mile radius of the city of Buffalo, as the epicenter of the mega-region Florida talks about.

We just need to start tapping it, and develop a plan to integrate the region.

Falls tourists say they need more amenities, according to this Buffalo News Article. There are plenty of amenities to be had a short walk away - across the bridge. But what if you don’t have a Canadian visa? You’re stuck waiting on the American side, which has no signage, poor transportation, poor information and signage, but some of the finest surface parking in the known universe. Oh, and a Seneca Casino.

Niagara Falls, NY needs better tourism infrastructure? In other news, the sky is blue.

From a WGRZ story:

It’s not supposed to open until 2010, but Bass Pro is pushing to get a store built sooner.

Jordan Levy with the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation told Erie County lawmakers the company is excited about building a store where the aud now sits.

Levy told lawmakers Bass Pro owner Johnny Morris told him he wishes the store could open next year, but the Aud won’t be demolished until then.

“The remediation will be completed on or before September 30th of this year. The demolition will begin shortly thereafter. Hopefully days thereafter. That will take roughly six months. So, its probably that the Aud will not be completely demolished until sometime in March or April of 2009,” said Levy.

Levy also told lawmakers other retail and entertainment tenants are interested in being part of the Canalside project. More information about that will come out this fall.

Translation: Hey, Buffalo, hurry. the. f*ck. up. Not everyone likes to wait forever to get stuff done. Love, Johnny Morris. PS: I still haven’t signed any contract yet.

The other day, Governor Paterson declared that New York would recognize gay marriages performed in Canada, Massachusetts, and California.

Naturally, some are up in arms about it. Outgoing crap Congressman Tom Reynolds said,

This is a terrible decision, directed in a secretive and abusive manner, designed to circumvent any sort of public hearing or comment from the New York people. The Governor should full well know the rightful role and prerogative the legislature has in the rule of law in this matter.

Therefore, I am calling on the Governor to suspend this ill-advised executive directive. I intend to call the Catholic Conference, the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, legislative leaders and other interested parties to assist in looking at the options available in helping cease and desist the Governor’s directive.

Frankly, this is yet another example of a New York Governor abusing his power to disregard the legislature, the rule of law and most importantly the people of New York. Whether it is trying to issue drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants or attempting to recognize gay marriages this pattern of circumventing the legislature and the will of the New York people is not only troubling but should not be recognized by the legislative or judicial branch or the public as a whole.

Why?

I mean, why not just consider my Massachusetts marriage invalid in New York State, too? It was entered into outside the purview of New York statute and law, after all.

I understand that there are people who are opposed to this quite strenuously on a variety of grounds. Primary among them is religion. But when you subtract relgion from the argument, what are you left with? What is the reason why we shouldn’t just let gay people get married to each other? Does it really cheapen or weaken heterosexual marriage? Then ban divorce. Is it really equal to letting pedophiles marry kids, or letting people marry pets? Of course not, and it’s just idiotic to suggest that.

Watch liberal pinko commie Bill O’Reilly tackle the issue with a gay marriage opponent:

UPDATE: There’s a debate going on in comments, where some are alleging that Paterson’s directive to state agencies that they recognize same-sex unions entered into legally out-of-state is an improper usurpation of democracy and the rule of law. Naturally, I disagree strenuously.

But I wanted to add that I listened to Paterson’s statement on this issue just now, and to his rationale. For instance, New York State has no such thing as “common-law marriage”, but other states do. We have traditionally recognized the validity of those unions when those couples come to New York.

Furthermore, Paterson’s order is based on a February 1st 4th Appellate Division decision, (penned by Republican Supreme Court Justice Erin Peradotto), in the case of Martinez v. County of Monroe, linked to here. (.pdf) The key point and rationale:

For well over a century, New York has recognized marriages solemnized outside of New York unless they fall into two categories of exception: (1) marriage, the recognition of which is prohibited by the “positive law” of New York and (2) marriages involving incest or polygamy, both of which fall within the prohibitions of “natural law” (Matter of May, 305 NY 486, 491; see Moore v Hegeman, 92 NY 521, 524; Thorp v Thorp, 90 NY 602, 605; see generally Van Voorhis v Brintnall, 86 NY 18, 24-26). Thus, if a marriage is valid in the place where it was entered, “it is to be recognized as such in the courts of this State, unless contrary to the prohibitions of natural law or the express prohibitions of a statute” (Moore, 92 NY at 524; see also Thorp, 90 NY at 606; Van Voorhis, 86 NY at 25-26). Under that “marriage-recognition” rule, New York has recognized a marriage between an uncle and his niece “by the half blood” (May, 305 NY at 488), common-law marriages valid under the laws of other states (see Matter of Mott v Duncan Petroleum Trans., 51 NY2d 289, 292-293), a marriage valid under the law of the Province of Ontario, Canada of a man and a woman both under the age of 18 (see Donohue v Donohue, 63 Misc 111, 112-113), and a “proxy marriage” valid in the District of Columbia (Fernandes v Fernandes, 275 App Div 777), all of which would have been invalid if solemnized in New York.

We conclude that plaintiff’s marriage does not fall within either of the two exceptions to the marriage-recognition rule. “[A]bsent any New York statute expressing clearly the Legislature’s intent to regulate within this State marriages of its domiciliaries solemnized abroad, there is no positive law in this jurisdiction” to prohibit recognition of a marriage that would have been invalid if solemnized in New York (May, 305 NY at 493 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see also Van Voorhis, 86 NY at 37). The Legislature has not enacted legislation to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages validly entered into outside of New York, and we thus conclude that the positive law exception to the general rule of foreign marriage recognition is not applicable in this case.

(Emphasis added.) So, as you can see, there is not only legal precedent, but legal justification and rationale for what Paterson did, which is merely to implement the holding of the 4th Department across all state agencies and entities.

That’s how a democracy works.

Via Richard Florida’s blog, this essay:

Great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder.

The surprising thing is how different these messages can be. New York tells you, above all: you should make more money. There are other messages too, of course. You should be hipper. You should be better looking. But the clearest message is that you should be richer.

What I like about Boston (or rather Cambridge) is that the message there is: you should be smarter. You really should get around to reading all those books you’ve been meaning to.

When you ask what message a city sends, you sometimes get surprising answers. As much as they respect brains in Silicon Valley, the message the Valley sends is: you should be more powerful.

(Read the whole thing here)

What is Buffalo saying?

New York’s Enhanced Driver’s License - it’s fortified with vitamin proof-of-citizenship.

New York is the second state to have an enhanced drivers’ license approved by the Department of duct tape Homeland Security. In order to obtain the new license, you’ll need to present proof of citizenship at your local DMV, and pay $30 on top of the regular charge for a license. In return, you’ll get the new license, which will have your information embedded in an RFID chip, which will be automatically read by the border patrol’s computer.

The licenses will be available beginning in August and will look a bit different from regular licenses. Now, if they could integrate this program into Nexus, it would be teh awesome.

The paranoid lunatic fringe need not apply.

(Photo courtesy Glenda @ Flickr)

From another local website, Republican County Legislator, and candidate for SD-61 Michael Ranzenhofer writes:

Michael Ranzenhofer (R), a veteran of 19 years as a county legislator from Amherst, is off and running as the expected Republican candidate for the State Senate seat being vacated by retiring Mary Lou Rath.

“Spending is out of control in Albany,” said Ranzenhofer in a telephone interview … “My platform will be about cutting spending, reducing taxes, and eliminating the terribly burdensome regulations that drive up the cost of doing business in this state.”

As a county lawmaker, Ranzenhofer says he never voted for a tax increase. The lawyer/legislator also said he has tried to cut wasteful and unnecessary spending, pushed for road and bridge repairs, and helped restore the ranks of volunteer fire fighters by offering an education incentive similar to what is offered by the military for years served. The “V-Fire” program allows for fire fighters with at least five years experience to become eligible for free education at Erie Community College.

He never voted for a tax increase, and he didn’t do a whole lot to battle spending increases. He was instrumental in promoting the Giambra budgets that led to fiscal disaster. He is loath to lend any support to rank-and-file county workers, but went along with every single request for a variable minimum put forth by Giambra and Collins (a variable minimum is a way for the government to give a candidate for an appointed county job years’ worth of seniority on day one - and an instant pay raise).

He never voted for a tax increase, but one of the gimmicks he pushed for time and time again throughout his time on the legislature was for a gas tax holiday. Unfortunately, gas taxes happen to pay for road maintenance, and if one was to ask his constituents on Tonawanda Creek Road in Clarence whether that road has properly been maintained, I think they’d give you an earful. The road slid into the creek years ago, and hasn’t yet been fixed.

As for the county budget crisis of a few years ago, Ranzenhofer says he stood up against the political establishment and the power brokers by refusing to go along with the one percent sales tax increase without accompanying spending cuts.

“I insisted we must have cuts to go with tax increases, and frankly many people backed away [from me],” says Ranzenhofer. “But I held fast that we can’t do business this way and I was the first legislator to favor a control board because no information about our finances was forthcoming from the county executive’s office. I thought we needed a control board to make sure fiscal discipline was re-established.”

Think about that for a second there. He had been in the legislature for about 16 years before the budget crisis came down the pike, and he was the majority leader during the run-up to it. He was supposed to be that control board - the legislature is a check on the executive’s power, yet Ranzenhofer and the other Republicans in the legislature behaved as if it was a rubber stamp for anything and everything Giambra wanted.

That led to a $200 million budget deficit that had to be plugged.

Yes, he’s made noise about spending cuts, but when the budget crisis was in full effect, and legislators met with Giambra during late-night and weekend sessions to figure out what would get cut, and by how much, Ranzenhofer was absent. It’s so easy and convenient to bleat on about how we need to find $200 million in spending cuts.

But when the hard work came along to figure out where the cuts would be made, he let others do the work and take the heat.

He claims to want to work bipartisanly, yet he has no record on which to run, and no evidence of bipartisanship exists there.

In essence, Ranzenhofer is saying that the county needed the hard control board to clean up what was partly his own mess.

Now that the county has a control board, which currently is at odds with the county executive over borrowing for capital improvements, Ranzenhofer says he still favors a hard board “but I think the time will come where they can go from hard to soft where in the past I felt a hard board was essential.”

Ranzenhofer says if elected to the 61st District seat, which includes the city of Tonawanda, Town of Tonawanda, Amherst, Clarence, Newstead, and all of Genesee County, he will work in a bipartisan fashion to get things done.

Republicans are expected to put plenty of resources behind Ranzenhofer’s bid to keep the seat in the GOP aisle, given the very slim majority Republicans hold in the Senate.

For his part, Ranzenhofer says, “I think the importance [of the seat] is that if it goes from the Republican side to the Democratic side, it could change the over-all balance of power in the state and we would, in effect, have one-party rule which includes the governor. Taxes would skyrocket and spending would go way up. We would also see a very liberal fiscal and social agenda.”

One would hope that the importance of the seat is to represent one’s constituents in Albany. One would hope that the importance of the seat in this day and age is to work for change and reform in a dysfunctional state legislature.

But then, we’re talking about the guy who voted against the creation of the County Charter Revision Commission, so we’re unlikely to see any push for reform from him.

Spending went way up under Giambra and the Republican county legislature.

Ranzenhofer, who said he is also seeking minor party backing, says he is out every night, going from place to place throughout the district, talking to one and all about his candidacy.

He’s been in the County Legislature since 1989. The question that he should be asked over and over again: What is your record?

Hand it to him for one thing - he sure has vast experience dealing with dysfunctional governmental entities.

A Denver-based blog has a new feature - a field guide to different states’ Dem conventioneers, as well as a travel guide to Denver.

The convention isn’t until August, but here’s the entry for New York’s delegation. A taste:

Total Number of Delegates: 282
Pledged: 232
Unpledged: 50

How to Recognize a New York Delegate:

After arguing about food and their governor’s taste in call girls, New Yorkers spend a lot of time arguing about the personality split that divides upstate from downstate. The constant bickering and knocking of heads has even caused new governor David Paterson to call the state legislature the “least deliberative and most dysfunctional in the nation”! Well, after watching decades of New York-based television shows, from Facts of Life to Sex and the City, every other American is painfully aware of every personality trait of every character type of every Empire State resident. We know that downstaters live in deluxe apartments in the sky, that hot dogs make them lose control, and that for upstaters, the world never seems to be livin’ up to their dreams. And we also know that downstaters dress like they live in London and wear a lot of black, while upstaters dress like they live in Wisconsin and wear a lot of plaid and gingham.

I take umbrage with that. Ever upstate community has its own stereotypical uniform. Buffalo’s involves Sabres and Bills gear. Possibly Zubaz.

This, however, is pretty spot-on:

To spot a New Yorker, look for someone who is arguing. They love to argue, not because they are always right, but because everyone else is always wrong. About everything. All of the time. They are the original multi-taskers and will be the delegates who are trying to “hail cabs” and “get some service over here” while telling all within earshot about how much better everything is back in New York. They will also be the most curious delegates in Denver and won’t be shy to ask questions. Their most frequent queries will be, “Where’s the manager?” and “Do you expect me to eat this?”

What should New Yorkers do in Denver?

For New York delegates, the state of Colorado will only seem like a lot of dirt piles and thin, dry air. And in truth, all the scenic wonders of the Rocky Mountains combined aren’t as spectacular as Niagara Falls (which can be enjoyed both before and after with a plate of America’s best hot wings at the Anchor Bar in the nearby city of Buffalo). The city of Denver, on the other hand, will not disappoint. The favorable impression starts at the airport. After arrival at the spectacularly spacious Denver International Airport, it will be impossible for a New Yorker to ever refer to La Guardia or J.F.K. as anything other than “a freakin’ nightmare.” Downtown Denver will seem remarkably quaint and insufferably clean. The homeless are absolutely unnecessary here but choose their vocation to provide cosmopolitan photo-ops for high-school art students and European visitors. The new Hamilton wing of the Denver Art Museum will make even the most uncultured upstater “dizzy” with delight. Hang on to that handrail in Daniel Libeskind’s vestibule of vertigo! Savvy downstaters might think that it’s all a cover up for some glaring civic inadequacy, but in truth, it only gets better. Denver is home to what is arguably America’s best mall. Just get in a cab at the front door of the Adam’s Mark Hotel and say, “Take me to Cherry Creek!” The lavishly appointed shopping center is in the heart of Denver. It’s anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s and Nordstrom and features a total of 160 renowned shops that range from Urban Outfitters to Burberry and Tiffany & Co. The surrounding neighborhood is packed with upscale shops (don’t miss Filson Denver) and food that only seems to taste better in the thin dry air. Gulp it down, New Yorkers: You’ll need your strength for that trip back through LaGuardia.

So, buck up New York delegates. Seems like there’s civilized life west of the Mississippi after all.

One question that isn’t answered, however: where can you get good (read: New York style) pizza?

Photo courtesy Kaptain Krispy Kreme @ Flickr

1. Who are you?
I’m Alan Bedenko, a lawyer working in Buffalo and living in its suburbs. I have a wife, two kids, a house, and two cats.

2. Can I hire you as a lawyer?
Nope.

3. How can I contact you?
buffalopundit[at]gmail.com

4. Will you post items sent to you by other people?
Generally not unsolicited ones. When I take a break, I will invite people to guest blog. If you’d like to be considered, you should have a body of work that I can review to determine whether you’d be a good fit. Email me at the answer to number 3, above. You’re welcome to send me anything else you have, but I can’t promise you anything.

5. When did you start this blog?
In September 2003 as the “WNY for Wesley Clark” blog. When Clark left the campaign in March 2004, it morphed later that year into Buffalo Pundit, focusing more on local goings on than national ones. The Clark blog still exists at http://wny4clark.blogspot.com.

6. Why do you blog?
I like to write, I like to have an outlet to express my opinion, and I like to advocate for and against things. This is purely a hobby, and although I am grateful for the traffic and attention I get on a daily basis, I’d still be doing this even if I got 10 people reading it per day.

7. What are your favorite topics?
I don’t really have anything. There’s so much material from which to select when writing a post, I guess it’s safest to say that whatever I post about is my favorite topic of that minute. I do tend to gravitate to posts about cars or international politics when I get bored or frustrated with more local, political topics. Which is frequent.

8. What topics get the most attention?
That’s hard to say. Sometimes I’m quite surprised by the topics that generate comments while others don’t. I do recall that a very old post about Wal*Mart, and the Ron Paul posts from earlier this year got well over 100 comments. Topics about the Outer Harbor and Inner Harbor also tend to generate interest.

9. You’ve got a big mouth, why not put your money where that mouth is and run for office if you think you know everything?
Well, I tried that and didn’t do too well.

10. What’s your take on city versus suburb?
I think that all of the communities of WNY, as defined for me by the 8th Judicial District, sink or swim together. We should be working together for solutions that will help to lift all of WNY up from its economic depression, and not pit one community here against another. The suburb/city divide is one of the most idiotic anachronisms to still attract people’s attention, and I really cannot tolerate either side claiming to be superior over the other.

11. Why did you move here?
Have you seen what real estate and day care cost in Boston or the New York tri-state area? If you have a good job, living here is a no-brainer.

12. How can I get my site on your blogroll / links?
Shoot me an email. I generally ask that you provide my site with a reciprocal link.