Ulster Politics
We Report, You Decide
So today at the Ulster Politics Headquarters, we were talking about our slogan, “Information and Dialogue about Politics in
We want to know your opinion on Blaber News’ new slogan. But before you decide, here’s some information that has been reported to Ulster Politics.
When Sennett won Blaber’s poll with 81% of the vote, the headline was BLABER POLL FINDS MANDATE FOR SENNETT. Just a day later, Bernardo (56%) beat Hein (43%) by 100 votes on Blaber's own poll.
As “Civil War Buff” put it on KingstonTruth, "Another Ulster County blog author now proclaims himself as "fair and balanced". I have read no proof of that....especially since he can not bring himself to announce that Bernado was leading Hein in his unscientific county executive poll.Well, as they say talk is cheap."
Ulster Politics has found that the poll was taken down recently and no mention of it's existence can be found anywhere on Blaber's News and Commentary.
We’ve reported, now you decide. Vote in the Ulster Politics poll…. Is Blaber News and Commentary –
- Unfair
- Fairly Unbalanced
- Fair and Balanced
(click on the picture to enlarge it)
Posts
21 comments:
Certainly, Mr. Blaber has the right to do as he wishes with his blog. However, we can draw some presumptive conclusions from his actions.
First, given his trumpeting of Mr. Sennett's "mandate" and his open and obvious support of Mr. Sennett in the Democratic chairmanship contest, the likelihood is that he was using his "polls" to influence the election of his chosen candidates. This would likely apply to other candidates whose support was being surveyed on Mr. Blaber's blog, as well.
Second, given that he made Mr. Bernardo's "poll" victory disappear, Mr. Blaber was probably rather perturbed at the outcome. This conclusion is supported by Mr. Blaber's open support of Mr. Hein over Mr. Bernardo.
What is quite surprising is not only the fact that more people participated in the Bernardo/Hein poll than the Parete/Sennett/Schreibman poll, but that Mr. Bernardo actually won among the same Blaber readers who had voted overwhelmingly in favor of Mr. Sennett. That would seem to indicate, if Mr. Blaber's "polls" have any validity whatsoever, that Blaber-style liberals have more trust in Len Bernardo than in Michael Hein. I, for one, find that prospect quite interesting.
In point of fact, Blaber News is not a news blog, it is an opinion blog. It is dedicated to campaigning for various candidates with a few non-political stories thrown in for good measure. This is fine, of course. It is yet another sign that freedom of expression is alive and well in America today and, like his blog or not, Mr. Blaber is to be commended for that demonstration.
What is puzzling, however, is why Mr. Blaber would pretend to give us news when that is clearly not his actual aim. Why pretend to present news badly instead of being proud of the way in which he presents opinion?
Fair and balanced? Under the circumstances, that's a real stretch.
I am ROTFLMAO
ILICISCOMK
Blaber is a SNERT
WTG Ulster Politics!
YOU WON'T READ THIS ON BLABER NEWS AND COMMENTARY
To Newspaper Editors: Please consider this for publication in your next edition. Thank you
LETTER TO THE EDITOR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 17, 2008
After reading the Thursday June 12 Daily Freeman article by-lined by Mid-Hudson News Network, “Exec Candidates Tout Tourism,” I found it very ironic that Michael Hein commented that “tourism is the backbone of the County’s economy and that a well-run tourism operation would generate sufficient sales tax revenue to pay for itself.”
Hein has previously stated that the County relies heavily on sales and property taxes to balance budgets, yet he does not agree on tourism related taxes, won’t repeal the current two percent charge for room tax and would be in favor of cushioning the Tourism Budget with proceeds from the bed tax.
This coming from the same individual, who in 2006, was the mastermind behind eliminating two key positions and not filling a Deputy position in the Tourism Department to save taxpayer dollars. His plan, however, back-fired when the tourism businesses and employees that would have been affected by the cuts, came to defend the Tourism Department at the Public Hearing on the proposed County Budget Wednesday, November 1, 2006. Eventually, through some creativity, they were able to realign budget lines to save the two employees. The Deputy Director position was ultimately abolished. Now, please explain how a well-run tourism operation is expected to function with almost no staff?
One would have to question what Hein actually knows about the importance of tourism if he was sacrificing the ability of the Tourism Department to perform and exist as it was intended with limited staffing. Had he bothered to do his homework, he would have found that tourism in the Hudson Valley (in 2005) generated $184 million in local taxes; visitor-driven expenditures accounted for over $5.7 billion and $167 million was realized in State taxes. Tourism in the Catskills generated over $51 million in local taxes; visitor-driven expenditures accounted for $1.6 billion and more than $46 million was realized in State taxes. (Figures obtained from http://destinationdutchess.com).
Did he also know that in 2006 tourism in Ulster County was responsible for 10,000 tourism jobs, $52 million was generated in State and local tax revenue and visitor-driven expenditures accounted for $960 million. (Figures obtained from www. hotel-online.com).
Mr. Hein will say whatever he believes his audience wants to hear. Fact is, he says a lot about issues he knows very little about. Voters beware!!
Thank you for your time.
Ellen DiFalco, A 27-year employee in Ulster County Tourism/Public Information Office
The Freeman is reporting that the Kingston School Budget Passed.
KINGSTON - Voters on Tuesday ended a year of austerity in the Kingston school district, approving a $130.83 million "restoration" budget that projects a 3.08 percent increase in the district tax levy.
The vote was 3,511 to 2,286 in favor of the 2007-08 budget, which increases district spending by $7.5 million, or 6.05 percent, and projects a tax levy increase of $2.32 million, to $77.56 million.
POSTED TO BLABER NEWS:
I have spent most of my life living in southern Ulster County. When my family moved here in the 70s, Ellenville was a cute little village with shops and flowers. Alas, that Ellenville has passed into memory.
The man running for Ulster County Comptroller has presided over much of the downfall of Ellenville. In just the past few years, we have seen the loss not only of major employers like Schrade, but even of fast food establishments like Pizza Hut and Burger King.
On the other side of the balance sheet, we have James Quigley, who manages - literally - billions in other people's investments and does so with a very high degree of success.
Quigley is also the running mate of Len Bernardo, a man who has overseen a multi-million dollar enterprise and managed hundreds of employees.
Now, supporters of Mr. Auerbach and Mr. Hein will point to their "experience" in government. Sadly, that experience is far from positive. It is experience built on businesses closing down and taxes going up.
When contrasting that against the Bernardo/Quigley record of businesses being built, jobs being created, revenue streams growing, economic and financial flourishment, the choice could not possibly be clearer.
Vote for Hein/Auerbach if you want Ulster County to have a pretty funeral.
Vote for Bernardo/Quigley if you want to join in this County's resurrection.
8:53.... WELL SAID.... i noticed that it says it was "posted" to Blaber News... i haven't seen it on the new Fair and Balanced site yet.... maybe it's not so fair and balanced.
Hey UP, we all know that Jeremy Blaber is a LIAR, but now we know for sure that he is THEIF too. Blaber has taken the graphic that is on your blog and posted as his own. Oh...he cut off the "we distort, you comply" part.
Where did Ulster Elections go?
Beke is right... no pun intended Imre.... Blaber News is not a news blog, it is a place dedicated to campaigning for specific candidates - Hein and Auerbach.
Blaber is very confused. How could anyone, including Blaber, think that blog is fair and balanced? It's an oxymoron. You can't say your are for Hein and Auerbach, but be fair and balanced at the same time. Fair and balanced would be supporting neither Bernardo/Quigley or Hein/Auerbach.
Now he's using the Fox News logo as his own. How does a Democrat lover like Blaber use the most right wing news outlet graphic.
Don't the Democrats have any graphic designer of their own?
Come on Jeremy, you're a young enough guy.... you should be savy enough to make your own logo. You don't have to jack stuff off of other blogs. It's sort of lazy if you ask me.
Thank you for you letter Ellen. It is something that A LOT of County employees feel. We appreciate you saying it for us.
POSTED ON BLABER NEWS IN RESPONSE TO "ANTI-NEOCON" COMMENTS
As occurs all too often, liberals take facts out of context. They use the pieces of information which are to their benefit and conveniently forget those which are not.
For instance, 12:31 decries the increase in property taxes under the Republican Legislature, and rightly so. However, if Mr. Hein was an actual champion of the taxpayers and felt that those tax hikes were unnecessary, he would never have submitted subsequent budgets to the Legislature which added taxes on TOP of what he inherited. After all, if the amount of money coming in is too much, why would you need more?
Mr. Hein has not controlled the bleeding, he has added to it. He could have proposed a budget which freezes spending or even cuts it. Instead, he offered budgets which increased spending and, as a result, our taxes.
Furthermore, Mr. Bernardo is NOT a Republican. He has not held a political or bureaucratic position. He has no connection to the Republican Legislature of times gone by. Consequently, even if 12:31's assessment of the Republicans' actions was correct (and it is, in fact spotty, incomplete and woefully lacking on several fronts), Mr. Bernardo cannot be successfully painted with that brush.
Of course, Mr. Hein and his supporters were counting on using that brush against any Republican running against him.
This election is not about Republican vs. Democrat. It is about the Establishment vs. those on the outside, the rest of us, the real people of Ulster County.
The fact is, if we want to fix Ulster County, we need a team of non-politicians, who understand business and finance. We don't need people who have spent time working within or alongside either major party's machine. We need to go outside the box that the Establishment on both sides has built. In short, we need the creativity, energy and freshness only people who were never in the "In-Crowd" can bring.
Mr. Bernardo and Mr. Quigley can do that.
Mr. Hein and Mr. Auerbach cannot.
NeoCons on the loose I see. Spreading falsehoods and half truths as always.
The Democrats took over for an absentee Republican/Conservative run government that buried this County. Stick around for a few years and watch the progressive, forward thinking Democrat lead Government turn it around.
As I have said before, Most of Ulster County has grown and matured past the antiquated 17th century thinking of most NeoCons. Get used to it, it is here to stay.
What's going on here? Since Rmre needed to post his comments here, as well as Blaber's BOG, 8:17 felt the need to follow suit? Hey 8:17, do you follow Imre where ever he goes? I can see the need for Imre to repost his post, as Jeremy usually rejects posts which hit Hein hard. Bur for you to follow him, seems stalkish.
YOU WON'T READ THIS ON BLABER NEWS
Subj: Claims SUCC RINO President Covert, Democrat "Trojan Horse."
NEWS FROM ALLAN WIKMAN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information Call
Allan @ 845 + 802-0403
WIKMAN CLAIMS
SUCC DINNER
CLEVER, CRASS,
COVERT
DEMOCRAT
ELECTIONEERING
Kingston, June 16...."With the likes of Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce's
RINO president, William J. Farrell," suggests Allan Wikman, "Democrats hardly
need proselytize."
In a prominent column-one, page 11 sidebar, June 11, the Mid-Hudson
Post-Pioneer announced an informational dinner, June 25, to which SUCC members
and guests are invited. Counters Wikman, "Propaganda soup to nuts."
i ndependent candidate to become Ulster's first-ever county executive, Wikman
likens SUCC's Farrell to a "Democrat Trojan Horse," who, far from "informing"
$35- a head dinner guests, has scheduled seven Democrat politicians and their
toadies, whose political futures are on the line. "Not one member of the
opposition," says Wikman.
"Besides, what does our county government have of any worth in the nature of
'commerce' to sell SUCC members and guests? Show us these politicians'...government
employees'...broad based, big business, management, credentials. Before we
squander a hard-earned $35-.
"Heinsight."
"'Chef' Michael (county administrator, Hein) will prepare and serve the soup,"
from whose "recipe," predicts Wikman, "none (even stalwart county legislator,
Susan Zimet) will dare veer."
Last week Wikman "...called SUCC headquarters. Suggested the chamber add me and
Len Bernardo to the panel. The receptionist told me she'd suggest that Farrell
call me."
X X X
author's note
SUCC = Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce
RINO = Republican in Name Only.... usually refers to those "members" of the Republican Party who support Democrats, while they rememain registered Republicans "in name only"
Wikiman you make no sense.
POSTED ON BLABER NEWS IN RESPONSE TO HIS CRITIQUE OF A PREVIOUS COMMENT:
Mr. Blaber, the only facts I state are the ones which are true. You, however, insist on twisting them to the benefit of your candidates.
Case in point: you state that Messrs. Bernardo and Quigley have no public sector experience. Then you proceed to link them with what has gone before. You cannot have it both ways. If they have no government experience, they cannot be said to be "more of the same."
Furthermore, those who have no governmental background are far more likely to bring change and reform than those who are steeped in the government and have shown no inclination in their public records towards such change.
Government in Ulster County is broken. I agree with you completely that it needs to be reformed. That reform, however, cannot come from the Establishment that caused the damage, on either side of the political fence. It must come from a fresh source that has viewed the growth of our shared dilemma from the outside, with an objective eye. Those who viewed it from within as part of the Establishment will never be able to take off the blinders and recognize what needs to be done. Nor will they be able to muster the will to buck those who brought them to power and take the necessary steps.
What the extensive private sector experience brought to the table by Messrs. Bernardo and Quigley signifies is not a dumping of any given function of county government. That statement is not only fear mongering, but unworthy of someone such as yourself, whose writings have shown knows better.
What their experience does, however, bring is the ability to pare down the overspending present in every portion of our county government while improving the efficiency of those functions.
I also find it curious that you tout the experience of Messrs. Hein and Auerbach as being key to their leadership abilities while at the same time supporting someone with no experience for Democratic Chairman over someone who has a great deal of experience. While I am not a Democrat and have no horse in the race, I find the contradiction and inconsistency in these two disparate stances of yours rather puzzling.
It is, by the way, typical that supporters of Messrs. Hein and Auerbach refuse to address the issue of the economic tragedy that Ellenville has become under Mr. Auerbach's tenure. Even in the worst inner cities in the country, fast food restaurants flourish. Why did two of the three such establishments in Ellenville flee? What has Mr. Auerbach done to bring jobs back to Ellenville? That is the kind of "experience" Ulster County has no need of, thank you very much.
Facing suit, anonymous blogger lifts his mask
http://www.startribune.com/politics/11758461.html
www.juliannot.blogspot.com
Ellenville is not an "economic tragedy" as posted here, its a crime scene. Auerbach has repeatedly engaged in inside, deals, no-bid contracts, non-prevailing wage labor, real estate speculations...........All you need to do is check the records at the UC Clerk about all companies with PO Box 542, Ellenville NY
Blaber=lard-a55 stole my picture too.
Ellen DiFalco, 29 or 30 yr. employee under Republican rule had her nose out of joint because Democrats offered her the second spot, Dep. to Clerk. In stead of being thankful and grateful Democrats didn't put her out of a job she worked against them and now, after retiring with a heafty pension and life time benefits for her and her husband she now has the nerve to lie about why she is no longer employed by the Clerk of the Legislature. Its called insuborination. Good ridence. By the way, Democrats did keep her Sister Karen also employed by the Clerk of the Legislature. She was promoted to Deputy. Republicans, when they took control back in 1979 did not reappoint any Democrats. Threw them out in the street with out blinking an eye. Ellen thinks if Republicans rule again she will be re-hired, that is one good reason to vote Democratic this year and next.
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