Merry Christmas

RIP Dietrich Woerner

The staff has learned of the passing of Dietrich Woerner. RIP Dietrich.

Palen Back? County Employees are Confused

Has Ulster County Executive Mike Hein lost control of the County? Word on the street is that Dean Palen showed up at a H1N1 virus meeting in Ulster County that left Ulster County employees scratching their head. One employee was overheard saying "I thought that Palen didn't work for Ulster County anymore" What's going on Mr. Hein? Have you taken Dean Palen back? Dr. LaMar didn't work out? How about a Press Release from Vinny clarifying what Mr. Palen was doing that caused such confusion among County employees.

DEAR STUPID DAILY FREEMAN READER . . .

DEAR STUPID DAILY FREEMAN READER . . .

That might as well have been the title of the editorial in the Freeman on Sunday, November 29, 2009. The Freeman lamented, whined, complained about the fact that we STUPID Ulster County voters (at least that’s what the Freeman apparently thinks and is not the position of Ulster Politics), dared elect Republicans in Ulster County.

The Freeman lamented, whined, and complained, that the biggest scandals of the last five years in Ulster County – the health department and the jail, were done on the Republican watch? WHAT????

For four of the last five years the DEMOCRATS have controlled Ulster County Government. For four of the last five years David Donaldson has sat in the Chair of the Ulster County Legislature doing nothing about the Health Department.

For four of the last five years Mike Hein has sat as the top administrative and executive post in Ulster County and it took him 3 ½ years to deal with the Health Department mess.

Stunningly, Elliot Auerbach’s report gives a complete pass to Michael Hein. Wasn’t Mr. Hein, during his run for Executive, claiming he was in charge, getting it done. For the Freeman to give a pass to Hein, while blaming Republicans – who have been out of power for 80% of the last five years, and then castigating the voters for electing Republicans is just disgusting.

Elliott, we can only say that if you were the County Executive, and Hein were Comptroller, his report would be beating the heck out of you. You would be his target as he planned his 2011 primary for county executive. You did a grave disservice to your constituents by not slamming this guy’s ineptitude. Elliott, don’t treat us the way the Freeman does. We are not stupid.

Dear readers, would you patronize a business whose owner called you stupid? Well if you are one of the overwhelming majority of voters this year who voted for Don Williams, or Nina Postupack, or Republican County Legislators, your local paper just called you stupid.

The good news, you can buy the Times Herald Record, or better yet, read tomorrow’s Freeman stories today at www.MidHudsonNews.com (most of the stories by “Mid Hudson News Network” are just reprints from the day before of MidHudsonNews.com) .

Anyway, smart readers (see, we don’t call our readers stupid), those are our thoughts for today. Now, do as your local paper commands you and go and think evil thoughts about Republicans.

Running Mate for Cuomo?

New York Times
November 16, 2009

Cuomo Wants to Shape Ticket in Run for Governor, Advisers Say

By DANNY HAKIM

ALBANY — Quietly plotting his campaign for governor, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and his advisers have been discussing potential candidates to run alongside him, to present the most appealing Democratic ticket to the electorate, people with knowledge of those discussions said.

Mr. Cuomo has discussed candidates who would diversify the ticket, which, given the interest shown, has the potential to be dominated by Italian-American men, and he is said to be intrigued by William C. Thompson Jr., among others, as a candidate for state comptroller. Mr. Thompson, New York City’s comptroller, put up a surprisingly strong challenge to Michael R. Bloomberg in the race for mayor of New York, despite being outspent 14 to 1.

Adding a prominent African-American could help Mr. Cuomo soothe any resentment he sets off if Gov. David A. Paterson, the state’s first African-American governor, stays in the race and the two men battle for the party’s support at the state convention in the summer.

Mr. Cuomo is also trying to repair any lingering damage from his 2002 primary for the governor’s office with H. Carl McCall, then the state comptroller and the first black official elected statewide in New York.

Mr. Cuomo, who once ran the political operation of his father, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, is known as an inveterate player of political chess who relishes moving pieces around to create hypothetical scenarios and matchups. Advisers to Mr. Cuomo spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were supposed to be confidential; they cautioned that discussions about a potential Democratic ticket were preliminary. Neither Mr. Cuomo nor his aides have approached any potential candidates, and much could change depending on which Republicans run and whether Mr. Paterson stays in the race. The resurgence of Republicans in New York City’s suburbs in the recent election has also shifted the calculus.

Publicly, Mr. Cuomo continues to deflect questions about whether he will run for governor and a spokesman denied that strategizing over a ticket was taking place.

“There simply have been no talks or conversations of this sort within the Cuomo camp,” said John Milgrim, a spokesman for the attorney general.

Mr. Cuomo declined to comment for this article.

Of course, a candidate for governor, even one with poll numbers as high as Mr. Cuomo’s, would have only so much say in the makeup of a party’s ticket. Taking any overt steps to build a ticket would be a delicate process, because Mr. Cuomo is not likely to formally announce a candidacy anytime soon.

But given the lack of White House support for Governor Paterson and his diminished poll numbers, Democratic Party officials are proceeding under the assumption that Mr. Cuomo will run for governor and become the party’s standard bearer. Perhaps the strongest evidence of this expectation is the number of Democrats — more than half a dozen — who are mulling candidacies to replace Mr. Cuomo as attorney general.

Mr. Cuomo’s speeches are also beginning to take on a cast more like a governor’s, with a focus not on legal issues but on taxation and the ethical morass and dysfunction in Albany.
Taking an active role in shaping the Democratic ticket would also help Mr. Cuomo discourage or defeat other ambitious Democrats with whom he has strained relations. A run for comptroller by Mr. Thompson, for example, would provide an alternative to the incumbent, Thomas P. DiNapoli, a Long Island Democrat and former assemblyman and no favorite of Mr. Cuomo’s.
Mr. Cuomo has also praised Mr. Thompson for adopting a set of pension reforms for the city that were recommended by the attorney general’s office, steps that Mr. DiNapoli resisted.
Mr. Cuomo is also considering who might replace him as attorney general, and is favorably disposed to several women with experience as prosecutors. One is Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County district attorney. Last month, Mr. Cuomo traveled to Garden City, N.Y., to headline a fund-raiser for Ms. Rice at the Cradle of Aviation museum there, extolling her virtues before hundreds.

Mr. Cuomo also has high regard for Janet DiFiore, the district attorney of Westchester County, and Denise E. O’Donnell, a former federal prosecutor from Buffalo who is the Paterson administration’s top criminal justice official.

A possible upstate addition to the ticket is Rochester’s mayor, Robert Duffy, a popular former police chief, who some Democrats hope will run for lieutenant governor.

Whether these politicians are willing to jump into the statewide fray remains to be seen. Mr. Thompson, for instance, is likely to consider other options, including another run for mayor in 2013.

Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for Mr. Thompson, said “it is premature to comment on Bill Thompson’s future plans at this time.”

Ms. Rice, in an interview, said she was “completely focused on my job as D.A., but of course I am flattered people are noticing the innovative work we’ve done in Nassau.”

Mr. Duffy said, “I certainly am flattered that my name has been mentioned, but I wouldn’t want to comment on any speculation or rumor.”

Mancave Videos

Mancave Videos

If you ever wanted to see what the wasting of taxpayer money looks like, watch this.

This should be a warning to any government employees.

If you are taking advantage of the system, you may get away with it for a long time, but when you get caught - you are finished.

Is it really worth it?

Federal Deficit his Record

Federal Deficit Hits October Record of $176 Billion

Government Starts New Fiscal Year Deeply in the Red

By MATTHEW JAFFE

Nov. 12, 2009 —

The U.S. budget deficit for October surged to $176 billion, a record for the month, the Treasury Department announced today.

During the month, the government racked up $311 billion in outlays compared with $135 billion in receipts.

The October numbers mark the first month for the new fiscal year after the U.S. wrapped up the 2009 fiscal year that ended on September 30 with a record-high $1.4 trillion budget deficit due to increased government spending to stop the recession and the financial crisis. The final deficit for the 2009 fiscal year was equal to 10 percent of the nation's GDP, the highest shortfall relative to GDP since 1945, the final year of World War II.

The rising deficit has caused some concerns in Asia, where President Obama is set to start a weeklong trip. On his visit to the Pacific Rim the president will visit the United States' two largest foreign creditors  China and Japan.

In recent months the country's soaring deficit has prompted fears that China and Japan might reduce their holdings of treasuries, but neither country has shown signs of a drawdown. The most recent numbers revealed that during August China decreased its holdings by $3 billion to $797 billion, while Japan raised its holdings by $6.5 billion to $731 billion.

Along with his stops in China and Japan the president will also visit Singapore and South Korea -- the four countries combined own 47 percent of America's foreign-held debt.

In an interview with CNBC conducted at the APEC summit in Singapore, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner vowed that the United States' fiscal situation will improve as the economy does so, too.

"As growth recovers and as the temporary support for the economy we had to put in place to solve the crisis, as that winds down then we'll be able to start to put our fiscal position on a path to a more sustainable position," he said. "That's important for the United States, important for global financial stability. Recovery is not going to be strong enough unless people are confident in that. And I think you can see -- again if you look at broad behavior over the last several months you see a lot of confidence in basic fundamental stability of the U.S. financial system and a lot of confidence in the quality of our financial stewardship."

The Treasury chief noted that as banks repay bailout money, the government can then use those repayments to reduce the public debt.

"We are likely to have to borrow substantially less than we initially anticipated to help repair the damage to our financial system," he said. "You've seen capital start to come back to the government. Banks are repaying with interest. We're likely to see significant repayments ahead. That's gonna allow us to devote greater resources to debt reduction."

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures