Unlearned Lesson
Memorial Day
Of every year
The little valiant
Flags appear
On every fallen
Soldier’s grave –
Symbol of what
Each died to save.
And we who see
And still have breath –
Are we no wiser
For their death?
– Dorothy Brown Thompson
No, not that Ed McMahon. I mean the other Ed McMahon – the senior fellow at the Empire Center for New York State Policy. He is the author of that organization’s publication New York’s Exploding Pension Costs released in December 2010.
I heard Ed speak at a function in Albany last year and he is a great speaker and extremely knowledgeable guy. I was thrilled to see him quoted in a Poughkeepsie Journal article this week (Tuesday, May 22nd) regarding a number of schools that want to sue NYS over the tax cap. It’s no shock that those talking lawsuit are districts that tried to override the tax cap and whose voters didn’t come out to give them the 60% vote needed to pass the override. Having worked with a group of people in the New Paltz School District several years ago to prevent the construction of a “twenty-first century middle school” at a cost of $50 million plus, I was thrilled to see McMahon calling out none other than the New Paltz School District in the article, stating that “the average teacher salary in New Paltz increased 29% since 2007 – increasing from about $62,000 to $80,000 – despite the recession.” Yikes.
People can bury their heads in the sand all they want. The problem is real and it’s not going to go away by itself. We can thank the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law, which permits the continuation of contractual salary increases even though a contract is expired! Where is the negotiating power if there’s nothing to negotiate with?
As Eastman Kodak found out after riding the gravy train for many years, if you continue to offer what people don’t want at prices they can’t afford, sooner or later they don’t buy it and you go broke. As Ed McMahon has pointed out in his pension bomb report, the status quo is not sustainable, but that doesn’t stop those who directly benefit from rising costs from pushing to keep what they have. What New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is starting to see is what they fear most – economic problems and ever increasing property taxes cause continuously declining enrollment, which means fewer jobs and, sooner or later, no students to teach. That’s where we’re headed.
Robin Vaccai Yess, Spokesperson
Liberty Coalition
nylibertycoalition@gmail.com
The Democrats are meeting on Wednesday, May 30 at 7pm at Hillside Manor, Kingston.
The Republicans are meeting on Thursday, May 31 at 7pm at Hillside Manor, Kingston.
The Conservatives are meeting on… who the heck knows?
Candidates for Assembly, Senate, and Judicial delegates will be nominated. Both parties will also nominate their respective Elections Commissioner. I’m sure it’s a done deal for both Vic Work and Tom Turco, but actually the Legislature has to vote on the Commissioner appointments. In Dutchess County, last time around, the Legislature tossed the nominated Commissioners and picked their own! Given our Legislature, that’s not likely to happen – these being nice cushy $75k per year jobs. If you’re interested, send your resume to Chairmen Cardinale (Democrat) and Rascoe (Republican) and better yet, if you’re serious, send your resume to the Legislators of your party affiliation. Maybe they’ll pull a Dutchess County maneuver.
Just so we’re all clear – the nominations of candidates at a Party Convention are just a formality. Candidates actually get on the ballot through the petition process, so not winning the nomination at one of these gatherings of politicos doesn’t mean much. The conventions are just dog and pony shows; or, in this case, donkey and elephant shows.
Robin Vaccai Yess, Spokesperson
Liberty Coalition
nylibertycoalition@gmail.com
Are you fed up, disgusted and generally sick and tired of these clowns running the GOP? Are you as sick as I am over these RINOs elected to serve in the County Legislature who don’t do what they were elected to do? If you are as fed up as I am, and you have an inclination to public service, please get in touch with me. I am willing to help you run for office and take out a RINO. Let’s call it a hunting expedition. Let’s hunt RINOs and replace them with real Republicans, fiscally conservative Democrats OR candidates of any party affiliation that will represent the people – not cater to party bosses – and will not kowtow to anybody named Bernardo, including Sundae.
If you live in any of the following Ulster County Legislative Districts and you have an interest in running for office, I am eager to help you as is the Liberty Coalition. Our followers, supporters and readers are many – and they are willing to help take back our government.
These districts have weak, underperforming incumbents, RINOs or Bernardo flunkies – all of whom need to be removed. Note that districts 18 and 22 are not held by RINOs, but they’re currently represented by RINO wannabes and worse, they’re Bernardo groupies! They’ve got to go.
Your communication with me will remain confidential, because – unlike these other politicos – when I give my word, it’s my word. Please email me privately at ryess@hvi.net or call me at (914) 466-9185 to talk about your candidacy for the Ulster County Legislature next year. Everyone will benefit if you are able to help oust these RINOs. If you know someone who might be interested, send this link to them. Let’s work together, our future depends on it. Minus 9 RINOs is our goal, so let’s get the ball rolling.
As for you RINOs – and RINO wannabes – currently serving in the above districts, you are hereby put on notice: we’re hunting RINOs and you’re one of them.
Robin Vaccai Yess, Spokesperson
Liberty Coalition
nylibertycoalition@gmail.com
The Liberty Coalition has taken an informal poll to see who the likely nominees are for the upcoming Republican of the Year award slated to be announced at Pinegrove Ranch on June 14. No surprise that the overwhelming majority of votes went to:
The real surprise is that Sundae the Dog actually received the highest number of votes! Sundae, a registered canine Republican, is less of a RINO than Terry and unlike Len, the GOBs of the GOP actually like her.
Fast forward…
Congratulations to Sundae Bernardo for winning the Republican of the Year award!
Better yet, where are the candidates? Wonderful that it appears there are two Republicans who want to run for the new Assembly District 101 (don’t ask me why), which starts at the south to include two towns in Orange County, includes four towns in Ulster County (Hardenburgh, Denning, Wawarsing, and Shawagunk) and runs north through – I kid you not – Sullivan, Delaware, Otsego, Herkimer and Oneida Counties. Yup, that’s an Assembly District spanning seven counties, which is as bad, if not worse than Hinchey’s former Congressional District 22. Click here to see this idiotic district for yourself.
So, in this absurd span of constituent representation, there are two Republicans running for the seat. Incumbent, if you can call her that – because the new district doesn’t look anything like the old one, is Claudia Tenney from the current Assembly District 115 – which covers Otsego and Oneida Counties. She was elected in 2010 to serve her first term. Brian Maher, the young Mayor of the Village of Walden, is also running for the seat. In a situation like this, I guess you really can’t call Tenney the incumbent because it is actually a new district. It remains to be seen what happens with this district, but Governor Cuomo clearly shouldn’t have backed down on his stance for anti-gerrymandering. Gerrymandered = Assembly District 101.
So far, from what I’m told, there are no candidates running against Frank Skartados (new Assembly District 104) and none running against political-lifer Kevin Cahill in his new District 103. Lucky for him, they’ve added in Red Hook, but this district still covers most of Ulster County.
My question for GOP Chairman Rascoe is – where are the Assembly candidates?
Robin Vaccai Yess, Spokesperson
Liberty Coalition
nylibertycoalition@gmail.com
Contrary to what some say, the only things posted on this blog can be documented and are based on fact, not my opinion. When you think about it, this blog is the ONLY one covering Ulster County politics where the author is identified! It’s easy to write inflammatory statements and insult people when you’re anonymous and that goes for the bloggers and the commenters. Point is I’m not hiding under a cloak or wearing a cape.
I occasionally receive an email from a member of the Ulster County Republican Executive Committee – who “advises” me about the Liberty Coalition blog and how I can build and maintain credibility. This is comical to me, coming from a person who has said on many occasions “he/she may be an idiot, but they’re our idiot.” The difference between him and me is clear – I don’t buy that nonsense.
My position on good government and running a political party doesn’t mirror this Executive Committee member’s. My theory for rebuilding a party is to remove the RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) whether on the County Committee or already serving in elected office, primary them when necessary to get rid of them, and by standing for something.
You can’t say you stand for smaller government as the taxpayers’ watchdog and then by your own actions, spend more money. You can’t say you’re for smaller government and then increase the size of government. You can’t say you’re in favor of private industry whenever possible and then vote to maintain a county-run nursing home even when the numbers (dollars and sense) show it’s not sustainable. Well, I suppose you can say all these things, but it doesn’t take people long to see that you don’t mean it.
Until the Republican Party (1) gets rid of the RINOs, (2) removes ineffective elected officials, and (3) creates a platform that ALL Republicans will not only preach, but practice, they will lose.
Robin Vaccai Yess, Spokesperson
Liberty Coalition
nylibertycoalition@gmail.com
