News That Matters
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Good Wednesday Morning,

In yesterdays' column I ran a link to a NYJN story about Cimarron Ranch and Alex Kaspar's day in court. If you clicked through to read that story you'd see a link on the word "environment" in the paragraph:

"Nearby residents said they have seen major truck traffic, which would suggest industrial operations. They believe the work is against town code and detrimental to the environment. They contend the heavy trucks are unsafe on their narrow rural roads."

Note the link. If you ran your mouse over it you got a pop-up ad for ExxonMobil. Does that tell you where the Gannet corporation stands on environmental matters? Thanks to CR from Putnam Valley for pointing this out.

Last night the Assembly passed a version of Sandy Galef's circuit breaker bill 118-24. Both reps from Putnam County voted in favor. Let's hope it lays the foundation for further discussion on the Cahill model which will resolve the problem of back-breaking property taxes and equitable education funding in New York state.

The "NO" votes on this flawed bill came from Assembly members, Amedore, Bacalles, Barclay, Boyle, Burling, Cole, Conte, Crouch, Errigo, Finch, Fitzpatrick, Giglio, Hawley, Hayes, Kolb, Lopez, Morelle, Oaks, O'Mara, Quinn, Reilich, Schimminger, Tedisco and Tobacco.

This should signal the end of the Tax Cap movement which was a guaranteed 4% tax increae in disguise. However...

The Republican controlled Senate says they will refuse to take up the Circuit Breaker and call it a $2.6 billion tax hike. They're right, it is. But only if you earn more than $1,000,000 a year and if you do I'm not crying for you. Why is the Senate protecting millionaires over you and me? Here's a hint: follow the money - right into their campaign coffers.

The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy has released a poll called, "Middle Class Households and Fearful Families". It shows a serous disconnect between what the American people want and what Congress is doing... no surprise there. For example, 57% of Republicans and 91% of Democrats polled think that we should have a national health care plan. Also, 55% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats believe that bankruptcy judges should be able to change mortgage payments to prevent foreclosure. In the meantime, Congress just makes it easier for banks to foreclose on you. In the meantime, fully a fifth of the lower middle classes are running short on funds month-to-month and Congress intends to extend tax cuts for the richest 1% of Americans which those lower middle class people are paying for.

I'm pretty confident the poll will change nothing in Congress. What will is probably nothing short of armed insurrection, the Second Coming, or that voters will wake up one morning and realize they've been duped and get mad as hell in the voting booth.

Today's poll asks just that.

I attended the CRCM Candidates Forum last evening where reps for the County Legislature (District 8) and the 99th Assembly District were in attendance. Assemblyman Ball called earlier in the day to say he would not be able to attend, being in special session of the Assembly until very late last night.

Discussion with candidates for the legislative district, Carmine DiBattista, Dini LoBue and Gary Kiernan, went along smoothly. There was a decent back-and-forth between the audience and questions asked were usually answered. Bonus points go to Ms. LoBue for saying, "I don't know", when she honestly didn't know the answer to a question, rather than bullshit her way through something off the top of her head. She's feisty, there's no question about that. On the other hand, I don't see what either of the other two candidates can offer the County legislature that is any different than what we have now. Sadly, there's no vision for the county other than shopping malls and housing developments.

The problem came when the scene switched to the Assembly race.

While Greg Ball was not in attendance, he did send a crew in including some who had traveled up to Albany with him that morning on his "Tax Cap Express". Southeast councilman Dwight Yee read a statement from the Assemblyman before John Degnan took the stage. John's opening statement was a standard stump speech suitable for any event but it was the questions that followed which opened a portal into a hidden world that may or may not be representative of the rest of the Carmel and Mahopac communities. Racism, bigotry and hatred. If you knew nothing about these places and were at the forum last evening, you would have left promising not to return.

Though the MC of the debate tried to be independent and fair, the appointed time keeper, armed with a "15 second" card and a bell, both of which were aggressively handled, [DING!] was clearly not. [DING!] Shouting at Mr. Degnan when he ran [DING!] over his alloted time. [DING!]. Some in the audience found all this rather amusing since [DING!] Mr. Ball was not there so it shouldn't [DING!] have mattered if Mr. Degnan [DING! DING!] took a moment or two longer [DING! DING! DING!] to answer the question. [DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!] The timekeeper's obvious disdain for Mr. Degnan [DING! DING! DING!] was rather clear.

Matt Neuringer asked one of the first questions and rambled on about this and that for a while until [DING!] the audience grumbled out loud, and in the end asked Mr. Degnan if he was going to win the primary and if so, by how many percentage points. Yeah, that's the level of intelligence that came forward and, until the very last question asked that evening, it *was* the most intellectual question asked, vapid as it was. Mr. Neuringer left the podium with a grin on his face as if he'd accomplished something meaningful. How sad.

In his response, Mr. Degnan stated that Matt worked for Mr. Ball when Matt cut in and said he did not. This was news to most in the room and caught many off guard. We're assuming Mr. Neuringer was telling the truth and if so, there's probably a good story behind it.

A woman then rose to ask about a bill in Albany that, according to her, would allow pretty much everyone, from cab drivers to pipe fitters to perform abortions in NY. Mr. Degnan stated that he was in favor of a woman's right to chose for her own body but [DING!] decried the number of abortions taking place. He was not aware of this bill and neither is this reporter.

Another asked, what percentage of lottery monies were slated for education. Mr Degnan stated only that he knew monies [DING!] were added to the general fund and slated for education. The reality is quite more complex than that and does need a fix in Albany. The truth is, lottery monies *are* slated for education but that the state borrows against it... that's bad.

The questions that followed were scary: One man asked, after stating that he moved to Mahopac to get away from the "crime" (a buzzword in this debate for, 'people who aren't white like me'.) and wanted to know if Mr. Degnan would do to Mahopac what he did to Brewster.

The fact that Mr. Degnan is running for State Assembly and not for Mayor of Mahopac notwithstanding, the persistent rumor that Brewster is some sort of national criminal haven for the illegal underworld fails to be substantiated by anyone other than Greg Ball. Never mentioned are the large numbers of day laborers seeking employment in downtown Mahopac nor of the hundreds of eastern European migrants living in the area who are never questioned about their immigration status because, well, they 'look just like us'. I'm wondering, how brown does your skin have to be before one is considered, automatically, a criminal.

Another questioner said, 'you let Brewster become a Sanctuary City... how many times have you called ICE...?' To that, Mr. Degnan responded that he was the first mayor in the United States to contact ICE about the 287g(?) program and that he has been seeking solutions to perceived [DING!] problems all along, that he's met with ICE 4 times in the past. All of that was on target and the truth.

But racism was rife in the room and you could cut it with a knife. It was only the last question asked of Mr. Degnan that moved away from racism and that was asking Mr Degnan to lay out his vision for the district.

Can it really be that Carmel and Mahopac is packed with racists, white sheets pressed and at the ready, guns cocked and aimed at anyone who is browner than me? If so, then the wool's been pulled over my eyes for the past ten years. If not, then where were the voices of reason? Why is this Assembly race being framed solely on the issue of white supremacy and not on accomplishment and agenda?

Are Republican voters in the district so biased and filled with hatred that they would vote to support a man with no plan, no agenda and, after two years in Albany, nothing to show for it but enemies, vacuous press conferences, empty speeches and a retinue of shaved head, scary-looking youth? We'll find out come primary day.

Not being a journalist I am free to say that I despise Mr. Ball and the ugliness he has brought about in this county. I'm glad that it's now on the surface rather than hiding in the shadows for those who harbor these feelings need education and a basic understanding of simple economics to deal with their misplaced obsession. If this were another time they'd be blaming the Jews for all their problems... unless they already do - and are just too timid to say so.

Look, undocumented workers in this nation aren't costing you a dime nor "taking" anything away from you and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.

When you take into account the cost savings of their labor which saves you money each and every day, when you add in the amount of earnings that are pumped back into the local economy, the taxes paid both on sales and on the income of business owners, landlords and other purchased services. [DING!] When you add all that together it's a huge, vast sum that far outweighs the cost of human services to help these people - the very people who do the work you, your sons and your daughters will not do for any money.

Sure, our immigration situation needs revision [DING!] [DING!] but there's no reason to believe that these folk are taking anything away from you or benefit more than you do from the porous national safety net we have in place. The fact is - they do not. So, why your obsession with this?

We can have a discussion on immigration but it must be based on truth and intelligence and that requires you first deal with your inner, personal issues where you blame others for your shortcomings and fears. [DING!] [DING!] [DING!] Until that happens nothing will be accomplished. In other words, the immigration debate can not be resolved so long as the clatterous din of racism is a part of the discussion.

If you can't get enough of Greg Ball and John Degnan or you've missed the show last night, there's a Greg Ball/John Degnan debate this Friday, August 22, at 7PM at Lathrop Hall in Lakeside Park in Pawling.

The Journal News reported this little gem yesterday:

The “Tax Cap Express,” carrying Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, and Republican Assembly candidates from the Hudson Valley, arrived in Albany about 10:20 a.m. today. About two dozen people got off the bus and began to walk into the Capitol’s East Park. A few minutes later, many of them walked back and boarded the bus again. It turns out that News 12 staffers had been sitting in their van and hadn’t gotten the primo shot of everyone disembarking.

The right wing blogs are upset these days with the prospects that democracy in Iraq might have taken hold. The Iraqi government is moving forward with a decade-old contract with the Russians to build a $10-12 Billion power station. The bloggers feel that the US should have this contract (and I'll assume all others) since we "liberated" them from Saddam Hussein and somehow they owe us. On the other hand, they've just placed an order with US Arms Merchants for billions of dollars. Aren't those people ever satisfied?

And now the news:

State Passes Spending Cuts
Corporations Use $20 Billion Legal Tax Loophole
Sam's Club to Start Offering Solar Panels
Bloomberg Offers Windmill Plan
Northwest bans ad from airport
Scientists: FBI destroyed Ivins' matching anthrax sample
New York City agrees to pay protesters $2 million
Group says drinking age law isn't working

From: Albany Watch

State Passes Spending Cuts

The state Assembly worked until nearly 2 a.m. this morning to pass bills that will cut state spending by 6 percent. Lawmakers didn’t want to delay the vote until later today because many had campaign events to get back to tonight.

The state Senate, though, broke at around 10:30 p.m. last night and is scheduled to return to session at 10 a.m. to finish the bills.

The leaders and Gov. Paterson are expected to address the media sometime this morning.

Paterson is declaring the special session a victory, saying he got most of the $600 million in cuts he asked for. The legislature agreed to about $400 million in cuts. And that may embolden Paterson.

Here is a list of agreed-upon $411 million in cuts expected to be approved by the Legislature:

—6 percent cut in aid to local agencies and organizations: $100 million;—6 percent cut on spending added by the Legislature: $9 million;—50 percent cut in spending added by the governor: $20 million;—7 percent reduction in spending on the City University of New York: $51 million;—Cut in legislative “pork barrel’’ spending: $40 million—Savings from a delay in building a statewide wireless network: $40 million;—Reductions in payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other medical purposes: $141.1 million.

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Corporations Use $20 Billion Legal Tax Loophole

Experts Say Transfer Pricing, Which Is Perfectly Legal, Costs the Treasury Over $20 Billion a Year
By MICHELLE DUBERT
August 18, 2009

As the economy threatens to fall into a recession and an increasing number of Americans are struggling to make ends meet, many corporations are drastically reducing their tax liability to the federal government through a perfectly legal practice known as transfer pricing, costing the Treasury more than $20 billion a year.

"Large corporations don't hide income, but they might engage in very sophisticated transactions that reduce their tax liability in ways that aren't appropriate," said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who focuses on taxes and retirement.

One such loophole that corporations are likely exploiting, says Toder, is transfer pricing, or prices charged for items or services within groups of the same company. Multinational companies commonly sell assets to overseas subsidiaries in low-tax countries to reduce taxable profits in the United States and increase them in the countries with lower tax rates. For tax purposes, these groups are all treated as separate companies.

"If a U.S. firm is purchasing a product from their foreign subsidiary, then they've moved potential U.S. profit to their offshore subsidiary," said Mike Brostek of the Government Accountability Office.

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Sam's Club to Start Offering Solar Panels

Big Box Giant Tests Renewable Energy Program

Those bastions of modern consumerism, big box retailers, continue their gradual march toward green, as the latest announcement from Sam's Club points out.

The colossal company already offers solar pool heaters on its website, and Sam's Club is now poised to market solar panels at nine Southern California Clubs: Corona, Murrieta, Glendora, Ontario, La Habra, Chino, Long Beach, Fountain Valley and Torrance. As Environmental Leader points out, at these locations so-called Home Efficiency Centers have been created to showcase green products and appliances.

Consumers can expect to see kiosks in participating stores that tout the benefits of solar energy. The company is working with Borrego Solar Systems and BP Solar, and buyers can expect to save in the neighborhood of $500. Sam's Club is also ramping up offerings of Energy Star appliances, low-flow fixtures, CFLs, LEDs and other green building products.

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Bloomberg Offers Windmill Plan

By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: August 19, 2008

In a plan that would drastically remake New York City’s skyline and shores, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is seeking to put wind turbines on the city’s bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a wide-ranging push to develop renewable energy.

The plan, while still in its early stages, appears to be the boldest environmental proposal to date from the mayor, who has made energy efficiency a cornerstone of his administration.

Mr. Bloomberg said he would ask private companies and investors to study how windmills can be built across the city, with the aim of weaning it off the nation’s overtaxed power grid, which has produced several crippling blackouts in New York over the last decade.

Mr. Bloomberg did not specify which skyscrapers and bridges would be candidates for windmills, and city officials would need to work with property owners to identify the buildings that would best be able to hold the equipment. But aides said that for offshore locations, the city was eyeing the generally windy coast off Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island for turbines that could generate 10 percent of the city’s electricity needs within 10 years.

“When it comes to producing clean power, we’re determined to make New York the No. 1 city in the nation,” Mr. Bloomberg said as he outlined his plans in a speech last night in Las Vegas, where a major conference on alternative energy is under way.

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Northwest bans ad from airport

By: Jason Hoppin - St. Paul Pioneer Press
August 19, 2008 12:09 PM EST

An advocacy group seeking to curtail the proliferation of nuclear weapons is crying foul after an ad aimed at presumptive GOP nominee John McCain was ordered removed from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, took out ads in the Denver and Twin Cities airports aimed at both presidential candidates. The MSP ad shows an overhead photograph of downtown Minneapolis and says, "When only one nuclear bomb could destroy a city like Minneapolis ... We don't need 6,000."

But Northwest Airlines officials have ordered the ad removed.

"This is a private airline acting as a political censor," said Elliott Negin, media director for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

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Scientists: FBI destroyed Ivins' matching anthrax sample

Originally published August 19, 2008
By Justin M. Palk
News-Post Staff

WASHINGTON — Contrary to initial reports, Bruce Ivins did give investigators a sample of the anthrax the FBI has identified as the same type used in the attacks, but they destroyed it because it didn't meet their standards for evidence.

FBI scientists released that information Monday in a briefing at FBI headquarters, where researchers who assisted in the investigation discussed the scientific process they used to track the anthrax used in the 2001 mailings back to Fort Detrick and Ivins.

Two weeks ago, the Justice Department named Ivins as its sole suspect in the mailings, which killed five people and left 17 others hospitalized. Ivins' attorney has maintained Ivin's innocence. The noted scientist committed suicide on July 29, just before media reports revealed investigators were preparing to indict him for the mailings.

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New York City agrees to pay protesters $2 million

Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:53am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City has agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to protesters arrested during a 2003 rally against the Iraq war who said their civil rights had been violated, lawyers for both sides said on Tuesday.

The 52 plaintiffs in the lawsuit were among 94 protesters arrested on April 7, 2003, during a demonstration at the midtown Manhattan offices of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with holdings in the defense sector.

"The New York Police Department violated core constitutional rights when it arrested a group of peaceful demonstrators who were lawfully protesting against the commencement of the Iraq war and those who stood to profit from it," said Sarah Netburn, a lawyer for the protesters.

In a statement, a lawyer for New York City confirmed the size of the settlement.

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Group says drinking age law isn't working

MIDDLEBURY, Vt., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A group of more than 100 U.S. college and university presidents say the drinking age of 21 years isn't working and has led to a culture of binge drinking.

Twenty-four years after the National Minimum Drinking Age Act that tied federal highway funds to the drinking age of 21 was enacted, the group found the legal drinking age "is not working" and a "culture of dangerous, clandestine 'binge-drinking' -- often conducted off-campus -- has developed," the Amethyst Initiative said in a news release.

The Amethyst Initiative, based in Middlebury, Vt., is made up of chancellors and presidents of from post-secondary institutions who signed a statement calling for the issue to be revisited.

"Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer," the statement said. "By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law."

Amethyst Initiative signatories also call on elected officials to weigh the consequences of tying federal highway dollars to alcohol policies and invited officials to consider "new ideas on how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use."

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