Congressional news updates: Fracking, candidate silence, and more proof that local Democrats strategy is to kill jobs

By Sam Foster

I'm back from a small Fourth of July break and sure enough, there is a lot of news buzzing about in NY's congressional elections.  Here is a taste of what is going on…

While Massa couldn't get enough fracking, upstate Dems are working hard to end fracking for everyone

I have yet to take an official position on hydro-fracking.  Not to be confused with Massa's favorite use of the term.  Hydro-fracking is used by the natural gas industry to drill and recover natural gas and is probably one of the seven deadly sins in the church of global warming.  However, I'm going to need to get schooled soon, because upstate Dems seen hell bent on making it a big issue in November.  

Mike Arcuri of NY's 24^th congressional district has all but guaranteed that the issue will be front and center in his bid for reelection as he successfully introduced an amendment that repeals an EPA waiver on certain environmental impacts involved with fracking.

NY-29 candidate Matt Zeller has also come out against Hydro-fracking.  Maurice Hinchey has been at it too.  All the while NY legislature is considering a fracking ban.

Democrat concerns may be warranted, but Republican challengers in NYS ought to be prepared to talk fracking this November.  Democrats have made no secret that their election strategy will be to talk local issues and it seems that fracking and the Marcellus Shale might be their holy grail for local issues in the months to come.

Media silence is not golden for candidates Matt Zeller and Janice Volk

An emailor sent me a note last Friday commenting that democrat candidate Matt Zeller's website is fairly boilerplate to the national Democratic platform.  While Zeller's youth and political inexperience has benefits in the polls, in the end, people gravitate toward leadership and a website devoid of any personal opinions is not going to sell.  Silence is also not going to sell.

Last weekend, the Elmira Gazette featured local politician's views on the Kegan nomination.  One line said it all for Zeller and Republican hopeful Janice Volk:

We also reached out to republican candidate Janice Volk for a comment but were unable to get a response.

Democratic candidate Matthew Zeller has also yet to get back to us with his opinion.

Zeller has also avoided comment on March's health care vote.  However, Zeller cannot afford to remain unquoted on important issues in local newspapers, especially when local voters have little name recognition.  I myself have experienced a bout of the "Zeller silent treatment."  

Similarly, the failure of Janice Volk to take advantage of free press coverage is surprising.  To date, her only major quote in the local press has been about how "good people don't become collection's lawyers."  Somehow I doubt this is the quote she wants primary voters to remember her by, but her campaign needs to realize that static does not google well.

The entire NY congressional agenda summed up in a single opinion piece

Douglas Turner had an amazing opinion piece this weekend in the Buffalo News.  It's a lesson in how Democrats Dan Maffei, Kurstin Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer hope to send all business overseas by getting cozy with big labor.  This ought to be required reading for anyone living in the 25^th Congressional district or NYS for that matter.

WASHINGTON — Six years ago, Sen. Charles E. Schumer urged company site selectors to take a fresh look at upstate New York. He said Buffalo and Rochester were among the best places in the country to build a factory.

What would those private sector decision- makers think now of the campaign that Schumer and the rest of the state's Democratic notables are making to muscle a national company into making a deal with its labor union?

The dispute — a knot in the state's shredding business climate — centers on a Motts apple juice factory in the hamlet of Williamson. It sidles up to Lake Ontario east of Rochester in apple country.

It's owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, a new conglomerate spun off from a British firm. It makes 7-Up and dozens of other non-cola drinks. The new owners told 300 stunned workers at the juice plant they would have to accept

harsh take-backs if they wanted a new contract. Union bargainers heard these include pension freezes, a wage cut, reduced company payments to 401(k)s, higher contributions for health insurance and other big sacrifices.

There was a day when even Democratic officials kept their mitts off a private labor dispute where there was no finding of unfair labor practices, and no violence.

But the Retail Wholesale&Department Store Union called in its chits with state Democrats early in the game. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reacted with an astonishing letter to Dr Pepper offices on his official stationery.

DiNapoli said he controls $33 million in Dr Pepper stock as trustee of the state employees' retirement fund. He warned the company against being seen as "anti-labor" and then said an unhappy work force might cut profitability and the value of the stock. It looked like a threat he might dump 938,000 shares if Dr Pepper didn't knuckle under.

DiNapoli's menacing letter reached Dr Pepper offices in Plano, Texas, six weeks before the union struck Motts on May 23.

After Motts hired temporary workers to keep the plant running, Schumer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sean Coffey, the party's candidate for attorney general, all joined in. They urged Dr Pepper to "return to the bargaining table," which is code for softening their demands for take-backs. The letter from Schumer, influential on the Senate panel dealing with anti-trust, said it was in Dr Pepper's "best interest."

The letters from Schumer and others raised a myth that the region's economy would be hurt by the strike. The plant is still running. Apples are being bought and processed.

It is dumb for an outsider like me to take sides in a labor dispute, but this hasn't stopped Schumer, DiNapoli, Cuomo and Gillibrand from interfering, although none has any experience in any industry whatsoever.

Rep. Dan Maffei, D-Syracuse, heroically insists the dispute "is about working people in Wayne County versus corporate greed in Texas."

It may also be about whether the plant winds up shuttered. It is about whether Maffei and the others are kidding the locals into thinking they can hold back the eternal night of wage competition from China, where half the apple juice consumed in the United States is made.

"We have to protect our people," a Cuomo partisan said. Which people: the union members or the temps?

Hardly anyone's eyebrows are raised these days when the state's top Democrats seek to set wages and benefits in private companies. Which tells you about the upstate mind-set and where it leads. Here is where upstate is now with that world view: the worst business climate in the country; the slowest income growth except Michigan and Ohio; the nation's lowest population growth; and an average 8 percent manufacturing job loss in the Buffalo and Rochester areas.

Tom Reed speaks out on July 2nd's middle of the night vote

By Sam Foster
Via Tom Reed's Facebook

Looks like there is going to be yet another midnight holiday vote for the Democrats. Perhaps the real strategy in defeating the Obama agenda should be in ending holiday's? Tom Reed had some great comments on the vote.

I am concerned by reports out of Washington this afternoon that as much as $17 billion in unrelated domestic spending may be added to the emergency Afghanistan and Iraq war
supplemental bill which will be voted on in the middle of the night tonight. This illustrates three very disturbing things about how Washington operates.

First, this emergency funding for operations was requested by the Secretary of Defense months ago. In the request, Sec. Gates asked for the funds by July 4. Voting on the funding was delayed as long as possible and now rushed onto the agenda for a last minute vote so that time pressure and political arm twisting become a huge factor.

Second, as usual, support for our troops on the ground is being shamelessly manipulated by Washington politicians for their own gain. Why not discuss and vote on $17 billion in unrelated domestic spending separate from the emergency defense spending? If the unrelated $17 billion has merit why not allow a separate vote?

Third, the vote in the House is expected to be taken after midnight tonight, right before a holiday weekend. If the process and actions of the Speaker Pelosi and the Washington leadership
were so noble, why do votes like this often seem to be taken in the dark of night right before a holiday? Why are they taken when the fewest Americans will be watching and reading media coverage?

Is it too much to ask that spending votes be debated in the light of day? Is it too much to ask that unrelated spending not be added to defense bills? This is why we need a change in the leadership in the House of Representatives. Enough is enough.

Updated: Judge Rules on 29th Congressional Dictrict: No congressional representation until November

By Sam Foster
Via Wham 13

District Judge Larimer has finally announced his decision on the lawsuit challenging Governor David Patterson to hold a speedy special election to replace disgraced congressman Eric Massa in NY's 29th Congressional District.

The Judge Larimer rules the following:

In the decision Judge Larimer rules in favor of the plaintiffs argument that a special election should be scheduled. He in turn ruled that so long as the Governor schedules that special election on or before November 2, 2010 (the day of the General Election) than he has fulfilled his obligations.

The decision is a blow to both the citizens of the 29th who have been without representation for three months and a November election means they will continue to go without a voice in Washington for nearly a full year.

I've contacted several parties involved in the case and hope to provide everyone with some insight on whether there will be an appeal.

Update:

Tom Reed's response below:

“This seat has been held hostage by the leadership in Washington and Albany for far too long and we had hoped that the Governor will do the right thing and call a special election sooner,” Reed said. “Six hundred and sixty thousand western New Yorkers will have to wait even longer and have no voice in the House on coming issues such as the carbon tax, immigration reform and the on-going appropriations process that will decide the 2011 Federal budget.”

In making the ruling shortly before 5:00PM this afternoon, United States District Court Judge David Larimer said that Governor Paterson must call a special election and cannot let the seat go vacant until Jan. 1, 2011. However the ruling did not compel the governor to hold the special election any earlier than his stated intention of November 2. Thus it is likely that a special election and general election will be held concurrently in November, possibly with different candidates selected by different processes on different lines for different terms.

“It might be a very confusing ballot, but we are confident that our message of no more borrowing and living within our means and less federal government intrusion into our lives will carry both elections in November,” Reed said. “We’ll keep taking our message to the voters as we have been for almost a year. Our momentum and support is growing every day.”

Tom Reed fights Governor Patterson to give NY’s 29th Congressional District a voice in Congress

By Sam Foster
Cross-Posted at Left Coast Rebel

Cheryl Fowler is a resident of New York's 29^th congressional district.  She is a manager in the local health care industry and is only too knowledgeable about the devastating effects that the recently passed health care legislation will have on her employer, her customers, and her employees.  

"It was a real slap in the face," she recalls.  "That legislation is going to make our jobs a lot harder, especially where it involves Medicare."  

While many will feel the very real pain of the recent health care legislation, Cheryl finds herself and the other nearly 700,000 residents of NY-29 in a political nuance that renders them helpless in the face of transformative, sweeping legislation that is flowing out of Washington like muck from a pigsty.  With the resignation of disgraced congressman Eric Massa prior to the congressional health care vote, the residents of NY-29 have been left with no voice in Washington to speak on their behalf.  

What is more tragic is that their unelected, democrat governor David Patterson, is waging a legal battle to prevent these residents from their constitutional right to representation in US congress.  The residents of New York's 23^rd congressional district were without representation for a total of 47 days.  The speed of his swearing in to office was the result of Congressional Democrats need for a vote on health care.  It took 94 days to fill NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's open seat in New York's 20^th district.  Both February vacancies for seats in Hawaii and Pennsylvania have been filled.  Yet, New York's 29^th congressional district is now 88 days without representation in congress and Governor David Patterson has only recently announced a special election for November 2^nd, which would mean the residents of NY's 29^th will be without representation for 240 days.

Patterson has sited the state's fiscal troubles as the excuse for his planned delay in holding a special election.  It proves a poor explanation for why the governor is so ardently spending state money to fight a legal battle against a lawsuit brought by local Republican and Democrat residents who are hoping to force a speedy special election and reclaim their voice in Washington.  

So the question that NY-29 residents such as Mrs. Fowler are asking themselves is why their governor trying to suppress their voices from being heard in Washington?  I took the opportunity to discuss the pending lawsuit with the presumed Republican front runner in the NY-29 congressional race and former Corning Mayor Tom Reed.

Tom Reed announced his intention to run for NY-29's congressional seat nearly a year ago.  Since then he has put over 50,000 miles on his car as he traverses NY's southern tier to speak with local constituents.  Although his campaign is in no way involved with the pending lawsuit, Tom has kept in constant contact with parties involved.  He was an early supporter of a speedy special election and had little reservation about challenging Gov. Patterson's decision on behalf of his congressional district.  It's no small task given the fact that NY is one of the most liberal states in the nation.

"We've made a few comments back and forth," Tom chuckled as he brushed off several months of petitioning the governor to "put politics aside."  "But the important thing is that holding a timely special election is the right thing to do.  Even the Governor has said it's the right thing to do."

Would Patterson hold up a special election for NY-29 for political reasons?  With son-of-stimulus, amnesty, and cap and tax all scheduled for a vote before the end of summer, Patterson's intentions don't pass the sniff test.  

When asked about the national significance of NY-29's special election, Tom explained that, "when there are congressional vacancies, there is the opportunity to manipulate the math.  They impact the vote count.  Take the health care vote, a congressional majority is 218, but with the vacancies they only needed 216 and we have a very good chance of opposing the Obama agenda."

Good chance indeed, Smart Politics at the University of Minnesota reports that the Charlie Cook's Partisan Voting Index give the 29^th district a rating of +5 for Republicans and the district swung for McCain by two percentage points in the last election.  Even the local press has caught onto Patterson's meme for withholding the NY-29's special election.  Jimmy Veilkind of the Times Union writes that Democrats could use a double election in November to force Tom Reed to have to campaign against two Democrat challengers at the same time:  

"Political analysts have said that holding a general in November might favor Democrats, given the cloud surrounding the departure of Rep. Eric Massa and a Republican enrollment advantage.

So here's a scenario: Zeller beats Reed in the "special" election and serves two months in Congress. But some other Democrat — say Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan, to pick a name from a hat — beats Zeller in a primary, and then beats Reed in the general. He would serve in Congress after Zeller, for two years. Or Reed could beat Zeller but not Hogan. I could go on and on, but you get the idea."

It should be noted that Matt Zeller, the front running Democratic challenger, did not respond to requests for comment."

Much of the politics are lost on local residents like Cheryl Fowler.  "I don't understand why we just can't hold an election?  I'm appalled at what I see coming out of Washington and I feel like we are helpless out here.  We should be the people deciding if we want an election and not an unelected state official."

Tom Reed couldn't agree more.  "It's a constitutional right to have congressional representation and while the governor is playing political games, the 29^th has no voice.  It's this type of political decision making that reminds me why I'm running for congress."

For now NY-29 residents wait patiently for a verdict to be handed down by the local district federal court that plans to release its ruling soon.  An unnecessary imperative for the residents who want nothing more than to have their voices heard in Washington.  A plight that is only too recognizable in the national poles.  The only difference is that for the residents of NY-29, an unelected official is intentionally repressing the voices of constituents for political reasons.

You can donate to Tom Reed's campaign at his website.