As Chris Mattews says, HUH...and back at home....

The fact is that the current economic recovery is one of the fastest in history.  When the President took office the stock market was at 6,000; it is now over 13,000.  When the President took office the auto companies and their few million associated jobs were going bankrupt; now it is once again a thriving industry.  When the President took office the housing market was bust due to financial derivities; it is on its way to recovery.  Is it fast enough for people who are hurting?  No.  But it is the fastest one in history.  For those of us who are old enough to have felt the after effects of the great depression, the push for instant success is amazing.  But not as amazing as people who want to go back to the very party that put us into the great depression; the party that put us into the Reagan recession; the party that put us into the current recession recession.  Paul Ryan's ignorance is perhaps excusable if lamentable.  Mitt Romney must have been asleep at Harvard Business School if he thinks that austerity gets a country out of recession.    Putting money into the system, giving people jobs so they can buy things gets us out of financial trouble.  Even with an elevator, the Romney family can by only so many cars.  A middle class with money can buy millions of cars.

Who is Mitt Romney anyway?

I don't know anyone who isn't related to someone, somewhere who served in the military.  That is except Mitt Romney.  The Mormon Church declared that all of its members were ministers so no one has to serve in the military.  Instead they go places as missionaries.  So after joining a demonstration at Stanford to support the Vietnam war, Mitt Romney hied off to Paris to do "misisonary" work.  While it's very sad that he was in an automobile accident, it's hardly comparable to the horrors of the Vietnam war that Mitt urged us all to join.

Fast forward to the present.  Mitt has four sons none of whom has spent a day in the military.  Sarah Palin's son served; Joe Biden's son served.  Not the Romneys.  How can he possibly be the Commander-in-Chief?  Has he suffered the pain of not knowing if his children are alive or dead?  Has he ever been to the PX or NEX at Hawaii or Newport or Tennessee or Lakenheath and seen the military families on food stamps?  Does he have any idea that this part of his 47% that "won't take responsibility for their lives" (Mitt's quote) are sacraficing their lives for him and his four sons? 

Twelve years ago we had a President who served the war at home in Texas; a Vice President who had dodged his war.  They put us into a war that they never paid for, has lasted eleven years and put the country into severe debt.  Do we really want to go there again?  When candidate Paul Ryan speaks of getting tough on Iran to the point of putting "boots on the ground", has he ever spent a moment of angst over his family at war?  These men talk a lot but they have no way to empathize.  Shame on them for supporting war so casually.

I won't question Romney's loyalty as he and his party question the current President.  But he doesn't want himself or his sons to serve in the military; as a business man he sees nothing wrong with closing American factories and shipping jobs overseas; he shows no financially patriotism by keeping his money in this country; he wants to dismantle the country's safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.  Why on earth does he want to be President of a country for which he has no compassion?  There is more than egotism, there is more than success, there is more than money.  The Romney/Ryan ticket who espouse the bible seem to have forgotten that we are our brothers keepers.  They speak of individualism.  But even in the wild west days, no one got across our great nation without help of others.

Romney/Ryan tell us that by closing factories and outsourcing goods to cheaper producers, they are serving the public by providing goods at lower prices.  Have they ever thought that if they paid workers (the middle class) in this country, those same workers could afford higher priced goods and the country would be in a strong economic position?  Of course, they might make a little less money.  and things are hard for people who only have $20 million plus in the bank.  Please excuse the sarcasm.
 
Romney was for war - before he didn't want to serve in it.

Romney was for privitizing social security as a Republican primary candidate - before he is going "to save it" as a Presidential candidate.  His running mate still wants to privatize it for future generations.   Imagine your "private social security" four years ago when the stock market crashed! (BTW, Social Security is solvent if the Congress stops raiding it!!!!)

Romney was against abortion - before he ran for Governor of Massachusetts when he was for legal abortion - before he ran to be the Republican candidate for President when he was against abortion - before he is running for President when he has no agenda against it again!!!

Romney was for universal health care (a program designed by the Republican Heritage Foundation) - before he was against health care as a Republican primary candidate - before, as Presidential candidate he is for parts of it.  He will keep insuring kids until 26 BUT he will cover pre-existing condidtions ONLY is you have current coverage for it!  At least that's what his surrogates say if you can follow them.

Romney advised in a printed editorial to let the car companies go bankrupt.  Now he is taking credit suggesting he told the President how to save them???? if you can follow that.

Romney went to England to give them wisedom about their olympics.  They now call him Mitt the twit.  When the tragedy happened in Libya, Mitt shot from the hip before we had all of the facts.  But the fact that we do have is that the party he supports in Congress slashed $300 million from the budget the President requested to protect our embassies all over the world.  It's rather like killing you and blaming you for being dead.

I know that I am a news junkie.  I listen to both MSNBC and Fox.  But do you honestly want to choose a President on the basis of a televised debate?  Mitt Romney is a good pitchman. That's relatively easy.  It is far more difficult to weigh the complex issuses that face our President daily.  Mitt Romney has been lucky enough to live his entire life in a wonderful cocoon.  He gives to his Mormon charities, he can afford to do so.  He helps pay for individuals, he can afford to do so without a thought.  But what does he really know about need or want?  Is a person who manipulates business and commerce the one you want to manipulate the cost of your government.   It's easy to order a factory to close.  If he closes parts of our goverment as easily, where will you be if you ever need it.  And make no mistake, if you live long enough, you will need it, if only to keep your medicines' safe, your research and development curing sickness ongoing, your water and air unpoluted and so on.  Think about it.

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On the home front, it takes 9 to 21 minutes for our fire or ambulance people to reach citizen taxpayers living east of the Northway.  (The accepted standard is five minutes or less.)  They pay the same rate of taxes as any other citizen of the City.  There are 1,571 units and 3,545 people or over 13% of our population living in fire district 3. There have been two deaths from heart attack and one from fire that possible can be attributed to coverage well below the accepted safety standards.  When representatives of the five Homeowners Associations east of the Northway went to City Council to ask for an fire/EMS facility to give them timely coverage, our Mayor showed his level of compassion again.  He patiently explained that they have to understand that their request is not revenue producing. 

Is the trail to Geyser Crest revenue producing?  Is the beach revenue producing?  Is the free parking garage revenue producing?  Are lives and property east of the Northway less revenue producing?  In fact, because condos are by law undervalued, the newer homes east of the Northway probably contribute more to the City tax base then any other area. 

The eastern plateau needs timely emergency coverage.  Or consider it this way.  If the engines or ambulances are out here and the west side is out at Geyser Crest, who covers the downtown?  If they are here and downtown, who covers the Crest?  This is a City wide problem, not just an east side problem.

The Mayor never mentions that his pet recreation center, rather than producing revenue, is a drain on city finances.  Still he has $600,000 to build a parking garage for the recreation center in his capital budget.  Have you visited his new parking garage on Woodlawn Ave?  If you ge there after 9AM you probably will have difficulty finding a space because all of the business people in town park there.  What would be the matter with selling businesses space on a yearly basis?  What would be the problem with charging the public 50 cents an hour to defray the cost of the structure?  And this Mayor is bashing our finance Commissioner for reining in his more fanciful expenditures.  It is his standard response to any opposition.  Really, our Mayor is the best advertisement for changing our form of government.  If a City Manager did what the Mayor is doing, we would fire him immediately.

Have you noticed recently that City Hall has become an information sieve?  Look to the Mayor's office.  A certain blogge has been seen spending a great deal of time in there.

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Has anyone else noticed the Romney/Ryan ticket's assertions that their religious views should become the law of the land?  What happened to the Constitution?



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What's the matter with contracts?

 

What’s with our lawyer Mayor and his city attorney?  They don’t seem to like contracts.   They keep the Commissioners under whom the workers function out of the loop so they can negotiate the contracts.  Our little (this does not refer to height)  Mayor does seem to have delusions that he oversees a strong Mayor government.  However, having cloaked these negotiations in secracy, they outsourced them to outside legal firms.  Do our police and firemen have contracts?  I don’t think so.  Have they negotiated a new wireless contract for the city?  I don’t think so.  Have they negotiated a new CSEA?  I don’t think so.

So what you may ask.  Well, many contracts are retroactive so we might be in for some hefty back payments.  But let’s look at the one contract failure that is  actually costing us tax payers money.

For quite a while, the City of Saratoga Springs has leased a large tract of land on Weibel Avenue to National Grid. The monthly payments to the city remain at $5,400 per month under the terms of a lease agreement that expired nearly four years ago.

The Mayor and his city attorney have failed to re-sign National Grid to a new multi-year agreement. We are told that National Grid has contacted the city about a long-term contract in the past, but no agreement has been reached.   Why?

Here is the situation.  Real estate professionals set the current value of the parcel in excess of $12,000 per month.  Our City is only receiving $5,400 a month.  That’s a shortfall of $6,600 a month or nearly $80,000 a year.  That ain’t hay folks.  Why won’t the Mayor put his mind to concluding a new contract with National Grid?  The Mayor wants to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the waterfront; he wants to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on land and a  new parking garage for the recreation center.  Where does he expect the Commissioner of Finance to find the money for his recreational fancies when he makes no effort to bring money into the city coffers?  Certainly  not from this rec facility that continues to cost tax payers money.

Here’s more lax oversight on the part of our Mayor.  The money that the City of Saratoga Springs has received from National Grid, in excess of $525,000, sits in a special account originally designed to “refurbish” the site once National Grid moved out.  Why doesn’t the Mayor propose to use this money for our tax base?  If the site needs remediation after National Grid leaves, why doesn’t the  Mayor negotiate a contract that includes National Grid paying for any clean up needed?  He has certainly given National Grid a free pass since his election.

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Did you watch the debate last evening?  I did. I'm a news junkie.  I have seen every Republican debate also and both conventions.  Now, I spent time at Harvard Business School so I know a Board Room bully when I hear one and Mitt Romney is a Board Room bully.  No surprise there.  And the moderator is past his sell by date for letting the bully coopt the conversation.  No surprise there either. 

What was surprising was that Romney felt so free to lie; to boldly contradict everything he has said for the past year and a half.  He has often promised a 20% across the board tax cut; last evening he stood up and denied it on national TV.  He has been mocking  hiring more teachers for months; last evening he touted teachers.  For months he has promised to repeal Obamacare.  Last evening he said he would keep major parts of Obamacare.  Does he think that there is no internet?  Does he think we have amnesia?  However, it remains to be seen if the American public is sufficiently tuned in to realize that he contradicted himself nearly the entire evening.  I grant you that the average person doesn't understand the insurance exchanges of health care or Dodd-Frank.  But why would you vote for anyone who says whatever he has to to evern different audience just to get elected? Why would anyone vote for a man who wants to be our President but likes his money so much better than us that he didn't even bring his money home long enough to get elected.

And if he has any interest in education why would he target PBS first, one tenth of one percent of the budget?  Since our tea party friends in congress, if not our governor, have slashed our educational budget, Big Bird is, in fact, the only introduction to letters and numbers that many children have.  The devil is always in the details.  Let's hope the women of this country, at least, can connect the dots.  If they want smaller government can you imagine the size and cost of a government agency to monitor all pregnancies?  And what is this Republican thing about voting against equal pay for women for doing equal work?  Are we in the 1950's or in the 21st century? 

And please remember when our President took office the stock market was under 7,000.  It is now over 13,000.  Corporations have made larger profits then even before in history.  Where you put your money is indeed where indicative of where your priorities lie whether it is Mr Romney or our large corporate structures.