Here we go again. The thruway authority said in April that they would raise tolls then, now and in Jan of 2010. Here is step two.. Yet over the opposition of the Assembly, Senate, Governor and the Governor, they raised them anyway. Why? Because they can, no one can stop them. The are unelected, unaccountable to no one and this is a perfect example of taxation, with out representation.

I am so tired of the talk, take some action for once in your political career. Pass this Bill and do the Right thing for the people of Western New York.

Thruway tolls increasing this weekend

New York has been called The Land of Taxes and Tolls. And just days into the new year, it’s once again living up to that dubious reputation.

The Thruway Authority says it needs the money to pay for its highway and bridge improvement plan. The 2.1 billion dollar project will rehabilitate and resurface 500 lane miles.

Rus Thompson has already collected nine thousand signatures to eliminate the Grand Island tolls. He says it’s time lawmakers start using their political power to stop any future toll hikes.

Thompson said, “Senator Stachowski and Senator Antoine Thompson have proclaimed that they want to get rid of the Thruway Authority all together. Well, let’s work on that!”

Senator Thompson says he is and his first priority is Grand Island.

Thompson(D) said, “I pay that toll. I don’t get to go through that toll for free and I only have an ez pass because of the grand island tolls and when I get rid of that I will get rid of my E-ZPass.”

But he says doing away with the Thruway Authority will take longer to do because of the state’s financial state.

“The authority still has a lot of outstanding debt. I believe several hundred million dollars in debt that would have to be absorbed by the state.”

Here we go again. I just sent out this reminder to all the media and WIVB was the first to post about it.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Motorists be ware that starting Sunday, January 4, tolls on the NYS Thruway are going up by 5%.

This marks the second 5% increase in less than a year.

Increases affect E-Z Pass users as well but the latest hike does not effect the tolls on the Grand Island Bridges.

Thruway tolls | WIVB.com.

Buffalo, everyone in the world goes to Buffalo when they are doing a story about snow removal. I remember a recent report on the Weather Channel that said, “when it comes to snow removal, Buffalo knows how to do it”!

For a city that gets it’s share of snow, snow removal has never been up to the challenge. Before you beat me up for not living in the city, I have and have lived on the West side and the North East side. I am glad I moved for many reasons and live on Grand Island where our tax dollars really do work when it comes to snow removal.

Buffalo Snow Plan To Lean on New Equipment, Private Plows

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s forthcoming snow removal plan will address troubles with keeping side streets as clear as the main arteries, by using a new mix of equipment and a greater use of private contractors.

“We are reviewing a lot of things,” Brown said Friday, in an interview on Buffalo’s Early News. “…when we release the report on our snowfighting review , we will talk about new equipment and new technology, and smaller equipment will certainly be part of it.”

“We believe that private contractors will definitely be part of the mix. Our plan now does allow us to use private contractors. Our (new) plan will probably be to utilize them a lot more quickly than in the past.”, Brown says.

Just before Christmas Buffalo was hit by a large snow storm, that left many side streets impassable and clogged with snow. On December 24, Brown launched an internal review saying ” I have not been happy with the overall post-storm clean-up effort, particularly in our residential neighborhood side streets.”

The results of his review are expected to be unveiled next week.

This is exactly the type of corruption that will continue to keep New York in the pit of economic doom. It is good to be KING, King Silver… Isn’t there any Federal authority with a set of brass ones to go after corruption like this? Surely we can’t rely on our Attorney General to go after his BOSS, Shelly the King. Shelly is everyone’s boss isn’t he? He does what ever he wants, he orders his assembly members around, tells them how to vote, he demands respect from them or they lose their seats as committee chairman, committee members, will hold back any funding for their district or their re-election.

Everyone know it goes on and do nothing, nothing to stop it…. Are we happy yet New York?

IT’S GOOD TO BE SPEAKER - New York Post

One of New York’s more puzzling public-policy questions has just been answered: the mystery of just why the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. continues to exist.

It seems that the otherwise-useless agency has evolved into Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s political piggy bank - doling out millions in tax dollars to his favorite community groups.

That’s what some of the agency’s own board members told The Post’s Tom Topousis, who took a close look at LMDC grants to local organizations that have previously benefited from Silver’s largesse: They’ve more than tripled in just two years.

Indeed, the LMDC’s grant list has become a virtual mirror image of Silver’s longtime member-items roll.

This from an agency that serves no useful purpose. And which, 16 months after the fire that took the lives of two of New York’s Bravest, has made scant progress on demolishing the Deutsche Bank building - a deathtrap that should have been down long before that blaze.

Why does the LMDC still exist?

Mayor Bloomberg terms the agency “a redundant layer of bureaucracy.” And he’s right: the LMDC is one of just 19 separate public agencies overseeing the rebuilding lower Manhattan. Moreover, scrapping the LMDC and its 50-person staff would save $4.2 million in salaries alone.

Actually, it was supposed to close up shop at the end of 2006 - but incoming Gov. Eliot Spitzer rescued it from the scrap heap, installing his own incompetent deputy, Avi Schick, as chairman.

Two years later, Spitzer is long gone - but the LMDC refuses to die. And Schick is still in charge.

And now, it seems, we know why: It has a guardian angel - and the most powerful one it could find, to boot.

That would be Sheldon Silver.

Wow, what an Honor, I made the list……

#1 Kevin Gaughan

#2 Carl Paladino

#3 Cong. Brian Higgins

#4 Bills General Manager Russ Brandon & BPO Music Director Joann Faletta

#6 Sabres Managing Partner and Erie Canal Harbor Corp. Vice Chair Larry Quinn

#7 County Executive Chris Collins, Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder,
Grand Island citizen activist Rus Thompson

#10 The Buffalo PD Cold Case Squad, Sabres Owner Tom Golisano, Bills Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas

#13 Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, Arena beer seller Tom “Conehead” Girot, Entreprenuer Russ Salvatore & Buffalo Schools Superintendent James Williams

Western New York’s 13 Most Fascinating People In 2008

As the Co-Founder of Primary Challenge in Erie County I am disturbed by Satish Mohans tactics, agenda and now his unwillingness to allow the People a voice in Town government.

If I were to think strategy as a Primary Challenger, I would be looking for someone to run against him in the Primary. He has thrown out the window all we had discussed, all he proclaimed to be and has now turned into the very type of person we have come to despise in local politics.

Another reformer goes astray

Another one bites the dust. You hate to see it happen. But as sure as sunrise, the political system takes reformers and — with rare exception — pounds them into politics-as-usual pulp. Sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes it happens fast. In the end, the result is almost always the same: They turn into the thing that they once condemned.

The latest public official misshapen by the pressures of a political culture is Satish Mohan. The UB professor was — without major-party backing — elected Amherst supervisor three years ago on a promise of change. If a recent stance is any indication, one thing that has changed is his reformist ways.

The latest litmus test for local politicians is self-downsizing. Civic leader Kevin Gaughan’s recent study showed we have more politicians than Idaho has potatoes. It costs us in tax dollars, in bureaucracy and in blurred leadership.

Gaughan’s remedy: Have the county’s 41 town and village boards downsize by two members apiece. Instead of forcing it down anyone’s throat, Gaughan wants each town and village board to let citizens vote on the question. It has been easier said than done. With a few exceptions, politicians in every village and town have refused to let people vote on the size of their government.

Gaughan’s road show recently hit the wall in Amherst. The board voted, 4-3, to deny residents the right to decide for themselves. Leading the charge against change was the so-called reformer, Mohan.

He told The Buffalo News the downsizing effort was a “convergence to dictatorship.”
Geez, I thought that dictatorship involved denying people a say in their own government. Thanks for the clarification, King Satish.

“I hoped that [Mohan] would be part of the solution,” Gaughan said, “not part of the problem.”

Read More—–>

This is a huge problem all over the state and country. Our big problem is we have to pay, yes we, the taxpayers, we have to pay for any and all losses to the pension system for our thousands of retired state, city, county and government workers.

The people of New York will once again leave in droves.

CITY PENSION NIGHTMARE - New York

The city’s five pension funds have lost close to 30 percent in the Wall Street crisis this year - threatening to hit taxpayers like an economic tsunami for years to come, experts are warning.

An estimated $30 billion in recent pension investment losses - a bloodbath tied to the market downturn - would have to be covered by the city’s operating budget starting in 2010.

“This is a scary situation. The losses are so big it could overwhelm the city,” said John Murphy, former executive director of the New York City Employee Retirement System, the largest pension fund.

NYCERS alone lost $3.5 billion in the three months ending Sept. 30, a report shows. It lost about twice as much in the disastrous months since then, Murphy said.

Similar losses by four other pension funds, for police, firefighters, teachers and other city employees, bring total assets down $30 billion from more than $100 billion a year ago, Murphy and other sources estimate.

By law, the city must make up the difference when the pension funds earn less than 8 percent a year. The city can spread the cost of plugging that gap over the following six years.