Golden Hill Sold

That's all, folks!:

The Golden Hill Local Development Corp. announced today that Ulster County’s Golden Hill Health Care Center will be sold for $11.25 million to a partnership comprising Dr. Anthony J. Bacchi and Martin and Edward O. Farbenblum.

And another public asset slips into private hands.

Gibson in Favor of Tax Increases?

At first blush this sounds awfully strange:

A spokeswoman for Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) on Thursday offered a peculiar explanation for why the re-elected congressman is abandoning Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge: his district number changed.

Originally elected in 2010 in New York's 20th Congressional District, Gibson won a second term this year in the state's newly redrawn 19th Congressional District. That, Gibson's spokeswoman Stephanie Valle said in a statement, is sufficient reason to walk back the pledge he signed two years ago. Like the old 20th District, Gibson's current district also encompasses New York's Hudson Valley although it does lean slightly more Democratic.

The spokesperson was probably trying to say that a new district means new voters -- a huge chunk of whom are liberals who don't like/trust Gibson and would like to see him bounced from office ASAP. Gibson seems to recognize this, at least rhetorically. But how will it translate when it comes to the way he votes in Congress?:

He is opposed to increasing the marginal rates for individuals and businesses and has voted against this as a standalone measure; however, he will consider all comprehensive packages brought forward as a result of bipartisan negotiations.

So, Gibson appears to be saying that he will vote in favor of tax increases, as long as they're part of the package. Let's see if he keeps his word on this, or whether this is just more hot air.

White Turkey Chili and Chicken Salad

Was there a message in the menu? Could be:

Mitt Romney and President Obama dined together at the White House on Thursday afternoon, attempting to heal campaign wounds over a lunch of white turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad.

“Governor Romney congratulated the president for the success of his campaign and wished him well over the coming four years,” the White House said in a five-sentence summary. “The focus of their discussion was on America’s leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future.”

According to the White House, the two former rivals also “pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future.”

Uh, yeah. I'll start a pool or something. For that, and for when hell freezes over.

But I gotta admit I love the menu. And if you don't think this was intentional, you don't know politics. The White House plans this stuff down to the most minute detail.

It reminds me a bit of something that happened a few years back. Take a look at then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto letter to the California State Legislature above. Read the first letter of each line and you'll get the drift.

I'm sure yesterday's menu was as coincidental as the Governator's letter.

I Stand Corrected

Well, sort of, anyway. A few days ago, I suggested that there isn't a municipality in Ulster County that would welcome a new landfill. But there is at least one elected official who would like to see it happen in his town:

Town of Rochester Town Supervisor Carl Chipman has offered his community as a potential site for an Ulster County landfill.

Chipman made the statement during a public hearing on Tuesday about a proposed “flow control” law that would mandate all solid waste collected in the county be brought to a site run by the county’s Resource Recovery Agency.

Chipman told county legislators that he opposes flow control but recognizes it as an “economic necessity.”

He said the law, if approved, won’t solve all of the county’s solid waste problems.

“I believe we need a county landfill,” Chipman said. “I’m even willing to talk about it in the town of Rochester. Somebody’s got to take responsibility, and it’s time that we do.”

Good on Chipman for stepping up. Of course, he's just one guy, and I have a feeling that there will be quite a few residents who won't feel as sanguine about this as Chipman does. There will be voices raised at town meetings, no doubt.

And it isn't the landfill itself that's at issue. New landfills aren't the fetid open pits they once were, so it may be possible to find a site tucked away out in the western portion of the town.

But all the truck traffic this would generate is going to be a bigger problem. This means road infrastructure would have to be addressed (can the roads take the additional wear-and-tear?). Given this, proximity to Route 209 is likely to be important -- which means it would have to be located right in the middle of the more densely populated parts of the town. People are not going to want this thing to be situated where they can see it, no matter what Chipman says.

Let's see how the residents respond. My guess? It's going to be ugly.

Chris Gibson's "Heroics"

So, our own Tea Party congressman has decided that he too has seen enough of Grover Norquist:

More than a year after he took a pledge to refuse to support any tax increases, newly re-elected Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, confirmed Tuesday he is on a new path — one that does not include embracing conservative Grover Norquist's push for holding the line on taxes regardless of the consequences.

Gibson, fresh from an Election Day victory over Democrat Julian Schreibman during an election cycle that was overall bad news for Republicans, becomes the latest Republican to abandon the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" touted by Norquist. Gibson had signed the pledge last year.

Asked if his decision shows he has evolved to the point he will no longer assume the position of an inflexible naysayer against higher taxes, Gibson told The Daily Star, "I don't envision signing any pledges now because going forward I have a record that I'm proud to run on that's pro-growth."

Say what? Either you are for raising taxes on the wealthy, or you are not in favor of raising taxes on the wealthy. It's a simple answer to a simple question. Instead, we get Milton Friedman gobbledegook talking points. How about making a commitment, Gibson, you coward?

But, since empirically, higher taxes lead to higher rates of growth, I can only assume that Gibson has seen the light and will vote to increase the top marginally rate from a fair-and-balanced 36 percent, all the way up to the tyrannical rate of 39.6 percent. Why, it's almost like the invasion of Poland!

Actually, I don't believe that Gibson will come around. This is nothing more than theater. Gibson will fold like a house of cards when he hears from the mouth-breathers in the Tea Party.

I don't buy Gibson's supposed tax heresy. Not for a second.

SD-46: Ballot Count Reduces Amedore's Lead to 110 Votes

The good news is, George Amedore's lead over Cecilia Tkaczky in NY SD-46 has been reduced to just 110 votes:

With most ballots counted, George Amedore leads Cecilia Tkaczyk by about 110 votes out of some 126,000 cast in the race for New York’s 46th Senate District seat. That tally, however, does not include about 1,000 ballots that have been challenged, which is more than enough to change the outcome.

"Could" is the operative word here. Thus, the bad news is that the UC ballots weren't quite enough for Tkaczyk to retake the lead. Absentee ballots traditionally end up with a slightly more conservative bias than regular ballots, so it's not a huge surprise, even if it's disappointing.

Still, it ain't over quite yet. Let's see what the next 24 hours have in store.

Gillibrand Backs Filibuster Reform

It's beginning to look like the filibuster might actually be changed. And with good reason. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is on board:

As I've traveled throughout New York, one of the concerns I hear most from my constituents is a deep frustration with those in Congress. They feel that Washington is broken and unable to do the job we were elected to do. If voters sent one message on Election Day, it was that they are desperate for their elected representatives to work together to get things done for the people who pay their salaries.

If we're going to continue to grow the economy, create jobs, reduce the deficit and accomplish all the things the American people expect of us, we simply must get Washington working again. Which is why I am a strong supporter of efforts to reform the filibuster.

It's one thing to block a few bills on occasion, when the opposition does something that you think is particularly egregious, but it's another thing entirely to bring the business of the Senate to a total halt:

The fact is, as a consequence of unprecedented obstructionism during the last Congress, the filibuster was used more in two years than it had been in the 1950s, 60s and 70s combined. This is unacceptable.

How bad has it been? This bad:

As the graphs show, only 56 cloture motions were filed over 52 years from 1919 through 1970.  At just over one per year, filibusters were rarely used. 420 cloture motions were filed over the next 22 years, from 1971 to 1992, a sharp increase to 19 per year.

1993-1994 saw Republicans’ “Contract with America” that escalated partisanship to higher levels. From 1993-2006, motions nearly doubled to 36 per year. Cloture motions took an even more dramatic upturn in 2007 when Republicans lost control of the Senate.  Cloture motions nearly doubled again to almost 70 per year, and rose further to 74 in 2009.  Clearly, filibuster became the weapon of choice for Republicans.

Republicans accuse Democrats of filibustering, and there is some truth to that. But as the graphs show, Republicans initiated each spike and have now taken filibustering to an absurd new level.

Absurd indeed. But it's what the Senate GOP said they would do in 2008, that they would throw a monkey wrench into everything this president tried to do. And they were partially successful.

But get ready for a lame-duck president who doesn't have to deal with the right-wing troglodytes in the Senate anymore. Then we'll see what passing progressive legislation is all about. I hope the president shoves it up McConnell's keester sideways.