1048 Search Results for The Buffalo News

Apr 14

2012

Superheroes, mere mortals and corporations

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Planes, trains and automobiles Bruce Fisher has an interesting read this week in Artvoice regard U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins’ call for $1.25 trillion in spending to repair the nation’s infrastructure. With luck, Higgins and his buildup plan could become the national counter to Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. The proposal is bound to encounter resistance, but Higgins will gain some nature stature if it gains traction. Stay tuned. Money to ply politicians, but not to pay taxes More than two-dozen major U.S. corporations paid no net federal income taxes from 2009-11 despite posting billions upon billions of dollars in profits.[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 11

2012

Disclosure dysfunction

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Common Council Majority Leader Demone A. Smith, whose wife pleaded guilty to fraud charges last week, has legal problems of his own. Smith’s campaign committee has not paid $1,842 in judgments filed by the state Board of Elections for its failure to file disclosure reports in a timely fashion. In addition, another campaign committee that lists Smith as its treasurer hasn’t paid $1,121 in judgments involving late and missing disclosure reports. Smith’s campaign committee has had problems meeting disclosure requirements since he first ran for public office in 2005. Investigative Post has determined that while the Committee to Elect Demone[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 26

2012

Sobering stats for Hochul

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A reader forwarded a post from the Daily Kos that lays out all sorts of interesting voting patterns in the New York’s reconfigured Congressional districts that underscore just how amazing Kathy Hochul’s victory was last year in the old 26th District and how difficult a repeat performance will be in the new 27th. Press accounts have reported the edge in Republican enrollment has inched up from 6 percent over the Democrats in the old 26th to 7 percent in the new 27th. Not all that much movement and hardly insurmountable, given that Republicans do not hold a plurality. But then[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 26

2012

Handicapping a Hochul-Collins race

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There’s the matter of an almost certain GOP primary, but the announcement over the weekend by Chris Collins that he is running for the 27th Congressional District leads to inevitable speculation about a general election showdown with Kathy Hochul. Conventional wisdom holds that the Republican holds a distinct advantage because of party enrollment figures.  While precise numbers are hard to pin down, it appears enrolled Republican will outnumber Democrats by about 7 percent in a district that spans portions of eight counties. Two Republicans have announced for the seat, Collins and decorated war veteran David Bellavia of Batavia. A third[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 22

2012

Same as the Old Boss

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Ossified. Webster defines it as “hardened or conventional and opposed to change.” As in government in New York State. A cursory reading of the headlines might lead one to believe that governance in New York is starting to move in the right direction since Andrew Cuomo took up residence in the governor’s mansion. The state budget got passed on time, the income tax code was revised, gay marriage was approved. Indeed, by one measure—passing major legislation and spending packages—there has been progress. Paralysis has been eased. But the manner in which many key measures have been passed underscores just how[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 21

2012

Opening the books at the UB Foundation

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By Luke Hammill The UB Foundation and other foundations and non-profits associated with SUNY schools operate in some ways similar to authorities in state government. In UB’s case, its foundation manages university real estate, grants scholarships and supplements the pay of hundreds of employees. But unlike state authorities, SUNY-related foundations operate behind closed doors. Their meetings are not open to the public and their records are not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Law. The opaqueness has come under criticism in the face of press reports that raised possible conflicts of interest by UB Foundation board members[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 19

2012

Q&A: Sam Radford, parent leader

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Samual Radford is president of District Parent Coordinating Council, which has emerged the past several years as the most organized and vocal advocate of reforming Buffalo public schools. After a stint in the Marines, Radford, 45, became an activist and organizer on a number of fronts, including president of the student government at Erie Community College, a trainer with the Martin Luther King Institute for Nonviolence, and head of a youth detention center for at-risk kids and a homeless shelter for young women. He’s currently a program coordinator for the Community Action Organization of Erie County. The District Parent Coordinating[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 14

2012

NY’s political dysfunction runs deep

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When it comes right down to it, state legislators only have to do a handful of things to earn their $79,500 salaries. Pass a budget. Vote on bills and appointments. And, once every 10 years, redraw election district boundaries for the U.S. House of Representatives and the state Senate and Assembly. It appears likely that lawmakers are going to let a federal judicial panel draw the lines for Congressional seats.  They continue to haggle over the lines for Senate and Assembly seats. The standoff is a stark reminder that Albany is still dysfunctional at a basic level. Politics is the[...]

Posted 12 years ago