Addie's Got a Big Hat and No Cattle...

As they say in Texas,"She's got a big hat and no cattle..."

Addie J. Russell, the Democratic nominee for the 118th Assembly District, announced this week her plans to bring economic development to the North Country. The Watertown Daily Times was kind enough to use its print space to tout her plan. The trouble is that her plan is all talk and no action.

No where in the Times article is there any mention of specific policy proposals that would bring about any significant economic growth or job opportunities. She cites the existence of several outstanding universities as hubs for potential growth, but no way to leverage that base of new talent for positions in the North Country.

It is telling that she left out any talk of cuts to taxes, the estate taxes, school taxes, property taxes, gas taxes and all the rest.

Like Obama, Addie is just big hat and no cattle. All talk, no action. Would you expect anything less from a novice from the Democratic Party?

Addie was quoted as saying: "These companies are critical components of our economy," Mrs. Russell said in a press release. "We cannot stand by while our good-paying jobs disappear, often with little notice."

The article goes on to say that "the Theresa resident said she would help resolve issues by working with industrial development agencies and the Empire State Development Corp. She also would talk with the district's largest employers about worldwide developments that threaten local jobs."

It sounds like a rough draft proposal to me. It is pretty self-evident to everyone in the North Country that our economic base is demoralized. It is offensive that she would talk about job loss and poor economic growth in a way that goes "unnoticed." Does she think the people of the North Country are so naive to see first hand that our jobs are going to states with lower tax rates?

But Addie takes it one step further to announce a government-run student loan program to solve our financial woes. How does she propose to pay for this new loan program? Perhaps MORE taxes on the good people of New York! She has it all backwards. As the people in Texas would say, "She ain't got no cattle!"

Golisano's 5 Point Plan for a Responsible New York

Tom Golisano, the billionaire political guru of Western NY has created a PAC that will be distributing money all throughout NY this cycle based on the following 5 principles:


■ Property tax reform.

■ A responsible budgetary process.

■ Campaign and election reform.

■ Ending unfunded mandates.

■ Government transparency.


This is great news to us... we here at UGOB think that those are fine principles to commit to and build support for. That is why today the UpState Good Old Boys are endorsing Golisano's vision for a Responsible New York, which is also the name of his new PAC.


Too bad for Darrel Aubertine that he doesn't fit the bill on any of these measures.

First off, David Renzi, his opponent, committed himself to a property tax reform publicly while Aubertine stood silent.

As for responsible budgetary processes, we never saw Darrel do much of anything in the Assembly to address the issue, except for doing his part to commit to continuing the unfunded mandates dilemma facing the NY State and the federal government.

Then comes campaign/election reform... here is where Darrel stood silently as the leader of his party, Barack Obama, flip-flopped on his promise to take public financing for the presidential election. We called him to task on that issue several days ago and got no response. Then again why would he respond when the mainstream media fails to ask the tough questions. Darrel, do you support Senator Obama's position to forgo public financing for the general election and ruin any chance of meaningful future election reform? Someone should ask him that flat out. He doesn't have a good answer. Just look at how much money he took from Albany for his special election -- he has been paying those favors back for some time now and will continue to pay them back until he gets called to task.

On the issue of ending unfunded mandates Darrel gets an F (minus). We don't even need to get into the mess he and his party have created for unfunded mandates in state government. He is an accomplice of the worse kind as far as unfunded mandates go in Albany.

Last, we come to government transparency... well Darrel, you hired your sister (illegally) for your government office. That moment really brought out the nepotism in you. Then you lied about being offered the NYPA job by Governor Paterson. Darrel does not past the smell test on any of these issues.

Mr. Golisano, with that said, we endorse your plan and we hope you look straight past Mr. Aubertine with your 5 million plus bankroll if you really hope to fix state government in New York and correct these obvious problems in our government. Thank you for your service and commitment, please don't let us down. The people are counting on you!

Questions Linger Over Aubertine's Lie

Gov. Patterson was asked again whether his administration offered Aubertine the NYPA job... It looks like Patterson is sticking to his story.

There has been a lot of confusion over whether it was Aubertine or Patterson who lied about the NYPA job. Interesting how Aubertine learned to keep his mouth shut when asked about it over the weekend.

Mark this one on your calander folks, because Aubertine is never one to bite his tounge. Aubertine loves the sound of his own voice more than Senator Chuck Schumer.