The Sky is Falling on Gov. Paterson

The numbers pretty much speak for themselves here. It looks to us like Republicans in NY-20 should have tried to make their race more about Gov. Paterson then Obama. Both leaders are on their way to dwarf Bush's historic all-time-disapproval levels. But Paterson is such an obvious target because pretty soon if you ask 100 people in New York what they think of the Gov, 101 will tell you they hate him.

AHHHHHHH METERS! SAVE US ALL!!!

OBAMA: "We could set up systems so that everybody in each house have their own smart meters that, uhh, will tell you when to turn off the lights, when the peak hours are, can help you sell back energy, uh, that you've generated in your home through a solar panel or through, uh, eh, other mechanisms. All this can be done, but it also creates jobs right now. Our biggest problem, we don't have enough electricians to lay all these lines out there."

It's all here in a recent story w/ Rush. Have at it kiddies.

How can we let a woman with no policy experience go to Albany???

Is Addie really ready to lead? NO.

It's not that she lacks experience... It's not that she isn't running a good campaign. But, to me, it seems that she hasn't got the slightest clue as to how to articulate her policy ideas. I mean, you have to admit that it would be quite funny to see her actually try to draft a bill herself. Don't you agree?

She's essentially a puppet to the labor unions as was evidenced by WDT this week; she is taking $$$ from the same labor unions that want to take away your right to a secret ballot if Barack Obama takes over the White House. So what it comes down to is this -- Addie is a puppet of the labor bosses in UpState New York, whom some have been known to call the bosses the Good Old Boys Network of our towns and communities.

What I am really trying to get at is that Addie talks in the vaguest of terms... notice how she says things like: "I want to lower property taxes. I want affordable health care. I want to help upstate New York." What an insult to our intelligence. It is as if she thinks Republicans don't want the same. What a rich claim - you really want to help UpState New York... no kidding. But the proof is in the pudding... and in the pudding there is no substance. Addie just leaves a bland taste in your mouth when she is done. Let me be clear: we are not judging Addie's sincerity. We are simply questioning her ability to lead and promote substantive policy before the NYS Assembly (which would be her job if she were elected).

What we are talking about in politics today (or what we should be talking about) is how we can make UpState New York a stronger and more economically secure place to live during these challenging times. When running for office a politician should also have details about how to implement their plans, not just the plan itself.

For example, if one were to say, "I want to bring business to upstate New York and create jobs." They could follow it up by at least saying something like, "We do that by lowering our property taxes, convincing our local legislators to rein in local government spending, inviting investment capital into our region with tax incentives, allowing transparency and secret voting in labor unions, and supporting nuclear power in the North Country."

However, it makes me laugh that Addie is so elusive on not just these key policy issues, but also her goals and priorities as a legislator. I see her passion, but I sense her insecurity and her inability to articulate her vision and her policies. Call me crazy, but that's not what we need in Albany. We need someone who has a clear head, a solid vision for the North Country, and the skills to articulate our needs to the leadership in our state's capitol.

How can Addie fight for you and other working families when she doesn't even have a plan? Your guess is as good as mine.

Hillary to Fort Drum, Aubertine Looking for Cheap Publicity, and Addie Is No Where to be Found

Democrats in NY have been reaching out to everyone and their brother this week. It appears that ol' Hill is coming to Ft. Drum to beef up her cred back home after losing to the NEW candidate of hope and change... and fairy dust and unicorns.

Not only is Hillary getting into the mix in the North Country, but so is Mr. Aubertine. Mr. Aubertine, always looking for some cheap publicity, is getting a new office in Oswego. It goes without mentioning that Aubertine's talking points on that new office could be found in this weeks Watertown Daily Times (they're almost as bad as the New York Times when it comes to their partisan affiliation and love affair with the Democratic Party). In addition, Mr. Aubertine was seen at the Waddington Homecoming Parade this past weekend. He was in the parade and all by himself. He didn't even get out of his car. Crazy ol' Don Lucas even had a bigger presence if you can believe it.

Then a young gentleman at the parade came over and yelled to Aubertine: "Start drilling for oil you liberal Dem," sparking a laugh from the entire crowd of approximately 700 people. (We assume this young man was referring to the complete lack of control the D nominee for president, Barack Hussein Obama, had this week on the issue of offshore drilling.)

At the same parade, Addie Russell, the D running against Bobby Cantwell was no where in sight. Perhaps she is the least presumptuous of the three liberal amigos to be working the upstate circuit this week. Don Lucas also had a notable presence and a mighty fine fishing boat to show.

Nevertheless, you can bet that we will be back all the rumors, gossip, and gotcha politics we can dig up in the coming weeks before the election. So come on back yall.

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!