I’ve had a few too many things going on in the last month, and haven’t had the opportunity to give this bill the time and attention it deserves, but DragonFlyEye.Net is one more blog in New York asking its readers to please support the Brodsky telecom bill, currently being called “Wire New York.”

I’ve taken the opportunity to snag the snazzy graphic from Rochester Turning and Sayhar’s outstanding articles on the subject. It’s now featured prominently at the right of this blog. After all, if this website, one of whose features is an entire section dedicated to technology politics, cannot get behind this bill, who could?

This new bill goes light years beyond any other legislation in promoting the upstate economy by treating the Internet the way it should be viewed: as a key component of the state’s infrastructure, no less important that rail lines or highways. Providing adequate broadband coverage across the entire state means providing a source of revenue, communication, education and free speech, in equal and fair measure, across all segments of our state.

The bill also includes strong Net Neutrality language. The Net Neutrality issues is a complex one that tends to throw people off quite a bit. Go read Sayhar’s articles on the subject, they’re very good primers and include videos by the Save the Internet folks. The trick with NN in New York State is reach: companies who don’t reside in NYS don’t have to follow our rules of Net Neutrality. But the real reason for including such language is to force the issue on the national level, where it can do some real good. If we can get something like this passed in our dysfunctional parliamentary system, surely it can happen on the national level.

And so consider this the first of many appeals to please contact Governor Spitzer and tell him that spreading the prosperity of the Internet across our state is important to you. Tell him to support the Brodsky Telecom Bill today: 518-747-8390.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about Net Neutrality and the benefits of spreading the ‘Net around the state from this blog soon!

On my BlogTalkRadio.com radio show, I spoke with Jon Greenbaum of Metro Justice. While discussing his latest article in the City Newspaper, I hit upon an important topic of discussion on the whole issue of tax give-aways in New York. At least, it seemed important enough to me to write it out.

When most people think of property taxes, like most issues, we tend to think of our own situations. For private citizens, the single largest investment they have is going to be their house, and as much as a third of the mortgage payment each month will be taxes.

This is not the case for corporations or even businesses in general. Of all the operating costs for your average mid-sized to large corporation, the taxes they pay on the land they use are a trivial consideration. Jon’s article cites a figure of around 4 to 5 percent.

That is an important distinction to make for people, however difficult that may be. Because we tend to think provincially, even those people who disagree with Empire Zones and COMIDA practices - even if they say “give me the tax credit, not some damned corporation,” even if they say, “our schools need that money,” - still acknowledge the presumed notion that a tax break is a worthy inticement for corporate investment.

That notion is patently false. Despite it’s falsehood, it is axiomatic and serves to make arguments against Empire Zones weaker than they actually are, while at the same time, imparting a certain inevitability to the rationals for corporate tax cuts. After all, we need jobs in Upstate; we need to offer them something, don’t we? Don’t we?

It is, admittedly, a very nuanced argument to make, and even more difficult to reframe. Where is Jeffery Feldman when you need him? Perhaps a slogan-ish thought like “corporations counting pennies cost our schools millions,” would be illuminating for many people. At least, it might be the right frame of mind from which to argue the point.

Quick, everybody! Go get yourself a City Newspaper and be sure to read the article by Jon Greenbaum of Metro Justice about tax breaks as economic policy. It’s a great article and he’ll be on my BlogTalkRadio.com radio show to discuss it this week!

The show airs tomorrow at 11am, and can be found here, so get ready to ask questions! You can call in at 646-652-2929 to ask questions!!

If you can’t tell, I’m fairly stoked for this show this weekend. I’ve been trying to get my material ready, and I’ve done well on a few levels, but unfortunately I had a sampling issue with my intro so that may not be complete by show time. I may need to wing it. No biggie.

Coming up, I have an interview with April Laragy of The Atomic Swindlers set for the day of their next show at High Fidelity, March 31st. I’m trying to line up some more guests, but so far, I’m in pretty decent shape.

Come on and check it out, this should be fun!

Like most New Yorkers, I think, I’ve been woefully unobservant when it comes to the New York State Legislature.  I am paying much, much more attention these days, and promise to pass the benefits to the blogosphere, . . . such as they are.

But in reading an article on Spitzer’s newly-forming Upstate strategy, I was blown away by the following comment from a (nominal, at least) Democratic Assemblyman from Tonawanda:

Jobs at stake in state divide || Democrat & Chronicle: Business

Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Tonawanda, called last week for the creation of an “upstate opportunity region.” The goal: to direct state aid to parts of the region that fall below a series of predetermined economic indicators, such as job growth.

He believes that the Legislature should look at ways of easing the burden of certain laws on upstate businesses, such as one that imposes liability on employers for work-site falls from ladders or other lifts, regardless of circumstance.

That law “is an affordable luxury in downstate but it is a project killer upstate,” said Schimminger, who leads the Assembly’s committee on economic development. He says he believes the Legislature has the authority to write laws to apply in one part of the state over another, as it has done in the past with legislation affecting only cities of 1 million or more.

“We should treat upstate, however it is defined, differently from downstate,” Schimminger said.

Where do I even begin?  Have we not had enough of being Corporate America’s dirty little run-down tax shelter, already?  COMIDA has not convinced us of the need to find better ways to reform the state economy?  And how is forcing employers to take heed of safety concerns “an affordable luxury” of downstate?

Grrr. . .  Having spent much of my early adulthood working in factories, that last one really burns me up.  It’s the kind of thing where public ignorance is corporate bliss.

The fact of the matter is, safety is rarely a thing that can be legislated, rarely a thing in which a definable set of rules can be universally applied to all factories and all industries.  For this reason, Worker’s Comp cases can get quite complex and nasty, devolving into a “he said/they said” kind of situation.  There’s no “right way,” to have done whatever caused the accident.  There’s no “wrong way,” upon which to rest one’s case against the worker, and even if there is, there is always employer pressure compelling workers to do things they know are unsafe because “it needs to get done.”

Don’t believe me?  You’ve not worked in a factory.  Period.  Don’t bother to argue with me.

In that situation, the person who comes out best is the one with the better set of lawyers, and guess who that tends to be?  The worker?  Not unless they’re Union.  But don’t be fooled into thinking that this is an altruistic law, either: litigating Workers Comp claims is expensive for the state, and paying out on claims is even more expensive, so this is their way of making sure that employers feel some of that sting, too.

So, one way or another, these types of laws force employers to be more aware of safety concerns.  Or more sensitive, to speak accurately.  They’re the kind of thing that allows us as workers to say, “hell, no.  I’m not climbing that f*ing ladder, dumb ass.  You do it, if its that important.”  They keep us safe and give us leverage to try to improve our work environments as individuals, affecting change where no law can reach us.

Technorati Tags: New York State, Assembly, Reform, Worker’s Compensation, Labor Law, Robin Schimminger

powered by performancing firefox

Exile on Ericsson St caught a good one from The Hill:
From The Hill:

Just days after his narrow reelection triumph, Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.) stoked the ire of organized labor by withdrawing his support of a bill that would promote more union organizing.

The congressman?s decision to formally withdraw his name as a cosponsor came after he collected more than $88,000 in campaign contributions from organized labor groups.

Ooh! Damn! Talk about your “buyer’s remorse!” Wonder what all that cash could have done the unions if they’d only backed an eager challenger like Eric Massa? How much campaign advertising would that have paid for? Enough to turn the tide, I would imagine. Oops.

Well, if there was ever any doubt that Chuck Schumer has been going places fast for a junior Senator, we need wonder no longer.  This from Capitol Confidential:

New York Politics Capitol Confidential : Albany Times Union : timesunion.com — Capitol confidential ? Rising Chuck

It didn?t take long for the Democrats to show their appreciation for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer?s work this year as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The senior senator from New York was picked today as vice chair of the Democratic Conference - making him the third highest ranking Democrat in the chamber - and chair of the Joint House-Senate Economic Committee, a post that rotates between the two chambers each year. He also said he?ll do another two-year stint as DSCC chair.

So powerhouse New York just got a bit more juice.  Schumer and Clinton both have seemed to adopt the Upstate Strategy for political success, including Chuck Schumer’s patient manuvering to try to get international designation for our doomed Fast Ferry so it wouldn’t get buried in taxation every time it crossed Ontario - a singularly pathetic and humiliating moment in Rochester history.  I shall be watching events in Washington to see if anything does indeed change for us here in Upstate.  Did we, lowly Upstate, get more juice?

Technorati Tags: Chuck Schumer, Democrats

powered by performancing firefox

YorkStaters blog has an interesting discussion of a fascinating emerging technology that I neither knew was happening or that was needed: genetically altered, hypo-allergenic cats.  Fantastic.  Maybe we should Africanize them as well, since that’s worked out so well in the past:

The Case of the Hypoallergenic Cats: Another Syracuse company bites the dust? Not quite. - York Staters

There are entangled moral and ethical issues surrounding the practice of genetically modified anything, let alone pets.* But the case of Allerca goes beyond that, with some evidence suggesting that there might be fraud involved at best, and cruelty at worst, to say nothing of their infringements against Transgenic. In the Union Tribune article, there are serious questions that the feat of producing 400 to 500 cats in 2007 alone, and 10,000 cats by 2009, is improbable. It will be interesting to see if it can deliver on its promises, and if it can, what action will be taken by Transgenic Pets.

But don’t let me stop you from getting a geneti-kittie.  I’m sure they’re loads of fun once your body aclimates to the acidic poison they squirt out of their eyes.

Technorati Tags: Upstate, Cats, Genetics

powered by performancing firefox

So, I’ve been hearing all about Destiny USA from NYCO’s blog, at least in terms of the politics and such, but until now, I had not really known what Destiny USA actually *was.* It’s a mall! Well, isn’t that interesting. The CNY ecoBlog posts the entirety of an Economist article on the subject which is just rife with problems:

CNY ecoBlog? Blog Archive ? The Economist on Destiny

About 250 miles north-west of New York City, in the heart of New York state, lies the city of Syracuse. Like the rest of upstate New York, Syracuse has been the victim of suburban sprawl and deindustrialisation. It is poor (with almost 30% of residents below the poverty line), shrinking (its population has fallen by a quarter since 1970) and broke (its mayor has declared ?a new era of crisis?). But unlike the rest of upstate, Syracuse has been offered a solution to its woes: Destiny USA, the biggest mall in the world.

Stop. Go no further, just read that paragraph and tell me if you see a problem. The solution to the problem of suburban sprawl and deindustrialization is a mall, which is the very invention of suburban sprawl and does not typically include any industrial jobs. This is The Economist?

Read the rest of the article and see if you can see any other problem areas. I had thought that the Fast Ferry was a bad idea. Suddenly, it seems a kind of epiphany.

Technorati Tags: Upstate, New York, Economy

powered by performancing firefox