New NY 23rd

The following is an Op-Ed written by Jim Carr, the chair of the Chemung County Democratic Committee. Mr. Carr submitted the article to the New NY23rd for publication.

Donald Trump and tea party Rep. Tom Reed are a dangerous combination for our district – and for America.

Let’s be clear. Reed has hitched his wagon to the Trump campaign. Reed is Trump’s chosen New York cheerleader and rather than standing up to his hate-filled rhetoric and bigotry, Reed is eagerly embracing it. Shame on him. He doesn’t represent my middle-class values because of his hate-filled rhetoric, and because he takes money from and caters to monied special interests.

Trump even went so far as to suggest his supporters could assassinate Hillary Clinton or the judges she might appoint if she is elected. Reed is complacent in the hate and fearmongering spewed by Trump and his surrogates. Words matter, and Reed’s early endorsement of Trump speaks volumes.

I agree with Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican from New York who is supporting Clinton for president. Hanna wrote, “I found him profoundly offensive and narcissistic but as much as anything, a world-class panderer, anything but a leader.” Hanna characterized Trump as a “flawed” candidate, who is ill-informed on the issues. Yet Reed supports Trump for president of our great nation.

This election is very important. We must restore sanity to Congress, and bring real leadership to our district. That’s one reason why I am voting on Nov. 8 for Clinton for president and John Plumb for Congress.

For a printable PDF copy of Mr. Carr’s article click here.

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Rep. Tom Reed, R-NY-23, said he anticipated the (CBO) score. He said, logically, legislation to repeal a law that mandates health insurance would be expected to, at least initially, decrease the amount of people covered.–Ryan Whalen, Spectrum News

Does everyone need health insurance? Tom Reed says no–they may not want it, may not afford it, or may think they don’t need it. So what to do if the kids are sick? Take them to a federally qualified health center like  The Chautauqua Center in Dunkirk where subsidized care is available. If the Federal subsidy isn’t enough, New York State must pay, but not with property taxes, no way. New York will have to find the money somehow, and if that embarrasses NY Governor Cuomo, so much the better.

http://www.twcnews.com/nys/jamestown/politics/2017/05/30/ahca-reed-federally-qualified-health-center-pease-medicaid-medicare.html

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We have seen what needs to be fixed; this is the time to do it.

Make clear that a president may not pardon him or herself. Perhaps limit the power to pardon a former president to an elected president.

Make sure that a state legislature or individual electors can’t ignore the popular vote.

Make sure that the PO will deliver mailed ballots in time to be counted.

Restore the voting rights act to hinder election cheating.

Discourage the widespread use of interim appointments.

Strengthen protections for whistleblowers.

Disallow diversion of funds from an authorized program to another.

Ensure timely authorization of transition planning.

Strengthen auditing and regulation of campaign funds.

Strengthen enforcement of the “Emolument’s Clause.”

Discourage nepotism.

What else?

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They met some big wheels, and do not    Let you forget it. — Auden I went to Tom Reed’s April 21st Corning farewell meeting and found it interesting. There were about 30 people there mostly family, staff, and government … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Political, Reed’s Views, Uncategorized, War Tagged Farewell meeting, Ukraine

Today, April 7th; the House voted to add $60 billion to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The vote was 217 to 199; Tom Reed was one of only six Republicans to vote in favor; Rep. Tenney was not. Reed said many … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Constituents, Constitution, Political, Reed’s Views Tagged 2022, H.R 4568, H.R. 3708, Rep. Claudia Tenney, Rep. Tom Reed, Restaurant Revitalization

Now, more than ever, support for the Second Amendment is crucial. While I support targeted efforts to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, I stand strongly against efforts by gun-grabbers to strip law-abiding Americans of their constitutional rights. … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Gun Violence, Political, Reed’s Views Tagged 2022, guns, Rep. Reed, Rep. Stefanik, Rep. Tenney, SAFE Act, States’ rights

As gas prices across the district soar to $4 a gallon and more, it proves yet again how completely asinine it is that we have cut off our domestic natural gas and oil supplies. Instead of bowing to the environmental … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Economics, Environmental, Homeland Security, Hydrofracking/Gas& Oil Industry, Political, Reed’s Views Tagged 2022, inflation, Mother Nature, National Security

“We need to emerge out of this weakness that we now find ourselves in America because we are divided politically, we are $30 trillion in national debt, (and) the military forces in China and others are growing exponentially while ours … Continue reading

Posted in Reed’s Views Tagged China, Gregory Bacon, Observer Today, Russia, Ukraine, unity

Press Release March 9, 2022  Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today released the following statement in response to the passage of an omnibus government funding bill for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22). Tenney voted for the defense and security portions … Continue reading

Posted in Defense, Political, Reed’s Views Tagged Claudia Tenney, Omnibus Continuing Resolution

 “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.“ Tom Reed in 2013: Reed sang the praises of natural gas and hydrofracking last February (2013) when he became co-chairman of this (Natural Gas Caucus) caucus when he said: “Our country has been blessed … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Environmental, fracking, Hydrofracking/Gas& Oil Industry, Political, Reed’s Views, Uncategorized Tagged Claudia Tenney, Gas Industry donations, Marcellus Shale, Natural gas, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Utica shale

It is delightful to see two powerful women behind the President for a State of the Union Address, I suspect for the first time in our history. Thankfully the President’s agenda didn’t pass, because even members of his own party … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Political, President, Reed’s Views Tagged Claudia Tenney, Gov. Kim Reynolds, State of the Union, Tom Reed

Rep. Tom Reed strongly favors the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill” which is now law and not the proposed “Build Back Better Act, which he describes as “reckless spending.” This may confuse people for two reasons: Both are associated with investment in … Continue reading

Posted in Congress, Economics, Legislation, Political, Reed’s Views, Uncategorized Tagged Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, Build Back Better, infrastructure, Tom Reed

Washington needs to work for the American people and that is why I have been consistent in my support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. This bill is 10 years in the making and it will be beneficial for our area … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Reed’s Views Tagged Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, H.R. 3684

This bill (H.R.1) will simplify our tax code, help working families, and jumpstart job creation –Rep. Tom Reed

Taxes–2012

Taxes–2017

Here’s another from 2017

This entry was posted in 2018, Taxes. Bookmark the permalink.

“We must fight for good-paying, high-quality jobs across our region. The manufacturing sector provides these kinds of jobs. A strong manufacturing base is critical to economic growth. This is why I am proud to be a Co-Chair of the bipartisan House Manufacturing Caucus.”–Rep. Tom Reed 

Rep. Reed has been my representative since 2010 when we were in the NY29th. He has been the representative for the NY23rd since 2012. He has worked for more than seven years was to help the constituents of our district. He has met with business leaders, bankers, and small business owners. He has had forums and round tables. He  has had many photo-ops at work places declaring he supports their jobs.

How has that help the us? It doesn’t. The NY-23rd counties, especially the western counties, have been losing jobs and it has not been getting better. We have higher unemployment rates than most of the other NYS Counties.

The following job information was accessed from  New York State Department of Labor,  which updates their information monthly. We see that most of NY23rd has fewer Private Sector jobs in December  2017 than we did in December, 2016.

Here is our counties’ job data as compared to  December 2016. (Please note tha he State provides data for the full Metro Area, not those individual counties. Yates and Ontario are considered to be part of the Rochester Metro Area, since many of the workers are employed in counties other than where they reside. Tioga County is in the Binghamton Metro Market.)

• Cattaraugus  lost 100 jobs (now 31.6k, -0.3%)
• Chautauqua  lost 300 jobs (now 51.5k, -0.6%)
• Steuben lost 100 jobs (now 38.1k, -0.3%)
• Allegany (now 15.7k) and Schuyler County’s (now 4.8k) jobs count didn’t change.
• Chemung gained (1.8k, +2.7%) and now has 37.2k jobs.
• The Rochester Metro Area (including Yates and Ontario Counties) lost 3,500 jobs, (-0.6%) between December 2016 and December, 2017
• The Binghamton Metro Area (which includes Tioga) gained 700 jobs (+0.7%).
• Tompkins County is gaining jobs (now 67.4k) at a rate higher (2.7%) than the state’s rate.
• Seneca County gained jobs at a much higher than the state (+1.5k, +12.8%). It now has 13.2k jobs.  Why Seneca County? The Del Lago Resort & Casino  opened just a year ago (January 28, 2017).

Besides knowing the NY-23rd’s jobs data, we also need to look at our unemployment rates. The Federal unemployment rate is 4.1%.

The good news is that we have only one county with an unemployment rate at 7% or higher–Schuyler. The four western most counties are between 6% and 6.9%. Tompkins is the only county with an unemployment rate less than 4%.

President Trump, and therefore Rep. Reed, are claim that the GOP Tax Plan, Trade Deals,  Immigration reform, and removing regulations will add jobs.  If they are right we should see improvements in both the number of jobs and the unemployment rates throughout the district. We will continue to look at how that plays out in the NY-23rd.

Rep. Reed is going to try to convince the voters that the economy is improving, needs to count on more than small tax cuts before the November election. It will help  him if Private Sector jobs return in the Southern Tier and the Finger Lakes and our unemployment rates decrease.

Other economic factors will play a part of the voters’ mind-set: Health Care costs and benefits, Medicare-Medicaid-Social Security, Price of fuel–for cars and heating, and of course Wages.

The NewNY23rd will keep an eye our economic health between now and November.

1. Facilitate a budget that balances within 10 years and seek to enforce it through the authorizing and appropriations process.
2. Encourage committees to advance market-driven health care reforms to replace Obamacare.
3. Support policies that secure the border and enable interior enforcement while opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants.
4. Urge all committees to advance agendas based on limited government, economic opportunity, and fiscal responsibility.
5. Enforce the rule of law and separation of powers against executive (presidential) overreach.
6. Seek reforms of the Republican Conference Rules so leadership committees better represent the American people.
7. Adhere to the majority-of-the-majority principle for bringing legislation to the floor.
8. Support changes to the budget process to promote fiscal responsibility, particularly regarding mandatory programs (70% of current spending).
9. Empower committee members to choose chairs and craft reform legislation without fear of retaliation.
10. Broaden opportunities to offer amendments and legislation on the House floor with full debate.

The majority-of-the-majority principle is the Hastert rule used by Republican Speakers to keep the GOP from disintegrating.

Balanced budget, market-driven health care, no amnesty for illegal immigrants, limited government, attacks on executive action, Hastert Rule, cut government spending–these aren’t political principles for good government, but radical policy proposals of the far right.

http://brat.house.gov/speaker-commitments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastert_Rule

This article was submitted by Lee Marcus, author of “Hearts Afire: The Story of Moonwhistle School” and a frequent contributor to this blog.

Congressperson Tom Reed lives in an Us and Them world. He’s got his voter base; everybody else is fodder. His leadership style is similarly bifurcated. At a town hall he’s friendly to all and likes to search for common ground, or at worst, agree to disagree. So agreeable is he. Then he goes home and writes to his base using vitriol and name calling to malign his political opponents. Gotta keep that base fired up. 

Why is that? Is he saying he can only lead people who are foaming at the mouth? Why can’t Tom Reed lead people who want to talk about issues like pre-existing conditions, milk prices, school safety, veterans’ hospitals, lack of internet access, protecting our lakes and streams, improving our roads, safeguarding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, creating jobs so our children don’t have to move away when they grow up? Aren’t these the causes that matter to families in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes Region?

Instead, Reed’s focus is on dirty campaign strategies, like sending his campaign manager and volunteers out to troll the rallies of the Tracy Mitrano campaign, photobombing every speaker on the podium with signs (straight out of a 1967 coloring book) that read “Extreme Ithaca Liberal.” Then they cook up a media story that the Mitrano people are harassing Reed’s campaign! 

Reed even had his people place those awkward signs next to candidates’ placards during the Democratic primary. When, several days after the primary, a retired minister picked up a bunch of campaign signs, including one of Reed’s, along a highway, thinking he was doing a community service by removing trash, it turned out that Reed’s sign was equipped with a GPS device. The man who thought he was performing a civic duty by cleaning up the signs was arrested and charged with petit larceny, which could lead to a jail sentence and a fine. 

Our congressperson, like all incumbents, is anxious to keep his seat. Understood. But the tactics he’s using toward that purpose are not about serving his community, as the Reverend was certainly doing. They are not about sharing ideas for improving our lives here in western New York. Reed’s tactics are about maligning his opponent and dividing our community into Us and Them. He is fomenting hate, which is a precursor to violence. And he is doing it wholesale. 

Take the words “Extreme Ithaca Liberal.” It would be one thing if he were talking about extremists, but he’s talking about our kids’ teachers and coaches; parents and grandparents; business owners; farmers; first responders; church leaders; your neighbors. 

It would be different if he were talking about people from Ithaca. But Reed used his school-yard taunt against all five of the Democratic primary candidates, no matter where they live. In fact, he describes anyone who questions or even tries to reason with him as an extreme Ithaca liberal. That’s just goofy; and it would be laughable, except that the congressperson clearly does not intend to represent the NY 23rd district. He intends to represent his voter base and his out-of-state, deep-pocket donors. Can you imagine Amo Houghton doing that? 

Finally, what is his problem with Ithaca? Have you ever heard of a politician blackballing a whole city in his own district? It’s hard to imagine what a medium-sized city could have done to so offend one small man. Ithaca does have a lot of people who are devoted to education. Is that a bad thing? What, then, does Reed really think of the people he calls his base? Ouch.

I would like it if Mr. Reed would explain to us all how we are served by being divided into Us and Them. And, since members of the House of Representatives, like himself, have to run for office every two years, when will he get around to talking about issues and solving problems? There’s always another election right around the corner, and fires needing to be stoked to work up the base. 

Well, Mr. Reed, there’s no time like the present. Why don’t you do us all a favor and campaign as if all the people who live in your district matter? Stop playing dirty tricks on your opponents. And consider this: everybody who disagrees with you is not an extremist. You are not the norm. You have your views, other people have theirs. How about a little respect for democracy and the American way of debating issues, educating voters, winning on the merits?

Public employees can’t be gagged by private agreements. These so-called NDAs are unconstitutional and unenforceable.—ACLU

Reportedly President DJT has required staff members to sign non disclosure agreements. Why would he do this? Perhaps he is worried that former staff members would make statements or write books critical of him or his administration. Government employees at every level are presumed to serve the public rather than any individual. They ought to be free to speak within the limits of the law.

The ACLU calls such agreements unconstitutional. While the ACLU statement wasn’t explicit, I suppose they find non disclosure agreements for public employees conflict with the first amendment.

President DJT is reportedly infuriated that advice given to him by staff regarding his call to Putin was leaked. If he can identify the culprit, no doubt he could fire that person. But once fired, they should be free to explain their motivation.

Some things need be kept secret, but secrecy laws and non disclosure agreement can’t be allowed to hide information that the public has a right and a need to know.

https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-statement-white-house-nondisclosure-agreements

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/19/595025070/sworn-to-secrecy-trumps-history-of-using-nondisclosure-agreements

 Cath Kestler, resident of Silver Creek and lifelong Democrat, shares her bi-weekly Dunkirk Observer Today column.

The moral argument for overtime reform is straightforward:  When Americans work extra hours, they should earn the extra dollars.  But the economic case is equally strong.

Modernizing overtime rules would help the middle-class rebuild our economy in three ways:   First, workers would have extra money and spend it; second, firms would have an incentive to hire new workers; and third, it would reduce long workweeks, which drain our future human capital, the key ingredient for future economic growth.

Republicans in Congress are showing their true colors and plotting to block a raise for nearly 12.5 million Americans.

In a victory for the tens of thousands of citizens who encouraged President Obama to act fast, the administration recently announced modernizing the overtime rules.  The new rules will crack down on the worst abusers by companies trying to avoid rewarding hard work, and means that millions of Americans will now be owed overtime pay.

The overtime reform could be one of the most impactful achievements of the Obama era, so it’s no surprise Republicans are already vowing to block the new rules.  We need to make sure Democrats hold the line and prevent Republicans from sabotaging a raise for working Americans.

In 1975, 65 percent of salaried employees received overtime pay if they worked over 40 hours per week.  Until the recent reforms, that number was less than 11 percent.  Since 2004, salaried employees were eligible for time-and-a-half-overtime pay if they made less than $23,660, below the poverty level for a family of four.  Under the new rules, the threshold is $47,476.

The new rules also crack down on businesses that use massive loopholes to pay far less than the minimum wage.  Today, some fast-food companies pay employees the equivalent of a 40-hour-week at minimum wage—but force them to work 60 or more hours per week, spending 95 percent of their time at the cash register or sweeping the floors, all while labeling them “managers” to deny time-and-a-half pay.  Lynn Fyock MacClean knows how this works….

It adds up to a raise for nearly 12.5 million workers and an economic boost for all of us from putting more money in the pockets of everyday Americans.  But that won’t stop Republicans from trying to kill the reform.  Because the administration listened to us and acted fast, Republicans don’t have the time to stall the bill in Congress.  Their best hope is to put language blocking the changes in a must-pass spending bill.  That means if Democrats stay united, Republicans plots to block the overtime raise will fail.

Despite Republican complaints, President Obama has the authority to update the overtime threshold just as Bush administration did in 2004.  The real injustice is that if the overtime level had simply risen with inflation, it would be nearly $52,000 today.  In fact, Rep. Mark Takano, other progressive champions in the House long called for raising the threshold to $69,000, so it would again cover 65 percent of the salaried employees.  By comparison, the administrations modest reform sets the level at only $47,476, far lower than it should be, and nearly $3,000 lower that the administration’s own draft proposal from 2015.

More than 60,000 of us told the Labor Department to stand strong on bold new reforms.

In conclusion, the middle-class is the engine of the U.S. economic growth. It buys goods and services, starts the companies from which shareholders profit, and supports the political institutions that create efficient markets.  But after 30 years of working harder and longer, middle-class workers have not gotten that boost.  A strong overtime rule could be just the boost that the middle-class and our economy need.

Democrats need to stay united.  Pick up the phone, write an email, or tweet your leaders to know we are counting on them and we will stand behind them if they hold the line.  We all know how Rep. Tom Reed will vote.

Tell Democratic leaders:  Don’t let Republicans block a raise for Americans.