A strange coincidence

Posted on May 10, 2018 by

nasty adsEvery day, it looks like Hillary Clinton is getting closer to securing the Democratic nomination. That is one step closer to a Clinton presidency. Hillary Clinton, like my opponent John Plumb, worked for President Obama helping him create foreign policy that has endangered the lives of Americans. It is frightening to think that she could be our next president and John Plumb has endorsed her. We cannot afford to have people like John Plumb or Hillary Clinton elected into office when their actions have already endangered our families.–Tom Reed, May 2016

Congress has released facebook ads sponsored by Russians. Surprisingly, the categories and the ads are very similar to Tom Reed’s political advertising. Here are the categories with my comments.

  • Events: Some of Tom Reed’s meetings seemed designed to attract divisive protest which is featured in his advertising.
  • African-American Focused: ??
  • Immigration: ??
  • Second Amendment: Tom repeatedly claims that his opponents are anti-gun activists, and falsely claims that responsible firearm regulations conflict with the Second Amendment.
  • Heart of Texas: ??
  • LGBT: ??
  • Muslims: Tom has attacked “radical Muslim extremists.”
  • Veterans: Tom’s advertising suggests he supports veterans while his opponents do not.
  • Candidates: Tom’s advertising seeks to disparage his opponents by labeling them as extremists, attacking their character and appearance with doctored images, and linking them with Nancy Pelosi, Governor Cuomo, et. al. who are presumed to be evil persons.

Where I haven’t provided an example, perhaps readers will do so.

I might also have mentioned fake web sites, phony petitions, and efforts to promote conflict between Tompkins County and other counties in NY-23.

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/congress-releases-all-3000-plus-facebook-ads-bought-by-russians/

 

 

Advertisements
Posted in 2018, Reed's Views, Town Hall Meeting | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Chris Hughes

Posted on May 6, 2018 by

chris hughesChris Hughes, Mark Zuckerberg’s one-time Harvard roommate, facebook co-founder, and multi-millionaire, suggests addressing income inequality with a $6,000 annual subsidy for workers making less than $50,000 annually. He would pay for this with income taxes on the wealthy. It is an interesting idea, but why should it be necessary, and would it solve the problem?  I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I would suggest some alternatives for debate:

  • Increasing the minimum wage.
  • Negative income tax for low income workers.
  • Increasing wages for government workers and the large number of workers paid indirectly by government.
  • Increasing worker benefits such as medical insurance and child care subsidies.

Perhaps Chris Hughes explains in his book why his idea is necessary and superior to alternative ways to address income inequality; I haven’t read the book. Government policy is greatly responsible for low wages and growing inequality–the recent tax law is an example. A subsidy would carry stigma of “welfare benefit.” Reversing government policy that keeps many workers poor is a better idea, I think.

 

Posted in Economics, Health Care, Taxes | Tagged | 4 Comments

Democratic Federal Primary Ballots Announced

Posted on May 6, 2018 by

The NYS Board of Elections have certified that the petitions of all five NY23rd Candidates have enough signatures to be on the June 26 Democratic Federal Primary Ballot. They have also announced the order they will be listed on the ballot:

  1. Tracy Mitrano
  2. Ian Golden
  3. Max Della Pia
  4. Edward A Sundquist
  5. Linda Andrei

There will be Democratic Primaries in seven Congressional Districts:

Republicans represent nine of NYS Congressional Districts; Democrats represent 17. One district, (Louise Slaughter’s NY-25) is open. The date of the Special Elecion for that seat has not been determined yet. See WHAM-TV’s report here.

For a list of all the candidates certified by the NYS BOE in the June 26 Federal  Primary across New York State follow this link

 

Posted in 2018 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Special interests in education

Posted on May 5, 2018 by

sifmaI think an educational dollar going to a school resource officer would be a good use of an educational dollar.–Tom Reed at Enfield as reported by Matt Steecker in the Elmira Star-Gazette

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of speaking with students at Red Jacket High School where we discussed current events and the Capitol Hill Challenge with the SIFMA Foundation.–Rep. Tom Reed, facebook 5/4/18

Thinking I might like to teach HS Mathematics, I once took an introductory course in Education. The professor explained that while colleges attempt to graduate effective teachers, the biggest influence on how teachers teach is the teacher’s own experience in the classroom. Teachers tend to teach as they were taught.

It is too much to expect that all teachers will be knowledgeable, fair-minded, and effective. One must take the good with the bad. Teachers have varied experiences and political views. However, one might hope that education isn’t too much influenced by special interests.

It is reasonable to expect education to be unbiased by special interests. I am uneasy when Tom Reed addresses students on any subject, because I fear his views are unduly influenced by self-interest. I know from having heard him on the subject of economics, that he will tell students things that are untrue. If and when he speaks about school safety, I have no doubt his views are unduly influenced by the NRA.

At Red Jacket HS, Tom reportedly spoke to students about SIFMA’s Capitol Hill Challenge. “SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry.” Neither SIFMA nor members of Congress belong in schools. Both represent special interests.

The SIFMA Foundation’s annual Capitol Hill Challenge™ (CHC), presented by the Charles Schwab Foundation, is an exciting national financial education competition for junior high and high schools that reaches all 50 U.S. states and their members of Congress. CHC matches Members of Congress with students, teachers, and schools competing in The Stock Market Game™ in their respective district or state. Student teams manage a hypothetical $100,000 online portfolio and invest in real stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Since its inception in 2004, CHC has made 3,800 matches of U.S. Representatives and Senators with schools, encompassing more than 103,000 students across the country.

The Capitol Hill Challenge sounds like fun, but the fun overshadow the financial interest of the securities business–there is a danger that this is indoctrination rather than education.

When Tom Reed does speak to students, I hope their teachers take care to explain that his views need to be examined critically. Being elected to office doesn’t make one an expert on any subject.

https://www.sifma.org/about/

https://www.sifma.org/about/sifma-foundation/

 

 

 

Posted in Economics, Education, Reed's Views | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Tom Reed on the economy

Posted on May 2, 2018 by

headacheThings are looking rosy this spring,  Tom Reed says:

 

 

  • “You’re hearing about the growth opportunities here. They’ve gone up 20 percent from Quarter 3 to Quarter 1. Twenty percent growth is a huge amount of growth.”
  • “A lot of information, a lot of concern out there about the new trade tools that are being deployed by this administration and what you see here is the results of this in a positive way.”
  • “What you see in the administration is kind of a willingness to use these new tools, but do it in a way that’s productive and not damaging to our American interests.”
  • “We’re seeing new modeling of domestic growth in our economy going up a percent, two percent. Those are huge numbers that I don’t think people really appreciate.”
  • “If you’re investing in a company and you want to get some of your investment back, that’s part of the process but overall this is good because the tide is raising for everyone.”
  • “I know where this tax reform is targeted because we worked on it for six years. This is for those hardworking Americans that are working paycheck to paycheck, give them better opportunity, higher wages. You’re seeing wage increases at levels we haven’t seen for 40, 50 years.”

Prosperity in NY-23 is just around the corner, according to Tom Reed.

http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/politics/2018/05/01/reed-steel-tariffs-taxes

Posted in Economics, Reed's Views, Taxes, trade, Trump | 5 Comments

Job Growth in NY-23rd?

Posted on April 29, 2018 by

Each map below can be made lager by clicking on it.

In an article posted in the New NY23rd in February, NY-23rd’s Jobs and Unemployment Data, I presented a map of NYS (below, left) that compared the number of jobs in each county or metropolitan area to the number the had in the same month (December) a year earlier. As you can see in December 2017, all of the counties, except Tompkins, Seneca, and Tioga, in the NY23rd is the darkest color on the screen. That means that the other eight counties had less jobs in December 2017 than in December, 2016.

The good news is that on the most recent map  (from March 2017 to March 2018), published by the NYS Department of Labor, Yates and Ontario Counties’s shading has gotten lighter, meaning that they are gaining jobs close to the state average rate. The data for Yates and Ontario Counties is a little misleading. Those counties are in the Rochester Metropolitan Area, which means that many Yates County’s workers commute to Ontario or Monroe Counties to their jobs. Ontario County workers also commute for employment.

The bad news is that Tioga County (part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Area) is growing darker.

The real bad news is that the rest of the our district  (Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany Steuben, and Chemung counties) is still loosing jobs. Still-loosing-jobs. Look at the difference between the NY 23rd dark shading in the March map and the counties north of the us. Their shading became three levels lighter; from dark brown (losing jobs) to a light tan (gaining jobs close to the State’s rate).

With most of the State increasing the number of jobs over a year ago, the NY-23rd is not. Political insanity is re-electing a person over & over (in this case for a fifth term) thinking we’ll get a different result. Why would anyone concerned about jobs, (and aren’t we all) especially in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany Steuben, Chemung and Tioga,  want to re-elect Rep. Tom Reed in November?

Map from NYS Department of Labor

 


Posted in 2018, Economics, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments

How might the Korean War finally end

Posted on April 28, 2018 by

koreaThe North Koreans want a definitive declaration of peace, not just a truce, as reassurance that they won’t be attacked and as recognition by the United States, South Korea and the rest of the world that their country is a sovereign state and legitimate power.–James Dobbins and Jeffrey Hornung, NY Times, June 8, 2017

That may be what the North Koreans want, but what does the United States want, what might the North Koreans offer, and what might the United States accept?

  • Both sides are heavily armed, and that is unlikely to change.
  • North Korea was recently labeled the “Axis of Evil,” said to be governed by a despot.
  • Efforts to deal with North Korea in the past haven’t been notably successful.

How the two sides might agree on a peace treaty which would recognize the legitimacy of both governments, give trustworthy assurances to both countries against renewed war, and satisfy conditions long  maintained as necessary by past American administrations is anything but clear.  If an essential American condition is denuclearization, would the United States agree to remove nuclear weapons from Japan and the oceans in the vicinity of Korea in exchange for a parallel commitment from North Korea? Would the US military leave South Korea? Might the unfair maritime boundary imposed on North Korea be renegotiated? What else might the United States offer?

What we have seen recently is theater; we have heard nothing about the basis for agreement other than vague assurances from North Korea and boasting from our President.

(I don’t even want to think about John Bolton’s reported claim that he hopes negotiations fail so he can get on with preventative war.)

 

 

Posted in Defense, Trump, War | Tagged , | 2 Comments