FDR realized that Americans needed more than money, or jobs, or nice words on the radio that things were getting better. They needed tangible signs that the country was getting better. They needed proof they could see with their own eyes that their neighbors were back to work, and the government’s money was being spent on real projects of use to the community. They needed facts to confront fear and cynicism. Thus, the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps were born.  

Those two organizations did projects around the country that continue to benefit us to this day. They built schools, roads, bridges and public infrastructure. They hired artists to paint murals and include statues and carvings in new public buildings. They built the national park infrastructure that we know today, including iconic lodges and roads that are marvels of engineering at some of America’s crown jewels: Yellowstone, Glacier and Rocky Mountain. In Buffalo, WPA projects are scattered throughout the city, from small school reconstructions to the Old Rockpile and Buffalo Zoo. Regionally, Allegheny State Park and Letchworth extensively use infrastructure built by the CCC. In all cases, FDR was smart enough to place a plaque at each site, and remind the public where these projects came from.

Contrast this with our current “stimulus” ARRA bill. One third of the $786 billion has been spent, and very few people can tell you where it has gone. Tangible projects we all can see have been replaced with a website that is heavy on wonkiness and light on clarity, and provides ambiguous information on a variety of projects. I suppose its mapping function works well if you care more about what agency got the money than what work is being done. If that’s not an insight to the federal bureaucracy, I don’t what is.

So where is Stimulus money being spent in Buffalo? Can you name any projects off the top of your head? Buffalo Business First did an analysis a couple weeks ago, and ranked the projects by jobs created, and money spent.  The top of both lists? $73.6 million and 111 jobs at West Valley, to speed up clean up work that has been on-going for years. Six of the top ten job producers are work study programs at area colleges: 230 students working at libraries and delivering AV equipment at UB, Buff State, Canisius, Daemen, St. Bonaventure and ECC. Rounding out the top job producers are the NFTA (33.8 (?) workers upgrading batteries along the Metro Rail line), WNY AmeriCorps (22 VISTA positions) and the VA (19 folks paving the parking lot at the hospital). Top spenders of stimulus money? A new drain to keep floaties out of the Commercial Slip at Canalside ($17.7 million), $20.5 million to Buffalo Public Schools to retain teachers, $30.8 million to three agencies to help weatherize homes, $14.5 million for 56 hybrid buses for the NFTA, $6.5 million for BURA, and $7 million to repave Maple Road. Wow – Maple Road.

This Stimulus Plan had the potential to be as transformative as President Obama’s salesman-in-chief rhetoric. How about $786 billion in these five areas: public WiFi, high speed rail, next gen green energy, basic scientific research and national park reconstruction. Projects in those areas would be an investment in the future, not a propagation of the status quo or a finger in the dike. There is a smattering, as an afterthought, of those items in the stimulus bill, but they are dwarfed by the mass mush of uninspired projects that were going to be done anyway. BURA just granted a couple million to help redevelop the abandoned German orphanage on the East Side, making David Torke happy. Was that stimulus money? Who knows. Out of the biggest projects I laid out for Buffalo, how many are transformative? New hybrid buses, maybe?

This stimulus plan has not lived up to any of its hype, and seems unlikely to do so in the future when the rest of the money is spent. Instead, it has become another symbol of the narrative of the first 14 months of the Obama administration: over promise and under deliver. The seas don’t have to recede and lions need not lay down with lambs – I’d be happy with a couple jobs and projects more inspired than a 2 inch asphalt lift on a suburban road.

Next, owing to my mellow mood this week, here’s George Winston’s austere cover of Procol Harum’s Too Much Between Us:

Democratic committee members including Mark Poloncarz, Maria Whyte, Mike LoCurto, David Riververa, and me! (among others) met last night and unanimously endorsed Sam’s re-election bid for NYS Assembly Rep for the 144th district.

I get the biggest kick out of listening to Sam talk.  This guy loves his job.  Sam says he has the best job in the world because he gets to help people everyday.  And about those rumors that he will face opposition, Sam says bring it on.  He’s proud to run on his legislative record, proposed legislation and community service.

Could someone please let me know how I can hire Dan Ward to run my meetings? His ability to stick to a schedule is totally awesome.

Courtesy Marquil at Empirewire.com

Courtesy Marquil at Empirewire.com

I know you adore the telephone town-hall meetings, but let me tell you why they’re pretty lame and inconvenient.

Now, I’m really happy that you hold anything at all. Some representatives don’t. But invariably, you hold your “town halls” at 5:40 pm. At 5:40 pm, I’m just getting home from work and scrambling to help get dinner ready. Or I’m helping with homework. 5:40 literally couldn’t be less convenient for regular working families.

Move the time to 6:30. Give us a chance to take a breath after a long day at work.

And more to the point, on the one occasion I stuck through a few minutes of a telephone town hall meeting, the one comment that got through was merely parroting your current position. I rolled my eyes and figured that the calls were being screened so as not to be too contrary to your stated position. Now, admittedly that may not be the case, but it was the impression I got.

How about this. Your district isn’t all that big. Maybe 60 miles across at its widest? How about holding genuine, in-person town hall meetings throughout the district, and do them at times when working people can attend. 6:30 is about right.

Thanks,

BP

Take Barbara Miller-Williams.

The chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature is also a Buffalo Police Officer, and at age 60 she’s fast approaching retirement. That means that in 2006, she only racked up $384 in overtime earnings – the last year it didn’t count towards her pension calculation.

In 2007, however, that hopped to $7,600 just in overtime. In 2008, it skyrocketed to $25,000 in OT. In 2009, she doubled that by racking up an incredible $51,000 just in overtime, on top of her $60,000+ salary.

Jim Heaney FOILS Barbara Miller-Williams’ police payroll information and discovers that the chairwoman of the anachronistic and useless county legislature is simultaneously legislating and working near-60-hour weeks as a police officer.

This gaming of the system – which is universally done and for which Barbara Miller-Williams is not unique – helps boost her lifetime pension by about $14,000 per year. She will receive $44,000 per year from her state pension and pay no state income tax on that sum.

There’s a simple fix. Merely calculate one’s pension based on the earnings average throughout their career. But who’s got the political will to make that change? An Albany legislator who is waiting on a state pension? An Albany pol who relies on union support and money for re-election? Yeah, not so much.

Of course, Barbara Miller-Williams is also the chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature. Last year, she was a backbencher while working her regular police job plus an average of 19 police OT hours per week. Unless she never went to sleep during 2009, I’m amazed at how she could have served her constituents in the legislature, such as that is.

At least she underscores Kevin Hardwick’s point that being in the leg is a part-time gig.

But Miller-Williams’ police job prohibits her from working more than 20 hours at any other job. Her predecessor as chairwoman, Lynn Marinelli, says she worked 40 – 60 hour weeks when she was chair. Maria Whyte says the difference between the two is palpable; Miller-Williams is hard to find.

John Mills gives Jim Heaney a quote that I’m still trying to wrap my head around. It reads like, and was probably intended to be, a compliment. But honestly, it doesn’t get more backhandedly insulting than this:

“I attend more committee meetings than most people, and she’s there,” said the Orchard Park Republican. “I thought she’d have a longer learning curve, but she’s a much brighter person than I think a lot of people give her credit for.”

Shorter John Mills: “I thought she was an total idiot. I found out that “total” was too strong.”

If you want to talk about status quo, this pension largesse is among the biggest budgetary drags on taxing entities throughout the state. If you want to talk about agendas, the biggest agenda in this state has to do with public money and how to amass it.

I don’t begrudge Barbara Miller-Williams gaming the system to squeeze every penny out of it that she can.

But the system really needs to be changed.

It was a Friday night in July, and the girl was stuck at her job at a mall kiosk. Sitting at the workbench fixing this customer’s watch, she just wished the woman would stop talking so she could concentrate. It always bugged her when customers felt the need to tell their life story while she was trying not to slice her hand open getting off the back of their watch.

“We were supposed to be at the Billy Joel and Elton John concert…,” the woman trailed off.

The girl’s ears perked up.

“Yeah, I heard it got canceled,” she said. Truthfully, she was a little happy when she heard that news — it had been killing her knowing that she wouldn’t be able to go. “I really wanted to get tickets,  but I’ve spent so much on concerts already lately, and they were so expensive, I just couldn’t do it.

“They were,” the woman said, “but it’s Billy Joel. And Elton John.”

“I love Elton John. I would kill to go,” the girl said. She was actually enjoying this now, going back and forth with this woman about favorite songs.

They kept talking as the girl finished the watch repair and the woman paid for her watch.

“Enjoy your night,” the girl said as she handed the woman her receipt. “I know it won’t be as great as the concert, but…”

“I’ll try,” the woman said with a smile. “And I hope whenever they reschedule the show, you have a really great seat.”

***

***

When the first rescheduled date, in early December, came out, I debated getting tickets. And then Christmas happened, and after car payments and buying gifts, I still couldn’t bring myself to spend $100 on a concert ticket, as much as I was dying to go.

And then they postponed — again.

I don’t really believe in signs or fate or whatever, and I know how stupid this is going to sound, but I told myself that this was my sign — I needed to be at this show. I’d been given chance after chance, and I was a fool if I didn’t take this one. I swore to my parents that when the tour finally made it to Buffalo, whenever it was, I would be there. I had built this show up in my head to the point where I didn’t care how much the tickets cost, where I was in the arena, or if I had to go scalp seats the night of the show — I would be there, even if I had to sit in the last row of the farthest section, by myself.

Fortunately, I found tickets through a family friend about a week before the show — $100 a pop, on the side of the stage — and my mom decided she’d come with me. The seats were spectacular, and as the lights dimmed and the pianos rose from underneath the stage, I thought about that encounter at the mall eight months ago. I was actually there. Sitting in HSBC Arena. Seeing one of my all-time favorite musicians, and The Piano Man, The Entertainer.

And I kid you not, I teared up a little bit.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

This is not 1975.  Billy Joel, now over 60, does not have all his hair. Elton John, nearly 63 years old, cannot hit the high notes he could when he was 28.

And it doesn’t actually matter, because they put on a show that, in terms of musicianship and energy, rivals that of some of the best “young” bands out there.

They can both still play the hell out of a piano. John, now a muted version of his once glammy, Vegas-ready self (and that’s not an insult), has turned his already-wonderful songs into flowing masterpieces that sound like the album versions…but don’t. “Rocketman” became a 10-minute journey, while “Levon” and “Tiny Dancer” had sound that was uniquely live, yet still maintained the beauty they have on their respective albums.

Truthfully, Elton John is one of my favorite artists, young or old, period; he could sing me the alphabet, and I’d be happy. Still, he has managed to retain relevance and be a sought-after collaborator (VMA and Grammy performances, anyone?), and is, quite simply, (Captain) fantastic.

Joel seemed more comfortable on-stage, taking some time to joke with the crowd about their respective seats and the many cancellations. My mother and I have this theory that John, for all his loud outfits, is a rather quiet, shy guy. I don’t really know what to say about Joel’s solo set — I like Billy Joel, and I know and like his music, but I hadn’t really thought about what his set would be like, and I didn’t really have any expectations, so I can’t actually say whether they lived up to them or not. Once again, that’s not a bad thing, it’s just that the main reason I wanted to go to this concert so badly was Elton John. I will say, however, that it was a pleasant surprise to see Joel get up from behind the piano for “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “It’s Still Rock ‘N Roll to Me,” and I really enjoyed just listening to him play.

And while the two still can hold their own on their own, the real treat of the show was getting to see them on stage together, duetting on each other’s songs. “Your Song” was the perfect opener, just as “Piano Man” was clearly the choice closing song, and hearing each lend their voices and put their own twists on the other’s hits definitely makes that $100 ticket price totally worth it — not to mention that you’re sort of getting three shows in one.

So, yeah, Elton couldn’t hit the highest notes in “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and Billy Joel was making jokes that he was really Billy Joel’s dad. But if you think they’re washed up or has-beens or whatever — think again.

Oh yeah, I hope the woman from the mall enjoyed the show just as much.

From Unshackle Upstate: Borrowing to Fill New York’s Budget Gap is NOT an Option!

Readers might want to check out SeeThroughNY. Even with the current budget disaster, Assemblyman Schimminger still found $271,000 tax payer dollars for the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise. I guess Andy ranks right up there with the needy. $2000 for meals on wheels, $4000 for the Literacy Center and good old Andy, face first in the trough.

Note to Andrew Rudnick: I’m all for cutting useless spending too. First up – you.

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I’ve negotiated with my inner Kucinich and made peace with the health insurance reform bill.  It’s time to finish the job.

By the way, a couple of points on the status of the bill and the reporting I’ve seen/read on the remainder of the process. It’s important to note that we’re not “passing” healthcare reform through reconciliation. The bill(s) already “passed” with the required votes in both houses, a majority in the House and 60 votes in the Senate. Now, the House will pass the Senate bill and changes which affect the budget will be applied through reconciliation, a valid and well used procedure. That’s it. The big commie muslim socialist black man will not be (c)ramming his big black reform plan down anyone’s throat. Language matters. I digress…

The bill is not perfect and it is not what I wanted it to be when the process began and it is a product of a very flawed system.  However, it is the first step toward real, long-term reform in our healthcare system.  Incrementalism is the reality in our corporate political world until the bright shining day arrives when money is taken out of politics.

We’ve listened to what FreedomWorks, AHIP, PhRMA, and the rabid teabaggers had to say.  The bill has been watered down to the point where progressives barely recognize it anymore. The Democrats adopted 161 of 201 proposed GOP amendments to the Healthcare bill and did not receive one single affirmative GOP vote as a reward for their compromises.

The final Senate bill includes all four planks of the GOP’s proposed alternative plan, including buying insurance across state lines, tougher medicaid/medicare fraud prevention strategies, empowerment for states to implement the plan in different ways, tort reform and purchasing pools for small business. It’s all in the bill.

In fact, one could say that this bill combines the best parts of the GOP plan and the worst of the Democratic plan. Primarily, it lacks a public option, single payer provisions and is entirely based on regulating the private market.  It is possible that a public option could be brought back into the bill through reconciliation with 41 Senators now signed on to support that effort (including Schumer and Gillibrand), but I won’t hold my breath.

Since the Democrats would not receive one single, solitary vote no matter what bill they put forward, I thought they should have simply pushed forward a bill with a robust public option and the regulations needed to make an immediate impact on the system.  However, the will was lacking in the Democratic Party as many of the legislators are just as indentured to the insurance and medical lobby as their counterparts on the right.

So, the bill we have is the one the system is willing to give us at this point.  With a minority party more interested in opposing then governing, this is what happens.  When Democratic Senators are operating as lobbyists for Wellpoint, UHC and Aetna, this is what we get.  As is often said nowadays, it is what it is.  My hope is that once this bill is put in place, further reforms will be enacted, market protections will increase, coverage will be expanded and we’ll eventually end up with a more perfect healthcare system.  Perhaps the Democrats might embrace a simple four page bill that should have been the starting point for this reform process.  To stop now simply guarantees that nothing will be done.

I chose the “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” video from the Obama campaign because it was a seminal moment in a historic campaign.  Whatever you thought of Obama then or whatever you think of him now, he speaks truth in that clip.  Change and reform are only possible if we advocate for it, fight for it, demand it.  If we push our legislators to demand better, more and faster.  Perhaps the grassroots on the left was disenfranchised from the start and were drowned out by the astroturf millions on the right during the formative portions of this process.  Perhaps the monied interests have a bigger ownership stake in our legislators than we do, but we have what we have.

The time is now for the grassroots to demand that something be done.  To remind them that we voted for this President and gave a sweeping mandate to the Democratic Party to enact this legislation, as imperfect as it is.

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