Originally posted by Silat
Please explain to me what local leaders have to do with the price of energy?
I'd be happy to. You see NY state sits on quite a bit of Natural Gas, along with the greatest natural source of hydro-power in the world, Niagara Falls. So, when you look at your energy bills and complain about the energy company and don't bother to look at the last page that show that 40% of your energy bill is TAXES, then your an id10t! Every time they want to raise funds and don't want the general public to really know what's going on they raise taxes on Gas and Electric power. Don't know about your state but in NY while I lived there they did it numerous times.
And our dem leaders have done for us the same as our Rep leaders have done for us.
Well at least you have both sides co complain about. In WNY they never give a Republican a chance to make a difference. A Republican can't get elected dog catcher there. My Republican leaders have done great for us here in my new home town/State. We have one of the fastest growing economies of any city in this country. (Jacksonville, FL)
At the Fed level the last 40 years have been controlled by mostly reps. Look it up. 80% of the seats on the SC have been appointed by the Reps.
So if you dont like the situation then you know who to blame.
I know they stopped teaching civics in school a long time ago so I'll give you a lesson.
Congress controls all fiscal allocations, i.e. THE MONEY! Congress has been controlled by Democrats almost exclusively since FDR. Only once prior to '94 has either house of Congress been controlled by Republicans and that was in 80-82 in the senate only. They lost it in the next mid-term. So fiscal policy was DOMINATED by Democrats throughout that period no matter who was in the white house.
What does the SC have to do with local politics? How do the Feds or the SC prevent local leaders from attracting jobs? It doesn't! Don't give me that Ray Davis, California excuse that its the Feds fault your state is bankrupt! Doesn't wash at all.
Here is another example: The BMW fiasco!
BMW approached the city of Buffalo, the County of Erie and the State of NY to build a new plant in WNY. IN order to make this a profitable venture they requested some tax incentives. Well, the local Dem leadership went ape-chit. They absolutely refused to endorse any kind of insenative to attract this new JOB CREATING project. So what did BMW do? They took the offer from Birmingham AL and built their plant there. Now along with the approximately 3000 jobs created by BMW another 2-3000 jobs were created by companies who setup shop to support BMW.
Birmingham 6000 Jobs, WNY 0
Want another one? In the Mid 70's Bethlehem Steel had one of it largest plants in Lackawanna NY just south of Buffalo. They were getting their butts handed to them by the German and Japanese steel industry dumping steel on the US market (No help from the peanut man either) so they needed to update the plant so they could be more competative, this was going to cost $$$. They went to the city of Lackawanna, County of Erie, State of NY and asked for some tax help, at least they asked do not raise our taxes. What did these Democrat leaders do? They raised taxes. So what did Bethlehem Steel do? The only thing they could do, they left. It was more cost effective to build a new plant in N. Carolina than to revamp the old one. 9000 jobs lost along with another 3000+ jobs lost in related industries. My uncle worked for one of those related industries his whole life. Only job he ever knew. When he lost that job it destroyed him, and he took his own life. He was just one of several.
And without the gory details:
Republic Steel: gone
American Standard: gone
Markel Industries: gone
These are just a few, There were many, many more.
So don't preach to me about the differences between Republican and Democrats because I've lived it. I lived through 12 years of hell under Mario Cuomo and watched him run the state into the ground. I also lived in FL for 15 years now and watched Republican administrations and legislatures build job creating business friendly communities that grow and provide a good life for all of us.
No my friend, there is a difference. Some of you are just to ideologically blinded to see the truth of it.
