http://www.buffalonews.com Latest stories from The Buffalo News en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 12:30:08 -0400 Sat, 25 May 2013 12:30:08 -0400 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130520/OPINION/130529991/1228
In a floor speech about the scandals raining down on President Obama, Rubio said Senate confirmation of Perez “would be bad for the country at any time, but more so now. He has a history of using the government, and his position in the government, of intimidating people into doing what he wants them to do.”

Prior to last week’s disclosures, Perez, the assistant attorney general for civil rights who was raised in Amherst, would probably have squeaked through a Senate confirmation because of Republican fears of offending Hispanic voters. With Rubio’s vocal opposition, the GOP may use Rubio’s speech as ethnic inoculation to block a floor vote.

The front page of Brown University’s latest alumni monthly magazine will not help Perez, class of ’83. He is pictured grim and grizzled with the headline, “The Enforcer.” Perez is a protégé of Attorney General Eric Holder, who symbolizes the administration’s arbitrariness, its penchant for untrammeled growth of central power, secrecy and shameless breaches of the Constitution.

Instead of being the attorney general for all the people, Holder, like Nixon’s John N. Mitchell, has become a swaggering ideological operative here and across the country, deciding which parts of the law will and will not be enforced by the regime. He is a crafter of political wedges and voting blocs.

Obama should never have nominated Holder in the first place, and the Senate should have denied him confirmation on ethical grounds. Holder played the key role in laundering President Bill Clinton’s approval of a pardon for Marc Rich, a Democratic donor and fugitive from justice.

The regime’s two-month sweep of the telephones of the Associated Press by the “Justice” Department is despicable. The AP’s Capitol press gallery phone was among them. This means that conversations with members of the House and Senate, as well as their staffs, part of a supposedly separate branch of government, were intercepted and compromised. No confidential source, no congressional critic of the Obama regime, no whistle blower will feel safe again talking to the AP, the nation’s prime gatherer of news.

With the Obama government now freely intercepting and storing any electronic communications it wishes – without a judge’s warrant – you don’t have a situation like a police state. You have a police state.

Holder should be out, like yesterday. He should be fired, or resign or be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. A new Rasmussen poll shows only 42 percent think Holder did wrong, another sad index of this country’s constitutional deafness.

The crisis has its ironies. While Obama’s people were spying on the AP and its sources, Pro Publica, a well-heeled do-gooder foundation linked to some of the most distinguished figures in legacy media, accepted and illegally disseminated tax information on conservative groups. The Internal Revenue Service eagerly provided this to its pals in Pro Publica in the run-up to the president’s re-election.

The incestuous ties between the media powers on Pro Publica’s board and the regime may help explain why the public’s reaction to the atrocity against the AP has been so brief and muted. But IRS harassment didn’t stop at conservative and traditionalist groups. It victimized individual volunteers and religious leaders whose beliefs might be out of synch with the president’s statist template.

To survive, Obama needs to do much more than hastily shuffle another rank of true believers into jobs at the IRS and the offices running Obamacare.



email: dturner@buffnews.com ]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 23:54:58 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130519/OPINION/130519221/1228 All was quiet last week along what nice people in Canada and the United States call the “world's longest undefended border.”

Except, that is, at that plaque marking the boundary line midway across the Peace Bridge. Nothing has improved in the serious dispute between Canadian and American members of the Peace Bridge Authority over the pace of development on the Buffalo plaza.

And by the looks of things, neither the team headed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo or the authority's Canadian counterparts are giving an inch.

As noted in last Sunday's Politics Column, a hard- charging Cuomo has made expansion and development on the U.S. side a top priority. After bridge officials and New York politicians spent more than a decade unsuccessfully proposing a new span across the mighty Niagara, the lack of development and related traffic problems loomed as a disturbing symbol.

Cuomo's people on the authority and in Albany have proposed a range of projects for the Buffalo plaza, and now blame the Canadians for failing to climb on board. That's what governors do to prod action when they control the situation. As a result, the hard line remains calculated and unflinching.

But since Canadians comprise half of the 10-member Peace Bridge Authority, Cuomo cannot control this situation. And since the Canadian contingent to the authority does not necessarily buy the governor's ideas for spending Peace Bridge money, or how he goes about it, the very stagnation that Cuomo seeks to break now appears as entrenched as ever.

After decades of cooperation, the Cuomo approach and the Canadian reaction have resulted in the most serious rift in Peace Bridge history. And it can safely be said that the situation has attracted attention at very high levels in Washington and Ottawa.

According to knowledgeable sources, the effort of Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy to tone down emotions proved helpful, though maybe not effective. Canadians continue to call for Cuomo to replace Sam Hoyt as head of the New York caucus, while Hoyt wants removal of Canadian General Manager Ron Reinas.

Some sources say it might take the departure of both before the board can once again function, though the underlying problems won't be solved. And it's a sure bet that Reinas' attorneys would work overtime to make any departure very expensive for his New York detractors – and, ultimately, the authority and those who pay its tolls.

…

A couple of other nuggets gathered along the campaign trail:

• It appears Sen. Tim Kennedy of Buffalo is using his strong relations with Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for a significant appointment to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute board. He will propose replacing Democratic fundraiser Hormoz Mansouri with Elyse NeMoyer, a cancer survivor, former officer of the Erie County Democratic Committee and wife of State Supreme Court Justice Pat NeMoyer.

Mansouri, who Board of Elections records show contributed $50,000 to State Senate Democrats in 2010, was appointed to the Roswell Park board back when former Sen. Antoine Thompson and now-disgraced Sen. John Sampson controlled that Senate minority appointment. But Kennedy has developed a strong relationship with Stewart-Cousins, an African-American proving a key ally as he cultivates the black portion of a district that shunned him in 2012.

Don't look for Mansouri, however, to fade from the scene. He is emerging as a major backer of Democratic mayoral candidate Bernie Tolbert against well-financed incumbent Mayor Byron Brown.

• And speaking of the mayor's race, it is interesting to note that Brown and Tolbert both chose the facilities of St. John Baptist Church to announce their candidacies. Both are members of the city's largest African-American congregation, and both seek to connect with black voters via the strong network of inner city churches.

While Brown enjoys all the advantages of incumbency, organization and money, it's a sure bet that Tolbert will make every effort to gain support from some of the city's most influential ministers – as will Brown.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com
]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 10:57:35 -0400 Robert McCarthy
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130513/OPINION/130519895/1228
“It’s 3 a.m. and there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing,” a man growled over the image of a sleeping child. “Something’s happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it’s somebody who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military, somebody who’s tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world.” Then a familiar voice said, “I’m Hillary Clinton and I approve this message.”

One night, eight weeks before the last presidential election, the White House phones rang insistently. President Obama took calls from then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other national security advisers about an assault on our State Department mission in Benghazi, Libya. He went to bed and the next day did a fundraiser in Las Vegas.

Secretary of State Clinton also got calls about the attack. She spoke with then CIA Director David Petraeus. Exactly what she did afterward is clouded.

Just before last week’s testimony before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, liberals and most legacy media circled the wagons to protect the president and Clinton from fallout. “It’s an old story,” intoned White House spokesman Jay Carney.

At the same time, hate radio, conservative blogs and the super PAC American Crossroads are targeting the most popular Democrat in the country. Which puts the rest of us in an odd position: Just because ultra-right loudmouths like Sean Hannity are making hay with the episode doesn’t mean something important, even significant, didn’t happen before and after Benghazi.

Clinton’s long-delayed testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 23 was not among her best moments. Where her “dangerous world” ad portrayed Clinton as a leader who is hands-on, quick and accomplished, Clinton’s testimony smacked of carelessness, evasion and fatigue.

Under questioning by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., she implied she was only aware of attacks on American personnel in Libya prior to Benghazi “that were brought to my attention.” She filibustered when Johnson asked her if she spoke to any of the surviving State Department personnel in Libya by telephone even days afterward. Then she exploded famously, “what difference at this point does it make?”

At last week’s House hearing, it developed that not just one but two of Clinton’s top aides were involved in a cover-up. It’s already established that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who reported directly to Clinton, spoke falsely when she told Sunday news shows the attacks were the result of spontaneous demonstrations against a “hateful” video.

However, a witness at the hearing, Gregory Hicks, said Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, tried to muzzle him. Hicks was the highest-ranking surviving Clinton aide in Tripoli, Libya, after the attack. Mills ordered him not to speak to congressional investigators without a State Department lawyer present. Rice, Hicks said, never talked to him before she made her infamous Sunday show comments.

When he heard Rice tell the nation the attacks came from demonstrators, not terrorists, Hicks said, “my jaw dropped.” Whistleblower Hicks, a 20-year career officer, was demoted to a desk job.

Clinton offered no comment about last week’s hearing. Her office did not answer my request for a response. We’ll leave it to the Republicans to speculate on why the Obama regime mischaracterized an attack that killed our first ambassador in three decades.

But in 2016, it may be up to Clinton alone to ensure Benghazi isn’t a measure of her competence.



email: dturner@buffnews.com ]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 09:48:28 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130512/OPINION/130519984/1228
And none of the War of 1812 re-enactments under way this summer is suddenly turning real.

But relations between the United States and Canada – more specifically New York State and Canada – may be at their lowest point in nearly 200 years.

What makes this sensitive topic appropriate for the Politics Column this Sunday lies in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aggressive approach toward developing the Buffalo side of the Peace Bridge. Through local representative Sam Hoyt, Cuomo is making the case for dramatic action.

Every press release, every public pronouncement by Hoyt or other Cuomo allies emphasizes words like “paralysis,” “impede” or “obstacle” to describe years of inaction at the bridge. The Cuomo forces then describe their plan as “moving forward,” “clears the path” and “real progress” that is “long overdue.”

“For generations, people in Western New York have waited for improvements on the U.S. side, and Gov. Cuomo wants to see immediate results,” said Hoyt, Peace Bridge Authority vice chairman and a top Cuomo representative in Western New York.

The governor knows a thing or two about politics. He recognizes that no single element of Western New York infrastructure better represents stagnation and dysfunction than the Peace Bridge. More than two decades of unsuccessful efforts to build a new span over the Niagara River will do that.

And he has not forgotten that the nine western counties of New York voted for the other guy in his 2010 race for governor. Even if Cuomo doesn’t run for president in 2016, it’s only natural he wants to reclaim Western New York by highlighting construction cranes at the bridge in 2014 – election year.

The governor’s “vision” is exactly on that track for a new Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River, say lieutenants like Thruway Authority Chairman Howard Milstein.

Cuomo, Milstein told Crain’s New York Business, leveraged his “political capital” to fast-track what could prove the state’s biggest construction project in a generation.

You get the picture.

Nevertheless, the governor’s approach has generated something close to an international incident that sources say has reached high levels in Ottawa and Washington. The fast track on the Peace Bridge, says a determined Canadian contingent to the authority, needs more scrutiny. Frankly, they don’t give a rip about Cuomo’s agenda – or his politics.

“They say they can do all this just like the Tappan Zee; they say ‘we have Cuomo,’ ” said Anthony Annunziata, authority chairman and head of the Canadian delegation. He also vows he will no longer deal with the New York delegation as long as Hoyt represents the governor.

“To me, it’s completely irresponsible what’s going on in Western New York; it’s an opportunity for headlines and spin stories,” he added. “There’s something wrong … and its not the Canadian board causing the problem.”

The irony of all this remains that the governor’s aggressive approach to accomplish something is achieving the opposite effect. A seemingly intractable 5-to-5 stalemate now rules the Peace Bridge Authority. Short of what sources say is a state-favored plan to blow up the authority and create something new (inherent with its own set of problems), nothing will get done.

“It all does no good. It stops everything,” said one New Yorker familiar with the situation. “They’ve got to understand they don’t control this the way they control all their other authorities in the state.”

So Cuomo, who some say would someday like to deal with Vladimir Putin, is encountering – as the diplomats would say – “frank discussions” in his first international fracas. Still, he appears committed to his agenda for action.

The Canadian reply: “Protocol, eh?”

Every 200 years or so, maybe an international dustup is part of the deal around here.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Sun, 12 May 2013 09:29:36 -0400 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130506/OPINION/130509707/1228
Boxing genius Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali’s tutor, portrayed the technique as one fighter (the government, in this instance) pretending to be in a defensive slouch on the ropes while the other (the bishops) swings away wildly and misses, of course.

Ever since the Obama administration announced in the fall of 2010 that it would order religious institutions to provide health insurance coverage for contraception and related reproductive services, the two contenders have been bobbing and weaving waiting for the other to give up.

The federal rules, written under the eye of Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, are a naked frontal assault on the First Amendment’s guarantees against government interference with religion and of freedom of worship.

Keep in mind that as the Obama administration matures, it increasingly views the Constitution as an annoyance and an obstacle to be avoided instead of a set of hallowed principles; and, that former Kansas Gov. Sebelius, raised Catholic, came here having been roundly denounced by Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann. He publicly asked her not to present herself for Communion because of her political links to a late-term abortion provider.

Initially, the Sebelius rules sought to define what a church institution is. With the bishops in the lead, religious organizations pressured the government to narrow its claims on how to define a church, charity, college or school.

Last February, the government published its “final” rules, to be implemented no later than Aug. 1, as part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

I spoke last week with a lawyer representing a Catholic institution that is facing federal fines ranging up to $60 million a year if it doesn’t comply with the regulation. Obama has backed off in his new regulation from some of its powers of definition, and has offered to allow charities and schools to set up some kind of “blind” company that would provide contraceptive services and related items purportedly for free.

“How do we get to this point in the first place?” he asked. “The Bill of Rights is a restraint on government,” not a guide on how government can use them to interfere with people’s freedoms.

The public comment period for this latest rule has ended and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reacted by saying, essentially, that the government has merely changed the shavings in the ice cream from iron to crystal.

“The latest proposal,” the bishops wrote, “requires coverage of sterilization, contraception, and drugs and devices that can cause abortions (all contrary to Catholic teaching.)” They do not prevent disease, the bishops said, which is at odds with the stated purpose of the Affordable Care Act.

Kevin Keenan, spokesman for Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone, said the diocese supports this position.

The Catholic Healthcare Association, which speaks for most Western New York Catholic hospitals, also opposes the new rule.

The bishops and 26 other plaintiffs are suing in federal court to block it. “This is our first suit against the government in our history,” the Catholic lawyer said, sadly.

As the Aug. 1 deadline nears, is there any “give” in Sebelius? Reuters reported that in a recent speech, she seemed vexed at opponents to the health care program.

“This is the law of the land,” she said. “Let’s get on board, let’s make this work.”

Democrats won’t yield on this, lest they lose their phony “Republican war on women” mantra.



email: dturner@buffnews.com ]]> Mon, 6 May 2013 06:28:31 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130505/OPINION/130509828/1228
On Election Eve, Corwin seemed resigned to the fate that awaited her when she was asked if she would have done anything differently.

“I probably would have addressed the Medicare message – coming out at my opponents – quicker,” Corwin said.

Indeed, the Clarence assemblywoman’s premonitions proved correct. Hochul triumphed in a district the GOP had all but inked into its column. Corwin slinked back to the Assembly, and many expected she would give up on her brief foray into politics.

But things have changed. Hochul narrowly lost her re-election bid last November, and she is the one who has now exited politics. Corwin, meanwhile, was recently named second in command of the Republican conference by Minority Leader Brian Kolb of Canandaigua.

It’s not the glitziest post on the planet. Republicans continue to represent a rare species in the Assembly, where they are vastly outnumbered by New York City Democrats.

But Corwin’s rise in the GOP ranks underscores her resolve to continue in politics. She doesn’t need a job – the Corwins of Spaulding Lake have done pretty well. It is, however, a matter of surviving a bitter loss and then carrying on.

“I absolutely thought about it,” she said last week about retiring from politics. “After you lose an election, you question if you can do a good job, and I questioned myself. But different people reached out to me and encouraged me.”

So now Corwin is embracing the hand that was dealt her. She knows Assembly Republicans are often ignored by Albany’s press and powers that be, but that they have a place.

“To me, we make the biggest difference in discussion and debate,” she said. “It was our conference that came up with the property tax cap idea – years ago. In the minority we have the freedom to do that. No leader makes us do it.”

Former Rep. Tom Reynolds, who once served as Assembly minority leader, knows a bit about the job, too. He recognizes Corwin’s growth in stature.

“She’s a superb and capable legislator who speaks on our issues and conveys what she, her district and Republicans are thinking,” he said, “and she does so in a civil manner.”

“No one works harder than Jane,” added Assemblyman Tony Jordan of Saratoga County.

Corwin stems from the political camp of Chris Collins, the former county executive who eventually snared the congressional seat she attempted to win. Some thought that wing of the local party was finished after Corwin lost in May 2011, followed by Collins’ defeat for a second term as county executive the following November.

But Collins’ narrow victory over Hochul last November changed all that. Corwin’s stock now rises also.

So the assemblywoman emerges as a major spokeswoman for a New York Republican Party desperately trying to find its way. After years of pulling off a statewide victory here and there and outright control of the Senate, the GOP now finds itself on the outside looking in.

She sees a ray of hope in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent slip in the polls, even if she liked much of what he proposed before a leftward shift in his January State of the State message.

“In my conservative district, people liked him,” she said. “I was impressed that he was willing to take on teacher evaluations and pension reform.”

But now she believes the governor’s new course serves as more than a hint of presidential ambitions. She thinks he saw President Obama’s November victory on a liberal agenda as the pathway to national success.

“I think he’s considering a presidential run,” she said. “He reset his agenda on that. My hope is that he will get back to fiscal things.”

Against this backdrop, Corwin will be watching Cuomo, and many will be watching Corwin.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Thu, 2 May 2013 16:03:40 -0400 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130429/OPINION/130429293/1228 WASHINGTON – U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who learned to her deep regret that words have power, wants an employee of the United Nations sacked for saying the wrong thing.

Richard Falk, who monitors human rights for the world organization, had written that America's “world domination project” was partly to blame for inspiring the Boston Marathon bombing. Rice herself is still at the United Nations and not secretary of state for saying the September 2012 attack on our mission at Benghazi was the outgrowth of a spontaneous demonstration that whirled out of control in Libya.

Rice's pre-election words were patently false, probably politically motivated, but not socially and politically incorrect. Falk's acid words are definitely politically incorrect, so much so that Rice forgot herself and Tweeted it was time for Falk “to go.” It may be a distinctly American happening that the way someone says things, more than underlying facts, are the dominating social and political motivator now.

And so, the Senate's emerging immigration bill is called “a path toward citizenship” instead of “amnesty” for “illegal immigrants” as it plainly was in 1986. One reason is that there are thousands of children of those emigres now who vote Democratic.

In support of this path, many want the media to stop using the term “illegal immigrant.” Among these is Fernando Chavez, an attorney and son of 1960s United Farm Workers icon Cesar Chavez.

The younger Chavez told me that yes, sneaking into the United States without authority is an illegal act, and even could be a criminal act. But Chavez insisted that broad use of the phrase is prejudicial to the innocent children of such persons, and those here on student and other visas.

The harvest of this term is ethnic bigotry, he maintained. Is there no one who can be fairly termed an “illegal immigrant?” I asked. Chavez couldn't think of any. “Undocumented immigrant,” Chavez said, should be the description.

Chavez and his friends demonstrated outside the New York Times last week against the newspaper's use of the term “illegal immigrant.” In a statement, the Times did not agree to completely stop using the phrase but said it would direct its staff to be more precise in its use.

This would be in keeping with a recent edict of the Associated Press, the media organization that provides raw material for almost all the nation's newspapers and radio and television news broadcasts. The AP amended its Stylebook, widely used in media and journalism schools, to essentially drop the term “illegal immigrant” to describe a person.

Three weeks ago, the AP put out guidance on the term “Islamist.” The word has been used increasingly to describe terrorists, such as al-Qaida, and so forth, and the suspected Boston Marathon bombers. The AP's complicated rules are a challenge to headline writers, bloggers and broadcasters and will probably result in that term being dropped.

Over time, the AP Stylebook developed industry uniformity on abbreviations and punctuation, and settled disagreements on when to use Mr., Mrs. and Ms., doctor, and now “husband” and “wife” in same-sex couples.

But has the AP now crossed an ideological line by directing its staff and influencing newsrooms to discourage use of words that may conflict with a legislative push or run counter to the Obama administration's dislike of terms like terrorist?

David Minthorn, AP's top Stylebook editor, says not. “The Stylebook is a reflection that life is constantly changing,” he told me. “The Stylebook has to wrestle with events all the time to ensure that our work is accurate, precise and objective.” There was strong disagreement, he acknowledged, among AP staffers on dropping “illegal immigrant.” But none on “Islamist.”



email: dturner@buffnews.com
]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:27:52 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130428/OPINION/130429412/1228
The Cheektowaga Democrat remains a fixture over two legislative stints dating to 1988, and as majority leader, ranks second in command of the big chambers in County Hall.

Now Mazur is emerging as a pivotal figure in the 2013 edition of local politics as he faces a serious Democratic primary challenge from former Cheektowaga Councilman Rick Zydel. The outcome of the contest may help determine the future of the Erie County Democratic Party.

Mazur, who insists he is running this year, commands scrutiny not so much on his own, but for the pickle in which he has placed Jeremy Zellner. The Erie County Democratic chairman recognizes that Zydel is backed by Cheektowaga Democratic Chairman Frank Max. And you may recall that Zellner beat Max for county chairman last year and that Max is already planning a 2014 rematch.

While some Democrats consider Mazur vulnerable in his own party, Zellner is now asked to bestow his endorsement on him. At the same time, Zellner depends on his vote and those of other Democrats in the Legislature majority to sustain his $79,577 job as chief of staff.

In other words, challengers to incumbent Democratic legislators need not apply. Still, some well-placed sources hint the Democratic establishment would just as soon see someone besides Mazur represent the party in November.

Zellner says he supports Mazur and offers this semi-enthusiastic endorsement: “If at the end of the day we think he's not the best candidate for the job, I have to do what's best for the Legislature.

“At this point, if something opens up, it opens up,” he added. “Tom has some thinking to do.”

Mazur faces problems outside the party, too, especially with the Conservative backing he has always enjoyed. His votes in favor of County Executive Mark Poloncarz's budget and against a resolution seeking repeal of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's gun control measure have labeled him persona non grata in Conservative Land.

“You've got to be kidding me,” Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo responded last week when a naive political columnist asked about backing Mazur this year.

In addition, Democratic Legislator Terry McCracken faces Conservative difficulties over his vote for the Poloncarz budget.

“He clearly has problems with us,” Lorigo said, adding he believes McCracken might view his vote differently next time.

In fact, the budget loomed so importantly for Conservatives that Lorigo personally sat in the legislative chambers for the vote. Some have used the word “glaring” to describe his scrutiny that day of those who had previously run on the Conservative line.

All of this results in a tough assignment for Zellner, the rookie chairman. He starts the second six months of his chairmanship as a non-person in the eyes of Cuomo's party leadership. And he maintains a tenuous relationship with Mayor Byron Brown as they dance through a comical courtship about which neither seems to care.

Zellner must also fend off a furious assault by Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy on the slim 6-5 Democratic majority in the Legislature, while preserving his chief of staff job. In addition, he faces big-time pressure to win back the posts of sheriff and county comptroller for his Dems.

The chairman feels good about the choice of Lynn Szalkowski to challenge Stefan Mychajliw for comptroller, just as Republicans were wondering if the Dems would field anybody. He is also experiencing a rough beginning with his choice of Bert Dunn for sheriff, after revelations of the candidate's Republican sympathies and a history of four separate party registrations.

Nevertheless, Zellner says the party will make its sheriff endorsement on May 4, and that it remains a “Dunn Deal.”

There is no comparable cute phrase to use for Mazur, and Zellner didn't try to find one.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:42:54 -0400 Robert McCarthy
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130422/OPINION/130429931/1228 WASHINGTON – The procedural defeat in the Senate of gun control, or gun safety, depending on your preference, probably takes the issue off the agenda for this Congress. It also draws the Obama administration dramatically closer into lame-duck status – at least until a new Congress is seated 20 long months from now.

The bipartisan national background checks legislation failed because an overwhelming majority of senators from small rural states supported a filibuster, which required 60 votes to break.

The filibuster process, where a minority of senators can block a floor vote, is about two centuries old. This is likely a touchy moment to mention it, but the Senate was rigged this way to prevent what the founders feared could be a “tyranny of the majority.” Now these high hurdles have Godzillas supporting them in the form of irresistible interest groups like the National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners of America, sometimes backed by secret money and shadowy lobbying networks.

The Senate vote puts the big money loosed by the Supreme Court's recent decisions – that give cold cash the virtue of free speech and personhood – in virtual command of everything in this town. The District of Columbia is filthy rich, growing and gentrified.

There is a push-back available. That would be a constitutional amendment repealing the 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United decision. That 5-4 ruling unhinges a century's worth of campaign finance laws, and makes a mockery of the entire enforcement mechanism.

Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, noted last week that neither Attorney General Eric Holder nor the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought any actions against “dark money” corporate political groups. Nor is Obama's SEC supporting stockholder demands that corporations disclose how they are spending political money.

All politics being local, there is so far no interest at all shown by either U.S. senator from New York or any of the three Western New York House members in any of the nine bills introduced that overturn the destructive effects of Citizens United. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, is co-sponsor of two bills.

The three Senate bills, one by Max Baucus, D-Mont., and two by Bernie Sanders, I,D-Vt., have no cosponsors. Same for the two bills filed by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, three months ago.

The slack interest in democratic reform by the Democratic incumbency, as well as by Republicans, reflects President Obama's delicate weather vane. In 2010, Obama warned that Citizens United would “open the floodgates to special interests.” He quickly joined the special interests, creating a super PAC for his re-election and took corporate money to finance last January's inaugural gala and six-figure gifts for his new “grass-roots” advocacy drive.

There is a national group pushing hard against Citizens United, MovetoAmend.org, with lay coordinators across the state and the country. Its Buffalo leader, Suzanne Montalalou, says she's working to build a coalition that includes not just progressives, but also libertarians, tea party advocates and Republicans who are sick and tired of money politics.

Special interests can't entirely explain why Obama was unable to pass a background check bill that polls showed 86 percent of the people wanted. Passing controversial bills requires personal engagement with members of Congress, and Obama does not engage. The president's opting instead for staged grandstanding and polarizing intensifies opposition.

Finally, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate again showed their disdain for the American people by drafting the legislation in near secrecy and refusing to hold exhaustive public hearings that might have lessened the popular distrust of Washington, which is almost pandemic.



email: dturner@buffnews.com
]]> Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:10:18 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130421/OPINION/130429978/1228
The former chief of the Buffalo FBI still won’t say whether he will challenge incumbent Mayor Byron Brown in this year’s Democratic primary.

But even as some question if he will ever make it official, every indication – at least on this April Sunday – points to a September showdown with Brown.

Significantly, Tolbert filed paperwork a few weeks ago with the state Board of Elections that allows him to raise money. Even more significantly, he is now raising money.

“Yes, I am,” he replied last week when asked if he was dialing for the dollars he will need. “There is money in my treasury.”

Barring any last-minute change of heart, Tolbert is in. Sources indicate he again told friends last week that he is running, as he has been for weeks. And you don’t ask your friends for multi-zero checks if you’re not serious.

According to his supporters, Tolbert maintains many contacts in big-money centers like Atlanta and New York, where he held top security posts with Coca-Cola and the National Basketball Association. He also has strong family ties in Buffalo and will count on local donors, though no local events are yet scheduled.

But they will be, including one being planned by his wife. And while the “candidate” remains mum about his early contributors, they will be very publicly listed on July 15 when the next campaign finance reports are due.

All of this becomes part of the deal when challenging a well-heeled incumbent like Brown. At last count, the mayor boasted more than $1.1 million in his campaign treasury, with even more expected to roll in.

Add his incumbency and experienced political machine to the equation, and Tolbert faces a tough assignment requiring every cent he can muster.

Meanwhile, both sides desire the endorsement of Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner and his headquarters operation. Zellner says he expects Brown, in return, to back his endorsed candidates. That translates into Legislators Betty Jean Grant and Tim Hogues, who, coincidentally, are key members of the slim majority that pays his salary as Legislature chief of staff.

Some Tolbert backers say those conditions could force Zellner their way in a “What have I got to lose?” situation.

Comptroller Mark Schroeder, meanwhile, who is also mentioned as a potential candidate this year, is discouraging such talk. Indeed, he is not raising the kind of funds needed for a mayoral run, and is not even discussing it with friends.

“I have no plans to run for mayor,” Schroeder said a few days ago.

Still, the comptroller acknowledges his answer differs from a “I will not run for mayor” declaration, which keeps the door ever-so-slightly ajar for the veteran pol from South Buffalo.

...

Bert Dunn is having trouble convincing some Erie County Democratic leaders of his commitment to party principles in this fall’s contest for sheriff.

The Sheriff’s Office lieutenant riled up true-blue Dems a few days ago when The Buffalo News reported he texted a group of unintended recipients about his admiration for former President Ronald Reagan. He then added he is no “fan” of President Obama or Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which might just pose a problem when seeking the endorsement of the Erie County Democratic Committee.

Now it appears Dunn’s enrollment history indicates another less-than-wholehearted commitment to the party, since he can be accurately labeled a Democrat-turned-Republican, turned-Democrat, turned-Republican, turned-Democrat. Board of Elections records indicate he registered as a Republican in 1988, as a Democrat in 1999, back to the Repubs in 2005 and then back to the Dems in 2010.

Dunn did not return a phone call seeking comment. But Zellner and company remain satisfied with his deeply embedded political philosophy – as well as his reported commitment to self-finance his campaign.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Sun, 21 Apr 2013 07:46:08 -0400 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130415/OPINION/130419650/1228 WASHINGTON – Great Lakes states and provinces are bracing for another year of disappearing wetlands, docks where boats can’t berth, beaches stretching endlessly toward the horizon and strange new forms of pollution.

As a leader of the Great Lakes Congressional Task Force, Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, has soldiered hard to advance the Water Quality Act and jawboned Ohio into cutting in half its planned extractions from Lake Erie.

The National Wildlife Federation keeps plugging for lakes cleanup funding. But it is working off an old system of binational treaties and interstate compacts that have holes in them as large as Asia’s Aral Sea. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, it has lost 80 percent of its volume.

When the ice goes, millions of Americans and Canadians can see, and often smell, proof that the century-old model of protecting this resource isn’t working at all.

Patchwork amendments to a 1904 U.S.-Canadian treaty like the 2008 St. Lawrence Seaway Compact allow extractions for bottled water and let counties and cities draw water from the system without returning any. That’s on top of the 2 billion gallons Chicago takes every day.

Nearly every year, somebody conjures a new way to draw water from the lakes: Like Ontario Hydro’s massive new diversion tunnel at Niagara Falls, which authorities claim, bafflingly, has no influence on the level of the river or Lake Erie.

A Canadian author and activist, Maud Barlow, and her Council of Canadians have a better answer. And that requires us to reject two bad ideas: 1) That the lakes belong to industry and influential agencies like Ontario Hydro and the State Power Authority, and 2) that the water in the lakes is inexhaustible.

The Council of Canadians is proposing that the Great Lakes system, its tributaries and aquifers and the St. Lawrence basin be considered an endangered binational “Commons” owned by everybody, certainly not by corporate or government power structures, which have failed to save the lakes from new threats.

The buildup of plastic dumping in the lakes, and exposure of same on newly exposed shorelines, result in up to 1.7 million small plastic particles per square mile on the bed of Lake Erie, according to a new University of Wisconsin study.

Jay Burney, founder of Greenwatch-Friends of Times Beach, reports scientists have found that humans are ingesting microscopic particles of plastics from fish. These plastics can carry health risks, “volatiles” like PCBs.

Barlow is on a six-month speaking tour, her second in two years, in the United States and Ontario. She will speak at Monroe Community College in Rochester on April 25.

The Council of Canadians’ “Commons” approach is like the one that fostered the environmental movement a half century ago: grass-roots, anticipating stone-like resistance from centers of power. Cities, villages, towns and counties of the Great Lakes basin would one by one pass a declaration that the system is an irreplaceable biological resource of drinking water and earth-friendly uses.

Schools and university centers could also pass such resolutions. As in the 1960s, the movement can become a political force, prompting action by Congress and Parliament for an enforceable new framework to forever protect the lakes from the forces that are polluting and drying up water resources around the world. Here’s how the council voices its aim:

“Governments must protect the water and its uses for all generations in a way that ensures that clean water is available for drinking, fishing, health ecosystems, as well as for agriculture, transportation, industry and power generation. Water management, regulation and pricing must be consistent with principles of the public good, respect for human rights and Earth rights.”



email: dturner@buffnews.com
]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:20:03 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130414/OPINION/130419749/1228
What possible interest would Cheektowaga Dems have in Buffalo politics?

Plenty. That's because Max, who lost last fall's election for Erie County Democratic chairman to Jeremy Zellner, is making it quite clear he will again seek the post in 2014.

In fact, you might consider Saturday's event in Cheektowaga the unofficial launch of a Max-led “shadow party” in Erie County.

“I hope Jeremy doesn't get the furniture dirty up there [in Democratic Headquarters] because I'll be sitting in that chair next year,” Max said last week.

That's how it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be in Erie County Democratic politics. Different factions will claim their own loyalties and chaos will reign, even when emissaries dispatched from Albany try to impose order on those unruly Erie County types.

Since his defeat last fall, Max has worked hard to wield influence by uniting Brown's city forces with some suburban leaders. With the Brown endorsement on Saturday, he makes it clear that those seeking countywide office must not only seek the nod of Headquarters but of his organization, too.

Even Zellner recognizes that fact, even if he doesn't like it.

“There have always been factions here,” he said. “But I won't stand for other people saying they are the party. I don't know how much credence people will give to that.”

Already battle lines are forming. Zellner and Co. are lining up behind Bert Dunn for sheriff and incumbent Legislator Tom Mazur of Cheektowaga. Max will back Dick Dobson for sheriff and former Cheektowaga Councilman Rick Zydel for the Legislature.

But how each faction handles Brown's candidacy for re-election will provide real insight into how Democratic politics functions around here. While Max's Cheektowaga Dems should theoretically have no say in a city election, the mere fact that they are now backing the mayor points to their evolution into something more than a town committee.

“We're willing to help him,” Max said, adding that while he hopes Zellner will also endorse Brown, it should have already been done.

The new chairman, meanwhile, is working hard to establish party authority by opening new digs in Larkinville and raising money. All this as the political forces of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ignore his existence, and Brown's types shrug their shoulders and say they'll soldier on with or without the party.

Zellner offers his own take on the Max Factor. He blames it all on former chairman Steve Pigeon, the way lots of Democrats have for lots of years. Longtime Pigeon associate Jack O'Donnell doesn't escape his blame either.

“He's aligned himself with Pigeon and O'Donnell and those crazy people,” he said. “They've never been successful at running an insurgency and they never will.”

Zellner still says he is willing to back Brown and devote party resources to him, but he also expects City Hall to support his endorsed candidates in return. The Brown and Zellner camps remain in communication, though it appears not lately.

Now it remains to be seen whether the mayor will buy into the Zellner program that might mean backing candidates near and dear to Max.

“He has not contacted my office about an endorsement,” Zellner said. “But I don't think it's too much to ask the mayor to work with the party if we endorse him. I'm not going out of my way to support a guy if he's not even interested in asking for it.”

When former Comptroller Carl McCall used to visit Buffalo, he would always joke he never knew where to set foot lest he set off a land mine. It appears nothing has changed.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:50:07 -0400 Robert McCarthy
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/OPINION/130409528/1228
Is it jaundiced to ask just who this campaign benefits? The economic help a state gets in terms of new jobs from such a campaign “is minimal, at best,” said Dennis Donovan, of Wadley, Donovan, Gutshaw Consulting, a leading corporate locator firm.

“Advertising by a state works, but only if the state offers a competitive business environment,” said Michael Whalen, head of Heart of America, which builds and operates hotels and commercial facilities. “Advertising might catch a business owner’s eye, but we do volumes of research before we make facility location decisions.”

If the campaign draws doubt from investors, who gets the lift from it? Ads broadcast in New York comfort the permanent incumbency in the Legislature and the congressional delegation.

Nationally, it helps deflect criticisms of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for concentrating only on ideological liberalism, in seeming competition for presidential consideration with Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who also made a big media splash in pushing laws on gay marriage and tough gun control.

Who, you ask, does the campaign hurt? It portrays a Legislature and governor doing their earnest best to create jobs in the Great Recession. But they’re not. The state still has the highest, by multiples in most cases, corporate tax rate in the country. Cuomo and the rest in Albany haven’t touched the 1,100 public authorities that have racked up $250 billion in unpaid debts.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli recently reported that 18,000 employees of these authorities – or 11.6 percent of their workforces – are paid more than $100,000 a year. All but a handful of these cushy jobs are the product of Albany’s nationally notorious political play.

This Legislature just ensured that local government expenses – reflected in the highest property taxes in the country – will grow, because instead of attacking the costs of public pensions and health care, as in Ohio and Wisconsin, New York’s districts will stretch out their costs over time.

The Republican State Committee denounced Cuomo for taking credit in the ad for the Nanotech Center in Albany, saying GOP Gov. George E. Pataki announced it in 2001 and it was operating before Cuomo took office.

“Despite the governor’s duplicitous rhetoric, New York remains the most taxed, least economically free state in the nation,” GOP committee spokesman David Laska said.

Great swaths of the state like the Syracuse area are still mired in recession. Buffalo Niagara has regained about 72 percent of the jobs it lost. But parts of the Southern Tier resemble the old Appalachia. The greatest cause of economic drag is President Obama’s unwavering refusal to engage manufacturing outsourcing to Asia. States, though, are not as helpless as New York seems to be. Its political culture of high taxes, labor coddling and unrelenting regulation has left it with the highest official unemployment rate, except New Jersey, in the region.

Changing the economy requires a new language, and this national TV campaign’s greatest damage is its reinforcement of the status quo in New York. The money could be better spent: On something like the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University, in suburban Virginia. After studying all 50 states, it pronounced New York “the least free” because of taxes and overregulation.



email: dturner@buffnews.com ]]> Mon, 8 Apr 2013 06:16:13 -0400 Douglas Turner
]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130407/OPINION/130409630/1228
And our response remains the same every year. “What do you mean? It starts all over again today.”

In a sense, the answer to that oft-posed question works every four years, too. No sooner had Barack Obama dispatched Mitt Romney last November when political soothsayers began looking ahead to 2016.

The field is certainly crowded. Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and others are lining up for the GOP. The Dems offer intriguing possibilities, too, though we New Yorkers remain fixated on two very familiar names – Hillary Rodham Clinton and Andrew Cuomo.

So we’ll join the early speculation by noting that the retired secretary of state may be eclipsing the president of the United States in recent days by just “being Hillary.”

That means Clinton earns worldwide media attention by simply delivering a Tuesday speech in Washington. It marked her post-State debut, underscored her resolve to remain in the political spotlight and only fueled more speculation.

Even more significant, however, was her recent declaration of support for same-sex marriage that now puts her in sync with the national Democratic Party. Anyone who attended last September’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte recognizes that after virtually every speaker passionately advocated same-sex marriage, Clinton had to square her views with the national party.

Then there’s that other New Yorker residing in Speculationville – even if Cuomo works overtime to discourage such talk.

Indeed, the governor was asked about 2016 when he visited The Buffalo News on Tuesday. He was not asked if he is considering a presidential race in 2016. Specifically, he was asked if he thought Clinton – already nominated by a plethora of pundits – looms as the inevitable nominee of the Democratic Party.

“I don’t think about 2016,” he replied. “I’m working as hard as I can this year.”

Sorry. We just thought we’d ask.

Still, Cuomo’s answer underscores exactly how he might conduct a 2016 campaign. If he can tame dysfunctional Albany, he could argue, he can tame even dysfunctional Washington. Just doing your job counts for a lot in New York.

And after registering stratospheric poll numbers over the first half of his term with a fiscal conservatism that even statewide Republicans reluctantly praised, the governor has lately veered leftward.

He began that drift in 2011 as a successful champion of same-sex marriage. This year he is fiercely advocating a women’s program that strengthens abortion rights. And, of course, he sought and received one of the toughest gun control laws in America following the Newtown tragedy.

The result is a significant (though not dangerous) plunge in the polls, especially over the gun control issue. He understands such a drop is part of the deal.

“This is a very difficult political issue. It’s 70-30 [percent] in the state, but the 30 are very vocal and mobilized,” he said. “And 30 is a large number. I get their political strength. I get it very well ... I get the harshness. I get the ferocity.

“Some people are nervous about the politics of the bill. Yeah,” he added. “Look at my numbers and see me go down with upstate conservatives. There’s a political price to pay for doing this.”

But he also called the bill “one of the single greatest accomplishments of this Legislature and my administration,” adding he can handle a dip in the polls if stricter gun laws save lives.

So, in the odd chance Cuomo some day thinks about 2016, he may very well make this case: He did his job, ignored the politics and so far it works in New York.

Will it all play in places like Iowa?

That’s a question the governor says he’s not thinking about now. But it’s still a good question for a spring day in 2013.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Thu, 4 Apr 2013 16:17:47 -0400 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130331/OPINION/130339973/1228
Amherst Highway Superintendent Bob Anderson, he announced, will run on the GOP line against incumbent County Legislator Tom Loughran – the Democrat from Amherst.

As a rule, county chairmen are always fired up about their candidates. It's part of their job description.

But Langworthy knows he is fielding a worthy candidate in a competitive race. And that's one step closer to his goal of challenging the Democrats' 6-5 majority in County Hall.

Indeed, that slim Democratic edge may prove the focal point of local politics in 2013. Langworthy and his Republicans will mount a strong challenge, while Chairman Jeremy Zellner and his Democrats plan an equally intense counter-effort. That's because the stakes are high for control of the Legislature and all that means for Democratic County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

Anderson, for example, is well known after winning twice in Amherst – the heart of District 5. He improved his victory margin in his last election, presents an instant challenge, and will probably pick up on Langworthy's emerging theme.

“The Republicans prevented a property tax increase and prevented [Poloncarz] from doing more borrowing,” Langworthy said. “The contrast to the two conferences is pretty clear.”

Zellner and his wife, meanwhile, are celebrating the birth of 10 pound, 8 ounce Rory Joseph a few days ago. When Zellner comes back down to earth, he'll be looking at his own tough fight to maintain his party's edge.

For Zellner, success on the legislative front is crucial. He faces tough challenges in winning back the countywide offices of sheriff and comptroller, and must register success in the Legislature, too, to stave off all the intra-party critics nipping at his heels. But he remains confident.

“In the last decade, 85 percent of our endorsed candidates have won primaries,” he said.

But this is New York, where minor parties have a say in things, too. And this is also Erie County, where the Conservative Party wields considerable influence. None of this is lost on Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo.

“Our endorsements are going to be very, very, very valuable,” he said a few days ago.

One interesting pol to watch in all this is veteran Democrat Tom Mazur of Cheektowaga. Former Cheektowaga Councilman Rick Zydel is challenging him in the Democratic primary.

But Mazur scored few points with Conservatives after voting against a resolution calling for repeal of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new gun control legislation. Mazur, along with fellow Democrat Lynn Marinelli (who also voted against the resolution), will have some explaining to do when – or if – they reapply for the Conservative nod.

And why is the backing of a minor party so important? Because it can often mean the difference in a close race.

Zellner, meanwhile, faces a unique and tricky situation himself. Incumbents like Mazur will seek his endorsement this year in Zellner's capacity as chairman. But Zellner is also the Legislature's chief of staff, a post he owes to the body's Democratic majority.

Zellner must now weigh factors such as Mazur's ability to snare the Conservative nod as he makes his own decisions – with his dual roles as chairman and chief of staff very much in mind.



• • •

Interesting Scene of the Week: Buffalo City Comptroller Mark Schroeder showing up at Daisies in Lackawanna on March 23 – just as Mayor Byron Brown was announcing his bid for a third term. The weekly gathering of local pols is convened by Lorigo and his Conservatives, and Schroeder could be considered a Brown rival for the Conservative nod should the mayoral stars, moons and planets properly align.



email: rmccarthy@buffnews.com ]]> Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:34:52 -0400 Robert McCarthy
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