Jul 24
2022
A most unreasonable demand
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I’ve never heard of such a thing: elected officials being asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement to preclude them from discussing public policy.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is making the demand of three county legislators who would serve on a committee to consider, at long last, a community benefits agreement tied to the construction of the new Buffalo Bills stadium.
The county executive wants those negotiations, much like talks involving the stadium, to be held in secret. Public policy should not be negotiated behind closed doors. This is yet another example of Poloncarz kowtowing to the Pegulas and thumbing his nose at the public’s right to know.
Rod Watson wrote a killer column about the toxic choices voters face in the GOP congressional primary pitting Carl Paladino against Nick Langworthy. A pox on both the campaigns, Watson says.
Jim Schultz, writing for the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, lambastes Niagara County for granting generous tax breaks to accommodate Amazon’s plan to build a distribution center in the Town of Niagara. Downstate, the New York Daily News rails against an ever richer subsidy package – we’re talking more than a billion dollars – for a major political donor of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Louis Ciminelli and Alain Kaloyeros, convicted of corrupting the Buffalo Billion program, have been released from federal prison pending a review of their case by the U.S. Supreme Court. Call it rich man’s justice.
A couple of long reads from The Atlantic, on how America kills its young and U.S. democracy approaching the brink.
The average daily profits of the oil industry are staggering. To say nothing of outrageous.
Yeah, big brother is watching.
Is the press really as unpopular as they say? Perhaps not. My theory: much of the unpopularity stems from the talking heads that populate cable news in the evening. I can’t stand them either.
