It's been a slow couple of months in the 29th. The big news is that the 29th will be no more after the next redistricting - New York is losing two seats in the House.
In other news, Sean Carroll tells me that he'll have an extensive interview with Tom Reed and his wife, about Reed's health, on tonight's 5 and 6 o'clock newscasts on Rochester's 13-WHAM.
Happy New Year to all of you.
Comments
Might we look forward to a Fighting 27th/26th/25th/????.com?
Your efforts on behalf of the Fighting29th.com have been appreciated, and I for one would be delighted to see you continue your efforts after redistricting.
Thank, from the bottom of my heart, for all you have done.
Have a wonderful New Year!
Saw Tom last week at the Ontario GOP Christmas party. He looked and sounded good. "Taking better care of himself" was mentioned. Not having to criss-cross the unwieldy district on a first-time campaign should help.
The national GOP wanted to foist someone on him as chief of staff, but he went with Jay Dutcher, the Ontario County chairman. Jay has some DC experience but is loyal to *upstate*.
Excellent work Rottenchester. Hope to see you around wherever you land, I think you have it in your blood and will surface somewhere.
At first I thought you were just another hack for the democrats until you made the comment to me that this blog is about the 29th from a democrats point of view. That is what the first ammendmant is all about, the right to publish from your point of view. Whether it's the fighting29, Monroe Rising or Rochester Turning. Its good for a society, for its people to be able to put forth what is true to them in an open fashion. In the last 3 elections, each time we have seen change, that does not happen in countries without a right to speak as you believe. If the people think Obama/Bush/Democrats/Republicans are good or bad we will never know unless we have information, and with that the ability to change.
A prosperous New Year to you.
DITTO what qka and tiberious wrote. Keep up the good work, Rottenchester.
New York state is doing so well - during my lifetime someone was talking about the loss of New York's 45th congressional district (1953). It is so interesting to follow the New York political scene to see how we drive people away from our state.
Happy New Year to all
BTW - I just checked and the last rep for the 45th district was a guy named Reed. :) - and he was a Republican.
Rottenchester, it is so good to hear from you. This blog has been incredibly helpful and interesting and I hope you'll stay with it, to whatever extent feels best for you. Is it a sure thing that the 29th will be disappearing? It'll be fascinating to observe. Again, you have done a lively, creative, resourceful, and responsible job (and service) for all of us!!! Best Wishes for 2011.
I think this is the WHAM story to which Rottenchester was referring (http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Congressman-Tom-Reed-s-Health-Sca...).
January 5, 2011
Dear Editor,
I hope this letter finds you and the great people of NY-29 well.
I would like to start off by thanking everyone that supported me in my uphill battle as a candidate for Congress. I am blessed to have made so many friends over the past few months.
I have taken time to rest and rejuvenate from my recent battle against ‘politics as usual.’ What seemed to be lost in the drama of ‘politics as usual’ was the premise of my Congressional campaign. My sole reason for running for Congress was to give the people of NY-29 a true Conservative choice come November 2010.
Over the past two months, I have kept a close eye on Tom Reed, with hopes that he would deliver on his Conservative campaign promises. Thus far, Mr. Reed has let voters down by breaking several campaign promises with a single vote. This vote was a YES vote for the 2010 Tax Compromise. As many of you may remember, when Mr. Reed was campaigning for Congress, he told us that he would not support any tax increases and he would only support making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent. By voting YES for this Obama-led compromise, Mr. Reed supported an increase in the death tax (estate tax), he supported a temporary extension of the Bush-era tax cuts and he supported increases in spending (such as ethanol subsidies) that ballooned our national debt by billions.
We should not be surprised by this betrayal from Tom Reed. While running for Congress, I constantly said that Mr. Reed cannot be trusted. By supporting the 2010 Tax Compromise, Mr. Reed betrayed his constituents just as he did when he was mayor of Corning. When running for mayor, Mr. Reed campaigned on a platform that was against tax increases (just as he did for Congress). However, Mr. Reed voted YES to raise taxes/spending for Corning residents two times as mayor (just as he has done as our Congressman). This blatant, self-serving disregard towards the November voter backlash is a disturbing trend that we all should be concerned about; Mr. Reed needs to be held accountable for his actions.
To ease over his concerns of voter outrage, Mr. Reed sent out a press release that said he was not happy with this 2010 Tax Compromise, however, he still voted YES for the bill’s passage. A simple letter will not vindicate Mr. Reed of breaking his promises to the voters. Ultimately, Tom Reed chose to defy the Tea Party/Conservative values that he promised to deliver when elected to Congress. I am very thankful that in two years we will have an opportunity to replace Mr. Reed with a candidate that actually listens and cares about the people, instead of using the people as pawns for self-advancement.
May God Bless America and the 29th!
Respectfully,
Janice A. Volk - Cuba, NY
Jay Dutcher was a mistake made by Tom. He is out for something and it's not loyalty to Tom that is generating it. He is the personification of why diehard Conservatives get angry with the GOP.
Who is Jay Dutcher? Fill us in?
One of the lead headlines from today's on-line edition of the Corning "Leader"---Tom's hometown---is to effect of "Zeller slams Reed for health care vote." Worth a look. Has the next campaign begun?: http://www.the-leader.com/homepage
I think massa was in office for about 3.5 days when Reed started campaigning.
Hope someone caught the bit of ink captured by Matt Zeller in the Corning "Leader" this week, also carried on-line:
http://www.the-leader.com/opinions/editorials/x536398110/Grins-and-groans
Remember, this is Tom Reed's hometown newspaper--AND they endorsed Mr. Reed, as I recall.