The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

WETM carries Randy Kuhl's call for his constituents to mail gas receipts to Nancy Pelosi. Kuhl's justification is that "Democrats have failed to take any action on lowering gas prices."

Setting aside the question of whether Congress can do anything to affect gas prices in the short term, it's also true that Republicans have failed to take any action on gas prices. Here's Minority Leader John Boehner's address, for those who want to waste time and stamps on this idiotic venture:
1011 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515

In other news, the Hornell Evening Tribune has a story about Massa's new plan for Veterans, and Kuhl's mental health caucus.

Kevin Frisch, who I think writes for the Messenger-Post, has a long riff comparing Kuhl's Fix Washington program to American Idol. A taste:

MANDEL: “Next contestant: Chester Drawers from Dry Heaves, Fla.”

CHESTER: “Let’s outlaw taxes!”

JACKSON: “Dawg! You’re crazy! You’ve heard the phrase ‘death and taxes.’ You wanna live in a world where it’s just ‘death’?”

ABDUL: “Outlaw taxes? Wouldn’t that be, like, against the law?”

COWELL: “Did I say the last idea was stupid? It’s as if you ate that whole pot of cooked stupid and then washed it down with a pitcher of stupid.”

In more serious news, Jane Flasch at the 13WHAM blog has crunched the money numbers and found that Eric Massa is the top fundraiser in Rochester.

Grievous Angel at Rochesterturning has a follow-up piece to yesterday's Massa press conference. It looks at TRICARE, the federal program for those who are ineligible for VA benefits, such as National Guard and Reserve. Massa's plan would expand VA benefits to include Guard and Reserve vets.

The Buffalo News has a backgrounder on the recent mortgage rescue bill. Randy Kuhl was the only member of the area delegation to vote against that bill. Though the Bush Administration had issued a veto threat, they backed down after Congress agreed to the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae line of credit.

The Messenger-Post has a scathing editorial criticizing Nancy Pelosi and Randy Kuhl's arithmetic. Randy's plan is up for the harshest criticism.

The Hornell Evening Tribune has a piece on Kuhl's "Fix Washington" plan.

Eric Massa's new VA plan has already made the New York Observer.

Since Grievous Angel at Rochesterturning has a full write-up of Massa's Press Conference, I'll stick to color commentary on this one.

This plan is a big deal. It advocates major, systemic changes in the way we handle Veterans' health. Veterans' care has been effectively rationed by a system where Vets must travel to a VA hospital or clinic to receive care. In rural areas, as Massa pointed out, this means hours of car travel. Even in the Rochester area, there's no inpatient medical facility. If a Vet needs surgery, they must travel to Buffalo or another area hospital.

In other words, today's VA is a treatment system. Massa's proposal would turn it into a hybrid treatment and insurance system. Vets would be able to receive treatment at non-VA facilities "when there are no VA facilities in the area." In those cases, being a Vet is like having an insurance plan.

Massa's proposal to change the VA system to the equivalent of an insurance card may lead to more utilization of VA benefits, and therefore more cost. Veterans who use private insurance today because of the hassles involved in the VA system might choose to use the VA if they can keep their local providers.

The most controversial part of Massa's proposal is the inclusion of Veterans families in the mix. This is an extension of the traditional role of the VA which will probably draw a lot of criticism.

Other than the family provision, it's very hard for a politician to stand up and argue against Massa's plan. It's mainly a practical list of things we must do if we're going to keep our promise to take care of the Veterans of our two lengthy and costly wars.

Randy Kuhl's list of constituent ideas for fixing Washington is out. The Messenger-Post has a story on the effort.

Voting is now open, and Kuhl will introduce the highest-voted idea as a bill later this year.

The most commonly-suggested idea was term limits, which speaks for itself.

Reader Elmer sends a story from today's Corning Leader, where Randy Kuhl and Hillary Clinton are thanked for getting a bridge and bus station project back on track. Both projects had been stalled by mis-filed paperwork.

Today is also the day that Kuhl will unveil his "Fix Washington" project, where the "winning" suggestions from constituents are turned into legislation.

I've been hard on the DCCC in the past, so it's only fair to say that I think their new ad buy is absolutely the right strategy for the 29th district.

The first thing that stands out about the buy is its size -- $900K per candidate. It's a big buy, the biggest we've seen from the DCCC in this area.

But even more significant is that all three candidates are grouped together in the buy. That's critical because the Rochester-area districts are so gerrymandered that a lot of residents don't know who they're voting for until they enter the voting booth. If the DCCC ad campaign emphasizes what the candidates hold in common, a voter who agrees with the candidates' shared positions will feel comfortable pulling for the Democrat in that voter's district, even if the voter is surprised in the booth on election day.

The co-marketing of the candidates is also powerful because of the expected Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. It indicates that voting for a Democrat is voting for a team that can work together to bring federal dollars back to all of Western New York.

Of course, this assumes that the grouped buy indicates a co-marketing strategy, and that the DCCC will actually use the time they've reserved. The former is just a hope, but I have little doubt about the latter, since the DCCC has been raising money hand over fist.

The Washington Post reports that the new DCCC planned ad campaign includes a major Western New York buy of $2.7 million. That buy is split between the three contested seats in NY-25, NY-26 and NY-29.

(via The Albany Project)

Randy Kuhl participated in the dedication of a Veterans' Roll in Cohocton yesterday afternoon.

In money news, the DCCC outraised the NRCC again in June, and has a staggering $46 million cash-on-hand advantage.