The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

About halfway through Randy Kuhl's town meeting in Pittsford, the person standing next to me muttered, "Why would someone want to be a Congressman?". I've often wondered that myself, and this afternoon's meeting did nothing to answer that longstanding query.

The setting was the basement of the Pittsford town hall, in the heart of the most affluent suburb in Monroe County (and the district). The players were a SRO crowd of about 60 constituents. Some of them were covered with sheets splattered with fake blood, wearing black bags over their heads and holding anti-war placards. Others were brandishing editorials from the Wall Street Journal. The common denominator was outrage and dissatisfaction: with the government in general, and John R Kuhl, Jr. in particular.

I'd like to give an calm analysis of the interplay of ideas that occurred, but frankly the whole thing was a bit overwhelming. An undercurrent of dissatisfied grumbling would sometimes drown out the speakers. Some participants were critical of Kuhl for not answering their questions, while others cut him off as he attempted to explain his position. Towards the end, there was yelling. It wasn't fit for kids or the elderly, though at least one of the former and many of the latter were present.

I'm not sure that any real conclusion about Kuhl, his constituents, or the 29th can be drawn from this mudfight. Nevertheless, I'll offer a few highlights.

First, the comedy. One constituent began by saying that he had come to make a tougher statement, but since Kuhl was answering questions, he would give a "nice speech". His next sentence: "You have allowed yourself to become a puppet of the Bush Administration." One wonders what he would have said if he weren't making nice.

At a couple of points, Kuhl pointed out that some of the participants had been in other town meetings. One gentleman in particular, who was wearing a red Legion cap, was clearly well-known to Kuhl. He spent at least five minutes berating Kuhl for using the term "assured funding" instead of "mandatory funding" in a letter about the Veterans' Administration. A few minutes earlier, his friend had loudly declaimed that the most important issue facing the country was "bees". Actually, that might be true, and Randy's position on the Agriculture Committee probably gives him some insight on the issue. Unfortunately, the bee man kept cutting Randy off as he tried to answer.

Perhaps the most tragic figure was a dissatisfied Republican who had voted for Republicans all his life, except for the last two elections. He asked why the Republicans didn't have a "bit of courage" to stand up to the Bush Administration. His question was followed by a round of applause from the anti-war contingent, which he waved away, saying he was "talking as a Republican". He, too, didn't get an answer because someone immediately asked another question. He walked out in disgust a few minutes later.

Kuhl's demeanor was a bit different from March's meeting in Henrietta. I missed the first few minutes of this meeting, so perhaps Kuhl had laid down rules about it being a "listening opportunity." Whether or not he's still holding on to that convenient fiction, he seemed more willing to answer questions today. He tried the "I'm here to listen" line a few times, but the crowd was on to him, and they were adamant about demanding answers. Kuhl did give a few answers, and he might have said more had he been given the chance. Some of the answers were on point, and some were full of misdirection, but on the whole he seemed more willing to engage the audience than he did in Henrietta.

The overall impression I got from the meeting was that of people talking past each other. Some hot topics were the Virginia Tech shootings (gun control), Immigration (with the main concern being cutting off illegal immigration), Gonzales, melamine in the food supply and the war in Iraq. On all of those topics, I don't think anyone was satisfied.

Though I'm tempted, I can't really blame Kuhl for not satisfying this group. They came to yell at Kuhl, and Kuhl came to get yelled at. Both sides played their roles, and then, like most well-organized performances, it ended at the appointed time.

Someone forwarded me an email from a Southern Tier Democratic Party chair. Aside from expressing regret at Nachbar's candidacy, it also reported that most of the Southern Tier Democratic Committees are so upset by Nachbar's candidacy that they won't even meet with him.

The Messenger-Post Nachbar announcement is headlined with the dubious claim that Nachbar would withdraw troops from Iraq sooner than Massa. The story seems to be based on one of Massa's old position papers from his 2006 campaign website. Unless Nachbar is for an immediate withdrawal, I'll bet that his Iraq position and Massa's include a similar timeframe.

David Nachbar, a Bausch and Lomb Vice-President, intends to challenge Eric Massa for the Democratic nomination in the 29th. Nachbar, who is Louise Slaughter's (NY-28) candidate, is a millionaire from Pittsford, the most affluent suburb in Monroe County.

I'll have some further analysis on this soon, but for the time being, I'll just say this: Randy Kuhl must feel like the Democrats just gave him a second birthday. Wait -- that's not strong enough -- Randy probably feels like it is his birthday, Christmas, and the Fourth of July.

Shamar Patterson, a 16-year-old boy, was killed two weeks ago, allegedly by members of a loosely-knit gang, the "Mafia Assassins". Though he was killed in Rochester, Shamar was a resident of Gates, a town at the very northern tip of the 29th. Shamar and his alleged killers had once been schoolmates at Gates-Chili High School. Shamar's mother lives in Gates, no doubt in part because of the quality of the schools: Gates-Chili has over double the graduation rate of the neighboring Rochester city school district.

In yesterday's press conference about a $2.5 million grant, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mentioned gang violence in the Crescent, a high-crime area of Rochester. He pointed out the good work being done by Operation Ceasefire, a joint anti-gang operation between the City of Rochester and the Monroe County District Attorney. No mention was made of the hometown of the victim and the offenders.

Also conspicuously absent from any of the proceedings was Congressman Randy Kuhl. Kuhl, whose office memorializes every cent that comes the way of any town in the 29th (such as the recent $6,557 grant to the Rushford Fire Department), apparently wasn't involved in getting $2.5 million for a problem that threatens the lives of people in his district. I would think Kuhl would want to be part of the efforts to keep gang violence out of Gates. I'm sure his absence was mainly due to the Rochester focus of Gonzales' visit, but I can't help but wonder if part of the reason is that Gonzales is political kryptonite.

The Democrat and Chronicle reports on protests at Randy Kuhl's Fairport offices today. The protesters were associated with the political action group Metro Justice, and the protests were timed to coincide with the anti-war ad that began running this week.

The D&C story also reports the ad buy was small (120 ads), and it also notes Kuhl's stock response, which has not changed in quite a whle:

I’m going to support our troops no matter what [...] I’m not about to send up the white flag and surrender at this point.

Of course, that response leaves open the question at what point Mr. Kuhl will send up the white flag, but I assume we'll hear about that when he decides that surrender is in order.

I grew up in farm country, and out there the saying about a farmer who is better at getting USDA funds than growing crops is that he's farming the program instead of farming his land. The Roseland Bowl isn't a farm, but it looks like Jack Moran, the owner of the business, would make a pretty good farmer. Not only did he get a USDA rural development loan guarantee last week, Rochesterturning dug up a story showing that he was the recipient of funds from a 9/11 loan program a few years ago. Both of the loan programs he's used have been held up as examples of government waste and mismanagement.

Though these loans are big and are at the edge of program guidelines, I don't think the story here is about Kuhl or Moran. Kuhl wasn't in office when the 9/11 loans were granted. Moran is a pretty solid Republican donor, but he's certainly not maxing out his contributions to any politician, including Kuhl. The real story is how little care is exercised by the current administration when handing out loan guarantees. Roseland Bowl wasn't directly hurt by 9/11, and it isn't in a truly rural environment. Nevertheless, it has gotten a whopping $3.8 million of government-guaranteed loans from programs that are either loosely structured or loosely administered. The same USDA program that funded Roseland also funded an art gallery on Cape Cod and rental subsidies on Nantucket.

Republicans like Kuhl use the rhetoric of fiscal conservatism, yet the practice of the administration they support is to spend money with less restraint than drunken sailors. It will be interesting to see if Kuhl's opponent can make some hay on this issue in 2008, because it's programs like these that raise our taxes.

As for Jack Moran, I can't blame him for farming the program. If the money's there, he'd be a fool not to take it.

Today's Democrat and Chronicle carries a story about Louise Slaughter's (NY-28) participation in the Congressional delegation to the Mideast led by Nancy Pelosi. This delegation has become controversial because it is visiting Syria. Randy Kuhl's spokesman, Bob Van Wicklin, gives Kuhl's response:

Randy feels that it's the administration's job to deliver diplomatic messages, not Congress [...] The fact that Speaker Pelosi botched the message she delivered on behalf of Israel is evidence of that. We need to speak through one secretary of state, not 535 of them.

Kuhl has consistently favored diplomatic dialogue with Syria and Iran. The basic facts of the Pelosi "botch" are available from the Washington Post, which excoriated Pelosi for her misstep in an editorial yesterday.

Rochesterturning reports that Jack Moran, the proprietor of Roseland Bowl, is a former chair of the Bowling Proprietors Association of America, an association which gave $55K to mostly Republicans in the 2006 cycle. Randy Kuhl wasn't one of them.

MyDD has also picked up this story. What both sites seem to be missing is that this is a loan guarantee, not a loan. If Roseland pays back the loan, the loan will cost the government nothing. Because the government guarantees the loan, Roseland benefits by having a lower interest rate.

What's fishy about this particular transaction, if anything, is that the loan was guaranteed by the Department of Agriculture through a program that's supposed to benefit rural development. I don't view Canandaigua as a rural location, but it probably technically fits the standards of the loan guarantee program.

As Vincent points out in a comment on this morning's post, this transaction assured 36 jobs in Canandaigua without costing the government a penny. I think locals will view that as a win, and that's how Kuhl will get re-elected.

Update 4/6: Today's Washington Post has a story on the USDA loan program that explains its broad definition of "rural". Besides Canandaigua, Cape Cod and the suburbs of Atlanta and Tampa are "rural" by the USDA's definition.

Randy Kuhl's office announced that the Roseland Bowl, a bowling alley in Canandaigua, will receive a $2.5 million loan guarantee from the US Department of Agriculture. The loan was part of the USDA rural development program, and allowed the bowling alley to restructure debt to save interest costs.