The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Today's New York Times reports that lobbyists recently paid for Randy Kuhl to attend a Bob Seger concert. To skirt the new House rules on lobbyist-funded gifts, Kuhl held a "fundraiser" at the concert and charged $2,500 for two tickets.

According to the Times, these types of fundraisers are usually held by the lawmaker's leadership PAC, which has fewer restrictions on accepting gifts for personal use. I wasn't aware that Kuhl had a leadership PAC, and FEC disclosure rules make finding leadership PACs difficult. I'll be on the hunt for the disclosure for this expenditure as well as for Kuhl's leadership PAC, if it exists.

Obviously, these kind of fundraisers are political dynamite, and Kuhl's judgment in holding it is suspect.

Eric Massa has started a new site, 29united.com. He'll use this site, and the associated mailing list, as platform to keep in touch with supporters in the district. The most recent post outlines his goals for the site, and it also details a door-to-door canvass that Massa conducted with a candidate for the Pittsford Village Board.

I've added a link to 29united under the "Candidate Sites" link list at right, using the principle that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

President Bush's new budget isn't sitting well with Randy Kuhl. He's concerned about cuts in the funding to the West Valley Demonstration Project and a reduction to the rate of increase of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.

Both of these spending reductions have serious impact in the 29th. The West Valley project is an old nuclear site that has been on the cleanup list for years. Hospitals in smaller towns with large elderly populations live and die based on Medicare reimbursements.

Kuhl's concern is focused in the right place. But, as with many other issues in the 29th, we need look at the big picture. Kuhl's position in the 2006 campaign was that the Bush tax cuts are a good thing. Laura Bush endorsed his position, and one of the cornerstones of his ad campaign was that Massa would raise taxes. If Kuhl wants more money for West Valley and Medicare/Medicaid, he needs to tell us where it's coming from. Does he want to raise taxes to get it? Or does he want to cut spending somewhere else? Those are the tough choices that don't make the press releases.

Update: The Hornell Evening Tribune's coverage includes a sentence that sums it up:

Among the parts of the budget Kuhl like were a $550 increase in Pell Grants for college students, as well as the president's desire to balance the budget.

Desire doesn't become reality without hard choices.

Randy Kuhl has been writing letters on a number of topics. His most recent letter was sent to the House leadership, asking them to increase funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

A previous letter to the Federal Rail Administration after two major derailments in the 29th has led to them sending a high-tech track inspection vehicle. This vehicle will be used to perform safety reviews of the area's freight track.

At a Democracy for America (DFA) meeting at Jay's Diner in Henrietta, Eric Massa said that he's still making up his mind about the run. His current timeframe is the next 3-4 days, but he says his main focus for 2007 will be attempting to get more Democrats elected to local offices. Rochesterturning's video of his talk after the break:

Reader Rich sent a link to the Wellsville Daily Reporter's long interview with Eric Massa. Massa dropped a number of hints about the 2008 race (most notably, his wife and daughter want him to run), but there's nothing really new about his intentions in the piece.

Massa also criticizes Randy Kuhl's position on Iraq. Kuhl will have an opportunity to clarify his position when the House votes on a non-binding resolution on the war.

Reader Rich writes to report that today's Corning Leader has a story titled "Massa Mum on Run for Congress." Given the content, I'd say "coy" is a better word than "mum":

“I may keep that decision to a small group and figure out the best way to move forward from there,” Massa said Wednesday. “A decision has been made, but I'm not ready to discuss it publicly.”

Massa says that, if he runs, he'll have the backing of the Democratic party and will need to raise twice the $1.5 million he raised in 2006. He also said that he promised the party that he'd make his decision by today.

After finishing up the 100 hours last week, the House settled down to a more leisurely pace this week. Randy Kuhl voted with the majority on almost every non-procedural bill. This included his votes for the "Bob Ney - Duke Cunningham Act", which revokes the retirement of legislators convicted of felonies, and the "Mark Foley Act", also known as the House Page Board Revision Act.

Kuhl's only significant difference with the Democratic majority was his vote against HR 78, which gives some very limited voting rights to non-voting Representatives such as those from DC and Puerto Rico.

Kuhl also announced his subcomittee assignments. He will serve on six subcommittees of the three main committees on which he serves.

Two days after a letter from Randy Kuhl and four other Congressmen, Defense Secretary Gates called for an end to the stop-loss program. According to a memo obtained by The Hill newspaper, Gates included an end to stop-loss as part of wider changes to deployment policies for reserve, guard and active-duty units.

Under the new policy, the Pentagon's goal is to mobilize reserve and guard units for 12 months, and to follow that with five years of demobilization. However, the previous 24 month limit on total active service has been lifted, and the Pentagon acknowledges that some guard and reserve deployments might stretch up to 24 months. This means, for example, that units that spent 18 months in Iraq or Afghanistan might be redeployed under the new policy.

Overall, Gates' memo is a mixed bag for guard and reserve units. Stop-loss was a program aimed at individual soldiers whose tours of duty were expiring. Under the new policy, those soldiers will end their tours at the initially agreed-upon date. The new 12 month/five year deployment cycle for guard and reserve will shorten the length of each deployment for those units, but it might also lead to unexpected second deployments.

Kuhl's response to the stop-loss announcement was positive:

“This is excellent news for guardsmen and reservists and Randy is thrilled about the new defense secretary’s quick response to the issue,” said Bob VanWicklin, Rep. Kuhl’s press secretary.

Kuhl has not gone on record responding to the entire new Pentagon policy. Another member of his party, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, called it "wrongheaded" and "devastating".

After shaking President Bush's hand during Bush's walk to the podium last night, Randy Kuhl commented:

Tonight, the President discussed many important topics, a lot of the same issues that I’ve heard expressed during town meetings over the past two years [...] Whether it’s health care, energy, education, or immigration, the President has made some bold proposals and has asked for both parties to set aside differences and get this work done quickly for the benefit of all Americans. I couldn’t agree more. I ran for Congress so I could help solve problems like these, so let’s get to work.

I'll leave it to readers to identify the one bold proposal Kuhl failed to mention. Hint: it involves 21,500 young men and women.

Update: Reader porker points out that Kuhl put the war on the list when talking to the media later yesterday. The quote above is from his official site.