The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

The Star-Gazette's latest editorial defends earmarks.

Bloomberg uses Eric Massa as an example of the changing relationship between Democrats and the Chamber of Commerce.

The Star-Gazette thinks that the stimulus is "good offense" against joblessness.

The Buffalo News comes out in support of high-speed rail for upstate.

The Star-Gazette details some of the spending bill appropriations in the Southern Tier, which are mainly money for roads, but also include funding for teacher education and a domestic violence program.

Eric Massa is quoted in the Navy Times, expressing concern that the results of the Navy's readiness assessment, called Insurv, are now classified.

The Star-Gazette carries Eric Massa's take on the Presidential helicopter program. Massa thinks they'll be building a Chevy instead of a Caddy.

WENY has posted the second part of their visit to Massa's office in DC:

WENY spent a day with Eric Massa in Washington. Here's the video:

Eric Massa cast his first big vote against his party when he voted against the housing bill (HR 1106) this afternoon. He was one of 24 Democrats who opposed it.

The Hornell Evening Tribune reports that Massa will lead the St. Patrick's Day parade there.

The Messenger-Post's latest op-ed tackles the stimulus bill from a conservative angle, and claims that Massa made the wrong choice. Another M-P column, from Kevin Frisch, was reprinted in another paper, and we learn why Rush Limbaugh needs to be the head of the Republican party.

Tuesday's meeting on high-speed rail is still getting some press coverage. WGRZ in Buffalo had a train story in last night's broadcast.

The only high-speed rail line running on standard tracks in the US is Amtrak's Acela Express. Reading through the Wikipedia entry for that train, a few facts stand out:

• Acela runs between cities (DC, New York and Boston), that have excellent mass-transit facilities which connect directly to the rail stations. The upstate cities where high-speed rail is planned have mediocre mass transit. Someone wanting to travel from, say, Orchard Park to Pittsford, is probably going to have to drive their car at one end and take a cab at the other.
• Acela's equipment doesn't run at 150 MPH for much of the route, mostly due to track restrictions related to track width and quality. I wonder if the right-of-way for the new track will be wide enough to let high-speed rail run at full throttle here.
• Acela trains are a joint venture between Bombardier and Alstom. Alstom has a big presence in the 29th, so that explains a lot of why Eric Massa would be gung-ho for this project, and it also explains how it could stimulate the 29th's economy.

The D&C covers a meeting between the upstate delgation and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on high-speed rail. Eric Massa is quoted in the article.

Buffalo Pundit's take on high-speed rail notes that the Rochester-Buffalo-Toronto route makes more sense than Buffalo-Albany. He envisions a "megaregion" where high-speed rail makes commuting between the cities a possibility.

Update: The Buffalo News also has a piece on the LaHood meeting.

Reader Stanley writes to point out that Eric Massa's October financial statement has a $2550 donation from Allen Stanford, the billionaire bank owner who is accused of running a Ponzi scheme.

Stanford's donation was channeled to the Massa campaign via Charlie Rangel [NY-12], who announced last week that he's donating $10,800 (the amount of Stanford's donations) to charity.

I have a request for comment in to the Massa press operation and will publish it when I get it. Here's the word from Massa's Communications Director, Jared Smith:

Last week, we received a notice from a court appointed authority informing us that the case against Mr. Stanford was developing. In that Rep. Massa did not want to return the contribution to someone that would likely not return it to his investors, and since we do not yet know the legality of giving it to charity or turning the money over to a court receiver, Rep. Massa sent the notification letter to the legal authorities at the Democratic National Committee to see what the legal options are. Because the books are long closed on the FEC's 2008 3rd quarter filing, Rep. Massa has been very careful to ensure that everything is done correctly. Rep. Massa will act upon the recommendation of the DNC authorities. He also mentioned that this is yet another reason why America needs Clean Money/Clean Elections reforms. In our current campaign finance system, this sort of thing can happen to anyone and then the campaign bears the burden of unraveling someone else's mess.

The Messenger-Post has an editorial about the "new direction" in the 29th district.

The Washington Times uses Eric Massa as an example of a new Representative using cost-cutting measures. Massa has installed videoconferencing equipment so he have virtual meetings without traveling.