The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Liz Benjamin has the details on a National Republican Congressional Committee radio ad targeting Eric Massa and other Democrats supporting the stimulus. USA Today notes that the ads are launched at a time when there's pretty broad support for the stimulus plan.

Erin Kelly has a story in today's Democrat and Chronicle and Star-Gazette detailing Republican attacks on Eric Massa for accepting corporate contributions.

Here's a choice quote from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which apparently never touches odious corporate money: "It didn't take long for Eric Massa to get comfortable with the way Washington Democrats operate."

The Hornell Evening Tribune reports that Eric Massa and Chuck Schumer still think that there will be enough money in the new stimulus plan to help area schools. WXXI quotes Massa as laying the blame on Republicans. The Buffalo News carries the same lament.

The spending in the stimulus bill is detailed in this Star-Gazette story.

An anonymous commenter who read Eric Massa's most recent FEC filing noted that Massa has started accepting donations from corporate political action committees (PACs).

In the last filing, Massa accepted a total of $7,000 from local companies Genentech, Harris and Time-Warner. Massa's long-standing position in the past two campaigns was that he only accepted money from individuals and Union PACs.

Jared Smith, Communications Director for Massa, confirmed that this is a change in Massa's policy. Smith said that Massa had financed his last two campaigns from individual donations, and that he didn't believe it was fair in this economic climate to expect individuals to donate to his campaign.

Smith also said that Massa continues to support Clean Money/Clean Elections (CMCE), and will co-sponsor CMCE legislation. Massa has also delegated the decision of whether to accept or reject corporate donations to a kitchen cabinet of supporters who will vet each donor.

The D&C reports that Eric Massa, Chris Lee [NY-26] and Dan Maffei [NY-25] all support the Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act.

Opposing Congressional pay has been a sure way to get headlines for decades. Members of Congress are generally hard workers, they have to maintain two residences, and it's better to have them receive decent pay than to be swayed by bribes. If any public offiicial deserves a good salary, it's them. The pay story is simply a distraction. Someday we might have a media sophisticated enough to ignore this story, but until then expect it to crop up every two years.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] detailing a grant in Bath, featuring a headshot of Eric Massa.

Expect much more of this in the future.

The Corning Leader and Star-Gazette have reports on Eric Massa's first town hall meeting, which was three hours long and involved 100 people.

The D&C reports that Massa is still raising money. I'm sure he'll be doing that for the next two years.

The Buffalo News has a good rundown of the pros and cons of a "Buy American" provision in the stimulus bill. Massa supports that provision.

Massa's Homeland Security subcommittee assignments have been announced.

Massa has also started blogging at the Huffington Post. His first post celebrates the signing of S-CHIP legislation.

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] about Eric Massa's town meeting. The Massa office also released the text of a Leader editorial. The Leader thinks Massa can get the $300 million of stimulus he wants to claim for the 29th.