The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

The Hornell Evening Tribune reports Randy Kuhl's reaction to the polls.

Evan Dawson at the 13-WHAM blog has an interesting post about a bit of conventional wisdom. It turns out that the "brain drain" isn't really Western New York's problem. Our real issue is that we can't attract out-of-staters.

Finally, the radio program This American Life has produced another excellent program about the economic crisis. It's by far the clearest non-partisan explanation of the credit crunch I've heard. If you haven't listened to TAL's explanation of the mortgage crisis, it's still available here.

The Hill newspaper has a run-down of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America legislative report card. Randy Kuhl got an "A" from that group. Kuhl out-scored John McCain (who got a "D") and Barack Obama ("B").

The Hornell Evening Tribune covers Kuhl's bailout vote and Massa's flip-flop charge.

The Messenger-Post says that Kuhl is getting mixed reviews from Veterans.

No more lawn sign news. I'm following that story closely and will issue instant updates the moment I have them. Stay tuned.

The Democrat and Chronicle reports that the Ontario County Sheriff's office apprehended someone in the act of stealing McCain and Kuhl yard signs along Route 96 in Victor.

The alleged perpetrator also had Cub Scout yard signs in his possession, raising the possibility that the signs themselves, rather than their content, sparked the crime.

Gannett's Larry Wilson has filed a story on the out-of-state donors who give to the candidates in the 29th race. Both Kuhl and Massa have raised significant funds from out-of-state and out-of-district contributors.

One factor that isn't mentioned in the story is Act Blue, a Democratic site that allows donors from across the nation to funnel money to competitive races. Massa has raised over half a million dollars in his two races via Act Blue.

Reader Elmer sends Eric Massa's Corning Leader op-ed where he describes his plan for an FDR-style solution to the credit crunch. The Leader also has a story on Kuhl's vote yesterday.

The Steuben Courier has a column against Kuhl's initial vote.

WENY, Syracuse News 10, and the Democrat and Chronicle all have stories about Kuhl's vote.

Finally, WENY has a story about some questions submitted for next week's debate. They're from a high school class in Horseheads.

Randy Kuhl is "still reviewing" the bailout bill, but he predicts passage, according to coverage of his morning press call by 13-WHAM and the Buffalo News.

Reader Elmer sends the Corning Leader's coverage of Eric Massa's non-debate in Bath [pdf] (and jump [pdf]).

Reader Tom sends Bob Rolfe's Leader column [gif], which is critical of Kuhl's bailout vote.

WENY has a story about the non-debate in Bath. This is the event that was supposed to be sponsored by the League of Women Voters, but after Randy Kuhl and State Senator George Winner declined to attend, it became a candidate forum.

WENY also quotes Kuhl as follows on the new bailout bill:

What I’m going to be looking for is to see whether or not the taxpayer has been really hung out to dry. Is it going to pick up the cost of the bailout at the expense of those unscrupulous lenders on Wall Street or whether or not there's significant protection for that person.

As far as I can tell, the taxpayer protections in the new bill, which amount to getting equity in the company that we're bailing out, are the same as the old bill.

The latest news from the House is that it looks like the opposition to the bill is dying down. Democrats are going to ask for a formal whip count and list from Republicans before the vote, to avoid a repeat of Monday's embarrassment.

The Star-Gazette and WENY are asking for questions for their October 13 debate.

(via Rochesterturning)

Randy Kuhl's spokeswoman Meghan Tisinger tells Gannett that Kuhl's staff is "still studying reviewing" the bailout bill that passed the Senate last night.

This bill's bailout provisions are essentially the same as Monday's bill. But it's full of sweeteners, including a tax credits for alternative energy, and raising the limit for the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption. It also includes some strange special interest provisions, like these two:

• Extend cost recovery period for motor racing tracks.
• Exempt from excise tax certain wooden arrow shafts for use by children.

There's at least one change actually related to the current economic crisis: raising the limit of FDIC-insured deposits from $100K to $250K.

McClatchy has a great rundown on the bill.