The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Zinnfan sends a link to an article from Time with in-depth coverage of the machinations leading up to the current farm bill.  It's worth a read because it shows how entrenched, sacred-cow constituencies like farmers keep the status quo alive, using influence on Democrats and Republicans (like Randy Kuhl) on the Ag Committee.

As I've mentioned here before, one of the little-covered facts about ethanol subsidies is its impact on food prices (good summary here).  This change has made a major impact on the farm economy.  I just spent a lot of time with a family member who lives in the Plains states, and his report was that land prices are at record highs, reflecting the fact that farming has suddenly become quite profitable again. 

For example, corn prices, which have hovered around $2/bushel for years, are now twice that.  In Iowa, the average corn price in December, 2005 was $1.70.  In December, 2007, it was $3.95.  As the Time article points out, the large farms that receive huge subsidies under the farm bill were making money in 2005.  In 2007, they're making a killing.  No matter: the dysfunctional Washington process that created the farm bill is unable to take this into account.

Jared Smith from the Massa Campaign sends the Hornell Evening Tribune's story [pdf] on a NRCC press release, which appeared only in the paper edition.

The substance of the NRCC release is that Massa hasn't taken a position on the failure of Congress to pass the extension to the Protect America Act (PAA).  I covered that whole issue in a post last week.  The majority of Democrats voted for a 21-day extension of the act, while every Republican voted against it.  Yet the NRCC wants to paint the Democrats as the instigators of PAA expiration. 

The NRCC also throws in a few licks about Massa's fundraising.  They think it's bad for Massa to get money from fellow Democrats and trial lawyers. Randy Kuhl's "me, too" on that particular claim is intentionally misleading:

"If he is going to continue to claim that he does not accept donations from political interest organizations then I would expect him to return the money," Kuhl said.

Massa's position, as Kuhl well knows, is that he won't accept money from corporate PACs.  Kuhl can argue whether that's a meaningful thing for Massa to pledge, but it's dishonest to intimate that he hasn't kept his pledge. 

Overall, the Republican spin on the PAA has struck me as remarkably weak and ineffective.  I assume the Massa campaign thinks so, too, otherwise they wouldn't have sent a story pegged on a NRCC critique of their candidate.

Reader Elmer sends a page [pdf] from the March, 2008 issue of Maxim Magazine, which puts Randy Kuhl on a list of "Party Animals".   Kuhl isn't in bad company, since Barack Obama is there, too.

The Democrat and Chronicle's first story about the 29th district this year gives us the timely news that Eric Massa raised more money than Randy Kuhl during the last reporting period.  Of course, every other media outlet in the 29th reported this two weeks ago, when the fundraising totals were actually released.

Next up for the D&C:  I hear this Obama guy is coming from behind, and McCain might just clinch the Republican nomination.  I think that story is scheduled for sometime in March.

Reader Elmer sends an editor's column from the Corning Leader [pdf]  (jump [pdf]), which talks about Stan Lundine's plan to force school consolidation. Gannett also has the story.

This is relevant to the 29th because Lundine was the last Democrat to represent the Southern Tier in Congress.  He preceded Amo Houghton in a district that had different boundaries from today's 29th.

Reader Elmer sends Randy Kuhl's lengthy op-ed in today's Corning Leader [pdf].  Kuhl isn't happy with the Bush budget, especially with the budget cuts that hit the Appalachian Regional Commission as well as job training programs.

What's missing from the op-ed is any discussion of how government should raise the revenue to fund those programs, or a list of the programs that should be cut to re-fund them. 

Randy Kuhl attended the Hornell Lincoln Day Dinner last night.  No new word on whether he's running this Fall.

Today's New York Times has a story about Presidential earmarks.  Like a number of other Republicans, Kuhl has been stepping up the rhetoric on earmarks.  The Times article makes it clear, if it wasn't already, that there's more than a little political motivation in the Republicans' new-found religion on earmarks.

Biofuels are looking a little less wonderful after some scientific studies show that they increase, rather than decrease, greenhouse gas emissions.  This comes on top of earlier news that ethanol subsidies have pushed food costs to historical highs.

Randy Kuhl and Eric Massa both agree that the stimulus package that just passed Congress is a good thing, and the Hornell Evening Tribune and WENY carry reports on the trip.

In the Hornell Evening Tribune story, Kuhl also makes the claim that the WHAM "got it all wrong" when reporting in his Brazil trip.  In the same story, Massa says it's time to move on and address other, more important issues.

The Buffalo Evening News carries a Kuhl quote about the stalled extension of State Highway 219.  Apparently part of the stall was an environmental issue involving the Army Corps of Engineers.

Kuhl is one of the many signers of a Congressional friend-of-the-court brief in support of the individual right to bear arms.  The case is DC vs Heller, which challenges the DC law banning guns on constitutional grounds.  This case will add precedent on the issue of whether the Second Amendment guarantees a collective or individual right to bear arms.

(In news only I care about, the Hornell Evening Tribune switched to the Gatehouse Media standard Zope-based  content management system, so now their URLs won't change overnight.)

DragonFlyEye has a copy of Randy Kuhl's latest mailer.  It's an informative piece highlighting the availability of digital-to-analog television tuners for those who watch TV over-the-air and can't afford a new TV.

Rochesterturning notes that Kuhl introduced a resolution honoring the Veterans' Administration's 75th anniversary.

WHAM-13 has a follow-up to the recent story detailing the cost of Randy Kuhl's trip to Brazil.  In this piece, Evan Dawson calculates the cost of Kuhl's air travel as $28,611.  Dawson's blog entry contains the entire itinerary as well as his calculations.  The broadcast story is embedded after the break: DayPortPlayer.newPlayer({articleID:"190301",bannerAdObjectID:"5",videoAdObjectID:"4",videoAdConDefID:"2",playerInstanceID:"27574A89-06D1-CD92-4444-22719C5099EC",domain:"video.wokr13.com",rootCategory:"null",categoryID:"5"});