The Pope has been visiting the US for the past several days and every word he utters is being held on to with excitement.  One of the most exciting aspects of his visit includes his visit with victims of child sexual abuse cases.  Many of the victims have suffered for years in silence and only as adults were they able to put a voice to their abuse.  Some cases were dismissed as being beyond the statute of limitations.  That may change.

“. . . a top Vatican official said on Friday that the church was considering changes to the canon laws that govern how it handles such cases.”

“The Vatican has been reluctant to focus attention on the scandal until this trip. But in what appears to be a carefully scripted effort, Benedict brought the scandal up on each of the first three days of his trip, his first visit to the United States as pope, underscoring the message that he understands the lingering bitterness over the church’s handling of the issue.”
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If you are one of the millions of Americans who take prescription drugs you know how expensive they are.  What if you discovered that a medication that used to cost $1,600 went up in price.  Not too surprising, right?  What if the new cost was $23,000?  That’s only one instance of a conflict of interest that is raping the American landscape.

That price increase, put in place over last Labor Day weekend, jolted Doctors and employers that provide health benefits to their workers and bear the brunt of drug costs.

“As it turned out, the exclusive distributor of H.P. Acthar Gel is Express Scripts, a company whose core business is supposed to be helping employers manage their drug insurance programs and get medicines at the best available prices.”

“But in recent years, drug benefit managers like Express Scripts have built lucrative side businesses seemingly at odds with that best-price mission. A growing portion of their revenue comes from acting as exclusive or semi-exclusive distributors of expensive specialty drugs that can cost thousands of dollars. And the prices of such medicines are rising much faster than for the mainstream prescription drugs available through a wide variety of distributors.”
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Political Humor: 

Dan Ward has been walking the streets of the 61st Senatorial District knocking on doors and introducing himself to prospective voters.  Dan was in an area where they didn’t know about his usual mode or transportation.

Dan was talking to a couple, who had some serious questions.  When Dan was finished for the night, this couple was sitting on their front porch.   As he peddled his old two wheeler bike past them they called out to him, “ If you win this race maybe you’ll be able to buy a new bike.”

E-Mail: This election must not be important to the candidates. I haven’t met any of them except Dan Ward.  Don’t they know that many of us can’t get to meetings where they’re speaking because of our age or other reasons? Therefore a home visit means a lot

When my door bell rings or there is a knock on the door it’s exciting to meet and ask questions of candidates, who are running for office in my area.  When they start sending fliers I just throw them away.  I want to meet them in the flesh so I can measure them up for myself.

Carl Pope

Western New York Congressmembers Brian Higgins (NY-27), Thomas Reynolds (NY-26), and Louise Slaughter (NY-28)  have issued a joint letter to the Department of Defense urging reconsideration of military orders calling disabled veteran U.S. Army Specialist James Raymond back to active duty.  SPC Raymond, who served in Afghanistan, was honorably discharged four years ago after suffering a knee injury that required surgery.  During that same tour, SPC Raymond also lost complete hearing in one ear, injuries which earned him a ten percent disability rating by the Veterans Administration. 

“Many of our returning veterans have sustained serious and permanent injuries as a result of their selfless service to this great Nation,” said Congressman Higgins.  “These individualized circumstances must be weighed carefully when determining who is best suited to safely and effectively return to military duty.

”In the letter, the Congressmembers are calling for an immediate postponement of existing orders which will allow for SPC Raymond to complete his courses and graduate from the University at Buffalo.  Furthermore, the lawmakers are asking for sincere considerations of what they believe will be a strong appeal by SPC Raymond against future activation. 

“As a nation we owe all of our veterans a debt of gratitude that is beyond words,” said Reynolds.  “We must ensure that these brave men and women receive the benefits they have earned and the attention to their particular case they deserve.  Specialist Raymond’s case is no different.

““The continual redeployment of our soldiers is placing an excessive strain on our service members and their families,” said Rep. Slaughter. “We owe the brave men and women who served overseas every consideration before returning them to active duty. At the very least, James Raymond should be allowed to finish his education.

“Nearly 1.7 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001 – more than 592,000 have been deployed more than once.  Nearly 29,000 soldiers have been wounded in Iraq since the war began.

                                                                                             By James Tricoli

As a reporter you get a feeling in your gut if the person you’re

interviewing is a plastic phony or someone with potential of being a quality politician.

When I first met State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt (D) 144 District, I was confused whether he was an arrogant phony or a genuine caring person who was carrying some serious battle scars in his  life

As I got to know more about Hoyt’s background I began to understand why some people perceived him as an arrogant individual.   He doesn’t wear his past on his sleeve and he has learned to move on becoming a helpful, caring human being.

Sam Hoyt cares a great deal about people and they are the main reason he became a politician.  This quirk of really caring has earned him the disdain of some powerful politicians.  They have a burning desire to destroy Hoyt because he his one of the main road blocks standing in their way.  These other power hungry politicians want to place their stoolies in office.  These depraved politicians crave more and more power.  They need to put their ill prepared cronies in office that will do as their masters say, not what the people of the 144 State Assembly  District need or want.

Sam Hoyt will announce next Friday that he is running for re-election in the144 District. He will not desert his district to these politicians who care not for the people but only their bosses.

These ‘worms’ are spreading filthy lies about Hoyt’s life and his family.  The lies have no basis in truth but sound good to people who love to hear dirt.  It gives them a feeling of superiority.  The only way they can understand the hurtfulness of lies is when it happens to them.

History has shown how the lies concerning Jews garnered support for Hitler from the German people.  The Germans tortured women, men and children; raped babies, burned the Jews alive and other unspeakable acts of hate.  The rumor mongers convinced the German people that Jews were the cause of all the problems Germany was facing.  Still, there were some Germans who bravely faced death to help the Jewish people.  Hitler’s lies cost over six million people their lives but still the good people who stood up to the lying machine won out at the end.  

Thinking on a bigger scale, try to imagine being a Jewish person caught up in Hitler’s

Germany, watching your wife being raped, your children killed and a finally a bullet put through your head because of the lies and rumors your race were subjected to which were totally untrue.

The political machine working against Sam Hoyt is using the same type of gross lies to bring him down.

The rumor mongers will be at work spreading vile rumors for the public to hear about Sam Hoyt being a scumbag.  The rumor lovers want people to elect one of Sam’s political enemies in his place who will serve their masters not the people of the 144 State Assembly District.  Sam will be out on the street fighting along side you.  As always, it’s your call on Election Day.

Supervisor Mohan must begin searching the country to find a Superintendent for our Waste Water Treatment Plant.  The Civil Service list came out last Friday and none of the people on the list would accept a job in Amherst.  Amherst’s reputation as a town with unstable leadership and little job security drew them to other jobs.

No matter what ‘bull’ Mohan tells the people he and he alone has caused Amherst to earn this reputation, as place to avoid for a job

We also don’t have a Town Engineer and if you ask why the answer comes back, Mohan.  His method of messing up everything he touches isn’t a secret anymore.  Look at the Town’s lists of lawsuits from vendors and others.  It is the highest in Amherst’s history.

His MESSING UP of  areas he knows little or nothing about has cost us a great deal of money.  For example, our Waste Water Treatment Plant needs parts and workers to function correctly.  As of now we are out of compliance according to the DEC. 

Mohan’s slow moving drainage plan, the crawling pace of work being done on our Snyder Community Center, the massive amount of work needed to be done quickly on our sewer system, the halting of polluting Ellicott Creek, his lacking of signing contracts and so many other issues have all contributed to slowing down Amherst.

This list of what hasn’t been done or is being partly done can all be placed into a folder titled “Mohan doesn’t give a heck”.  He is more interested in using his power over the weak workers who won’t tell him he’s a foolish old man.  He is causing Amherst to be labeled a third class town.

Mohan covers his mistakes by accusing workers of being dishonest and untrustworthy.  He has a small nucleus of dominators who cover his blunders and try to make him look like he is helping Amherst.  He should kiss the ground for acquiring the new Comptroller he wanted.  This allowed him to rid himself of the excellent one we had; who told it like it was.

This small group of officials should be fired and replace by workers who aren’t so frightened of losing their high paying jobs.  If they stay they will only continue to bring Town Hall down by misusing their power to cover the old man’s blunders and giving in to his wishes.

Amhersttimes Editor : James Tricoli  

Town of Clarence and City of Tonawanda Democratic Committees Back Iannello

Kenmore - Erie County Legislator Michele M. Iannello (D-Kenmore) received the endorsement of two more Democratic Committees. The City of Tonawanda Democratic Committee endorsed Iannello on Wednesday the 9^th of April and the Town of Clarence endorsed Iannello on Monday the 15^th of April. “I have been talking about my proven record of fighting for change and defending the middle class throughout the district, and I continue to receive overwhelming support. My campaign is gaining momentum and I am honored to have the support of the Democrats in the City of Tonawanda and the Town of Clarence,” explained Iannello.

“The City of Tonawanda has benefited enormously from Michele Iannello’s representation and we are honored to support her for State Senate. We know she can have an even greater impact at the state level,” stated City of Tonawanda Democratic Chair Gayle Syposs.

“Michele Iannello has shown that she is the most qualified candidate and just the type of fresh face the people of Western New York need to represent them in Albany,” said Town of Clarence Democratic Chair Norman Noon.

Iannello is in her second term in the Erie County Legislature. Before entering public service, she was a real estate paralegal and small business owner. The 61^st State Senate district is made up of the Towns of Amherst, Clarence, Newstead, Tonawanda, and part of the City of Tonawanda in Erie County and all of Genesee County. The incumbent, Senator Mary Lou Rath has decided to retire at the end of her term.

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) today voted with his                       colleaguesthe House of Representatives to pass H.R. 5715, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008. The bipartisan bill is designed to ensure that the turmoilthe U.S. credit markets does not prevent any students or parents from accessing the financial aid they need to pay for college.  The bill, which carries no new cost for taxpayers, passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 383-27.  

“College-bound students and their families are making decisions right now about what school they will attend this fall, and are relying on federal aid to be able to afford the skyrocketing cost of higher education. We need to make sure that the promise of a good higher education remains alive and that the cost of college will not break the bank of students after they graduate.  Given the economic strain our country is currently facing, this legislation could not come at a more crucial time,” Higgins said.

The recent turmoil in the U.S. credit markets has made it difficult for some lenders in the federally guaranteed student loan program to secure the capital needed to finance college loans, leading some lenders to pull out of the student loan market. While no student or college has reported any problems accessing federal student aid to date, current market instability has made it important to take extra steps to ensure that students and families continue to have access to federal college aid.   

“This legislation provides new protections to go along with the federal loan safeguards that already exist and will help make sure that students and families will continue to be able to access the low-cost loans they need to finance their college education, regardless of what’s happening in the credit markets,” said Higgins. 

H.R. 5715 would increase the annual loan limits on federal unsubsidized student loans by $2,000 for all students, and increase the aggregate loan limits (the total loan limit over the course of a student’s education) to $31,000 for dependent undergraduates and to $57,500 for independent undergraduates. Under current law, dependent undergraduate students can currently borrow up to $23,000 in total federal student loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized) and independent undergraduates can borrow up to $46,000 in total loans during the course of their education.  

“Families and students should not be forced to rely on high interest private loans just to get an education- this increase will encourage more practical and responsible borrowing,” Higgins said. 

Additionally, H.R. 5715 would:

·         Give parent borrowers more time to begin paying off their federal PLUS loans by providing them with the option to defer repayment until up to six months after their children leave school – giving families more flexibility in hard economic times.  

·         Help struggling homeowners pay for college by making sure that short-term delinquencies in mortgage payments don’t prohibit otherwise eligible parents from being able to borrow parent PLUS loans. Under current law, parents with an adverse credit history are ineligible to receive a parent PLUS loan, except under extenuating circumstances. The legislation would temporarily classify as an extenuating circumstance delinquencies on home mortgages of up to 180 days, therefore making it possible for parents who are being strained by the current housing market to secure loans for their children; 

·         Clarify that existing law gives the U.S. Education Secretary the authority to advance federal funds to guaranty agencies in the event that they do not have sufficient capital to originate new loans, and allow guaranty agencies to carry out the functions of lender of last resort on a school-wide basis. Under the Higher Education Act, these guaranty agencies are obligated to serve as a nationwide network of lenders of last resort if requested to do so by the Education Secretary; and

·         Give the U.S. Education Secretary the temporary authority to purchase loans from lenders in the federal guaranteed loan program, ensuring that lenders continue to have access to capital to originate new loans. The Education Department would be authorized to purchase loans only if doing so would not result in a net cost for the federal government. 

The Amherst police have been trying to keep ahead of the drug pushers and users in our Town.  They received information that a Transit Road Restaurant and Bar in Clarence was involved in drug use.

Monica Mitchell, a 22 year-old youth counselor, left this restaurant and was propmptly pulled over.  She filed a complaint with the Amherst Police Chief stating she was pulled over and her car searched because she was black.

She said the police officers did explain that the restaurant was under surveillance and they pulled her over because they suspected she used drugs there.

Amherst Assistant Police Chief Timothy Green said officers do not target drivers based on race.  I know Officer Green and he is a man of impeccable standards and integrity.

Jim Tricoli

Last night’s Democratic debate provided a strong presence for Hillary Clinton.  Obama found himself consistently on the defensive. 

“It was the first time the two candidates had shared a debate stage in seven weeks, and it came six days before a primary in Pennsylvania that could determine whether Mrs. Clinton can continue her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. It could also prove to be the last debate between them.”

“Accordingly, Mrs. Clinton did not let an opportunity pass as she repeatedly challenged Mr. Obama on his record and views — assisted, as it turned out, by vigorous questioning by the two moderators from ABC News, Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous.”
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