Jon Powers has reversed his position on free trade.

Last summer he told me over lunch together that he was opposed to free trade which he understood had so harmed the work force in Western NY.
He stated he was in agreement with Jack Davis on this issue.

However, his financial backers outside of Western NY have made him flip-flop on this issue…so  now he supports the free trade agreements.

Workers in Western NY should take a hard look at this flip flop.  If they do…they will back Jack Davis for the 26th and his patriotic efforts to support American laborers and the excellent blue collar work force of Western NY.

Jack Davis has my vote for this election because Western NY cannot afford more of the same with respect to the Bill Clinton negotiated NAFTA laws.

                                                                               J. P.

Powers called on McCain to answer the following questions while he’s in Buffalo today:

1.      a)  Earlier this month, you said “You gotta stand on principle. I believe in the principle of free trade.”  What do you say to the thousands of working men and women of Western New York that do not believe in the principle of free trade after seeing their jobs shipped overseas or south of the border?

b)  Better yet, what is your stand on free trade, JON POWERS ?

2.      a)  On Friday, you spoke to a roomful of General Motors workers in Michigan blatantly telling them, “Now there will be times when you and I disagree on issues and one of them probably is trade.”   Did they agree with your stance on shipping jobs overseas and do you expect the thousands of employees and members of the manufacturing community in Western New York to agree with you?

           b)  Mr. Powers, good question.  Will you answer it first for the working people so  they can understand your stand on the above question?

3.      a)  In March, you called Free Trade “the best thing that could happen to America” and last week in San Diego, you called yourself “an unapologetic supporter of NAFTA“.  Time after time you have put the interests of corporations above the needs of working men and women. How can the working men and women of Western New York believe that their jobs will be safe with you in the White House?

b)  Mr. Powers, will you answer what person you believe will keep jobs safe in the White House, and why?

The big red barn is now lying on the ground burned into large pieces of wood.  There isn’t anything left standing of the Big Red Barn.   There will be an investigation as to what happened to this historical site.

The next questions are, who will clean up the site, when will it be cleaned up and will it be landscaped with grass and tree plantings?  Will the neighbors have to look at rubble for a year or more?  The other structure on the land that burned down more than a year ago is still exactly as it was, surronded by ugly orange “snow fence”.   Now there is another, larger snow fence to watch.  UGLY!!!

Steve Pigeon, by  the grace of billionaire Tom Golisano, will be trying to buy livestock at the candidates marketplace, candidates who can be controlled by Pigeon and his crew of political weaklings.

At one time Pigeon was the Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party with Steve Casey and Gary Parenti as Pigeon’s close side kicks. To this day Mr. Parenti is still  a close friend and cohort of Steve Pigeon.

Pigeon’s actions when he was the Erie County Democratic Chairman could have been taken as misuse of power, which brought him down from his leadership in the party.  Casey left his side and became a political consultant; Gary Parenti still is Pigeon’s right hand man.

Mr. Golisano, who people say is a sharp businessman but has very poor judgment in choosing political people to do his work for him, has delivered the Golden Goose to Pigeon and his operatives, Parenti and Casey.

Steve Pigeon is the man who thought up the plan for Golisano to buy up the New York Assembly, cow by cow, until he has enough beef to control the State Assembly.  A very simple plan which could have been thought up and implemented by a 5th grader.

The only talent really needed is to find candidates who are willing to say, “Yes sir, Mr. Pigeon.  I think like Mr. Golisano and I will surely vote for the projects and people he tells me to consider.”  Do the candidates get more money if they had a relationship with Pigeon and his group early in their career?

This Pigeon/Golisano plan has been tried before in politics and has failed miserably. The amount of press this open scheme has received has already sickened the voters and showed the cruel disregard these people have for them.

The first batch of candidates on the selling block include Kathy Konst, Joe Mesi and Barbra Kavanaugh.  It’s been noted that Golisano gave Paula Banks Dahike $3800 out of his pocket. There is already a touch of nepotism in the selection of candidates who might or have received money.

Somewhere along the way Golisano and Pigeon failed to understand, you can’t go home again.

I have heard this rumor for over two months. Some important news which now seems like common knowledge is, Supervisor Mohan plans to retire this September.  It is being said by his friends that he plans to move to  a warmer state.

 As more news breaks on this story you will read it first here on Amhersttimes.com

A Touch of Humor, Almost:

1) GE, Ford has a new car coming out this Christmas which will get 54 miles per gallon. This is the best news the public has heard since the recession started and our $1.00 is now worth 10 cents……………….

2) Many of the older crowd remember the Depression.  People would flock to the movie shows to forgot their problems for a few hours and the price was usually a nickel to get in.

The only thing which changed is the price of a movie.  The cost now ranges from nine to fourteen dollars.  People are once again going to the movies in droves.  Could movies be like cigarettes?  Can we become addictted to them?

WARD CALLS FOR MORE USE OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES IN RECONSIDERATION OF DRILLING FOR NATURAL GAS ON TOWN PROPERTY             

Daniel J. Ward, Democratic candidate for New York Senate, 61^st District, today called for more use of alternate energy sources to meet ever-increasing energy needs.  “We need to make a serious commitment to solving our energy crisis by the utilization of all kind of alternative, particularly renewable, forms of energy.  We have to take a hard look at wind and solar energy – and develop a state tax policy that encourages their implementation.  The technology is there – but we need the leadership.  I advanced concepts of electric cars and solar-paneled buildings a long time ago while in the County Legislature.  We need to explore geothermal energy applications, such as the one I have proposed for HVAC at the Main-Eggert commercial district.”           

Ward has also filed a resolution for the Amherst Town Board to reconsider the drilling for natural gas on town-owned property at the Waste Water Treatment Facility (WWTF).  Ward had previously suggested the Town explore for natural gas on the WWTF site when he was Town Supervisor.  The site contains a capped gas well now.           

“At the time I first proposed this new drilling, the Engineering Department felt the market forces did not provide a positive cost-benefit analysis.  Now that prices have changed, and exploration technology has improved, it is clearly time that we revisit this option,” said Ward.

For more information contact:

DANIEL J. WARD, AMHERST TOWN COUNCILMAN at 631-7013 or 444-5326 

Here is the first of two resolutions Dan Ward has on the agenda for July 21, 2008:

WHEREAS the costs of gasoline and diesel fuel are increasing exorbitantly, almost daily, and 

WHEREAS the Town of Amherst must continually seek the most efficient fuels for utilization in its own vehicle fleet, in order to save the taxpayers’ money; now then be it 

RESOLVED, that the Amherst Town Board directs the Police Chief, Town Engineer and Highway Superintendent to investigate the cost of implementation and use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the Town of Amherst vehicle fleet and report back to the Town Board, and be it further 

RESOLVED the Amherst Town Board hereby requests members of the City of Tonawanda, Buffalo, the University at Buffalo, and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), and/or any other local municipalities or entities with experience in the use and operation of CNG powered vehicles, to attend a Town Board work session in the near future to discuss this issue, and be it further 

RESOLVED, the Amherst Town Board hereby directs the Town Grantsperson to investigate the availability of grants and aid, or other financial assistance, for the Town to implement CNG in its Town motor vehicle fleet.

Here is the second resolution Council member Ward will introduce July 21, 2008:

WHEREAS, costs of gasoline, diesel fuel, and fuel oil are all increasing exorbitantly, almost daily, and 

WHEREAS, the Town of Amherst must continually seek the most efficient fuels for utilization in its own vehicle fleet and its own organic heating/cooling costs, among other energy needs, and 

WHEREAS, recent improvements in technology have revealed vast new natural gas deposits in Western New York, and in fact the Town of Amherst has a capped natural gas well at the Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), and  

WHEREAS, previous studies have not concluded feasibility due to lower gas and oil prices, and less sophisticated technology; now then be it 

RESOLVED that, due to technological changes and market changes, natural gas exploration within the Town of Amherst, at the Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), or other town-owned property, should be reconsidered and reexamined, and that the Town Board hereby directs the Engineering Department to restudy the availability and location of natural gas in the Town of Amherst, and the cost/benefit analysis of pursuing it, in an effort to save taxpayer monies, and utilize a more efficient and less polluting natural resource.

As reported here first last year! The Huntley Station in the Town of Tonawanda isn’t getting a $1.6 billionstate of the art coal power plant.  Truth is Spitzer killed the deal last year. The project was to expensive & the “greens” in his administration were opposed to the project on environmental grounds! The New York Power Authority: “The proposed project is too expensive, even with huge taxpayer dollars, to make the electricity it would have produced affordable.” “It was just a gap that couldn’t be overcome,” said the Power Authority’s Christine Pritchard. “There also remains a significant regulatory and technical obstacle that make this and project unfeasible at this time.” ### 

From PoliticsNY.Net-Joe Illuzzi,Editor