The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Eric Massa announced his candidacy last night at a taping of "Coleman and Company", a political talk show aired by WETM-2, the Time/Warner Cable channel of WETM. That show will be aired on Sunday.

It must have been a slow news day at Randy Kuhl's Thursday press conference, because the only news that I've seen reported from there was the non-announcement of Kuhl's candidacy. Kuhl said it was too early for him to announce, but he's "doing everything I need to do" in order to run again.

Text of Massa's announcement email after the break:

Last night at the studios of WETM TV in Elmira New York I told the audience of Coleman and Company, a local 30 minute TV talk show that I intend to run against John Kuhl of Hammondsport for the honor of representing the 29th Congressional district before the United States House of Representatives in Washington DC.

I take this decision, one of the most difficult I, or my family, has ever faced - because of several reasons. But none is so clear as the continuing assault on the security of our Nation, the ongoing war on the Middle Class that built it, and the Veterans who defended it at home and overseas.

The war in Iraq is making us less secure. It is consuming our most valuable resources, the men and women of the Armed forces, their equipment and their ability to defend us around the world. It has cost us over a trillion dollars and continues to cost us more than $27,000 every minute of every day that we occupy Baghdad. Instead of new strategy to shorten our involvement in a never ending Civil War, we have been given more of the same with rubber stamp votes of approval by some in Congress. That must change.

Here at home, Corning New York, a family is facing the deployment of both parents leaving a two-month-old child behind in the care of grandparents. John Kuhl recently wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defense to review deployment policies when both parents are available for deployment. The truth is that no letter will relieve the tremendous strain on our military and for politicians to rubber stamp George Bush's surge and then try to cover the results of their votes with letters to the Secretary of Defense they only expose themselves for what they really are. That must change.

The assault on the Middle Class continues with the President proposing a new tax on health care benefits as a way of further forcing working Americans to seek ever lower standards of medical coverage. The Free Traders of Congress and the White House continue to force living wage jobs overseas and there has been a fundamental breech in the contract between the people of the Government and the Government of the People. We are Americans first and the professional politicians in Washington DC have forgotten that to the destruction of tens of millions of working American families. That must change.

We have now seen the tip of the iceberg with the growing scandal that is outpatient health care at Walter Reed Medical hospital, the crown jewel of military medicine. Here, in our own backyard, a decision knowingly made and agreed to by the Washington politicians in 2004, is now final and the key in-patient mental health care hospital at the Canandaigua VA center has closed it's doors - with no real alternative for care for those left out in the cold. With an ever dwindling representation of Veterans in Congress those men and women who represented us on the battlefield are not be in represented in Washington. That must change.

We face real and pressing National emergencies that can only be addressed in a clear "say-what-you-mean-and-mean-what-you-say" voice. I intend to be that voice and with your help we will build on the tremendous success that we saw in 2006 and bring a higher standard of leadership to Washington DC. Please join us at www.dailykos.com for an in depth discussion of this race and the issues that face our District and our Nation at 3PM New York time for live blogging, some good humor and some serious discussion about where we need to take this Congress and this Nation.

Randy Kuhl today introduced HR 1382 yesterday. This bill calls for an "assured adequate level of funding for veterans' health care." According to an article in Slate, the VA budget has been the subject of tricks for years. Not only does the VA underestimate the number of vets who will apply for benefits, they've also tried to shift costs to vets by raising deductibles and enrollment fees.

The VA budget also makes no provisions for a rising caseload in the next couple of years, and it also predicts zero increase in costs in the years 2009-12. In other words, the Bush Administration has gamed the VA budget to make it appear smaller. This makes the deficit appear smaller, and it also makes tax cuts seem more fiscally responsible.

The text of Kuhl's bill hasn't been posted yet, so it's not clear how deep it digs into the morass of VA funding. Since the bill is brand-new, Kuhl is the only co-sponsor. Success will depend on his ability to gather co-sponsors and push the bill through committee.

In other troop-supporting news, Kuhl wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asking him to review the DOD's policy on the simultaneous deployment of two parents to military zones. This policy came up during his Henrietta meeting, probably due to recent media coverage of the plight of some kids in the 29th who have two parents in the military.

HR 1382 is the first significant piece of legislation introduced by Kuhl in the 110th Congress. In honor of that milestone, here's a little educational entertainment:

Randy Kuhl's office has posted his letter to the VA protesting the closure of the Canandaigua VA Hospital acute psychiatric unit. The Water Buffalo Press contacted his office, which denied that the response was due to pressure from Eric Massa. The same staffer said that the letter reflects Kuhl's long-held beliefs regarding the closing.

Whatever Kuhl's long-held beliefs may be, today's fire-and-brimstone letter is much more forthright than his spokesman's response when the news of the closing leaked just before the election. Back then, Bob VanWicklin was trying to spin the closing not such a bad thing, since the overall level of services to vets would be increased. That's no longer Kuhl's position.

Writing a letter to the VA is probably the limit of Kuhl's influence on this particular issue. At Saturday's meeting in Henrietta, he also said that he supported full funding of the VA budget. Given the mess at Walter Reed, which apparently extends to VA facilities, there's little doubt that Kuhl will have an opportunity to express his long-held beliefs, as well as his support for full VA funding, in the form of a vote.

R News has a story and video posted at its site. The video features Kuhl turning his back and walking away when the reporter tries to ask a follow-up question on Iraq, and the main clip from the meeting shows Kuhl refusing to answer questions. The piece is classic bad PR, made all the worse because it's mostly self-inflicted. The good news for Kuhl is that R News is a cable-only channel in Rochester, viewed by only a small percentage of the 29th's constituents.

Eric Massa has announced that he's officially forming an exploratory committee for a 2008 run.

Update:The Star-Gazette has expanded their story, and WETM reports that Massa's official announcement will come next Sunday.

It looks like the 8-bed acute psychiatric unit at the VA Hospital in Canandaigua is going to be closed. The Democrat and Chronicle reports that it's a done deal, while the Messenger-Post says the final decision is due this week.

The VA hospital, which has long been under the threat of complete closure, became a political issue in the 2006 campaign. The announcement that it would remain open was timed suspiciously close to the election, and it was quickly followed by the news that the acute unit would probably shut down.

In the Messenger-Post article, Kuhl spits and sputters, saying "I completely disagree with the closure of the acute psychiatric unit and everything about the process the VA has taken to get there." Eric Massa also fulminates over the expected closing in a post on his 29united site. I think both are missing the big picture on medical care for Veterans.

Since many psychiatric emergencies are also medical emergencies, an 8-bed acute care psychiatric unit has great difficulty existing without a nearby medical hospital. The closing of this unit was probably a foregone conclusion, considering that the nearest VA medical facilities are in Buffalo or Syracuse. Of course, using the nearby FF Thompson hospital for acute medical care (except in dire emergencies) is verboten, because VA care can only be delivered through the VA system.

The underlying question, which Kuhl ignores and Massa only partially addresses, is why Vets must receive their care in a separate and usually inferior medical system. Why must a Veteran travel to Canandaigua, Syracuse or God-only-knows-where to get care, instead being treated at a civilian hospital or clinic?

I understand that some care given by the VA is specialized. But most of it is the same medical treatment given to civilians. If we really want to honor the service of Veterans, let's give them an insurance card that gives them access to every hospital, clinic, doctor and pharmacy in the United States. Then let's pick a few really good VA hospitals to serve as specialist centers to serve the unique needs of veterans, and close the rest.

I submit that the reasons why this suggestion won't be adopted, or even considered, is that the VA system exists to ration care for Vets and to serve the needs of interest groups and politicians.

By making care for Vets hard to access, the VA system serves fewer Veterans, thus effectively rationing treatment. Those who have insurance use more convenient local facilities. Only those with special needs, or without insurance, use the hospitals. If VA care were universally available to vets, costs would skyrocket.

By creating large, government-run facilities, the VA also gives politicians plums for their districts. VA hospitals are like military bases in that regard -- they're often situated in out-of-the-way locales (e.g., Canandaigua instead of Rochester) in order to give small towns an economic boost. They're also full of union jobs, and satisfying a union is always a good thing for a politician.

If politicians really wanted to make life better for Veterans, they'd consider a complete overhaul of the way medical care is delivered to them. Instead, we get a series of mini-dramas whenever one of the sacred cow hospitals is threatened.

Last week was an active one for the 29th. I was on vacation, but when I returned, my inbox was full of news:

• Eric Massa may announce his candidacy next week.
• Randy Kuhl's Fairport offices were visited by a group of protesters, who delivered letters opposing the Iraq war. Rochesterturning has the video.
• Kuhl's office began updating the Town Hall Meeting list. A list of 2007 town hall meetings is also available at the Kuhlwatch site.

At today's telephone conference with the media, Randy Kuhl said that he's decided how he will vote on tomorrow's non-binding resolution on Iraq, but he's not going to reveal his vote in advance. He also called the debate a "charade" and said that he hasn't decided whether he'll make a floor statement.

I'm not buying what Kuhl's selling. If the vote was really just "political posturing", as Kuhl claims, then why is he keeping his vote under wraps? Why is he robo-calling constituents to ask them about Iraq?

I think Kuhl is under tremendous pressure from his constituents and from his party. This vote is the first in a string of votes about Iraq. Unless some miracle occurs and Iraq is stabilized in the next 18 months, each of his Iraq votes will become an issue in the campaign. Kuhl's vote tomorrow will have a major impact on his political career. Despite his protestations to the contrary, he and his staff are sweating it.

Update: Here's a sound bite from today's conference, thanks to reader Rich.

Rochesterturning reports that a new Draft Massa site has appeared. It includes a message board where supporters can urge Massa to run.

Randy Kuhl is one of the two remaining members of the New York delegation who is undecided about this vote on the House resolution opposing escalation in Iraq.

Yesterday, Kuhl voted against the two procedural moves required to bring the resolution up for consideration. Both of those were standard party-line votes and don't provide any insight into Kuhl's final vote.