The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Rochesterturning has posted video of and commentary about David Nachbar's appearance at last month's Brighton Democratic Committee meeting here and here. The video from those reports is embedded after the jump.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has an editorial about earmark disclosure that points out that Randy Kuhl is one of the Members of Congress who's refused to disclose earmarks to CNN. The D&C documents how the whole earmark disclosure process has been grudging at best, and obstructionist at worst.

Reader Elmer sends two interesting front-page items from the Corning Leader. The big news in Corning is the lack of migrant workers for Southern Tier farms. The immigration crackdown has scared off legal and illegal immigrants, and farmers are finding the H2-A visa program, which is supposed to help supply workers, "an unbelievable amount of bureaucracy".

The second story concerns the declining New York population and its affect on the government programs and representation. The likelihood of another redistricting in the 29th is discussed. The district narrowly avoided annexation to a major city in 2000, and that all of Monroe might be attached to it after the next redistricting. That would probably lead to a Democratic takeover in the 29th, though Bob Van Wicklin, ever the optimist, thinks that turnout, which is better in the Southern Tier, might keep the seat in Republican hands.

Here are the stories: Page A1 [pdf] and Page A10 [pdf].

Finally, today's Democrat and Chronicle has a story pegged on the recently-announced DCCC ads. This continues a consistent pattern of minor ad buys leading to stories in the newspaper, which is a large part of the intended effect of those ad campaigns. The DCCC ads also triggered stories in Congressional Quarterly and the New York Observer late last week.

Yesterday's Hornell Evening Tribune documented the efforts of Randy Kuhl's office to assist a group of students from Alfred who need passports for a trip to Japan.

Kuhl's efforts on behalf of area farmers were mentioned in a Democrat and Chronicle backgrounder on the current farm bill. Kuhl has worked on increasing disaster payments for disease loss of fruit trees. He's also worked with other legislators to insert funding for the MILC program, which subsidizes dairy farmers when milk prices fall below a certain amount.

David Nachbar's site now has content, so I've added it to the list of candidate sites on the sidebar.

Today's Massa press conference covered economic development, Randy Kuhl's vote on foreign aid, and immigration.

Eric Massa led off with more discussion of his plan to create "living wage jobs" in the 29th district. Massa said that he will be outlining specific initiatives as the campaign goes on. Today, he focused on the difference between him and Rep. Kuhl on this issue.

Massa charged that Kuhl believes in creating jobs through "addictive government handouts". Massa thinks "pork barrel politics" does not work, for two reasons: First, the country is seriously in debt, which means that handouts are decreasing and will continue to do so. Second, Kuhl is now in the minority and will be less able to arrange those handouts in the future. Massa promised that his plan will outline specific initiatives that will help create a partnership between industry, government and education.

I asked Massa how he responds to those who say that a US Representative can't do as much as state and local government to create those partnerships. He agreed that most of the work had to be done by state and local government, but the federal government must create an "umbrella" under which those others can operate. "Right now, that doesn't exist."

Massa used the example of the Roseland Bowl $2.5 million loan guarantee to counter Kuhl's recent allegation that Democrats are creating a "slush fund" for pet projects. Massa noted that he was against all of that no matter who's doing it, but "it's absolutely disingenuous for Kuhl to talk about the evils of pork-barrel politics" while at the same time touting the funding he received for Roseland Bowl:

This is an Oscar-winning award for what's wrong with government in Washington. Our Representative in Washington, DC announces with great pride that he's gotten $2.5 million for a bowling alley that sits within sight of the Canandaigua VA hospital that's being closed.

I asked Massa whether he sees the Roseland Bowl as a dilemma: he might not agree with the federal program, but it offers a constituent an opportunity to get some federal money that will perhaps help economic development. Massa said he didn't see it as a dilemma at all. The loan program used by the Roseland Bowl as meant to help rural America. "A bowling alley in Canandaigua does not fit that." He doesn't believe that a representative has an obligation to manipulate laws to achieve some goal.

Massa also pointed out that Kuhl had taken down the link to the press release. Massa took that as evidence that it failed the "Washington Post" test, which he says has guided him since he was a young officer:

If you would be embarrassed reading this on the front page of the Washington Post, would you do it? Clearly Randy Kuhl does not want this discussed in the light of day.

Massa also commented on two bills in Congress. The first was the immigration bill. It is Massa's understanding that the Congressional Republican Caucus voted on the current version of the bill and it was overwhelmingly defeated. Massa would like Kuhl to announce how he voted in caucus.

Massa said he opposes the current immigration bill. He thinks a comprehensive bill won't pass, and that we need to first strengthen our borders. He's for a guest worker program, but does not support "blanket amnesty".

The other bill Massa mentioned was the Foreign Aid Bill, which Kuhl opposed. Massa said that, since Kuhl doesn't explain his votes, we're left to speculate on why he opposed that bill. Massa thought it was perhaps because Kuhl opposed the distribution of condoms as part of AIDS programs due to pressure of a small but vocal constituency. Massa said that "Kuhl has veered hard right, and his voting record supports that."

Stlo7 of Rochesterturning attended the Brighton Democratic Committee meeting last night and reports that Massa gained that committee's endorsement. David Nachbar appeared and made his case at this meeting. Rochesterturning will be posting video and commentary soon.

Update: A Rochesterturning reader also reports that the Ontario County committee endorsed Massa last night.

In today's Hornell Evening Tribune, Randy Kuhl explains how Republicans forced the Democrats to compromise on earmarks. According to Kuhl, Democrats were trying to "sneak through" earmarks and the Republicans stopped them.

Since earmarks are now being disclosed, I've added a new page, Earmark Watch, where I'll attempt to track all of Kuhl's earmarks. I've also added a new category, Earmarks, which I'll use to tag stories about earmarks.

This all assumes that I'll be able to track down the damn things. As per usual, the committees are making this as hard as possible, releasing the earmarks as non-searchable image pdfs [warning: huge pdf]. This tactic, which was also used by the New York legislature, means that I have to paw through supplemental committee reports line-by-line to find Kuhl's earmarks. I assume that some public interest watchdog will create an earmark database. Until then, consider the earmark page a "best effort" rather than an authoritative source.

Rochesterturning reports that Randy Kuhl has joined the bi-partisan House Small Brewers Conference.

Eric Massa's Wednesday press conference bore fruit in the form of a story in today's Olean Times-Herald.

Yesterday, the Massa campaign also announced that it received the endorsement of the Town of Henrietta (Monroe County) Democratic Committee. According to Massa's site, the Town of Brighton and Ontario County Democratic Committees are meeting next Monday. I'll wager that two more endorsements are coming.

Update: The Massa campaign has also announced that the Town of Canandaigua (Ontario County) committee endorsed Massa yesterday.

The main topic of this morning's Massa press conference was Iraq, driven by the Batiste endorsement and his appearance at a Massa fundraiser this weekend in Ellicottville, Cattaraugus County. The fundraiser also coincides with the endorsement Massa received yesterday from the CattCo Democratic Committee.

Rick Miller of the Olean Times-Herald (which covers Ellicottville) was on the call, and asked a number of questions. The first was whether Iraq would be an issue in 17 months. Massa responded that it is an issue today, and as long as the President continues with his "failed strategy", we will need leadership on the issue. "Leadership is not flying over Iraq and announcing all is well," Massa said, referring to Kuhl's Iraq trip last summer. Massa said he believed that Iraq will "absolutely" be an issue in 2008.

Miller then mention the September re-evaluation of Iraq policy, and wondered what Massa thought about it. Massa said that it's "obvious that Iraq is not more secure now because of the new troops." He re-iterated his partition strategy: "We need to learn the lessons of Bosnia" by separating the warring factions and then leaving.

As for the war on terrorism, Massa says that "no one is more committed to hunting down terrorists than me" and referenced his combat experience in Lebanon in the early 80's on the USS New Jersey. Massa called the partition strategy the "only strategic shift that will enable us to rapidly depart Iraq and do what we can do" to ensure some stability. He pointed out that partion is already happening, since the country is dividing itself, but it's happening in "the bloodiest way possible".

In response to a follow-up about the kind of planning that's required for an end-game in Iraq, Massa noted that "those plans are already in place." He said that there's ample unclassified evidence of planning, and that he believes that Pentagon planners have also made extensive studies on an exit strategy. The issue, Massa believes, isn't the exit plan, it's the unwillingness of the President to shift to a new strategy.

I asked a more general question about General Batiste's future role in the Massa campaign. Massa said that Batiste is "acting as a trusted advisor and counselor." Batiste understands the "ground game and the lay of the land tactically" because of his experience in Iraq. Massa said he also considered himself fortunate to have Batiste as an advisor because of Batiste's business experience. Massa will look to Batiste to provide advice and counsel on how to bring economic growth to the area.

Batiste's input on economic growth dovetails with Massa's desire to make the issue of a new jobs base in the 29th front-and-center for his 2008 campaign. At the top of the press conference, Massa announced that he is developing a plan similar to one that was successful in the Raleigh-Durham area. This plan brings together business, education and local government, leveraging the strengths of each group to help build an economy that will employ young people in the area. Currently, those young people receive an education at local colleges but must leave the area due to a lack of jobs.

As for the employment of Eric Massa, which was another question asked by Mr. Miller, Massa noted that he curtailed all other activities in April when he becam an active candidate. Massa's noted that he can't take a salary from his campaign, so he's making personal sacrifies, "as do all candidates who aren't beholden to corporate PAC money."