I find it laudable, and laughable at the same time, this race between Madigan and Higgins.
I think the primary reason I do, is because I've got insight into the minds of the stumpers for Madigan. These people are, shall we say, interesting to say the least.
I think I covered my first encounter with the Madigan stumper. This poor soul was opposed to "ObamaCare", but thought Newt's 1994 plan was the "Way we should do it". She was also "Pro Small Government", but saw no problem with the government intervening in a woman's choice to do with her body as she pleases. She also thought Obama is a communist, and is looking to take our guns.
She was, more or less, the complete and total stereotype of the Tea Party. I didn't bother with the deeper subjects, such as why running government like a business is an inherently bad thing, or how economics doesn't "trickle down". She was a dyed in the wool right wing nut. And, sadly, so are the rest of his supporters, if their message boards are indicative of their membership.
Basically, they want more government, more spending, less paying for it, and more corporate control. And, since they are such a small minority, they'll cry about how the election was "stolen" from them, and what not.
It's an interesting race, to say the least. But, amusing to watch the train wreck roll right in.
You forgot to mention these stumpers ideas such as their concerns about the worsening condition of the 3rd most impoverished city (Buffalo), the worst public school system for low income minorities (<20% graduation rate for black males)and the worsening violent crime rate that is at 240% above the national rate and 280% above the violence in NYC. It does not have to be this way...read more about these stumpers here: http://mikemadiganforcongress.com/shattered-lives.html - please let's continue the discussion because the more awareness we bring to this train wreck the more public support we will create to fix it. That is my purpose - the Waterfront is a distraction from children's lives being wrecked. Best Regards Mike Madigan
ReplyDeleteMike, the stumpers can have all the concerns in the world (Who doesn't, right?), but it appeared the person I spoke with doesn't care about what you mention here; and just cares about:
Delete* Making abortion illegal
* Getting Obama out of office
* Making sure "teh gays" can't marry
* Cutting their taxes
* Spending more
Are there issues in the schools? You bet ya! Is it because of the union? Doubtful. It could have a lot to do with the paltry pay we offer teachers, thereby attracting the bottom of the barrel, or those who REALLY want to teach in Buffalo for whatever reason; coupled with the fact that the best of the best (As far as students) get funneled out of the BPS, and sent to charters.
With a school full of "undesirables", how successful do you think the school will be?
As for the violence in our city, it's actually the lowest it's been since 1994, and falling (Or leveling, depending on how optimistic one is).
71% of Higgins campaign contributions come from outside his district. What kind of representation does one expect him to supply except further loyalty to the foreign donkeys whom kick-back?
ReplyDeleteI'm very optimistic that Mr. Madigan can do better than 29% domestic contributions, (roughly the aforementioned grad rate).
It won't be D's or R's that do it, but our Country will be changing as kick-back scams of taxpayer loot to campaigns get exposed. The American people won't take kindly as they wake up to realize the cycle of taxation/ grants & tax breaks that feed Political Campaigns. Our income taxes are not campaign donations, Higgins has a 29% average in that department! I hope Mike sits him at the table and forces him to do his homework :)
What's your source for the 71%? I'm interested to see.
DeleteAnd, what "kick-back scams of taxpayer loot" are you talking about here?
The stumpers I hang with are focused on:
ReplyDeleteReducing Government - current burden in this region exceeds all others - we lost 34,000 people and 33% of our MFG jobs as per 2010 Census - the worst losses in the country. This region is rated the worst - the most hostile to business. We must restore hope of employment here by creating a business friendly climate. Most parents watch as their children (young adults) flee the region in search of jobs - it does not have to be this way.
The stumpers I hang with are focused on breaking the cycle of poverty and it starts with education - the root cause is here. Buffalo schools just canceled k-6 summer school (HELLO HELLO) - this is a crime against humanity when you have a <25% graduation rate for black males- complete utter and total leadership failure that has consequence in terms of human lives - yes this failure does lead to deaths and destruction of lives!!
NYS Education law bans BOCES from participating in the Buffalo District - bans/not allowed in....the children that need this program the most are banned by law from being in the BOCES program if they are in the Buffalo district - this holds true for the top 5 minority population centers in NYS: Buffalo, Roch, Syr, Yonkers and NYC are banned from joining BOCES - a crime and unequal education.
We need truant officers, parents held accountable, teachers and admins held accountable. We need federal-state-local politicians and government held accountable and focused on this failure at all levels and all parts of government - we must break the cycle and hold all accountable to deliver.
Note: Your use of the word "undesirables" above speaks volumes......
Mike Madigan
You want to reduce government, but yet complain about cutting school programs?
ReplyDeletePray tell: How does one fund school programs without tax dollars?
Pray tell: How does one improve the quality of teachers, by cutting their pay and benefits?
Pray tell: How does one pay for truant officers, if we cut revenues?
Yes, I use the term "undesirables" in same fashion the CEO's of the charters do: Poor students, who will kill their stats. They get left behind, and the creme de la creme are picked up for the charters.
So, since I've got your attention here, I'll as the same thing of you, that I asked of your stumper: What is your plan? Because, your advocates make it seem like your priority is repealing marriage equality, and banning abortions.
Hey WNY Liberal... Id love to know your source for this article. I dont know one Tea Party person, republican or Conservative that thinks like that or says the things you stated here. I believe you are just one of the minions spreading the hate and fear messages around for the DNC. Looks like the only attention you have is from us stumpers for Mike Madigan. I would imagine your supporters are still waiting for that hope and change to arrive...
ReplyDeleteMy source for the article here? Well, a face to face with a door-to-door person trying to round up signatures for Madigan, for one.
DeleteAnd, the other source are the Tea Party NY message boards over on Meetup and Google Groups.
I take it you're a "Tea Pary Person", correct?
If so: Do you think government should be involved in medical decisions? Do you think we should cut taxes, and increase spending on the DoD?
And yes, I'm paid by the DNC lol I got paid $2.72 for the past 3 months of writing this blog. Of course, if you consider Google to be the DNC.
And, as I tweeted earlier, Madigan's supporters are persistent and stalwart, no matter what :)
We pay $26,000/student in Buffalo public schools - no other district pays that rate/not even close - most (over 90%)pay <$20,000/student.
ReplyDeleteWe graduate <25% of our black males - NJ pays almost $6,000 less per student and their graduation rate is 69% for black males and they have similar black-white ratio and poverty rate. This is not a money problem - it is structural.
One thing we can't be doing is cancelling summer school to save a dime and blocking access to BOCES -this is an outrage!!
Plan:
-At federal level institute voucher program - we must promote school choice/inject competition
-Reduce federal involvement in education - while Bush No Child Left Behind gave us the data that now tells us how big of a failure we are at educating minorities - we must retool so that we continue to measure progress but do not force teachers to teach to the test - critical thinking must be re-introduced.
-A deep dive into all fed programs must be performed and teeth/consequences must be put in place if your child is not attending school.
- Trasfer provision in the no child left behind act must be leveraged to its fullest - the children trapped in horribly and persistently failing schools should be transffered into successful charter-private or public schools (example: The Buff area has almost 3500 empty catholic school seats that could be filled - fill them!).
-As a community leader my focus will be on what must be and always should have been our number one priority (not the waterfront) - we must ensure all children have access to a quality school. Currently we have over 15,000 trapped in persistently failing schools (schools rated as failing to educate) - this must end and must end now and until it is ended it must be the headliner here forwards.
Out of time - best regards;
Mike Madigan
So, your solution is to off-load all of the good students to charters and private schools, while leaving the worst performers in the public schools?
DeletePray tell: How do we pay for schools and programs, if we slash revenues? Do we put it on the credit card?
And, you think we should put all kids in horrible schools, into Religious Education, paid for with our tax dollars? Sorry, no dice. None of my tax dollars need to go to religious indoctrination Mike.
If we are slashing revenues (As you propose we do), how do we pay for all these great programs?
PS As an aside, I'm am VERY glad you are engaging here. If nothing else, it gets your ideas into the open, and you're letting them get critiqued. I'm impressed, to say the least here, and you get much respect for doing so (If this is actually Mike I'm talking to lol).
This is Mike Madigan - feel free to call me 783-2872 and you will hear the same details as what are written here.
ReplyDeleteI did not suggest we slash school budgets - we must redploy and restructure the program in a major way.
Regarding religious schools- the choice is as follows: Sentence children to persistantly failing schools (example: East high over 50% drop out before 10th grade). These schools fail to teach in most cases over 65% of their students) they are a pipeline to prison, drugs, and death.
The alternate choice is to have the children attend a religious school (any and all) and likely succeed and potentially florish along with some indocternation -hmmmmm hard choice.
I think you would make the same choice I would once presented with both options and understanding the options fully in terms of impact on childrens lives. The tragedy that is occurring in our city essentially goes unreported.
Best regards;
MM
I didn't suggest, nor intimate you wanted to slash school budgets. The question asked was:"How do you propose we pay for all these programs while slashing revenues (Aka taxes)?"
DeleteYour choice is a non-choice. There are many alternatives if we want to go the private school route; without allowing religious fanatics to teach hate and lies to our kids. There is a reason there are so many empty seats in the catholic school system.
Instead of attacking the school system we have in Buffalo (Which is actually quite good, both of my kids attend Buffalo Public Schools), we need to attack the root cause for poor performance overall: Poverty.
Private schools, charters schools, and any other idea fails when we fail to address poverty.
We address poverty by paying workers a living wage, and stop handing over tax breaks to the Carl Paladinos of our area, who take 6 million a year in tax dollars, and create 1 job over the course of 10 years. We can't address poverty by sending our kids to indoctrination camps, or to a profit-driven school.
Another solution to the rampant poverty issue in Buffalo is to stop splitting up families, by tossing people into a revolving-door prison system we have in the US.
DeleteRight now, an ounce of weed lands a person in jail for 5 years. After that, their employment prospects are shot. This leads to an unending cycle of poverty.
I've got to ask a tough question here, however: How much experience do you actually have with the Buffalo Public School System? I'm only asking, because you being from Grand Island, unless you went to school in Buffalo, I'm not seeing how you would really have that much experience with what goes on there.
I also ask, because I attended BPS for my entire school career, and both my kids do. And, I'm not seeing this "massive failure" being the fault of the school system, rather the fault of uninvolved (By choice or not) parents. Nothing you change at the school level will fix that.
"Living wage" - excludes all- yes all of the 80% of the black males that failed to graduate in the failing, yes failing, public schools. Living wage = skilled labor = requires HS education so your plan solves nothing and in fact it compounds the problem.
DeleteThe solution for those already out of school is just the opposite. Suspend the Davis Bacon act which increases federal contract job wages by 30% resulting in the exclusion of unskilled laborers (all the tens of thousands who failed to graduate are excluded from doing federally funded skilled labor jobs due to this act and assoc. wage rate).
Suspension of this act opens entry level jobs for unskilled laborers and provides opportunity to teach skilled labor jobs.
This suspension as a remedy to our failure to educate and would as well lead to an economic boom as infrastructure jobs become more affordable based on 30% reduction in cost. In fact even more jobs would be created to support the resulting boom in work and hope would start to be restored in the region while concurrently repairing our infrastructure at a much lower cost.
Mike Madigan
Wait, so cutting wages increases wages? That right there, is the biggest twist of logic I've ever heard.
DeleteA living wage for everyone does not compound the issue of poverty.
The infrastructure jobs don't just materialize out of thin air. We've got to have the people (Via the government) decide to do them, and then we have to have the revenue (ie, the taxes) to pay for it.
If we cut taxes, and block every bill for infrastructure projects, there are no infrastructure projects.
And, the Davis-Bacon Act requires workers to be paid the prevailing wage for the area the work is being done in. By paying less than the prevailing wage, you are basically creating a slave labor force. Nice try at redefining what the act did there.
And, if the Bacon-Davis Act is the cause of poverty, then how did we have the largest period of economic growth in the region EVER after we passed it in 1931?
See, now you're looking just like a Republican insider, instead of some kind of "reformer", because you're just parroting the right-wing talking points here.
Your claim of good intentions (Living Wage" and helping the poor) is a cloak - the simple fact is Bacon Davis is the tool used to block minorities from Federally funded jobs due to the current failure to educate.
ReplyDeleteMany of the programs such as these are named to create a cloak - they are cloaked in claims of good intentions when in fact they do the opposite of the claim.
Bacon Davis oppresses the minority population. We should suspend it like they did in New Orleans after Katrina = the impact was employment boom for minorities that trained many in skilled labor jobs, significant reduction in infrastructure repair costs and a much needed boost to the economy.
The same remedy is needed here and the justification for the need of a remedy is failure to educate and the need to repair infrastructure at lowest cost possible - this would create a boom in our economy if suspended.
Mike Madigan
WNY Liberal... You claim the Buffalo school district is good? What planet do you live on? You also say religious indoctrination, what about Liberal indoctrination? I suppose teachers with a liberal agenda is quite alright in your eyes. Also now your complaining about people like Paladino, and the tax breaks they get for developments. Maybe you should consider these few things.
Delete1. Without his development and investment there would be no tax break, there would be no tax at all. So why complain about a break in the amount of tax they would pay, because without the break they wouldn't have invested in the first place. That's what Democrats and Liberals don't understand. It doesn't matter how much of a break you give them because without it they wouldn't make the investment.
2. If all that was created was 1 job for 6 million in tax breaks Paladino is miles ahead of the Obama Stimulus on the costs of jobs created...
Mike, you can't boost a consumer-drive economy, by paying wages that provide no disposable income...
DeleteKatrina required getting the infrastructure rebuilt as quickly as possible. Of course it was a boom to the economy, everything needed to be built!
It would have been an even bigger boom, if prevailing wages were paid, instead of subsidizing Mexican illegal immigrants working for slave wages.
At the other person posting as Anonymous, the planet I live on is the one where City Honors consistenly ranks top 10 in the nation; and two other schools drift in and out of the top 10 list.
And, how does handing Carl money provide taxes? With all of his development work aside (Which could have been done without the tax money) netted 1 job over a ten year period.
Unless you are claiming government is required for job creation? Are you claiming that? If it weren't for government money to Carl, there'd be no jobs?
And, you need to go look at the fact my friend: More jobs have been created during Obama's first two years, than during the entire Bush administration.
You can't address poverty by excluding the impoverished by setting wages at a rate that requires college degrees - that is what we are doing and you are supporting, Fact "Living wage" rates excludes anyone who does not have a degree(a majority of impoverished). Fact - a reduction of cost of doing infrastructure work by temporarily suspending Davis Bacon would result in a burst of activity as the cost cut drives project approvals to take advantage of the significant reduction in cost.
ReplyDeleteCity Honors ranks in top ten while all the second class schools have over 15,000 children trapped in them. These persistently failing second class schools rank as the worst - yes the worst, in the entire U.S. and their poor quality competes with the schools in Afghanistan in terms of their level of failure.
The segregated second class schools are multi-generational failures that have led Buffalo down the path towards being the most impoverished city in the entire U.S.. Buffalo currently ranks #3 most impoverished and we are sinking fast as HSBC, the Canadian Consulate and Greatbatch's HQ flees the region with others preceeding and following them out.....
Time for a change - 50 years of dysfunction is enough. We must restore and rebuild the region. Doing the same thing year after year as we sink deeper and deeper is no answer.
Best regards;
Mike Madigan