New York state is in a fiscal shortfall to the tune of $47 billion and our assemblyman comes up with money to decorate Batavia for the holidays. Forget the lights. Give the money to the poor schmuck that can't afford to heat his house. Here is a perfect example of why our government is screwed up. The politicians don't feel the pain. They are clueless. It's all about stupid gestures and ignoring real problems. Make sure we get another term out of this guy- he's a pip!

I do not agree.
Mr. Hawley spoke about how NYC gets all of the New York tax money and such.
He is a great person that is looking out for the locals. The minimal amount ($2,500) to do this, is nowhere near what is given to big cities. This is a nice thing. Don't tarnish it with a liberal agenda.

NYC's tax contribution adds up to 49% of state tax revenue. Westchester, Rockland and L.I. contribute 40% of tax revenue. The balance of the state amounts to a mere 11%. You need to check your facts. As to labelling my agenda liberal- have you basked in Republican newspeak for so long, you've lost touch with the current misuse of the term "liberal?" How does criticizing wasteful expenditure equate to a liberal agenda?

As long as you are inventing my agenda... Let's see how truly liberal my economics agenda is:
1) Eliminate expensive burocracies
a) Do away with Dept of Social Service. Individuals who earn less than $30,000 annually receive a check for the difference.
b) Do away with Real Property based taxation. Institute a 7% flat tax to fund local govt and schools.
2) Protect markets from manipulation and end deadbeat interference in business
a) Total non-employee stock ownership in any company may not exceed stockholdings of employees and owners of that company.
3) Regulate interest rates
a) Interest fees charged for loans may not exceed interest yields on savings accounts by more than 2%.
4) Insurance companies must reward low risk/no claim customers. Customers who make no claims or do not meet the annual deductible must receive a carry-over credit for the next year's premium.
5) Public employees must have residency in the municipality where the employer is located.
6) Public works projects must hire/contract from the labor pool within the municipality where the project is sited.

That is all fine. I'm just a little skeptical of somebody's political agenda when they attack a person for doing something nice. Mr. Hawley pushed for a small amount of money to make Batavia look nice for Christmas and you think that is a bad thing. I don't get it.
You are obviously smart enough to look at the big picture, and that debt isn't going to change with a donation like that. NYC is the problem, not Western NY.

Aside from the obvious disagreement on the location of NYS's wealth and the direction of its flow... You can call Mr. Hawley's nice gift small, but all of these nice, small expenditures add up to what most observers call "pork." It is the cumulative impact of so much pork that drives budgets over the top. When one speaks of economizing, one doesn't take a blank check to Walmart.

That little bit of "pork" is a part of how things go, not why we are in debt.
We struggle as a state because so much money is going out to people in NYC that don't work and don't contribute any tax dollars. A little bit of money for Christmas lights is nothing compared to the money spent to take care of the non-working people in big cities.

I agree with C.M. Barons. This is exactly why this state is in trouble. I somehow doubt that Batavia is the only city that got money for Christmas decorations or other non-essential items. Think of all of the children in Batavia that aren't going to have Christmas this year because their parents are out of work. Or the senior citizen on a fixed income that can't afford food because all of their money is being used to heat their home. But no worry - Batavia will have beautiful Christmas decorations for them to enjoy. I appreciate Mr. Hawley's effort to do "something nice" but I would have much preferred he said "thanks, but no thanks". And since when is $2500 a small amount?

Here's a suggestion: if the folks in Batavia want to decorate the city, why not start a Beautify Batavia committee and invite the residents to kick-in a couple bucks each. The total receipts might be significant. Maybe a huge facade could be fabricated to represent the Main Street storefronts torn down in the 1970s. In the future mock-ups of the Cary and Richmond mansions could be added. Eventually, the city of Batavia would exist again.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Unemployment/RDList2.asp?st=NY

Check the facts. NYC and Genesee County have the same rate of unemployment. The difference is the median income; NYC's income is higher. So who pays more tax?

People in NYC don't work? I guess I should tell that to my coworkers in our NYC office.

Why do we always require a strawdog to knock down? In terms of the economy there is plenty of guilt to share. This divide and conquer mentality has to end. It's not a solution; it postpones the solution. Everyone stands around pointing at the other guy. Save the strawdogs for campaign season! Let's come together and fix our state's problems WITHOUT assigning blame.

As residents of upstate New York, we should be aware. Downstate is in a pinch too. They are well-aware that the majority of their tax dollars flow north. The separatist mentality is a double-edged sword.

And while we are on the subject... I received numerous calls during the past election. I couldn't tell who was shopping for my vote. The caller spent so much time knocking down the opponent- the only name that came out of the message was the opponent's!

C.M. Has it right..We are so busy with class warfare that nothing positive gets done..It is always the haves vs. the have not's.

Why does the government have to decorate our streets.Shouldn't we as citizens of Batavia do this on our own and come up with our own money.I call spending 2500 dollars on christmas decorations Liberal Spending.

The state is billions in the hole,according to the Governor.He says school aid and aid to social services will need to be cut,and then Mr.Hawley comes up with money to decorate the city.It is a nice gesture,but doesn't seem to make sense at this time.That 2500 has to come from somewhere,wait till they have to raise your school taxes to pay for those decorations.

Certainly, anything people can do for themselves without taxpayer funds is a good thing.

There is a real tendency in our society to think, "I don't have to get involved or contribute because the government will take care of it." That's not the way was -- at least according to the history books I've read -- a couple of generations ago.

I wholly endorse private enterprise for things like hanging local Christmas decorations as the preferable approach.

That said -- how much "pork" makes up the state budget? People always rail against pork in the Federal budget, but earmarks comprise less than 5 percent of the budget. You could cut all the pork and not make a dent in deficit spending.

So unless somebody can show me that all this "pork" really does "add up" to some huge sum, I say -- we should get as much money as possible flowing back from Albany in anyway we can get it.

There needs to be big changes in Albany. Getting too focused on pork only distracts voters and representatives from concentrating on fixing real problems.

I think Hawley is very anti-pork and is very concerned about the economy of New York.
&2,500 is nothing in the big picture when you are talking about billions.
I would rather see my tax dollars go to decorating the city I live in than going to pay somebody's bills because they are too lazy or don't feel they can work for whatever reason.
You guys are blowing this out of proportion. I think the grant was a good thing and I will thank our government when I drive down Main St. and see the City of Batavia looking nice for the holiday.

"I would rather see my tax dollars go to decorating the city I live in than going to pay somebody's bills because they are too lazy or don't feel they can work for whatever reason."

Do you think that everyone that is out of work is lazy or doesn't feel they can work? That is an insult to the hard working people that have worked for years only to get laid off during this economic crisis. I hope your job is secure.

I agree Hilly that 2500 dollars is just pennies in the grand scheme of things.The point is more how we think its okay for the government to spend our money on non governmental spending items.Yes like christmas decorations.Lets just hope that Mr.Hawley can secure state money for our schools and local government.Because if that aid gets cut we will all be in for a world of hurt.

I did not intend that comment to mean that all people that don't work are lazy and don't want to work.
But I do feel that there are a lot of people that take advantage of the system out there. I was laid off of work once in my life and I know how difficult it can be, Beth. But I also know that there are a lot of people that can work, that don't. And those people benefit from our tax dollars.
I apologize if anybody took my comment the wrong way.

Everyone in general- If a state or federal representataive brought back no local assistance everyone would absolutly flip and put them out of office at the soonest possible opprotunity. Local Assistance brings aid to local school districts and municipalities for projects, grants for consolidation to make government efficient and helps many local community organizations carry out their missions.

Steve Hawley has done a good job of bringing back positive local assistance, call it "pork" if you want but it is necessary, especially when we're doing everything we can on the local level to keep tax rates low.

As Howard pointed out, it represents about 5 percent of the total federal budget, sometimes that assistance can go a very long way in helping a community.

Hilly-By saying that someone has a "liberal agenda" you automatically make it partisan and divisive.

"Hilly-By saying that someone has a "liberal agenda" you automatically make it partisan and divisive."

I have a bad habit of doing that. I should stick to sports :)

The point: it is expected that Mr. Hawley will reap benefits for WNY- as in jobs, school aid and infrastructure. Holiday decorations do not strike me as practical or appropriate use of public money especially in light of current economic trends.

And kudos to our governor who asks that public employees re-examine their contracts in light of potential lay-offs. Let's hope that some will step up to the plate rather than count on seniority to waste the lowest paid, less established workers.