Pray For Frank

Frank Dart, our District 6 (City of Kingston) Legislator has recently undergone successful chemo therapy and is in the process now of doing a stem cell infusion in about a week. He is currently in remission from non-hodgkins lymphoma.

I hope people will take a few minutes and pray for him. Cancer is the most painful disease a person can have and I hope that Frank is doing alright.

Checks and Balances

I ran in to a woman last night while out getting petitions. The woman saw that I was sporting an Auerbach for Comptroller sticker and wanted to talk with me about the county wide races this year. I explained to her about both positions and who the candidates where. At the end of our conversation she said ok, I will make a deal with you, I will vote for Auerbach but I am going to vote Republican for the County Exec race because I want "checks and balances".

This conclusion was made without knowing anything about either candidate running for Executive. To be honest, I have heard this from others and it's very disturbing. Electing a Democrat for Exec and a Republican Comptroller or vice versa is not what achieves a government with checks and balances.

I explained to the woman that by electing an Executive and a Comptroller that in and of itself will provide checks and balances in our county government. An Executive that is accountable to the people of Ulster County and an elected Comptroller that will be the people's watch dog.

Their party affiliation is irrelevant, you must elect the two people that you feel will do the best job for the respective positions they are running for and the rest will fall into place.

The woman asked me who I was supporting for Exec and to give three positive qualities about that person's opponent..same for Comptroller. I was very fair, I compared and contrasted all four candidates.

By the end of our conversation she had a Hein bumper sticker on her car and took the Auerbach sticker off of my lapel and put it in the back window of her car.... the point of this story is that it is very important that we elect the two most qualified candidates and not just vote for one Dem and one GOP candidate for a balance...the charter already creates the balance.

LEW KIRSCHNER and MIKE HEIN

Ulster County Treasurer Ulster County Administrator

invite you to join them in supporting

ELLIOTT AUERBACH

Tuesday, July 8, 2008, from 6 to 8 pm

at the Hillside Manor

Rte 32, Kingston, NY

Suggested donation: $100

Wine, Beer, Hot Hors d’Oeuvres

Please make your reservations by answering this email or calling 706-2996. You may pay at the door.

If you are unable to attend and would like to make a contribution,

please send checks made out to Friends of Elliott Auerbach to POB 542 , Ellenville, NY 12428.

An Event T.R. Would Have Been Proud Of

The Jazz festival/ fourth of July celebration was really something last night. Thousands of people were in attendance and it was just a great community event. For the past two years local businesses have picked up the tab for the fireworks, and the City of Kingston provides a full staff of people to make sure things run smoothly. Late Mayor T.R. Gallo started the event several years ago and made it what is today, he absolutely loved this event.I couldn't help but look around today and think how proud he would have been tonight.

A special thanks to Mayor Sottile, the mayor's task force, Kathy Janeczek, Katie Cook, Toni Roser, all the local Kingston businesses and everyone else that really worked hard to put this on.


One observation from yesterday's event was there were a ton of people walking around with Hein and Auerbach stickers on. I was very impressed with the amount of support and name recognition the two have so early on in the campaign...both were in attendance at yesterdays event.

And to be fair both Len Bernardo and Jim Quigley also showed up... at around 830 or so, I was heading down to the docks and heard a loud voice yell, HEY BLABER.... I looked up and saw Jim Quigley off in the distance of the crowd. Quigley came up to me with Bernardo and said I just want it to be known the out of towner's were here...a reference to a blog posting a few days ago. Duly noted, Mr. Quigley.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Unity, NH

Safety Concerns Shut Down Kpa; Not A Fictional Political Vendetta

Below is a letter that the commission sent out to all producers today on KPA. It looks as if there are some serious safety issues that need to be addressed and the station may be down for several months.

Rich Cahill is attacking Mayor Sottile in the paper but if you read the article it is clear hizzoner knew nothing about this until today.

The logic just does not make sense, why would Sottile care now about attacks on his administration? After non stop bashing last year by Cahill and others Sottile and almost every candidate he supported on a city level won their respective offices.
KPA is not a threat to Mayor Sottile, he actually supports the station..the few producers that take shots at him are more an annoyance then anything else.

If anything Hein, Bernardo, Auerbach, Quigley, K.Cahill, Yess, and others may take a sigh of relief that they don't have to endure the negative and most of the times untrue commentary on their respective campaigns,


Although it's a double edge sword, it is disappointing the public will not have an opportunity to listen directly to the candidates in this venue. As a former Vice-Chair of the KPA commission and current producer, I know the great asset KPA is and I hope that it will be back up and running soon.

Important notice to all Kingston Area Public Access Producers!

The Kingston Fire Marshal has closed the studio until further notice. Please note that this is a result of building code violations. The cause and the ultimate resolution of this situation is out of the control of the KAPA Commission.

As a result of this closure all producer access codes have been suspended and there can be no access to the studio for live or pre-recorded programming. We will attempt to keep the Community Calendar on the air and we’ll use this as a way to keep you and the community informed of our situation.

Please be assured that we are working with the landlord to have this matter resolved as rapidly as possible.

Regards, KAPA Commission

GILLIBRAND PASSES

Anyone else feel that the Freeman editorial on Congresswoman Gillibrand was extremely unfair? The editorial criticizes the Congresswoman on her vote in favor of continuing the funding the war in Iraq, as did I but then they call her tenure a complete failure because of her one vote. They also show they are out of touch when they suggest she beat former Congressman Sweeney in part because of his support of the war.


First, Gillibrand beat Congressman Sweeney because of his personal indiscretions : getting drunk on tape at a college frat party, a police report accusing him of allegedly beating his wife ect.

The Congresswoman also defeated Sweeney because of certain policy differences that the two differed on...Iraq was not one of them.

Gillibrand who has been critical of the way Bush handled the war has never flip flopped her position that we need to support the troops and do the best we can to handle the current situation in a diplomatic manner.

Now, I strongly disagree with what she feels that diplomatic approach is, I agree with my Congressman, Maurice Hinchey that we need to end the illegal occupation of Iraq as soon as possible. So in my opinion Congressman Hinchey is representing his constituents (me) with his vote to discontinue funding.

I also believe that Congresswoman Gillibrand is representing her constituents with her vote to continuing funding, she lives in a very Conservative district. When you are an elected representative your job is to be just that, a representative of your district.

Congresswoman Gillibrand is representing her constituents feelings with her vote and for that she is a patriot.

KPA SHUT DOWN

Kingston Public Access tv was temporarily shut down on Wednesday for safety code violations. My GOP counterpart Rich Cahill wrote on his blog that he thinks the station was shut down by Mayor Sottile to muffle free speech. I disagree, they have been bashing Sottile on kpa for years. As a matter of fact, I started my show a few years back because I wanted to counter these attacks. If Sottile cared about what was said on KPA it would have been shut down a long time ago.

If there are legitimate safety violations at KPA they should be addressed for the safety of all producers including Mr. Cahill. I assume KPA will be up and running in a few days.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Just thinking today about the historic race for County Executive and County Comptroller. I know that it's only June and I have focused on these races enough to make a lot of people tired already but they are so important for the future of Ulster County. Just think on January 1st we will have an elected County Executive and an elected County Comptroller that is directly accountable to the people of Ulster County.

When we go to the polls this November and vote for our candidates, whoever they may be, we should all remember tha because of the leadership of John Parete, we are electing a County Executive and a County Comptroller. John Parete led the charge of implementing a County Executive form of government in Ulster County.

And in 2011 when we go to single member districts in the County legislature, making our county lawmakers more accountable to their constituents, you can again thank John Parete who led that effort as well.

While this was a joint effort, John Parete is very much responsible for bringing accountability to County Government.

BRUNO CALLS IT QUITS

BREAKING NEWS: JOE BRUNO WILL NOT SEEK ANOTHER TERM IN THE STATE SENATE.

Joe Bruno, the current Majority Leader of the State Senate, has had a tough year, his wife passed away and he has been surrounded by a federal investigation for over a year, while this is a shock, it's mot a total surprise. Bruno who is in his seventies and has served in the Senate for more than three decades, over ten as majority leader. We should all thank and commend him for his service to New York.

One thing is for sure the Democrats taking control of the state senate will happen this year. Get ready for Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.

Here and There

The Hein/Bernardo debate last week was held at the Rocking Horse Ranch, after the debate there was a ceremony recognizing the Ranch's 50th year anniversary, I attended and it was a nice event. Apparently, I left a little early and missed Legislator Sue Zimet's attempt to cool off from the 95+ degree weather by jumping in the ranch's pool via the ranch's pool slide with her clothes on. You can't make this stuff up.

A new poll has come out showing Mike Bloomberg ahead of David Patterson in a head to head match up in 2010. These polls are not accurate, not even Bloomberg's billions will be able to beat the Patterson machine that was started with his father the very well respected Basil Patterson. Bloomberg will not be elected Governor, if Patterson decides not to run which is possible, we will elect Andrew Cuomo as the next Governor of this state, and that's a good thing.

Can't help but notice the huge advantage that Mike Hein and Elliott Auerbach have right now over their GOP opponents. Does anyone even know who they are running against? Mike Hein and Elliott Auerbach are everywhere. Len Bernardo and Jim Quigley, the millionaire out of towner's are no where to be seen. It goes to show that Hein and Auerbach are the candidates that care about Ulster County and are taking this race seriously.

Lastly, disappointed that Tom Brokaw has been chosen to replace the irreplaceable Tim Russert. While, this decision had to have been hard and a lose/lose, I just do not see Brokaw having the personality to do the job. I think Chris Matthews would have been a better choice.

Blaber Show Returns This Thursday w/ Assemblyman Camara

Assemblyman Karim Camara and Jeremy Blaber in Little Rock, Arkansas

I will have Assemblyman Karim Camara of Brooklyn on this Thursday via a telephone interview. Make sure you tune in at 8:30pm.

George Carlin Dead At 71

Comedian George Carlin died on Sunday at 71, Carlin was hospitalized at St.John's in LA after having chest pains. I was a big fan of Carlin's, I have all his books and many of his routines downloaded on Itunes, I didn't always agree with what he had to say specifically on religion but he was a great comedian. It's a loss to Kingston as well, Carlin came down to UPAC about once a year and the event was always sold out. For one reason or another I always missed the event, I'll go next year, I always told myself....just a reminder of how short life is.

Congressman Hinchey Votes No On Funding For Illegal War

I'm glad to see that our Congressman voted against the funding of the illegal war in Iraq. Enough is enough. I'm disappointed that Congresswoman Gillibrand supported this funding.


"I am disappointed that, once again, the House has approved federal funds for President Bush's illegal occupation of Iraq," U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, said in a prepared statement following Thursday's vote. "However, I am proud to have continued my record of voting against funding that does not include a plan to redeploy our troops. I still believe that we must launch a diplomatic offensive, end the occupation of Iraq and continue to vigorously pursue national security objectives that will help stabilize the Middle East and make the United States more secure."

Scott McClellan

It's not many times that I will defend President Bush but when it comes to Scott McClellan, I kind of feel sorry for Bush. When people like Scott McClellan or Tony Snow join an administration or are hired to advise a campaign they give up their journalistic ethics. It is their job and responsibility to work on behalf of the person that hired them. President Bush put full trust as he should have, in Mr. McClellan and was betrayed in the worst way. It was Mr. McClellan's job to spin things for the President and make him and his administration look good. It's not a job for everybody, some people can't handle that sort of blinded loyalty or even understand it but that is the job. It's what you must do for as long as you serve in that position and even afterward.

If Mr.McClellan really had a specific issue that was a conflict, like the President was engaging in activities that compromised the integrity of the office or in a manner that made McClellan feel uncomfortable, he had the right to resign his position. That is not the case, it's political payback. What Mr.McClellan is doing is not something that is to be admired or considered patriotic, it's despicable and disgraceful. It's very clear that Scott McClellan was not worthy of the position of trust he was given.

OBAMA GAINS 15 POINT LEAD OVER MCCAIN

Barack finally has his bounce. For weeks many political experts and pollsters have been wondering why the race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain had stayed so tight, even after the Illinois senator wrested the nomination from Hillary Clinton. With numbers consistently showing rock-bottom approval ratings for President Bush and a large majority of Americans unhappy with the country's direction, the opposing-party candidate should, in the normal course, have attracted more disaffected voters. Now it looks as if Obama is doing just that.

McCain: I Didn't Love America Until I was Held Prisoner...Hypocrite!

Maurice Hinchey: Let's Make Oil Companies Publicly Accountable

Our Congressman continues to make us proud in Washington. Congressman Hinchey's press conference discussed on your world w/ Cavuto today.

Save The Date

Elliott Auerbach with State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

Lew Kirschner, Ulster County Treasurer, and Mike Hein, Ulster County Administrator and Democratic Candidate for County Executive, will be hosting a fundraiser to benefit

ELLIOTT AUERBACH FOR COMPTROLLER,

Tuesday, July 8, 2008--6 to 8pm at the Hillside, Rte 32, Kingston, NY.

Donation: $100/person

Full Details and Reservation info to follow.

On a side note: Elliott did a great job on Valley Chat w/ Alderman Madsen. Callers were very responsive to his candidacy and he came across great on the issues. This guy is the real deal.