Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Change Has Come To America

And To The New York State Senate

We are witness to history, both across this great land and here on Long Island.

A new direction for America, and the end of the Grand Old Party's forty-year reign in the State Senate.

In the depths of America's Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President of the United States, and Americans, forlorn, tired, fearful, and hopeless, could be heard singing the refrains of Happy Days Are Here Again.

For these United States and, perhaps, the world, a new day dawns. A new day where hope triumphs over fear, confidence supplants uncertainty, divisiveness succumbs to civility, and that which tears nations and people apart gives way to a new wave of cooperation that brings everyone together for the common good of all mankind.

A New New Deal for America; an opportunity to live out the dream of Camelot as the world watches this nation lead again.

As Sarah heads back to Wasilla, and Joe-the-Plumber looks for work at Hempstead Town Hall (where plumbers really do make $100,000 a year), we look toward Albany, where, by a narrow two-seat majority, power (if not authority) shifts in the State Senate from red to blue.

Time to put partisan bickering behind us, to cross the aisle, to work together for the benefit of all New Yorkers, cutting property taxes, bringing parity and common sense to the State aid formulae so that none of our children are left behind, funding the unfunded mandates, and, yes, at long last, passing that bigger, better bottle bill.

"Yes We Can" has been the mantra of the Obama campaign, and must be the modus operandi of every elected representative from the State Capitol to Town Hall.

Then, and only then, can we end the stalemate that stymies progress and holds every one of us prisoner to yesterday's fears and failures.

Change has come to America. Let us make this our defining moment.

Cue the balloons.

2 comments:

  1. The only plumbers making $100,000 and more are the owners of plumbing businesses. Hempstead also employs these people as plumbing examiners, inspectors, etc. So they make millions, not hundreds of thousands. Then, with their ability to hire whom they please, they eliminate competition. This in turn translates into greater expense for the homeowners.

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  2. You said a mouthful. The question is why would Kate Murray and the Town Board continue to permit these conflicts of interests that at times have proven detrimental to the residents of Hempstead Town? There was a lot of property damages done when her inspectors signed off on non code compliant, dangerous conditions, in what we must assume was in exchange for money or favor for their friends and associates. The gang is still there and we are stuck paying the salaries of officials who violated the public's trust.

    Then again there must be a very good reason why Supervisor Murray is backing the plumbers against residents, approving unlimited legal fees to defend them in court.

    Perhaps one day Ms. Murray will tell her constituents why the plumbers and trades were so important to her that she was willing to risk her good reputation and career to protect them. Or is Ms. Murray ultimately protecting governmental lawyers who did business with them and helped prepare the otherwise questionable testimony of defendants in civil actions?

    Maybe Murray will find the time to explain her actions when she isn't too busy with her oversized double sized marketing pieces mailed to residents every few weeks.

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