The Hayseeds blog, No. 211 for the week starting June 18, 2007.
Monday
Rural America No Longer Dominated By Republicans
Spitzer Says July Session in the Works
Tuesday
Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill
Wednesday
Microsoft's Voting Machine Amendment
Thursday
Senate Challenges Spitzer's Nominations
Friday
Sematech Get Money; Bruno's List Doesn't
Saturday
What Exactly is Silver Thinking?
Boondocks is about farms, rural life, and power toys.
Energy looks at high energy prices and our future.
Enviroman looks at man and the environment.
Individual looks at myself and how I'm changing
Outblog is all about my outdoor experiences.
Transit looks at the changing ways we get around.
Truck gives you stories and trips in my Ford Ranger.
Rural America No Longer Dominated By Republicans. NPR has done another poll/study of voting behavior in rural areas, and confirmed what many of us have known for a while—rural America continues to trend blue. P'Link
Spitzer Says July Session in the Works. The governor has made it clear that he means business about getting congestion pricing in New York City a go, saying that he will call back the boys in July. P'Link
Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Bill. While not quite yet, but it's on debate and I'm watching with a fascinated ear while the debate goes on. The Assembly's passage is meaningless legally without the Senate doing the same before the end of the year, but it greatly increases the chances that the Senate will do it next year.
And the Senate Republicans might have a reason to allow it to go next year. It would allow them to go against rural and suburban Democrats and build their majority, if they could force Democrats to go on the line and vote on such an issue.
Watch it Live: http://assembly.state.ny.us/av/ or head to the gallery of the Assembly. P'Link
Bloomberg Quits the GOP. It looks like Michael "Brilliant" Bloomberg is quiting the G.O.P., raising a lot of eyebrows suggesting that he's going to run for mayor on a third party line.
He certainly has the money to do so. He also has made a name for himself, and he's running against some candidates that are less then appetizing for many of us. P'Link
Microsoft's Voting Machine Amendment. It looks like the people at Microsoft don't trust New York State to look at their operating system source code, as required in elections law, prior to certification of the voting machines. So they have written a bill to amend elections law to do just that.
The good news is that nobody has put in this bill as far as I can tell, after a fairly extensive search of LRS. As Monday was the last day to put legislation in for this session (without a very unlikely message of necessity from Governor Spitzer), it's not possible to advance this text this year.
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to electronic voting machines and systems
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 1-104 of the election law is amended to add a new paragraph 38 to read as follows:
38. A technology, including software, is an “election-dedicated voting system technology” if it is specifically designed for use solely or primarily in a voting system or has been specifically modified for use solely or primarily in a voting system, but only to the extent of such modification. Any element of a technology that has not been specifically designed or modified for use solely or primarily in a voting system shall not constitute an “election-dedicated voting system technology”.
§2. Section 7-208 of the election law is amended to read as follows:
Escrow requirements. Prior to the use of any voting machine or system in any election in the state, on or after September first, two thousand six, the state board of elections and the local board of elections using such voting machine or system shall:
1. Require that the manufacturer and/or vendor of such voting machine, system or equipment shall place into escrow with the state board of elections a complete copy of:
(a) in the case of “election-dedicated voting system technology” implemented in such voting machine, system, or equipment, the information necessary to assess the integrity and efficacy of such technology. In the case of any such technology comprised of software, this information may include the ballot programming files, source code, or object code of such software; and
(b) in the case of all other technologies comprised of software, only the object code of such software as implemented in such voting machine, system or equipment.
Any information subject to escrow pursuant to this paragraph may be used or disclosed solely for the purposes authorized by this chapter and may not be used or disclosed for any other purpose.
2. Require that the manufacturer and/or vendor of such voting machine, system or equipment file with the state board of elections and the appropriate local boards of elections a waiver, prepared by the state board of elections, which shall authorize any information subject to escrow under paragraph 1 of this section to be disclosed to a court of competent jurisdiction for purposes of evaluating a challenge to the results of an election in the State of New York in which such voting machine, system, or equipment was used, including for evaluation by an independent experts under court supervision, so long as such information is immediately placed under seal. The independent expert and the court, and any other party to whom such information is disclosed pursuant to this paragraph, shall be required to maintain the confidentiality of such information.
3. Require that the manufacturer and/or vendor of such equipment file with the state board of elections and the appropriate local boards of elections a consent to the testing of any information subject to escrow under paragraph 1 of this section, pursuant to an order of any board of election or court of competent jurisdiction, which shall include a commitment not to object to or otherwise obstruct such testing. Any person or entity to whom such information is disclosed pursuant to this paragraph shall be required to maintain the confidentiality of such information.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
This something to keep a watch out for. I know I don't particularly want to see voting machines running on proprietary software, such as Windows, particularly if we can't find out about bugs in the complier or even more worse things. The reality is that we have open source software, including thin machine kernels such as Linux, supported by IBM and other big companies that clearly could run whatever voting code one wanted to run on their machines.
Then there is optical scan. Why can't everybody just use good ol' scantrons to get their voting done? They are cheap and they work well. And the technology has been tested for a long time. That's why Clinton County is choosing them—so why not the other 64 counties? P'Link
List of Unfinished Business. The TU also did a good job running down what is likely to pass and what won't get done. Here is a run down of the things likely to get done from the article:
Of course many things didn't get done like a new Article X sitting law, congestion pricing in Manhattan, and deciding for sure who should replace NYRA (unless your Governor Steamroller who thinks NYRA + an out of state gaming company should run them). Pay raises are also unlikely to get done.
While at least the Assembly is working late into the nights, it seems like a lot of the pressure is off this year compared to past years. People are happy to go home, regardless of how much they accomplish. With Spitzer's threat of summer session, people almost feel less like they have to work hard to ensure all the ends are tied up. P'Link
Senate Challenges Spitzer's Nominations. It looks like the State Senate has not been so ready to give a blank check to Governor Spitzer for his nominations to various positions, according to an article in today's Times Union.
That's good for them. Spitzer shouldn't always get his way, and whoever the governor appoints to various offices should get some scrutinity, particularly if their values clash with a significant portion of the state's values. We need to have checks on power in government, even if it sometimes slows down desired policy outcomes. P'Link
Spitzer Hits Back. It looks like our governor held a press conference with Pete Grannis where he said the legislature was a generally a disappointment for not getting most of what he wanted done. He's also threatening to do another road trip, and piss on as many Assemblymember and Senator's feet as possible.
Let's hope this time, he saves most of his urine for the feet of the State Senate. After all, they were the ones that did their part to make life difficult for Spitzer. It doesn't help that they are of the other party, and don't always agree. P'Link
Sematech Get Money; Bruno's List Doesn't. It looks like a few not so veiled threats by Sematech scared Bruno into playing nice with Shelly and passing the sematech bill.
Bruno is probably right in questioning why we are only funding this one project, and not economic development comprehensively in our state. Clearly there is a need for jobs, particularly outside of Albany. People in the Albany-area have it quite easy compared to many of the rural parts of our state, not to mention most of the other small, medium, and even large parts of the city. P'Link
Kirsten on Balanced Budgets. It looks like our favorite Congresswomen from Hudson says that balanced budgets are something that Congress needs to seriously consider, and she is proposing a constitutional amendment to do just that:
Last week, I introduced a "balanced budget" amendment to the United States Constitution. The need for financial restraint could not be clearer: Our national debt is approaching $9 trillion, equivalent to $29,000 for every man, woman and child. Over the past six years, Congress' spending habits have jeopardized our country's fiscal situation, by allowing the national debt to increase by more than 60 percent.
Figuring that most normal people as do most states need to have balanced budgets, or pay serious consequences in the form of interest and fees, that makes a lot of sense. And even the federal government isn't getting off scott-free—all this excessive spending is costing real money in debt service—that is creeping up and making nobody rich except for China.
The text of the constitutional amendment:
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
`Article --
`Section 1. Total outlays for any fiscal year shall not exceed total receipts for that fiscal year, unless three-fifths of the whole number of each House of Congress shall provide by law for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a rollcall vote.
`Section 2. Prior to each fiscal year, the President shall transmit to the Congress a proposed budget for the United States Government for that fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts.
`Section 3. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The provisions of this article may be waived for any fiscal year in which the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of the whole number of each House, which becomes law.
`Section 4. The Congress shall enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation, which may rely on estimates of outlays and receipts. The appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall report to their respective Houses implementing legislation to achieve a balanced budget without reducing the disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to achieve that goal.
`Section 5. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States Government except those derived from borrowing. Total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States Government except for those for repayment of debt principal.
`Section 6. This article shall take effect beginning with the later of the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification or the first fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2011.'.
It should be noted that there are 3 other resolutions floating out there, on this subject, but Gillibrand's resolution is the only one by a majority party member, with majority party support in the house. Not that it's very likely to pass, as there are a lot of roadblocks and big spenders out there who like running up lots of debt for their special projects.
See here Editorial in the Pough-Town Journal and Gillibrand's joint-resolution H.J. 45 that would start the process for a Balanced Budget Amendment. P'Link
What Exactly is Silver Thinking? That is what Joyce Purnick asks in her latest column on biographing one of the most powerful men in New York State.
As the article notes, Silver has so much power under the tradition and policies of New York, and his decisions can have a real impact on our state. Of course, the same can very much be said about Bruno. Yet, ultimately their power relies on their majority—they have to keep all their members happy.
Mike Bragman almost did in Silver 7 years ago, and we can never forget that. Yet, Silver showed that he was a better person to continue to lead the party in the Assembly. Still, Silver's some what recluse-style doesn't win him much credit with his critics. P'Link
Copyright ©1999-2008 Andy Arthur.
All mistakes are intentional or otherwise.
Mind where you step in a cow pasture or legal mindfield.