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Thread: Had enough yet

  1. #1126
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    Quote Originally Posted by HipKat View Post
    I'd love to read today's Buffalo News but they put their pay wall back up and this time it's not so easy to bypass
    Didn't want you to miss out, HipKat, so here you go:

    Trump budget tries to cut social programs, but plan itself is DOA

    By Jerry Zremski | Published February 13, 2018 | Updated February 13, 2018

    WASHINGTON – President Trump's budget proposal may be dead on arrival on Capitol Hill, but the document shows that he still harbors dreams of gutting a host of social programs that serve tens of thousands of people in metro areas such as Buffalo.

    Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and several other programs face cuts in Trump's $4.4 trillion spending proposal for fiscal 2019, which Trump unveiled Monday. Efforts to fight the opioid epidemic, local medical researchers and the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station appear to be among the Western New York winners in the spending plan.

    Congress routinely dismisses budget proposals from presidents of both parties, and Trump's spending plan is less relevant than most simply because Congress already drew up the bare outlines of a budget for 2019 in a bipartisan compromise last week.

    "As a practical matter, this isn't going anywhere," said Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat who sits on the House Budget Committee.

    Still, the congressional appropriations committees – which set aside the money the government spends – will no doubt at least look at Trump's priorities as they craft their legislation.

    "While there are cuts to important programs locally such as LIHEAP ... ultimately the House Appropriations Committee will determine the overall funding for these programs," said Rep. Chris Collins, a Clarence Republican. "As I have in years past, I will be a strong advocate for the needs of Western New York to make sure our priorities are represented during the Appropriations process.”

    Other local lawmakers had even harsher words for Trump's budget.

    “It is utterly astounding that just six weeks after slashing taxes on the wealthy and biggest corporations, creating a huge deficit, the president asks older Americans and middle-class Americans to make up the difference by slashing Medicare and Medicaid," said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat.

    Higgins said the spending plan seemed designed to hurt cities such as Buffalo. "This is an anti-urban agenda," he said. "It's as if the Trump administration said: 'These people don't vote for us, so let's clobber them.' "

    Meantime, Rep. Tom Reed, a Corning Republican, fretted over the fact that even with all its proposed cuts, Trump's spending plan would increase the federal deficit over time. "The president’s budget proposal shows Washington is not serious about solving our nation’s debt crisis," Reed said.

    Here's a look at the budget cuts that Trump proposes that would most likely affect the largest numbers of Western New Yorkers:

    Medicaid: Continuing his efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Trump wants to end the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, which extended the federal-state health program into the middle class.

    The Cuomo administration estimated last year that ending the Medicaid expansion would result in 1.9 million New York residents losing their insurance. And more recent statistics, from January, show that there were 79,874 people in Erie County alone on the expanded Medicaid program that Trump would like to eliminate.

    Even poorer state residents on Medicaid could see changes if Trump got his way. That's because his budget also revives the proposal to turn the program into a block grant, which would cut the amount of money the state gets from the federal government for it over time.

    Medicare: Trump proposes a 7 percent cut in funding for the program that provides health care to America's seniors, saying that money will come out of overpayments to medical providers. Insurers and medical professionals are sure to object, though, and argue that patients would obviously somehow suffer if spending were to be cut so deeply. Any changes would be especially noticeable in places such as Erie County that have an unusually high population of elderly residents. Federal statistics show that 192,843 Erie County residents were on Medicare as of last November.

    Food stamps: Trump proposes a drastic reform of this program, which served 150,599 Erie County residents as of December. Funding would be cut 27 percent. And instead of getting their food at grocery stores, food stamp recipients would start getting boxes of healthy food delivered at their homes by the federal government.

    LIHEAP: Once again this year, the president suggests eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which served 69,127 in Erie County as of December. But Congress refused to agree to end the program last year, and lawmakers have long resisted repeated attempts by presidents of both parties to cut the program.

    Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Funded at $300 million this year, Trump would cut that to $30 million. Lawmakers from the Great Lakes states fought off a Trump proposal to eliminate the Great Lakes cleanup program last year.

    Community Development Block Grant: Once again, Trump proposes eliminating a program that Buffalo uses for neighborhood improvements across the city. Congress has trimmed funding for the program over the years, but it still brings about $21 million annually to the Buffalo metro area.

    TIGER grants: While proposing a new $200 billion federal infrastructure program, Trump proposes eliminating the Obama-era Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. Buffalo utilized a grant from that program as part of its plan to restore vehicle traffic to Main Street downtown, and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is currently applying for a TIGER grant to help fund an extension of Metro Rail to the DL&W Terminal.

    The war on opioids: Trump wants to add another $13 billion to federal efforts to fight the opioid epidemic, which claimed an estimated 316 lives in Erie County last year. That's far in excess of the $6 billion increase Congress approved as part of its budget bill last week, and it's unclear whether Congress will want to add another boost in funding.

    Medical research funding: Funding for the National Institutes of Health would remain essentially flat under both the Trump budget and the spending plan passed by Congress last week, likely sparing researchers at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus from deep cuts like those Trump proposed last year.

    Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station: Defense spending would increase about 13 percent under the spending plan, and at least a little of that money would filter down to the local military base. Collins noted that the Trump spending plan calls for $14 million to be spent on a new fitness center at the base. The project is so expensive because it involves tearing down two old buildings, conducting an environmental impact study and then building a new facility.

  2. #1127
    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HipKat View Post
    I'd love to read today's Buffalo News but they put their pay wall back up and this time it's not so easy to bypass


    Copy the title of any article. Paste directly into google. In the result, click the cached version.

  3. #1128
    Member Greg Sojka's Avatar
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    Who can you believe? Lancaster school district audit by the NYS comptroller says Lancaster has lots of money and residents deserve at tax cut. Lancaster school district says it is an opinion and want to raise taxes. The same can be said for big government. They will cherry pick programs and use scare tactics. Figures do not lie,but liars can figure!

  4. #1129
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Sojka View Post
    Who can you believe? Lancaster school district audit by the NYS comptroller says Lancaster has lots of money and residents deserve at tax cut. Lancaster school district says it is an opinion and want to raise taxes. The same can be said for big government. They will cherry pick programs and use scare tactics. Figures do not lie,but liars can figure!
    Greg: It appears you are digging him up to beat the dead horse again.

    Did you attend the session with Jamie Phillips when she explained the myriad of reserve accounts required? Did you understand the totality of reserves for different financial responsibilities under the umbrella of the district?

    Oh that's right, you didn't attend, or so it is reported, so you heard none of the presentation. But, you continue to consider the information as opinion, versus factual response to an audit, which is also an opinion.

    The initial audit report is always an opinion, until the audited party provides its response.

    If, as you represent, NYS indicates that a refund is due, to tax payers, please produce the "Final Audit Report" which concludes your suggestion.

    We would all like a smaller tax burden from all levels of government, and more transparency, but your inappropriate reference, continually, to the reserves at the Lancaster School District is getting very old, just because you have a "dislike for the superintendent".

    Or maybe you would change places with East Aurora, as they have absolutely no necessary reserves, and are looking at huge tax increases next year to simply make ends meet.

    Poor financial planning versus our administration's wise and contractually required planning at Lancaster.

    What do you think is more responsible to the community and the students?

    Appropriate reserves for all financial responsibilities, or drain the reserves and face "huge" tax increases, or cuts in personnel and student services when cost increases catch up

    If you believe scare tactics are used financially, at some level one cannot agree, but the horse wants to rest on peace with regard to LCS reserves

  5. #1130
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    A very informative post Lord Geof. I had not responded to Sojka’s post because it had nothing to do with this thread’s national politics and was the same-old-same-old Sojka’s comments on a Comptrollers opinion of a few years back and a misunderstanding of reserve funds and their use.

    It was fortunate LCSD had accumulated such reserves to counter the $25 million in state aid it did not receive with GEP. Greg should go back and look at the amount of reserves the district spent over a 5 year period to counter the loss – up to near $11 million in the one year alone. The district used the reserves well to stay within the tax cap levy and where taxpayers receive compensation back from the state each year.

    Greg will again have the opportunity to vote against the budget this year and any BOE member who voted budget approval last year, or any candidate who supports its passage this year. He certainly has no say in voting for the town budget.

  6. #1131
    Member Greg Sojka's Avatar
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    The wizard of Lancaster gadfly Lee has spoken! What do we know based on your comments ? 1. Your a blank 2. All politicos suck. 3. You listen to recorded meetings and then keyboard your wizardry. I am impressed with the New superintendent at Frontier he is paid 167,000 a year and reports on bullying and fights at his school (Buffalo News) because they are facts. In this day and age the last thing we need is a Superintendent fudging reports and sweeping things under the rug. The Country of Russia interfering with elections using FAKE names and FAKE accounts according to the FBI. Good thing they do not look on Speak Up wNY LOL. Lord,you are irrelevant! You are an anonymous letter on the desk of DR. Vallely and you are tossed in the garbage as that is his policy. Lord, ask the wizard Lee for courage to use your real name.

  7. #1132
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Sojka View Post
    The wizard of Lancaster gadfly Lee has spoken! What do we know based on your comments ? 1. Your a blank 2. All politicos suck. 3. You listen to recorded meetings and then keyboard your wizardry. I am impressed with the New superintendent at Frontier he is paid 167,000 a year and reports on bullying and fights at his school (Buffalo News) because they are facts. In this day and age the last thing we need is a Superintendent fudging reports and sweeping things under the rug. The Country of Russia interfering with elections using FAKE names and FAKE accounts according to the FBI. Good thing they do not look on Speak Up wNY LOL. Lord,you are irrelevant! You are an anonymous letter on the desk of DR. Vallely and you are tossed in the garbage as that is his policy. Lord, ask the wizard Lee for courage to use your real name.
    You are difficult to respond to because you don’t have the facts, when you are asked a question to defer to a personal attack mode and honestly I have no idea what you were referring to in the last two sentences. But as I am irrelevant why is my opinion or my comments important to you?

    You were asked by Lord Geof:

    Did you attend the session with Jamie Phillips when she explained the myriad of reserve accounts required? Did you understand the totality of reserves for different financial responsibilities under the umbrella of the district?

    You have yet to respond because you didn’t attend that meeting and you have no idea what is left in usable reserves. If you do have that information, provide it.

    I am an ardent advocate for education and I see LCSD as a good school district worth supporting - and I don't have a single family member living in the district who attends LCSD. I guess that not only makes me irrelevant but stupid as well, right Greg?

    Regardless, take this matter to another thread to continue your venomous reproach. It’s the same-old-same-old Sojka rant that Vallely and five members of the BOE suck.

  8. #1133
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    On February 9, on post #1098, I wrote:

    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    The idea of a military parade is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. There is Armed Forces Day, Veterans Day, so why not just enhance those celebrations?

    At times, Trump does it to himself. The last thing he needs to do, is to propose a rather gratuitous event, for a vague propose, highlighting him taking the salute of the military, which can be compared to Hitler's 50th birthday celebration, or May Day and the traditional November 7 parades in Red Square.

    A very exploitable visual.
    This makes more sense, and the optics are more easily explained:

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...ans-day-423405

  9. #1134
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    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...cid=spartandhp

    “Said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential conservation.”

    Has any presidential office had this much leaking going on? Is nothing considered sacred anymore? Hate at the expense of the country’s best interest, I just don’t get it.

  10. #1135
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    Is the left’s position / message really based on Senator Dianne Feinstein not being liberal enough, that illegal immigrants rights (as if they should have any) are equal to that of American citizens, where Sanctuary City politicos are now warning illegals of upcoming raids, and where the left is now trying to make it possible for illegals to vote?

    Looks like my deplorable label will continue on in the upcoming mid-term elections.

  11. #1136
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    Trump Awkwardly Assumes Steelworker’s Father Is Dead. He Isn't.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...cid=spartandhp

    To think a man could be so hated by the liberal media that they would publish such nonsense.

  12. #1137
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post
    Trump Awkwardly Assumes Steelworker’s Father Is Dead. He Isn't.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...cid=spartandhp

    To think a man could be so hated by the liberal media that they would publish such nonsense.
    He apologized to the man, and both made light of it. For the media, covering the gaffe wait appears to be preferable to covering the greatest diplomatic coup since the China initiative was announced in July, 1971.

  13. #1138
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Chowaniec View Post
    Trump Awkwardly Assumes Steelworker’s Father Is Dead. He Isn't.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...cid=spartandhp

    To think a man could be so hated by the liberal media that they would publish such nonsense.
    It’s not nonsense. It happened. Oh, and once again, he tried to have a signing ceremony without actually signing anything. The man is a dunce.


    b.b.

  14. #1139
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    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    He apologized to the man, and both made light of it. For the media, covering the gaffe wait appears to be preferable to covering the greatest diplomatic coup since the China initiative was announced in July, 1971.
    What, elevating a dictator to the stature of the United States. Something no President has ever done? Yea, OK.


    b.b.

  15. #1140
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BorderBob View Post
    What, elevating a dictator to the stature of the United States. Something no President has ever done? Yea, OK.


    b.b.
    Meeting with dictators, sure, but I do not recall any U.S. President meeting with the leader of a nation, during a time when the the U.S. was in a state of hostile belligerency with that nation Bob.

    Officially, and practically, the U.N. mandate of 1950 is still in effect, because only a 1953 "cease-fire" exists in Korea, and in fact, it is my understand that Kim Jong Un publicly renounced/abrogated that cease-fire some time ago.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the life of me, I can't recall any President other than Nixon, meeting with the leader of a hostile, enemy regime, during a time of such ostensible hostilities, and my initial post already acknowledged the Nixon initiative. (Nixon met with Mao in 1972, while Mainland China was still bound by its 1950 obligations to North Korea.)

    Straighten me out if you believe me wrong.
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; March 9th, 2018 at 10:06 PM.

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