After some positive phone banking with the DCCC yesterday, I thought some more information on Jim Tedisco work as an Albany Assemblyman could be useful.
I say it is time to put the donation meter back up on the front page for Scott Murphy!
"I'm pretty proud of my work as an individual who concentrated on the economy for years, and now with this downturn I can hit the ground running," Tedisco said recently during an interview at Snyder's Restaurant in town.
votesmart.org
Wow! What a great thing there is a downturn, which my ideology didn't help cause at all. Now I can hit the ground running on the ideas I have been peddling for my whole career! Yay! I've been concentrating on the economy for all these years just for this moment to step out of the rubble of my old ideas and hit the ground running with my old ideas.
Strength. Economy. Where have I heard this before?
more below the fold
As a life long New Yorker who grew up Upstate, I think there is a lot Albany should not be proud of over the years, and Jim Tedisco's record is part of the problem. At some point I even hoped Albany would become ashamed of itself. Apparently, with guys like James Tedisco walking the halls of Albany, there is a reason the shame of Albany is the strong and silent type.
After looking at the voting record in Albany of Congressional House Candidate Jim Tedisco(R), two things come up as a theme. Jim Tedisco likes to say No to bills that don't kiss his ring, and Jim Tedisco loves taxes, just as long as him and his friends don't have to pay them.
I like to judge a man on his record, especially if that man touts his record as something he can stand on.
A few of Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco's recent votes
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Date Bill
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2/02/09 A1688 Expanding Local Control Over Rent Laws
- a bill to amend the local emergency housing rent control act by removing the provision that prohibits cities of one million or more from strengthening rent regulation laws to provide more comprehensive coverage than provided by state laws.
Jim Tedisco voted No
2/02/09 A2005 Expanding Rent Control Coverage
- an ACT enacting the "foreclosure prevention act of 2008"
Jim Tedisco voted No
8/19/08 A11838 Tax Law Amendments
- a bill that provides for a credit against property taxes for households with incomes up to $250,000, and increases income tax rates for those with incomes over $1 million.
Jim Tedisco voted No
5/07/08 A10083 Foreclosure Assistance Finance Bill
- a bill to provide temporary homeownership assistance
Jim Tedisco voted No
5/07/08 A10219 Mortgage Bill of Rights
- a bill that mandates that applicants for a home loan be provided "The Mortgage Applicant’s Bill of Rights"
Jim Tedisco voted No
5/07/08 A8972 Foreclosure and Lending
- Enacts the "New York state responsible lending act of 2008" to regulate subprime and nontraditional home loan lending.
Jim Tedisco voted No
4/09/08 S6807 2008-2009 Budget Financing
- a bill that amends existing laws to implement the education, labor, and family assistance budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year
Jim Tedisco voted No
2/13/08 A9998 NY Racing Association Funding
- a bill that funds the New York Racing Association (NYRA), allows them to continue to govern the top three horse tracks (Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga), and recognizes state ownership of the tracks.
Jim Tedisco voted Yes
5/29/07 A7526 Ticket Resale Price Cap Removal
- a bill that allows ticket resellers to charge more than the maximum premium price as established by previous law, as well as requiring them to purchase licenses from the state to operate.
Jim Tedisco voted Yes
5/08/06 A8098 Drug Law Reform and Drug Treatment
- a bill that allows some drug offenders to be sentenced to a Court Approved Drug Abuse Treatment Program. The bill also requires all offenders with a history of substance abuse to participate in a mandatory substance abuse treatment program
Jim Tedisco voted No
1/09/06 A2302 Childproof Firearm Sales
- a bill that prohibits the sale, delivery or transfer of firearms that do not have a safety or childproof mechanism incorporated into the design and were manufactured 12 months or more after this provision becomes law. The bill also specifies that a violation of these provisions is a class A misdemeanor
Jim Tedisco voted No
When push comes to shove, all James Tedisco wants to do is push less tax aid over to New York's working class, but he doesn't mind shoving all the tax burdens into their laps.
I would rather shove James Tedisco out the door.
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According to State Assembly Reports Upstate NY would rank 51st nationwide in job growth from 1995-2004 if ranked as it's own state.
Lagging job growth put New York in a category below traditional "Rust Belt" states, including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota, all of which grew jobs four times faster than Upstate from 1990-2000
assembly.state.ny.us
And that was back in the 90's to 2004, back in the good old days before Worldwide Great Depressions.
Looks like Jim Tedisco is still living in the past.
Though career Albany politician Jim Tedisco talks tough about fiscal responsibility and lowering taxes, his record tells an entirely different story.
While in Albany, Tedisco has actually voted to raise taxes 221 times.
It seems Tedisco never saw a tax increase he didn't like - Tedisco supported tax increases on sales, property, and wireless communications across the state.
dccc.org
After 20 years of dedicated service to the special interests State of New York, New York now ranks
4th highest Sales Tax in the Nation - 8.25% behind only TN, LA and WA
2nd highest tax burden by state - 11.7%, behind only NJ(11.8%)
47th place - New York ranks 47th in the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index.
42nd place - $1 : $0.79 - Per dollar of Federal tax collected in 2005, New York citizens received approximately $0.79 in the way of federal spending
4th Highest in property taxes nationally
Information provided by taxfoundation.org
The lesson is that our nation does not need any more of the same old ideas, and, for over 20 years, that is all Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has had to offer.
If you have not done so yet, please phonebank at DCCC.org for Scott Murphy in his campaign to keep NY-20 blue!
Or, if you are able to, make a donation for Scott Murphy's campaign. You can do so and learn more about our candidate at livableworld.org
Murphy is traveling the state meeting voters, but this sprawling district is too large for him to visit every town in the short amount of time before the election. Purchasing TV and radio ads is vital for him to reach all the voters.
Fortunately, broadcast time in upstate New York is not too expensive. Your contribution today can help Murphy reach out to voters in these crucial last weeks of the campaign.
livableworld.org
We need every voice we can get on Health Care Reform, EFCA and other key issues. We need every Democratic vote we can get to help us do that.
At least once this week, please commit some time to help out Scott Murphy. We missed out on opportunities at the end of last election cycle to help out candidates like Jim Martin in Georgia's Senate race and Paul Carmouche in the LA house race. Let's not allow that to happen again.
and yes Seneca, that was for you
UPDATE: Sorry about the screwed up poll options.
#4 was supposed to say "Encourage Michael Steele to 'get jiggy wit it' in downtown brooklyn"
#5 was supposed to say "Encourage Jim Tedisco to write long letters of apology to Rush, promising never to hurt his feeling again
I guess when Snark requires extra explanation it isn't very effective.
Oh, well