While Senator Clinton hands $1 billion to a Syracuse developer for a mall,

[hedgehog]

New York City airports go without proper radar!

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It's a real estate developer's sugar-plum dream: a mega-shopping mall complete with 10 Broadway-style theaters, an indoor river, a Tuscan village and a 39-story luxury hotel sheathed in green solar panels shaped like giant blades of grass. Plus as much as $1 billion in government-backed financing, thanks in part to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Not everyone thinks the plan, known as Destiny USA and still in the early bulldozer stage, is a good idea. Many on the Syracuse City Council consider its tax breaks a waste of public money. Others fear it could damage the struggling downtown area. Others question whether all its dazzling features will ever be built.


One thing is clear, however: Destiny is a classic example of how New York's junior senator has embraced old-fashioned pork-barrel politics, first to build power in the state, then to extend it nationwide as she becomes a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-earmarks10dec10,1,2408915.story


three major New York airports should not have to wait to get an advanced ground surveillance radar system already in place elsewhere in the country, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said yesterday.

Schumer, speaking days after planes nearly collided at Newark Liberty Airport, said that LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports are too busy and too important to wait for the advanced technology.

"Here we are, the most crowded airport area around, and we're scheduled to the bottom of the list," he said. "It just doesn't make any sense. We're asking they move us right up."
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nylga105494452dec10,0,1664909.story

From 2006:

Today, in light of a recent staffing problem with Air Traffic Controllers in Lexington that led to a tragic accident, and a history of problems LaGuardia airport’s control tower, Senator Charles E. Schumer called for full staffing of the control towers at LaGuardia and airports across the state and called for the Transportation House-Senate Appropriations Conference Committee to give final approval for $60 million for a new air traffic control tower at LaGuardia Airport.
http://www.schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=262481&

From 2005:
Schumer: New Vitally Needed Runway Radar System Being Deployed To Airports Across U.S. – New York Left Out In The Cold

Senator Demands That Feds Protect New York Travelers, Deliver Technology to LGA, JFK and Newark NY Metro Area Serves Nearly 100 Million Airline Passengers a Year; Busiest and Most Complex in the US

New York airports are being cheated out of a critical advanced radar system to prevent catastrophic runway collisions that if installed, would make the 94 million travelers who use New York area airports safer, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed today. The technology, called ASDE-X (for airport surface detection equipment) would alert controllers anytime a plane takes a wrong turn on the runway. This new technology is being installed at 37 airports around the country. LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark are not on the list of airports who will be receiving the technology in its first round deployment.

http://www.schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=260403&

[Bitwit1234]

1. Obama takes billions from Oprah...Say folks

how much can one person contribute to a candidate. I know the Obama rampers where absolutly wild when Hillary got that fund raiser....but then the Saint of the American Idol can't do no damn wrong.

[hedgehog]

2. That doesn't make any sense at all, billions from Oprah? Unless

you consider her endorsement worth that much.

My OP was contrasting an article which describes how Senator Clinton arranged for federal funding for a mall in Syracuse and received donations from the developer with Senator Schumer's attempts to get money for essential safety equipment at La Guardia, JFK and Newark airports.

[Cha]

21. Since when has that

poster made any sense?

[LittleClarkie]

4. What does that have to do with the story?

?

[babylonsister]

6. Oprah gave Obama $2,300 in September, hardly billions, but don't

let facts get in your way. :eyes:

http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Oprah_Winfrey.php

[Whisp]

11. that poster's comment did exactly as he/she intended...

make a blatantly obvious stupid statement to change the dialogue and get people responding to that blatantly obvious stupid statement, and not talk about the OP subject.

[babylonsister]

15. That's par for the course; always hits and runs. I just like to

prove she's full of shit every chance I get. :evilgrin:

[Whisp]

17. wasnt' really meant to you directly,

I have noticed your wiseguy/gal-ness. ;) and like it very much.

[Forkboy]

19. Please, just go back under your rock with the other grubs.

[Trajan]

30. Reminds me of Austin Powers .....

When Dr. Evil demands "ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS ! " .....

Um ..... I think your math is off slightly .....

[dionysus]

57. what are you trying to say?

i read that 8 times and it doesn't make a bit of sense...

[Donnachaidh]

67. of course you have LINKS to back up the allegation?

we'll wait. :eyes:

[Canuckistanian]

3. Wretched excess

I'm sure Syracuse City Council could think of 1,000 things more important than a mega-mall if they had $1 billion to spend.

[Whisp]

9. no kidding! this is just Vomitous!

there are people without homes, without proper medical care... cutbacks, cutbacks, cutbacks... the list is so long and heartbreaking but

1 billion for another freakin' mall to show off ridiculous conspicuous consumption. Maybe I'm jumping the gun wth my outrage over this, I'll have to wait and hear from the side that gives some good reasons for this TRAVESTY.

[BootinUp]

10. Don't live there

so hard to say whether there is a good reason for the cost. However, a mall has to compete with other malls, newer ones will normally cost more and be bigger in order to attract business and shops from the others. I don't have a problem with it if it is balanced by other projects to sustain other segments of the economy. As I said below, a majority of the 1 billion must be in the form of loans as far as I can tell.

[hedgehog]

50. Hmmm- it's just a loan, but then again, how many college students

could have used low rate loans?

[Cha]

22. We must Shop, Shop, Shop..

until we drop..so we won't notice our government is Organized Crime.

[BootinUp]

5. You've distorted the facts

Hillary's earmarks don't even add up to 1 billion.

Apparently some of the money in this situation is in the form of government backed loans.

[hedgehog]

51. The article appears to separate loans from actual grants in adding

up earmarks or else the earmarks amounts are totaled on an annual basis; I'm not sure which. The article is clear about the $1 billion loan though:

"Clinton also helped give the project federal aid from a specially authorized program that promotes "green" construction. Destiny has already begun to use some $200 million of the $1 billion in federal bonding authority it received in return for agreeing to build and operate the project to high standards of energy efficiency."

[ClarkUSA]

7. Hillary receives more lobbyist $ than any other candidate & is responsible for the most Senate pork

It's absolutely Hillaryous how she portrays herself as a better agent of change than Obama. :eyes:

[BootinUp]

8. Obama hasn't done badly in earmarks for

a first term Senator himself.

[mtnsnake]

14. Exactly. Obama used to be bigtime in earmarks, then he flipflopped, & he STILL does them to a degree

Just like he claims to be the anti-war candidate by keeps voting yes to fund it everytime. Same with his own history as an earmarker.

[ClarkUSA]

24. Links to your bogus claims?

I doubt you have anything to back up your statements. Your support for a pro-war neocon cannot be glossed over by attacking Obama using
Republican talking points, although I expect nothing more from a supporter of the campaign that sends out Republican Madrassa emails about
Obama. Y'all are as ethically bankrupt as the Clintons and their Rovian strategists. I'll be glad when Hillary goes back to the Senate forever.

[mtnsnake]

29. Right there in the articles. Clean your friggin goggles off!

[ClarkUSA]

23. Obama has disclosed his earmarks and they are piddling next to Hillary's $1 BILLION.

I was proud of Gen. Clark championing transparency in 2003 when he disclosed his records and tax returns when no other
candidate would and I'm similarly proud of supporting Obama who is for the same government principle, unlike some here.

[BootinUp]

25. Here are the numbers this year

For example, in the appropriations bills that have passed the Senate so far this year, Clinton earmarked 216 separate projects for a total of $236.6 million. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) secured $112.8 million; Obama earmarked $90.4 million, and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) earmarked projects totaling $70.8 million.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-earmarks10dec10,1,2408915.story?ctrack=3&cset=true

I think Hillary should play by the same rules as everyone else.

[ClarkUSA]

27. Thanks for proving my point.

I'm still waiting for Hillary of the Madrassa Email Campaign to provide full disclosure of her pork spending like Obama. But I know full well she will never
do so because she does not favor transparency except as a slogan.

[BootinUp]

28. Not sure I did, I have no problem

letting people see the real numbers instead of just reading your spin.

[saskatoon]

65. True

AND I hate that sob Hillary. Dig into some of the crap she has done and is doing. She is POWER hungry!

[paulk]

12. you know - for years people in upstate NY got the short

end of the stick when it came to representation . The votes, especially the Democratic votes, were downstate, and money was disbursed accordingly.

I think it's about time a Senator started putting some money into upstate. New York State isn't just NY city, although the folks down there sure like to think so.

C'mon - you live in Fulton! Surely you're aware of the constant fight that goes on between upstate and downstate!

[hedgehog]

48. I do live in Fulton, and I can assure you that the last thing Fulton

needs is a giant mall 30 miles down the road. IMO, the money went straight into Congel's pockets. Where was Senator Clinton when people here were trying to re-open the old Nestle's plant? People here need real jobs, not McJobs at a chain store at the mall.

[galledgoblin]

71. upstate needs downstate

one cannot thrive without the other

we need politicians who recognize this

I thought Spizer might, and still have a glimmer of hope that he does, but I never believed in Hillary. what money she has sent upstate has been to all the wrong projects.

[paulk]

73. name the projects

make your case.

Explain why she is so popular in upstate, if she's supported all the "wrong" projects.

[galledgoblin]

75. oy gevalt

I have a final in 2 hours, I'll track down specifics later... I don't think she's popular in upstate, I think voters just don't give a damn because of our messed up government and the way we cannot get representation, and it spills into national representation. those that turn out just vote for the incumbents.

[Whisp]

13. in my best Oliver impression:

more baubles, please.

[mtnsnake]

16. There's a reason why almost all NY'ers love Senator Clinton as their Senator

It's because she not only looks out for the big cities (despite the gross exagerrations here) but she's one of the first Senators ever who actually followed up on her campaign pledges in many of the rural areas of NY, too.

You're blaming the wrong person for NYC's financial problems.

[LittleClarkie]

18. Well, hell, you should know

I just looked up where you live.

[mtnsnake]

20. and?

You like? :evilgrin:

[dionysus]

58. are you near old forge?

[mtnsnake]

60. nope, I'm quite a bit north of there, or north-northeast.

Old Forge seems to be the place lots of people in northern NY go to buy their canoes and kayaks.

The closest I usually get to Old Forge is when my wife and I go hiking near Indian Lake, like up Snowy Mt, Blue Mt, Wakely (wow what a high fire tower there), etc.

[dionysus]

64. i asked that because i went to old forge for a canoe trip once... beautiful area

[mtnsnake]

68. Same here, did a canoe trip there umpteen years ago when I was in my early teens.

That canoe trip started out in Old Forge and ended up somewhere around Saranac Lake if I remember right. It was a long trip, around 10 days or so, numerous portages, some by hand and a couple carries by vehicle.

Nowadays, when we go canoeing, my wife and I each have a one-man Hornbeck canoe that you paddle with a kayak paddle instead of a conventional canoe paddle. They are awesome boats, a little over 10 feet long, made of kevlar, extremely durable, very stable, and weigh only 16 pounds.

You're right about the Old Forge area being a beautiful area, as are most of the Adirondacks. The Adirondack park is so huge that most people from outside the area can't fathom it. So many mountains and so much water. Truly God's country.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

31. As a New Yorker I can tell you that up-state New Yorkers are mad at Hillary...

because she failed to come through with her promise of bringing new jobs to up-state New York.

I guess she figures retail jobs will do.

[mtnsnake]

32. Not the case in all the upstate areas I've been. They're all mad at Bush, not Hillary. They love her

and Schumer, too.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

41. I live in Orange county where there are still plenty of Bush bumper stickers.

...I have a lot of neighbors who still hate Bill for being such a "lying dog". Plus, they think Hillary was stupid for sticking by him.

And when tell them all the reasons why they should really hate the couple, they get red with anger.

[BootinUp]

33. You're talking about the Senator re-elected with 65%

of the vote right?

[Just-plain-Kathy]

38. Sure Hillary won with 65% of the vote...the GOP handed her the election...

...by not supporting their candidate. They put a nobody up against her and then ran NO advertisements for him. YET, they spent a mint on their congressional candidate.

[BootinUp]

40. Its more like they ran away, don't you think?

[Just-plain-Kathy]

44. Why would they run away? Hillary could have brought the GOP an easy win.

All they had to do was to swiftboat her the way they did with Kerry, plus they had a lot more to work with.

It's either the GOP who wants her as our candidate, or the same corporatists who handed Bush the election.

[BootinUp]

45. Why is she kicking the Ghouls butt

in NY polling? by 11 pts in one poll.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1318.xml?ReleaseId=1108

And 17 in another: http://www.presidentelectionpolls.com/2008/matchups-by-state/new-york.html

Please enlighten me.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

69. I don't think the "Ghoul" has a chance of winning because he just sold off

...his own defense investment firm. ...Plus he sold off an investment firm to an Australian corporation which buys up roads in other countries and profits from pay-tolls. I guess Rudy will make out big time when the NAFTA Superhighway gets going. I think Rudy’s money comes from a different place then the powers who are now in charge. (That goes for ex-senior advisor to a global investment firm, John Edwards)

What I’m trying to say is that, I think being Wal-Mart made out so great in the last 10+ years, Wal-Mart and everyone involved (Hillary) must be part of the corporations which have the most power in this country. Clinton enacted NAFTA, NAFTA was a gift to Wal-Mart.

I don’t think the Clintons are patriots as much as they are a power couple making money hand over fist.

[hedgehog]

49. Read the article from the LA Times and look at he money that

was donated to Senator CLinton and ask yourself if anyone else had a chance at running against her. Then look at what returns people got for their donations. While Senator CLinton was making sure a super-mall gets built in Syracuse, airports in the NYC area are going without proper staffing and equipment. I live upstate, but my family uses those airports constantly. I wonder what other priorities have been neglected while Senator Clinton earmarks money for her donors?

[Beacool]

34. Where exactly are you in NY?

I go to the Albany - Troy area frequently and I don't hear that anti-Hillary theme you mention.

[galledgoblin]

35. I can't speak for other upstate NYers, but

I certianly can't stand her. in 7 years conditions have gone from bad to worse.

I'd be interested in seeing this data LATimes is reporting myself, see how much has gone to fringe "business parks" and how much has been lost from city downtowns in her time.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

36. I know her ex-employer, Wal-Mart has popped up all over up-state New York..

...they put alot of stores out of business.

[paulk]

39. Seven years, huh?

Who's been in the White House for the last seven years?

[Just-plain-Kathy]

43. And which senators enabled Bush every step of the way? ...n/t

[paulk]

55. that's absurd

when you make blanket charges like that, you just make your argument look foolish.

[galledgoblin]

47. true, but

bush's focus was fucking the entire nation, hillary's has been getting into the white house.

[paulk]

37. she won red counties that no Democrat has won in 50 years

I guess they weren't THAT mad....

[gmudem]

66. I'm from Dutchess County

And while I don't really consider myself to be upstate, it seems like most of actual upstate New York still isn't doing too great economically. I'm hardly saying this is Hillary's fault, but I don't think she's made a big difference either.

Can't wait til New York gets a Senator that's actually from New York.

[mtnsnake]

70. Holy shit I looked at your profile

I grew up in and around Beacon. Small world.

[bvar22]

42. Hillary Delivers!!!

Who loves ya?


The CEOs love ya.

People who Work for a Living...... not so much.


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[mod mom]

59. TO THE ALREADY RICH! as you say those who work for a living-not so much.

[fujiyama]

46. I'm finding it more and more difficult to hold my nose and vote for her in the general election

I'll do so in the end, only because I don't want the SC stacked with RW crazies, but it's too bad at this moment when the other party is imploding, we would even CONSIDER someone like her for president.

I really hope Edwards or Obama can pull this off.

[mtnsnake]

52. All you nose-holders act like you deserve a friggin medal or something

Sorry, no medals for you today.

[Forkboy]

61. What about those who have gone past the nose holding stage?

I'm not even going that far with her. The only way she gets my vote is if the race is within 5-10 points here in Mass...and it wont be. I feel like I deserve a Gold for that....Silver at least! :P

[mod mom]

62. better idea-massive campaign to WRITE IN a populist! I've had enough of business

as usual. I will only vote for change and that ain't Hillary regardless if she wins or not.

[cali]

53. As if she's the only one

I don't like it from Clinton, but I certainly find Edwards' association with Fortress just as bad, if not worse. That was for personal gain.

[hedgehog]

54. Did Edwards arrange for Fortress to receive a federal loan or fedral contract? nt

[Forkboy]

63. I really don't like any of our candidates much anymore, top tier at least.

They all have reasons why they aren't what they present themselves as.

[Czolgosz]

56. Shameful!

[ecstatic]

72. Honestly, the runway near-misses worry me too

Especially since I'm flying into NY next month. 12 near collisions in one year is totally unacceptable. These days you can't relax until you're completely out of the plane.

[ginchinchili]

74. This is an example of why I support Biden and not Clinton.

Enough already with the B.S.