Stories from

Republican congressional candidate Chris Lee told me this afternoon that Congress should have passed the "stabilization package" (he doesn't like the word "bailout") on Monday.

He said what Congress passed Friday, with it's millions of dollars in pork spending, demonstrated that some members are "more concerned with saving their seats than with doing the right thing for the country."

When I asked him about how Democrats blame deregulation, and Republicans say there are still too many regulations -- such as Sarbanes-Oxley, which did nothing to help matters -- Lee said, "We have all of these new exotic financial instruments, so we need updated regulations to ensure we have control."

"There have mistakes made, and I don't like to point fingers," said Lee, adding again that both Republicans and Democrats share the blame. "I don't care about any of that. I care about getting to a solution and protecting taxpayers."

In the middle of our talk, Lee changed subjects to the Democrats attacking him for sending jobs to China.

"We run a business today that employs people from more than 300 families in Western New York," he said. "The comment that we export jobs to China is as far from the truth as possible."

He added that his company exports parts to China, made in Western New York, and those pieces are then assembled in China to build products that are sold to Chinese.

The reason to do that, he said, is so the competition does not create those products in China for export to the United States to compete with his company. "It's very smart," he said.

So, here I am, in our Batavia office on a Saturday afternoon. My wife isn't too happy with me because I should be home cutting the lawn and now rain clouds are gathering. But this morning when I heard that Lee was in Batavia today, I wanted to talk with him about the bailout issue.  It's been hard for anybody to get much of an answer out of him on the topic.

I brought my video camera and wanted to get his answer on video. This is an important issue, and I thought it would be a fairer bit of journalism to let Lee answer it in as an unfiltered way as possible. To me, it's for Lee's own good to speak right to the voters  and say what he wants to say.

Lee's campaign manager Nick Longworthy did not want me video taping the interview. I pushed the issue a little bit with Lee, but he wanted to go along with his campaign manager's advice, and I'm not here to be a jerk and insist on having my way.  I'm not Mike Wallace playing "gotcha journalism." Also, I get Nick's concern. It would be very easy for the opposition to take a quote out of context and use it in a negative ad.

The 26th District is close, but a reasonably safe GOP district. I'm sure Lee's advisers are continually counseling him to be cautious and not do or say anything that could turn the district against him.  I get that. But I also believe that it is during an open-seat election that voters have their best chance to get inside the head of the man or women who might represent them for many years.  Once the winner is safely in office, they often retreat behind press releases and sound bites.  Now is the time to get as much unvarnished information from them as possible.

I did use my little Flip camera to get a bit of quick video from the GOP open house, just to capture the scene a bit.  I'll post that shortly.

BTW: If Chris Lee, Nick Longworthy or anybody else from the Lee campaign wishes to clarify or amplify on anything I wrote, you're welcome to post in the comments, or in a new blog post.  Nick is also welcome to post the audio tape that he captured of the interview.

Here's the quick video.  NOTE: Flip batteries went dead just as Lee started to speak (after Tom Reynolds).  I did hear what Lee said, because I immediately ran to my car to get my other video camera, but Lee's statement had to be pretty short. My car wasn't far away at all. (Disappointing, too, because it wasn't that long ago that I put new batteries in the flip).

UPDATE: Here's a short Buffalo News story on the GOP HQ grand opening.

GOP candidate for the 26th Congressional District has been surprisingly silent on the Wall Street financial crisis and the bailout plan.

I just came across this comment on WROC, which remains the only statement I've seen from him so far.

... "we need to stop the finger pointing and work together to restore taxpayer trust and confidence in the economy. We need a bipartisan solution that will bring liquidity and stability to our financial markets now."

I now see the D&C quotes a shorter version of the same statement. Evan Dawson at WHAM has more.

Does that offer enough specifics for you? Does it tell you anything about the sort of fisical policies he will pursue?

Meanwhile, I just spotted this comment from Brian Hartz on a previous post. It sort of puts a human face on how the financial crisis is effecting Western New Yorkers.

I am one of those that can't get financial aid because my grades were not real great. Last year I got an alternative loan to pay for school, but this year the bank I went through stopped offering the loans. I had to borrow money from my grandparents to pay for tuition.

I don't mean overly harsh on Mr. Lee; after all, my politics are probably closer to his than Alice Kryzan's. I just don't get why he's avoiding talking about, in detail, the most significant domestic policy issue of my and his lifetime.

UPDATE: In case you missed it: Of course, after I posted this, I went to an event that I knew Chris Lee would be at and asked him to clarify his position.  That post is here.

Submission from Jay Grasso:

All are welcome to attend the grand opening of the Genesee County Republican Headquarters.  The new headquarters will open today at noon and is located at the corner of Rt.5 and Lewiston Road (former Georgie Porgies).

Meet Congressional candidate Chris Lee, State Senate candidate Mike Ranzenhofer, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, Assemblyman Dan Burling, and State Supreme Court Candidate Jeff Voelkl.

When I told Hilly today that I was going to drive around Alexander, he told me I had to checkout Field of Dreams. 

What a great public sports complex.  I'm sure you all know about, but I couldn't resist doing a quick video. 

So, what are your memories of past glories at Field of Dreams?

More than 120 young men from Pavilion went off to war in the 1940s, and a proud town honored those soldiers with a plaque that hung in the high school for decades -- until it fell in such a state of disrepair that it was put in storage.

School board member Sarah Moag didn't forget about the Roll of Honor plaque, however, and one day she called on Stewart Whitney, a local woodworking hobbyist, to see if he could restore it.

He said he would give it a try.

Please be sure to pick up a copy of today's Daily News and see a picture of the stunningly restored Roll of Honor.

Writer Roger Muelig unravels the gripping narrative of the restoration project.

Also on the front page, Joanne Beck captures the magic of the moment -- when the sun came out just long enough yesterday -- for the dedication of a new nature trail at Genesee Community College. It's really a restoration of a trail that "seemed forgotten" after the 1970s/80s. There are 21 markers identifying plants along the trail.

We already linked in Regional Headlines to another front page story -- that Buffalo stations Channel 4 and 9 have been pulled from the cable lineup by Time Warner due to a contract dispute.

The County has named a new IT director -- Steve Zimmer, who has 30 years experience in the IT field, both in the private and public sector, and will earn $72,000 per year.

On the inside of the paper, one of the more interesting pieces that caught my eye was an op-ed column by Dan Radmacher, an editorial page editor in Roanoke, Va.  Radmacher writes, "Newspapers are vital to the functioning of democracy."

This is the typical arrogance of many newspaper people.

A free press -- broadcast, print and, now, online -- is essential to democracy. Ink on paper is just a delivery format. It does not magically imbue the words and pictures with any weightier meaning. In fact, the limited format does more to constrict information dissemination than help it.

Radmacher correctly points out that online newspaper sites have helped newspapers reach readers they might otherwise miss, but it's also true that newspaper web sites have contributed some to circulation declines over the past four years. Giving away all your newspaper content online is not a long-term winning strategy. Meanwhile, even the most successful newspaper web sites have not been able to generate enough revenue to support their current news operations. Many experts fear that the gulf between the newspaper model and the online model may be too wide for the typical print publication to survive the transition. If you're interested in this topic, read this post about Steve Smith, the former editor of the newspaper in Spokane, Wash. -- one of the real thought leaders of the industry -- and why he quit his newspaper this week. If you're a newspaper person, it's not a hopeful note.

However, because independent, thoughtful journalism is important to our nation, it is vital that we find a sustainable business model in online news. And that is why The Batavian exists. We see a bright future for online journalism and are thrilled to be a part of helping define what tomorrow's journalism will look like.

Of course, there's still a lot of life in print, and print does indeed remain an important part of sustaining a community, which is why we continue to encourage you to subscribe to the Batavia Daily News.

Joe Mesi commercial:

Mike Ranzenhofer commercial:

Wow, imagine that, two politicians not attacking each other. Think it will last?

WBKW in Buffalo reports that Simon Howson's lawsuit against the Episcopal Diocese of Wester New York (story with video) has been settled.

Howson was a priest at St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia in 2004 when he was accused of stealing and dismissed.  He claimed his firing was retaliation for him making a sexual harrassment claim against another priest.

Howson says he is finally publicly exonerated and the diocese is apologizing. "The bishop has stepped up and he's going to apologize in writing for what happened to Simon Howson." said attorney Andrew Fleming.

"You asked me how I feel," said Howson. "Numb. Numb." Howson filed a same sex discrimination and retaliation suit claiming Bishop Michael Garrison removed him from the church after he complained, that an admitted homosexual Episcopalian priest, now serving in Massachusetts, was sexually harassing him with unwanted advances. Howson is heterosexual. "Simon is a man of God. This was very difficult for him in a sense that this was very challenging to his faith journey." said Fleming.

Here's the Buffalo News story.

In the Charelston City Paper, Dylan Hales reviews Bill Kauffman's new book about Luther Martin, and refers to Kauffman as "the patriot of Batavia." 

I kind of like that better than Gore Vidal's "sage of Batavia."

It's a favorable review.

As Kauffman aptly notes, the Founders are often revered as the designers of a "federal compact," wary of the dangers of big government tyranny.

In fact, it was the "anti-Federalists" who were the true advocates of self-government, and Martin was their most spirited proponent.

One of the implied theses of the book is that history is written by the winners, and we are all worse off for it. Kauffman is at his best noting Martin's unfair treatment by Constitutional scholars and historians, who have for the most part regarded him as "the town drunk, the class bore, the motormouth."

Kauffman thoroughly debunks this as obtuse obstructionism. In fact, Martin was a relatively modest participant at the Constitutional Convention. His attachment to the Articles of Confederation was predicated on a reverence for local government as well as the illegality of the usurpation of power promoted by Hamilton, Madison and the gang.

I just started reading the book last night.  I'll probably post something about it after I finish it.  The book can be purchased at Present Tense, where last I heard, there were still autographed copies available.

Lame duck Rep. Tom Reynolds has not yet posted any news release to his web site explaining his vote yesterday in favor of the Bush-requested, Democratic-sponsored $700 billion bailout for Wall Street banks.

The following passage from the Buffalo News contains a brief quote from Reynolds explaining his position:

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said the bill would have put the nation “on the slippery slope to socialism. If you lose your ability to fail, soon you will lose your ability to succeed.”

Some Democrats indicated that the consequences of refusing to act had been exaggerated. “Like the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, this bill is fueled on fear and hinges on haste,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.

Reynolds and Higgins disagreed.

“This is one of the last votes I will cast on behalf of the people of Western New York, and it may be the most important one,” Reynolds said.

Acknowledging that he wished he could support a more cost-effective alternative, Reynolds said: “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my over three decades in public service, it’s that you cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Too many jobs, too many homes, too many 401(k)s, too many college educations, too many community banks are on the line to risk further inaction.”

In contrast, Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-29), issued a statement immediately after the vote.  He's also posted an alternate plan. Blogger Rottenchester says the plan is hardly serious.

As for the positions of the two candidates for the 26th district on what to do in regard to current economic conditions, still no word from Republican Chris Lee. Several days prior to yesterday's vote, Alice Kryzan issued this statement.

UPDATE: Via the 26th District blog, we get an updated statement from Kryzan.  Kryzan talks about the importance of consumer protection and oversight, but the plan rejected yesterday was weak in both those areas. Also, the blog contains this quote:

“Chris Lee has made deregulating our economy a centerpiece of his campaign,” said spokesperson Anne Wadsworth. “Now that we’ve seen the disastrous result of continuing Bush’s failed policies, he has nothing to say. The people of this district need answers, not knee-jerk deregulation rhetoric.”

The problem with the statement is there is already no lack of regulation in place -- such as the job-killing Sarbanes-Oxley Act -- and none of it  prevented the current situation. The housing bubble has a lot more to do with Clinton-era policies, which Bush neglected to address, and with the Fed manipulating interest rates (which Bush doesn't control at all).  I'm not defending Bush here by any stretch, just trying to keep the record straight.  If you want to blame Bush for anything, blame him for trying to shove this "rush to bailout" down the throats of Americans, which House Democrats (except for 95 brave souls) seemed quite willing buy into hook, line and sinker.