NYS is NOT behind the times. Upstate New York is WAY behind the times. New York City and Long Island are WITH the times. When industry left upstate, so did any interest in bringing it into the 21st century. Now, the region is a bedroom community for a bunch of state and Wal-Mart workers, or a cheap playground for the rich, coming to frolic in the Finger Lakes and Adirondacks. And is that an area where you see innovation or progress? Probably not.
Hack has it right....that is what we are....and we pay to have everything else downstate.....NIMBY......However Hack, dont you agree that the 'State' is way take from here and give over there......that is very very socialist.......I dont want anything from anyone unless they are giving it of their own accord...........I have yet to meet anyone who is all for the, "lets give it to the state so everyone can live like me" oooy-goooy feeling.......JMHO....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
The problem is New York City and Long Island should be their own state. Right now, you have 90 percent of the state's land mass upstate and roughly 90 percent of the population downstate. They have the population advantage, so they get the most of what the Legislature has to delve out. Were upstate divorced from downstate, our government would probably function much more like Vermont. And I don't mean that in the socialist sense. Rather, the state government would be more attentive to the needs of the people.
Before I retired I worked in NYC on numerous occasions and never have I seen such a waste of money. People doing next to nothing and making big money for doing it and people getting paid when they weren't even on the job. I wish they would make NYC a separate state.
Although I agree with you Hack, I believe that if upstate cut itself off from downstate, our taxes would then be sky high. (higher than they already are, if you can believe it)That is where the state gets the majority of it's tax revenue, hence, the benefit flows upstate.
For example, look at just Sch'dy. Look at all of the taxpaid grants that have gone for all of the social programs. And state grants to non-profits. And of course our notorious welfare system.
Now it may not be such a bad idea to 'break away', but with our current local politicians, who spend money like drunken sailors, do you think for a minute they would drop some of these programs? Of course not! They would just tax the hell out of us even more so.
So in theory, not a bad idea....but in the real world and with our present politicians that hold the purse, it ain't gonna happen!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Consider this: Much of the bureaucracy in Albany is simply administering offices and programs that provide the bulk of their services downstate. So perhaps if you clipped off the city and Long Island, you could set up a much smaller government to hand the state. Less government means lower taxes. That's why I suggested Vermont and New Hampshire. Similar geographically speaking and with large cities, but nothing in excess of a million. In the end, I guess it's all senseless speculation, as there's no way anyone would ratify that sort of radical change.
I agree. But what would upstate have to offer to generate a tax revenue? Vermont at least is a natural tourist attraction with the 'leaf peepers' and the 'skiers'.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The upstate folks would learn to live with what they have.....right now we are just a 'playground' for the downstate folks......no different than 'housing the elderly'.....as one ages more assistance is required.....ie:people living/working close together.......so downstate is like an elderly person without the means to care for itself without the 'grid' of assistance......upstate is young enough to learn as it goes---I'd say middle age, maybe a little younger......
folks from cities---dont understand lack of public transportation, septic systems, obtaining your own garbage pick up etc......vegetable gardens, slaughter houses etc.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
CAPITAL REGION State Thruway toll increases start Sunday 5 percent boost is second in two years BY JESSICA HARDING Gazette Reporter
Another toll increase on the Thruway will be pinching some commuters’ pockets on their way to work Monday. The state Thruway Authority is implementing its second 5 percent fare increase in two years on Sunday. Commuters traveling from Amsterdam to Albany Exit 24 are expected to pay an additional 10 cents one way, but travelers from Schenectady Exit 25 will pay the same 30 cents this year. Truckers who already pay $5.55 from Fultonville to Albany will pay 25 cents more on Monday. The same trucker with an E-ZPass will save 29 cents off the cash toll. Thruway Authority spokesperson Kimberly Chupa said the toll increases are a way for the authority to keep the road safe for motorists in a time when construction costs are increasing by double-digit percentages. The Thruway Authority has a $2.1 billion highway and bridge capital plan, which it has been forced to scale back, according to Chupa. Projects like high-speed E-ZPass tolls have been deferred to concentrate resources on core infrastructure. Chupa said the fare increase will allow various local improvement projects to continue, including $2.2 million in safety upgrades currently under way east of Fulltonville and a $4.5 million bridge replacement project at Fultonville. Chupa also said the Thruway Authority is working to generate $13 million in savings this year by eliminating full-time positions, among other measures. The authority is working with Volpe Transportation Center, part of the U.S Department of Transportation, to identify more ways to save, Chupa said. While the increases may be insignificant to some, Charlie Claburn a trucker from Hudson Falls, said he lost $40,000 last year due to high diesel prices and increasing fares. Claburn, who is president of the Northeast chapter of Truckers and Citizens United, said tolls and insurance costs for truckers in New York are among the highest in the country. “Tax, tax, tax, toll, toll, toll, and they wonder why all these companies are leaving New York,” he said. Claburn said it cost him another $40 this year to travel the same stretch of road that he did a year ago. “We have the highest tolls, highest insurance and no economy here for us to make any money in this industry,” he said. “What are they going to accomplish by raising the tolls? … There is going to be no one traveling through them.” He said the current economic recession is so bad in New York that companies are only paying 80 cents per mile to haul goods, which still works out badly for truckers who are paying $3 per gallon for fuel and getting only 5 miles to the gallon. Claburn said he probably wouldn’t .............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00102
Now that the Thruway Authority has raised it's tolls watch the drop in traffic as many people seek ways to eliminate traveling on the over priced toll road.
They refuse to get it. Every time they raise tolls, fewer people use it. Then they raise tolls again cause fewer people are using it. They need to fire all the Thruway authority fat cats and lay off some unneeded staff.
The anti-NYC talk is equally idiotic. 20% of NYS revenues come from Manhattan below Delancey Street. If you want to see a massive tax increase Upstate keep pushing for a separate NYC/LI State. Pataxi did a great job of chasing people out of State while expanding Parkland for NYC elites.
The biggest welfare expense is also in NYC and so is the biggest draw on health-care by people without the ability to pay. I've worked in NYC on many occassions and many of the workers are paid a good wage and do next to nothing all day. Every scam ever thought up starts in NYC along with the biggest drug problem which spreads upstate. If the people who worked for the company I worked for in NYC ever came upstate they would be fired. It's true NYC generates money but in recent years they're becoming much more of a liability than an asset and we'd be better off without them. IMHO
Funny, George Amedore speaks out again...must be tolls are going up on the Thruway. Otherwise, you only hear from him at election-time. I agree that we should not have the raise in tolls, but aren't there other things that Mr. Amedore could be speaking out about during his tenure??? Or is he told to keep quiet? Or does he just decide to keep quiet on his own?
Saving cash on your commute Updated: 01/05/2009 09:29 AM By: Curtis Schick
STATEWIDE -- It's the Exit 24 toll barrier. On one side it's a free ride, and the other, well you know. If you passed through the plaza this weekend, you were paying more. The Thruway is bumping tolls up by five percent.
“It's drastic and dramatic, and it is becoming so unaffordable it’s going to hurt the economy upstate as well as all of New York,” said George Amedore, NYS Assembly – Rotterdam (R).
While Amedore fights the Authority, we've come up with a few ways for you to fight the hike.
Get an E-ZPass Annual Permit. For $88 a year, the Thruway will give you 30 miles free per trip. So if you drive between Exits 24 and 26, no toll, just pay for gas and on news cars that would be about $1,000 each year.
The Thruway says the money is paying for maintaining the road that still, for Amedore, it’s just one more thing we're paying more for.
“It could be ten cents one way, ten cents the other way, rack that up, over a month, it's big dollars,” said Amedore.
New Year's 2010 brings another increase, with the Authority raising tolls another five percent.
...maybe if Amedore didn't vote with the "hometown rule" to allow the Metroplex to continue to siphon money into the Communist organization, we would have the additional money to pay the fares...even though the tolls from 25-24 did even go up in this round of tax...er...toll hikes.
Logged
They refuse to get it. Every time they raise tolls, fewer people use it. Then they raise tolls again cause fewer people are using it. They need to fire all the Thruway authority fat cats and lay off some unneeded staff. 
