I'm going to slip on my winter Crocs, bust out the kinara, and prepare for a joyous Kwanzaa. Because my Kwanzaa preparation ritual is extremely rigorous, don't expect any blogging until after I've fully celebrated the seven principles.
Of course, if something interesting happens, I'll be back to comment.
[...]This morning's Massa press call started with a detailed explanation of why he still opposes the President's Afghanistan strategy:
Rick Miller asked Massa to respond to Tom Reed's accusation that he is "disarming the troops while in harm's way" by not voting for a supplemental. You might want [...]
This morning's press call by Tom Reed dealt with Afghanistan. Reed is pleased with the President's speech, with the exception of the timeline for withdrawal. Here's his opening statement, where he characterizes Massa's position as one of "surrender and retreat".
Reed compared our mission in Afghanistan to World [...]
Eric Massa brought Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson to town. On Sunday, they met with some firefighters in Hornell. Yesterday, they visited Kennedy Valve, a manufacturing company in Elmira.
[...]Reader Elmer sends the text of the letter he received from Eric Massa explaining his healthcare vote. Text of the letter after the break:
Because you have previously been in touch about health issues, I am
writing to let you know why I voted "no" on the 2009 major health care
[...]
The big question for the 29th in 2010 is whether Democrats will turn out. A high-visibility Senate race with a well-funded Democrat makes it more likely that there will be a good Democratic turnout. For that reason, Rudy's announcement that he's going to run for Gillibrand's seat is good news [...]
The 29th has seen a few close races, but neither Randy Kuhl nor Eric Massa poisoned the well the way Doug Hoffman just did. Citing an ACORN conspiracy, Hoffman revoked his concession, and now he's been fundraising on claims of "tampering" based on ordinary election-night screwups.
This is what happens [...]
Drilling the Marcellus Shale, which may contain the largest supply of natural gas in North America, was the topic of a meeting last night in Corning. Eric Massa's "strongly worded letter" was part of the meeting. The concern is that extracting gas from Marcellus requires huge amounts of water [...]
Tim Kolpien of the Reed campaign was kind enough to send over Tom Reed's financial disclosure report [pdf]. And, courtesy of Open Secrets, here's Eric Massa's [pdf].
[...]Tom Reed and Eric Massa both agree that trying accused 9/11 plotters in New York is the right thing to do.
Reed is smart to reject the craven hysteria of some of his fellow party members, who are spinning crazy scenarios to avoid using courts that have already [...]
The paper D&C led this morning's front page with a story on Massa's "no" vote on healthcare reform. The story covers a healthcare rally in Rochester where Dennis Kucinich was featured (via telephone).
[...]In a piece headlined "Masa [sic] used campaign funds to pay himself and wife", Jeremy Zremski of the Buffalo News reports that Eric Massa took a $15,000 salary from his 2008 campaign. Massa's wife Beverly was also paid $18,000 as campaign treasurer.
Mrs. Massa's salary was a minor campaign [...]
Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader opinion page [pdf], which features Eric Massa's op-ed stating his reasons for voting against the House healthcare reform bill.
[...]Today's Massa press conference was about Afghanistan, but I asked a couple of healthcare-related questions.
First, Bob Recotta had a couple of questions on Afghanistan. Massa says that if our goal in Afghanistan is nation building, we should get out:
The next question was from reader Elmer, [...]
Eric Massa has taken to local mail and media to explain his vote against the healthcare bill. The online Corning Leader has a story about Massa's plan to send letters to 40,000 constituents in the 29th. The Messenger-Post has a summary of Massa's reasons for voting against the [...]
Reader Elmer sends yesterday's Corning Leader column [pdf] by Joe Dunning, who discusses the Democrats' losses in last week's elections. Frank Coccho, the controversial former mayor who was beaten by Tom Reed, tried again for the job and was beaten soundly.
Dunning's take on the new voting machines was' [...]
True to his word, Eric Massa voted against final passage of healthcare reform in the House. Earlier, he voted against the Stupak amendment which restricted use of insurance for abortions.
In the comments and via email, some readers are wondering if this was an "insurance" vote which would help [...]
Evan Dawson at 13-WHAM interviewed Eric Massa this morning.
What's old: Massa is still planning to vote against the current incarnation of the healthcare bill.
What's new: Massa's calling for a pullout from Afghanistan, a "sinkhole of a country" with elections that are "at best, a farce". Evan also [...]
The Corning Leader documents the use of new voting machines in Steuben County. Steuben's machines were used for the first time in Tuesday's election.
Steuben is apparently one of the few counties in the 29th using the new technology. According to the Leader, Chemung County used lever machines. When I [...]
There's been a lot of bullshit promulgated about NY-23, but in the end a simple truth prevailed: Parties lose when they split their votes. Dede Scozzafava's piddling 5% of the vote would have been enough to put Doug Hoffman over the top. Instead, NY-23 went to a Democrat for the [...]
Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] about Amo Houghton endorsing Tom Reed.
This is expected and unsurprising, though perhaps a little early. I wonder if there's an insurgent candidate in the wings who might be emboldened by the example of Doug Hoffman in NY-23.
[...]Elmer's second question comes from a Politico article about the complexity of the healthcare bill. Elmer challenges me to intepret this paragraph, which is part of the Politico story and was supposedly taken from the bill:
(a) Outpatient Hospitals – (1) In General – Section 1833(t)(3)(C)(iv) of the Social Security [...]
Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader stories [pdf] about the race in NY-23. Dede Scozzafava's drop-out and some GOTV by Vermont Democrats are detailed.
In other NY-23 news, the Watertown Daily Times' endorsement of Bill Owens says that Dede Scozzafava has "quietly and thoughtfully" been encouraging supporters to' [...]
Reader Elmer raises a couple of good questions in the comments. One is about the effect (or lack of effect) of the stimulus, the other is about the complexity of the healthcare bill. Let's start with stimulus.
My simple-minded answer to the question about whether the stimulus helped is that [...]
Regular commenter "Up in Prattsburgh" asked my take on NY-23, noting that Mark Assini (a Conservative candidate from 2004) could jump into the 29th race and play a similar role as Doug Hoffman is playing in NY-23.
The latest Research 2000/Daily Kos poll shows Hoffman, the Conservative candidate in [...]
Local conservatives are distributing a video (included after the break) that is supposedly bad for Eric Massa. The second part of the video repeats the supposed "gaffe" Massa made at Netroots Nation. But the first part of it is simply Massa saying "Hell no" to the notion that stimulus [...]
The Messenger-Post has a story about the cost and politics of war and the need for emergency aid for dairy farmers.
The war story includes interviews with FLCC students, and has pictures of a family who recently lost a son and brother in Iraq.
[...]Tom Reed sent the Deputy Mayor to an event and The Corning Leader didn't like it.
The Messenger-Post reports that Eric Massa wants to extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit.
WETM reports that Massa expects a healthcare reform bill vote by Thanksgiving, and that he's still not happy with' [...]
The New York Times has a Northeast Congressional race review that spends a couple of paragraphs on the great efforts made by the NRCC in the 29th:
The early Republican effort in the Southern Tier, which encompasses more than a dozen counties along New York’s border with Pennsylvania, offers a [...]
Here are a couple of interesting items I missed this week:
The Messenger-Post has video and a story about a pro-health care rally in Canandaigua. There are some nice Halloween costumes in the mix. As usual, Philip at Stop the Cap had a good piece on the Wall Street Journal [...]Reader David sends this item from the Wall Street Journal. The topic is tiered Internet plans, and it includes this quote:
When Time Warner announced last March it would expand its metered-pricing approach to other cities, including Austin and Rochester, protests erupted. Rep. Joe Messa of Rochester introduced a bill [...]
Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] (and jump [pdf]) detailing the two candidate's position on the $250 bonus for seniors. Both are for it, they just don't agree on how to fund it.
' [...]The Star-Gazette compares Massa and Reed's positions on the stimulus.
If you're interested in more information about Massa's position on wind power, the top of the Cohocton Wind Watch has an embedded video and a link to Massa's letter to President Obama on the topic. In a nutshell, Massa's [...]
There was some kind of train wreck at a Cohocton town board meeting, where Eric Massa's letter in opposition to wind development in the area hit the fan.
In other energy news, Massa is going to anchor "Hydrogen Power Hour" tonight at 9 on C-SPAN.
Tom Reed's campaign has a press release out dinging Eric Massa for taking corporate PAC money. Reed's point is that Massa's a hypocrite since he pledged not to take PAC money in his first two races. Also, though Massa often claims that he's not popular with his party's leadership, Reed [...]
Tom Reed's FEC report is out. It shows that Reed raised $136K and has $117K cash on hand. Reed contributed $13K to his own cause.
Reed's financial report is remarkable because it's almost entirely contributions from individuals and political committees in the area. There are no national party contributions, so [...]
Eric Massa's money report is in. He raised $289K this quarter, bringing his cash on hand to a little over $500K. $179K of Massa's total came from individuals, and $110K came from PACs.
Reed's numbers haven't hit the FEC website yet, but his campaign claimed $130K, less than half' [...]
The Star-Gazette has a good summary of the possible layoffs at the Elmira Post Office. Because mail volume is down, the Post Office wants to consolidate mail processing in Rochester. Massa wants the P.O. to prove that the changes will save money.
[...]Eric Massa was at a a Rotary meeting in Rochester today. He's still concerned about the current healthcare bill.
He's also concerned about Afghanistan.
[...]Reader Elmer sends an item in today's Corning Leader [pdf] saying that Massa's expected to announce his candidacy on Saturday. I guess we can all sleep well tonight now that the suspense is over.
The Hornell Evening Trib's Bob Clark documents the day he spent with Eric Massa in [...]
The Buffalo News has a roundup of Afghanistan positions by the New York delegation. Skepticism and caution are the order of the day.
The Star-Gazette's 2010 preview says that Massa is vulnerable in the 29th.
[...]Eric Massa has been raising funds at a furious pace since election day, and today he sent out an email saying "On Saturday, 10/10 at 10:00 am, I will be making a formal announcement about the 2010 election."
It seems pretty obvious what's going to happen on Saturday, yet [...]
The Reed campaign announced that they've raised $130K so far, and have more than $120K on hand.
FEC quarterly reports won't be out for another week, so we'll see about the details then.
' [...]The Democrat and Chronicle reports on a new Mason-Dixon poll that shows 75% disapproval of the House of Representatives.
The Star-Gazette covers Massa's remarks at his press conference about Afghanistan. They're similar to his remarks last week.
' [...]Eric Massa and other area Representatives want air service from Ithaca to DC. Massa also wants to use naval anti-ballistic missiles rather than stationing them on land.
[...]Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story [pdf] (and jump [pdf]) detailing Tom Reed and Eric Massa's reaction to the defeat of the public option in the Senate Finance Committee.
[...]There hasn't been a heck of a lot of news lately, other than this WETM report of Massa's town hall meeting in Van Etten. Massa's still not happy with the healthcare bill, unsurprisingly.
' [...]WHEC carries Eric Massa's announcement of COPS grants for Cattaraugus and Monroe Counties.
The Star-Gazette has been busy posting this afternoon. First, there's the new Massa town hall meetings in Van Etten and Chili. Then, we have Massa and Reed's opinions on the public option as well as [...]
Afghanistan: I asked both candidates about our mission in Afghanistan and whether we should be sending new troops.
Reed's answer:
Massa's answer:
Healthcare:' [...]Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader column [pdf] by Bob Rolfe, where Rolfe reports that Tom Reed has a new nickname around town: Tom Greed.
[...]Tom Reed probably has blisters on his blisters from all the shoveling he's been doing lately. The hole he's dug is pretty deep:
Reed says that it would be "troublesome" for him to accept stimulus money he requested as Mayor, since he's now a Congressional candidate. But it wasn't "troublesome" for' [...]Eric Massa will start holding radio town hall meetings on WLEA in Hornell on Fridays from 4-5 PM.
Some WLEA broadcasts are live streamed here. I don' t know if Massa's town hall is one of them.
' [...]Eric Massa appeared on MSNBC to discuss Moammar Gaddafi's presence in the US. Video after the break.
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The new Rothenberg Political House Ratings are out, and it has the 29th classified as "Lean Democratic". This is the same rating as the Cook Political Report and Congressional Quarterly.
Only Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball has the 29th as a toss-up.
[...]Eric Massa and a bunch of local politicians attended a groundbreaking of a $45 million enhancement of US 15 in lovely Lindley.
[...]
Steve Benen at Washington Monthly created this graph from Research 2000 polling:
Even though the 29th is more Republican than the Northeast in general, I think this is a pretty powerful display of what I was trying to say in this post. The boilerplate rhetoric [...]
Joe Dunning's column in the Leader was appropriately tough on Tom Reed's campaign, which has made a number of tactical errors in the past months. But, to his credit, Reed made one strategic decision that trumps most of those errors: he started early. A majority of voters won't be paying' [...]
Reader Richard sends Randy Kuhl's fundraising letter for Tom Reed [pdf]. Here's a sample:
Specifically, Massa is on the record in favor of a single-payer government administered healthcare system that would ration healthcare, and has voted to support the Presidents so-called "stimulus" package that funded liberal pet projects without any [...]
Joe Dunning's Sunday column in the Corning Leader, headlined Reed and Reality not terribly close, considers the last few months of the Reed campaign. Here's a taste:
But what may have been most surprising was that Reed’s criticism of the stimulus program came while pothole-filled Corning city streets were being [...]
One of the key points of dispute between Tom Reed and Eric Massa is whether the grant Reed received is "stimulus money". The answer to that question is complicated.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank, did some analysis of the impact of the stimulus [...]
The $1.18 million grant received by Tom Reed's LLC is the result of a process detailed on this Empire State Development web page. The application [pdf] for the grant is 34 pages long and requires environmental and historical preservation review.
The list [pdf] of grants shows that [...]
Matt Kernan of Shortsville, NY is the first write-in candidate for the 29th seat. Matt's website is [mwkernanforcongress.com].
In 2008, Alan Merklinger of Hopewell waged a write-in campaign. Apparently Ontario County is a hotbed of write-in candidacy in the 29th district.
[...]Today's Reed press conference had two topics. First, Larry Sabato has moved the 29th race to a "toss up". Reed believes this move is an indicator of the strength of his campaign.
The second topic, raised by me and followed up by Joe Dunning of the Corning Leader, was Tom' [...]
Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader story about Tom Reed's grant [pdf] (and here's the jump[pdf]).
The Leader also covered Massa's no vote on the Wilson matter [pdf].
[...]The Star-Gazette has a back-and-forth on Reed's grant. The S-G also reports that Massa voted against a reprimand of South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson, the "you lie" guy.
WXXI's story on the New York delegation's view of the war in Afghanistan includes some remarks by Massa who wonders [...]
Tom Reed's campaign has issued a press release (reprinted in full after the break) where he accuses Eric Massa of "mudslinging".
Here's a choice quote:
“Anyone who has actually taken the risks to begin and operate businesses in New York knows how difficult it is to create jobs in our state,” Reed [...]
The Steuben Courier reports that Tom Reed was the recent recipient of a "Restore New York" grant facilitated by State Senator George Winner. Reed, who owns the Masonic Temple in Bath, will match that grant with $820,000 of private funding.
I won't be able to attend Reed's press conference tomorrow, [...]
Rick Miller at the Olean Times-Herald has a long story about Eric Massa's visit to St Bonaventure. Massa addressed a group of pre-med students in the company of Dr. Andrew Coates of Physicians For a National Health Care Plan. The topic was single-payer healthcare.
City Newspaper's Jeremy Moule has a wide-ranging and lengthy interview with Eric Massa on City's site. It covers the wars, dairy prices, healthcare reform and the economy. Massa "feels like a sergeant on the battlefield without a general" because of the lack of Presidential leadership on healthcare, and he's' [...]
President Obama delivered big tonight, and his speech will have a big effect on the 29th district race.
In Massa's corner, the effect of the speech depends on the details of the public option that ultimately comes from the bill. While Obama clearly stated that a public option is a necessary [...]
Here's a little more on the disaster declaration for flooding in the southeastern New York. And Tom Reed thinks we shouldn't spend any more stimulus money. Other than that, it's looking like a sunny weekend.
' [...]The Corning Leader, Star-Gazette, City Newspaper and D&C have reports about House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson's visit to the 29th. Topics discussed include:
Immigration reform, which is critical to fruit growers. Massa thinks reform will be back on the Congressional calendar after health care, and he [...]The Amherst Times reports that flood-damaged areas of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie Counties have been declared disaster areas.
The mighty Gannett empire reports that Massa is interested in helping small business. Also, a wind farm in Steuben County got a $75 million stimulus grant.
Area bloggers have a couple [...]
The Corning Leader and the Star-Gazette attended last night's meeting in Horseheads. About 800 people showed up. The S-G's coverage includes a photo of a pair of senior citizens with the sign "Govt Health is Dead on Arrival". They must have run out of room for the rest [...]
Eric Massa met with the D&C editorial board this afternoon, and Jane Sutter lived to tell the tale.
Sutter says that Massa was pushing his "baby steps" view of healthcare reform, where a number of common-sense initiatives are passed piecemeal by Congress. Massa's also concerned about H1N1 now that kids [...]
Erin (pop. 2054) hosted another packed town hall meeting last night. The Star-Gazette story focuses on Massa's view that the bill won't pass and we'll get an individual set of reforms instead. WETM was there, too.
[...]Billie Owens at the Batavian covers a hearing on Western New York dairy issues, held by Kirsten Gillibrand. Eric Massa made some comments there.
Here's something I hadn't seen before: a district-by-district analysis of the impact of HR 3200. In the 29th District [pdf], we'd have 39,000 more [...]
Bob Clark at the Hornell Evening Tribune has a good story on short-line rail in the far Southern Tier, a topic that came up in Tuesday's press conference.
[...]The D&C has a story and photos of Massa's Victor town hall meeting. The meeting started with over a thousand people, lasted four hours, and ended with 200 in attendance.
Sean Carroll at 13-WHAM has attended three meetings, including last night's, and he says that "while many disagree'" [...]
The D&C says that more than 1,000 people showed up at Massa's Victor meeting tonight.
The Star-Gazette has a story on today's Reed press conference that includes Massa's response.
The S-G also covers Massa's visit to a local valve manufacturer.
[...]Most of Tom Reed's conference call this morning was taken up by a discussion of deficits, but Reed made his most pointed attack during a discussion of Massa's town hall meetings. Reed said that he thinks town hall meetings are positive, and he strongly supports them. However, he said that, [...]
Last night's Massa town hall meeting in Farmington got big play in the Democrat and Chronicle and on 13-WHAM. Normally, any mention of Massa in Rochester media would be diluted by references to Lee, Slaughter and Maffei, but he's got center stage now because all of the other [...]
I listened to the Massa press call today. Every reporter who asked a question was from the Southern Tier, except me. So, naturally, almost every topic discussed was directly related to the Southern Tier.
Bob Recotta from the Corning Leader asked a couple of questions about healthcare legislation. One was [...]
At today's Massa press conference, Eric Massa announced that tomorrow's town hall meeting, which was to occur outdoors in Perinton, has moved to Victor High School:
Wednesday, August 26th
5:30-7:30 PM
Victor High School Auditorium
953 High St.
Victor, NY 14564
Massa and Schumer are asking again for disaster money for CattCo.
Jill Wynn of the D&C editorial board has a post about Massa's town hall meetings. I thought this was an interesting way to put it:
I received this information below via e-mail Friday afternoon from the Organizing for America [...]
I've heard a lot of noise about numbers in the healthcare debate. People are uncomfortable with the claim that we spend far more than any other country, and with the claim that the quality of our healthcare trails other countries. So, this weekend I went looking for reliable sources for' [...]
Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader Opinion Page [pdf], which contains Eric Massa's op-ed explaining his position on listening to constituents.
Editor Joe Dunning's column also discusses the healthcare issue, making the point that doing something is probably better than doing nothing.
[...]Tom Reed's campaign site has now posted its "issues" page, which contains a short run-down of Reed's positions on eight issues of the day.
Since healthcare is driving our current discussion, it's interesting to take a closer look at Reed's statement. He begins with this:
The current proposal, HR 3200, [...]
The Messenger-Post's Saturday editorial supports Massa's remarks at Netroots nation, saying:
Should Massa listen to his constituents on the subject of health care? Yes, and he has — most visibly through town hall meetings that have attracted hundreds at a time. Should he pander to popular opinion — or any [...]
Joe Spector has Massa's announcement that he's endorsing Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate. It looks like Gillibrand won't have any primary opposition, so her spot as the Democrat in the race is sealed.
' [...]
