Breslin called the presser and had Senate Minority Leader Malcom Smith at his side. Interestingly, Smith was the one who seems to have been doing all the talking because nowhere in the article is Senator Breslin even quoted on the issue.
"This is a very serious crisis. Homeowners need assistance right now, not in April," said Smith, criticizing a GOP proposal to offer a tax break to homeowners.
But why criticize a tax break that just "gives money" to people after as that is what the crux of the plan is, especially while criticizing Senate Republicans for just wanting tax breaks, essentially the same thing? Again, from Senator Breslin says:
Facing his first ever primary challenge this week, Democratic state Sen. Neil Breslin on Sunday urged Senate Republicans to return to Albany to pass an energy plan that would give money to families earning up to $85,000 a year.
Emphasis mine
That's interesting, because just last month when Governor Paterson was calling the special session, Senator Breslin was hollering about how returning to Albany was actually a bad idea because of (of all things) energy costs:
Citing the high cost of gas and per diem payments, the Democrats say it would be "wasteful" for the Senate to come back to the Capitol twice in one month, noting Gov. David Paterson recently called on both houses of the Legislature to return for an emergency economic session on Aug. 19.
"Needless spending shouldn't be our first course of action when dealing with a fiscal crisis," said Sen. Neil Breslin, an Albany-area Democrat. "There is no reason to take two days for something that requires only one. It's wasteful to call back the Legislature twice to speak on the same topic."
So not only is Breslin proposing an energy plan that's rather poorly though out and won't work, but he's completely flip-flopped on his past position on calling the Legislature back for special sessions. And, as David Weiss pointed out, he didn't do anything about energy policy while the Legislature had the extra time to do it when the special session was actually called.
So what is the bulk of Senator Breslin's all-of-a-sudden energy "plan" and what makes David Weiss's vision miles ahead of Breslin's primary camapaign pandering?
The Breslin "Plan"
The $285 million program is aimed at providing relief to low- and middle-income families who will be hit hard by rising home heating costs. It would be funded by the proceeds from the carbon permits New York corporations are required to purchase under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Smith said.
So just throw money at people! That always solves problems, right? Well, here we go again with the partisan bickering between Senate Democrats and Republicans (indicative of the bipartisan responsibility for our dysfunctional state government in the first place). But for once in a blue moon, there is one thing the Republicans are right about:
Senate Republicans said the proposal is wishful thinking and an election-year ploy.
They can say that again. But let's see what the TU has David Weiss saying before delving into his comprehensive energy plan based no his 35 years of experience with renewables:
But Weiss, 51, a wind power advocate, suggested there is money to pay for the program -- contrary to Republican beliefs. "The senators should not take their 200 million dollars of line items ... there is money."
There certainly is, and this is one the main ways David Weiss connects our wasteful spending with our lack of a decent energy plan. There is money to be had from reforming the Rockefeller drug laws, implenting single-payer universal health care, and enacting a fair tax system.
But David Weiss's renewable energy and economic stimulus plan is the bulk of the matter. In involves implementing the Community-Owned Energy Development legislation he's campaigning on and has already been instrumental in passing in Minnesota. It also includes a proposal for something called the New York Green Jobs fund, which would not only help get us off polluting and expensive sources of energy, but also create thousands of jobs while lowering your energy bill and increasing revenues for small municipalities across New York, thereby offsetting the need to keep our property taxes so high. And David Weiss knows what he's talking about: he's the President of the only such wind energy company that is already working on this and recieved his degree in renewable energy back in 1975...
...long before the weekend before his primary challenge to Senator Neil Breslin.
The Times Union understandably had limited space, but David Weiss has a lot more to say about the issue. Consider this the Soundpolitic Interview with David Weiss:
"We need an open renewable energy portfolio," David Weiss said in between houses during our final day of canvassing. "Not just 25%, nineteen of which has been coming from Niagra Falls for over 50 years. Our renewable energy portfolio is only 6%! It should be open-ended, with five-plus megawatts metering program."
I asked Weiss to explain a little bit more about the C-BED legislation and just what "community ownership" means. "It keeps the money localities, the counties and townships. It also supplies jobs locally, not just to massive de-centralized corporations who just want to make money like the big oil companies have been doing."
"If we talk about all subsidies and make it a level playing field where nobody gets tax credits and let the free market reign in that level playing field," Weiss continued, "then wind, solar, and renewables will totally beat out nuclear, coal, and oil. That happens when you look at the lower costs of these sources to begin with, but also the health expenses, the infrastructure expenses, and especially the environmental expenses. That'll be the end of it: oil and nukes will go by the wayside."
So who would you rather have as your State Senator? Go to David's webstie and if you like what you see, spread the word and do your part. He's doing his. And ignore both the entrenched, special-interest funded incumbents pandering and the nasty weather forecasted for tomorrow's primary day and get out to the polls between noon and nine tomorrow. New York State needs an expert like David Weiss, and I'm proud to be a volunteer for him. Senator Breslin's "plan?" That would just be more of the same...
It's up to you to vote Weiss in tomorrow's primary for the New York State Senate's 46th District in Albany County. |
