Like most parts of the country, New York's 20th District is concerned about the economy and specifically jobs. It stands to reason then that the two men running to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in that district would be stressing jobs and job creation. The problem is that one of them, Jim Tedisco, is making claims about his job creation record that are basically bunk. CBS 6 in Albany did a little fact checking. Their conclusion? Tedisco, a career politician, is largely full of it while Scott Murphy, a businessman, is delivering the goods.
We start our fact check with Jim Tedisco. The fine print under those 3,000 jobs that he takes credit for helping to create. Well S 6.863A and S.7721B, its state legislation that he voted for that created and later strengthened the Metroplex Authority. That brings new business to Schenectady County, three thousand is the total number of jobs Metroplex says it has created, I checked on that. But in talking to both sides, Democrats and Republicans who were there at the beginning they all agree that Tedisco didn't really have a lot to do with the actual creation of Metroplex. It was a project spearheaded by city, county and business leaders. The Tedisco campaign counters that Tedisco was and still is one of Metroplex's strongest supporters.
Now, I consider myself one of the "strongest supporters" of New York Giants. This does not mean I can claim any credit for Super Bowl XLII. Nice try, Jimmy Disco.
Now on to Scott Murphy. He says he helped create more than 1,000 jobs. Unlike Tedisco he gives no on-screen footnote to back up the claim so I asked the Murphy campaign for a breakdown of those jobs. They provided me with dozens of documents that showed New York State companies that show Murphy, and his company Advantage Capital provided capital to, to get up off the ground and running. Kionix, in Ithaca, 119 jobs created. PECO Pallet in Yonkers, 47 jobs created. Just a couple of examples. Murphy's signature is there on official State documents. Many of the investments were done through a state program called CAPCO to help small businesses in financially distressed areas. Now I also went one step further and I checked with some of those companies. One of them is the Golden Goal Lacrosse Park in Fort Anne, a corporate headquarters in New Jersey, they were indeed very familiar with Scott Murphy and immediately confirmed for me that he has helped them create jobs. I got the same story when I called that company Kionix in Ithaca.
Scott Murphy has created jobs in the real world, lots of them. Jim Tedisco has been a cheerleader on the sidelines for projects made real by others and is now trying to take credit for them. That's just a fact.
Which brings me to this. Given that newly minted RNC chair Michael Steele has made this race a top priority and even appeared personally with Tedisco recently said:
"You and I know that in the history of mankind and womankind, government-federal, state or local-has never created one job."
Which is it, Mr. Tedisco? How can Tedisco continue to claim that he's responsible for creating 3,000 jobs (a laughable claim disputed by both Democrats and Republicans) from his perch in Albany, a claim that is simply not borne out by the facts? How can Tedisco claim to be a job creator while in government when the leader of his own party claims with a straight face that "never in the history of mankind..." has government ever created a job. Jimmy's claim makes even less sense when one considers that Tedisco is running to join a Republican House caucus that, when faced with a rapidly deteriorating economy and accelerating job losses, voted en masse to do...nothing. Since Tedisco refuses to say whether he would have been the only Republican in the House to vote differently, I think it's fair to assume that he would have voted along with the rest of the do nothings.
Essentially, it all boils down to this. Scott Murphy has put his money where his mouth is, creating jobs, with real money, real investment and real risk, out in the real world. Jim Tedisco, a career politician in Albany has not. Period.
