Letter to George Amedore
Well, first, I want to give a short story on how I got the reply to this letter. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Holly Van Schaik regarding an upcoming fundraiser for Mr. Amedore at 4:06 PM.
Next, I advised Ms. Van Schaik (via a reply e-mail at 4:12PM) that I would not be attending. I also believe that I advised her that I would not be voting for Mr. Amedore, since I never received a reply to the e-mail that I sent him some time ago.
I do appreciate the tone that is used by Mr. Amedore in his reply e-mail which came quickly at 4:58 and here is the text of that e-mail. While I sincerely disagree with almost every point he made, he did so civilly.
September 9, 2008
Kevin March
Dear Kevin,
It has come to my attention that a piece of correspondence went unanswered from my office on July 31, 2008. This oversight was by no means a slight against you or the matters that you addressed in your letter. In fact, I would like to address some of the points with you now.
Providing health insurance is one of the costliest factors limiting our families and businesses owners. Many hardworking families and business owners benefit from opportunities like Child Health Plus. It has the potential to free small businesses and start-ups from bearing the costs associated with health care and they have been vocal about such measures. In addition, the expansion will be partially funded through an increase in family contribution levels for the program based upon income level.
Other factors that contribute to the heavy burden on individuals and businesses are Medicaid fraud, workers compensation premiums and rules, frivolous lawsuits, high regulations and hidden fees. It is inevitable that New York State will spend money, but we do not have to do so irresponsibly. Forcing someone to comply with a mandate is very different than providing an opportunity.
As an aside, I was unsure whether your use of “Chips” was an acronym you were using for Child Health Plus or a reference to state aid for roads, which is something we need, and would be willing to discuss with you at a later time.
As you are aware, many issues do not hit the front page in the media or the public until a crisis is imminent. I have been very vocal about the Ton Mile Tax on truckers, gas taxes, wasteful spending and ever increasing Thruway tolls throughout the entire legislative session. It took that time to gain increased traction in the Assembly and gain the favor of the public. Many worthy initiatives take time, despite their relative and pragmatic simplicity. These and other burdensome taxes will continue to be on my agenda in the coming years as we fight to change Albany from within.
Lastly, I would like to comment on the Metroplex legislation. The advancements made in downtown Schenectady have been truly remarkable. However, I do believe that if the city had a friendlier business climate, these changes would have occurred without outside intervention. Regardless, the final legislation came by reaching a compromise, which required greater transparency and adherence to ethical guidelines. The presence of Metroplex has helped to expand the tax base in Schenectady and attract new jobs; these are important factors to future tax cuts. It is my hope that this organization will not be needed in the future, and I will continue to press leaders to produce an environment that is suitable to free-market development.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued support and diligent adherence to the principles of Conservatism. In a broken system that requires citizens to go to their government for what they need, great conservative ideas become stifled by intervention. It is my hope that we can continue to break down these barriers and allow for businesses and citizens to make choices based on their needs and desires, not those required by government.
I look forward to continuing this dialogue in the future and exchanging our ideas, hopes, and dreams for our community.
Sincerely,
George Amedore
I'd like to know a few things.
First of all, I'd like to ask Mr. Amedore, who runs a company who builds houses across the Capital Region how many of his employees he expects to be covered by Child Health Plus. It doesn't matter where the funding comes from, in part, as the majority of the whole is actually coming from the pocket of every taxpayer across the state. Yes, some of the money for this comes from the people who are part of the plan, but the majority of this is still coming directly from the taxpayers pockets. Part of the money that is taken out of every paycheck you get and part of everything that you buy that includes sales tax and fees. I do realize that there are always "other factors," but these are things that, until we get rid of these programs once and for all (and let the free market actually take care of things), these "other factors" will always cause us more money. You sell your houses on the free market, let health insurance also be on the free market. Allow people to keep their money to spend it as they see fit on the free market. If they want health care, they will make sure they get it. If not, they have no one to blame but themselves.
Secondly, this paragraph really threw me for a loop.
As an aside, I was unsure whether your use of “Chips” was an acronym you were using for Child Health Plus or a reference to state aid for roads, which is something we need, and would be willing to discuss with you at a later time.
If you're approving programs expansion and you don't know what these programs are called, then maybe, before approving multiple million dollar additions per year to programs, you should FULLY learn about them. While I would be interested in finding out Mr. Amedore's ideas as far as state aid on roads, this was in no way part of my questioning.
On the issues that Mr. Amedore states "do not hit the front page," then maybe Mr. Amedore could take up an idea that other legislators, such as Greg Ball from downstate have, making sure that these things are updated in a timely manner on his web page, allowing concerned residents to know that even though he has no results, at least they know what he's TRYING to do for them...instead of coming back at election time saying "I got all these government programs approved for you, but here's where I'm trying to cut the bottom line."
Next, we have "Metroplex legislation." Now, for anyone that doesn't know, the Schenectady Metroplex is an organization "established in 1998 to enhance the long-term economic vitality and
quality of life in Schenectady County." Essentially, it is a Communist organization which redistributes money which it collects from anyone that buys anything that is able to have sales tax collected on it so that it can be spent on a "pet project (my words, no one elses). We have seen Metroplex buy property for almost nothing and turn around and sell it again. Worst of all must be for some of the businesses that are not able to receive the Metroplex funding for one reason or another. We already had one coffee shop that was denied for some reason as far as getting funding to start up downtown. The owner of that shop has since closed up shop and moved south...permanently. Actually, what I would say are the bad parts are this...you have people who may not work in the area who do spend money in the area. This money may be actually given to a competitor of the person's employer. The person coming to spend their money has no choice where the money goes, but they are in effect giving money to the competitor. Then, there's the businesses that collect the money to be handed over to competitors. Just ask the movie theaters in the county (Scotia and Rotterdam Square are two that I can think of off the top of my head). They collect sales tax on each and every sale they make. Every ticket, every soda, every candy, every popcorn. Then, they get the sheer joy of sending this money to the Metroplex...to fund the Bowtie Cinemas...a competitor located right on the strip in downtown Schenectady. I'm sure there's plenty of other examples that we could come up with if given the time.
I'd like Mr. Amedore to know that the same effect could be felt of handing the money to these companies from the Metroplex (and felt more in the community) if the taxes that are holding these businesses down could just be cut. The County raises taxes because sales tax revenue is down...after they raised it another percent some time ago. Less tax revenue from a higher tax rate...something Schenectady County can't figure out. Well, when you're shaving money off the top to hand to companies, that could be PART of the reason, don't you think?
As a reply to Mr. Amedore's paragraph regarding "Conservatism,"
Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued support and diligent adherence to the principles of Conservatism. In a broken system that requires citizens to go to their government for what they need, great conservative ideas become stifled by intervention. It is my hope that we can continue to break down these barriers and allow for businesses and citizens to make choices based on their needs and desires, not those required by government.
I say this...Mr. Amedore, in a broken system that requires citizens to go to their goverment for what they need, by giving these government programs, YOU ARE THE BUILDER OF THOSE BARRIERS THAT YOU PROFESS TO BE TRYING TO REMOVE. True Conservatism is removing these barriers / taxes / fees FROM the people, not adding these additional requirements ONTO them.
If these are what you bring as your proof of Conservatism, then Conservative you are not.
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