7,220 Days

What can you do in 7,220 days?

You could possibly pay off a mortgage.

You could complete K-12 and a year (maybe two) of college.

You could witness 4 (or 5) U.S. Presidents hold office.

You could grow up and get married and have a child by now.

You could build a reputation.

You could make a career out of being a member of the NYS Assembly. (Or Senate)


7,220 days ago:

East and West Germany finally became one nation.

The Gulf War/Operation Desert Storm began.

The I.R.A. was committing terrorist attacks in Ireland and the U.K.

Rodney King was severely and savagely beaten by the L.A.P.D.

Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia.

Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested.

Sonic the Hedgehog!

The Dead Sea Scrolls are released for public viewing.

Magic Johnson announces he has H.I.V.

Journalist Terry Anderson is released after being held as a hostage in Beirut for 7 years.

Miles Davis, Freddie Mercury, Sylvia Porter, Michael Landon, Redd Foxx, Dr. Seuss, Harry Reasoner, and Frank Capra all died.

Joe Morelle was elected to the NYS Assembly.

Yes, historic and epic things happened in 1991. Unfortunately, Joe Morelle's election and ensuing representation of the citizens of the 132nd district isn't one of them.

I've recently seen the television ads from Morelle - how he's working hard in Albany creating jobs and lowering taxes - how he's voted against the budget the last two years......never mentioning his long and lauded career in Albany. Not once. Also curiously absent from any of the mailers and ads is the mention of "Democrat". I'm proud to be a Democrat.......why isn't Joe? He certainly mentioned it in previous elections......but not this election. Interesting.

He also didn't mention (in the ad) how he'd "always rather be back in Rochester" than in Albany working on the Budget, and how it is "incumbent upon" him to "return" if they are called into session to work on the budget and how he "Hopes he can finally persuade 32 Senators to vote for the final bill necessary to complete the budget - and go back home..."....you know.....that budget he claims in his ad that he voted against the last two years?

How can he vote against a budget and want to persuade the Senators to vote for a final bill to complete same said budget? Isn't that talking out of both sides of his mouth? Saying one thing and doing another? How can he persuade people to do something that he supposedly isn't doing himself? He's been doing that a lonnnnnnnnnnnng time. Too long. 7,220 days (as of today) to be accurate.

The below video is from the State of Politics from August 2010 - not that long ago.

Here is a portion of the video that speaks VOLUMES to me.
At around the 5:25 mark of the video where Joe is talking about the Senators vote on the budget(remember, the Assembly did not get a budget to the Senate until the end of June) and about meeting them half way or part of the way to persuade them to vote on the budget (that he supposedly didn't support)- Joe Morelle clearly says:

"To NOT do that....to let it go on much longer...I think is really imperiling the political fortunes of a lot of members of the legislature...." and as an afterthought he mentions that the taxpayers should be his first consideration.

Thanks, Joe. Thanks for that comment. It was extremely enlightening to me. I know what your first concern is. The political fortunes of the members of the legislature.

Noted!



I also saw one of your mailers.



Hilarious! "Don't you hate it when people go over the limit?"

Ummmm.....yeah! 20 items or 20 years in Albany - it's over the damn limit. I like the "10 or less" line, but I prefer, above all, the "5 or less" express lane. That goes for him and every one of his fellow lawmakers.

In his mailer, he says: "Our State spends too much, taxes too much, and does too little to create the economic opportunities our families need."

No kidding. What bills has he sponsored or co-sponsored to lower taxes or create economic opportunities? What spending cuts did he propose for the budget?

He never mentions any in his mailers or television ads. After almost 20 years in the Assembly.....I would think there would be SOMEthing for him to brag about in the "cut spending/lower taxes/create jobs" department besides "I voted against the last two budgets."

No?

Nothing? Nada? Zip?

Oh wait.....I forgot......he did push through mayoral control legislation to take away the voting rights of the city residents who want to elect their school boards.

He also wants to choose the next Mayor of Rochester in a special election......instead of using an interim Mayor and having a November 2011 election so the voters can decide.

See, Joe thinks he's not part of the problem in Albany - he thinks he can be the solution. Even though he's running for (incredibly) his ELEVENTH TERM IN OFFICE - he's not part of the problem. Is the ELEVENTH time a charm? I mean, after 10 terms in office, the 11th one is when he's going to do something about the mess in Albany? Really? We should believe that?

In his mailer he says he is "determined to change the way state government does business".

After TEN TERMS (20 years) of "business as usual" from Joe Morelle, I highly doubt that.

Here's another mailer:




Joe is talking with regular, everyday resident Irena Scoglio who also is the VP of the Library Board and Chair of the Irondequoit Democratic Committee and leader of the Seniors First Committee. I wonder if they were talking about consolidating the libraries - or maybe they were talking about how Libby Post was doing on the campaign website she is designing for Neil Breslin? Maybe they were talking about the property taxes in Irondequoit, and how there's no problem with them? John Perticone said the taxes were fine.

"But Irondequoit Town Councilman John Perticone, also in the crowd, said he has not heard a lot of people complaining about property taxes in his town. “I think our taxes are fine,” he said, adding that residents don’t want to lose services."

Geez, Irondequoit, your taxes are fine! Stop whining!

Prior Approval - Joe's great savings to the citizens of Monroe County. Did he mention how politics play a part in how high or low the rates are? During election years the rates don't go up much - but after elections they usually skyrocket to make up for it. Curious, isn't it?

Here are the 32 day pre-general contributions to Morelle:

Individual:


A few notable donors.....
Dewey & LeBoeuf - global law firm with NYC HQ that just "expanded it's Middle East presence" with an office in Abu Dhabi (according to their website). How nice.

Gerstman Schwartz - Long Island lawyers.

Israel, Israel, & Purday - Lawyers for health care providers.

Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips - more lawyers for health care, entertainment, media & advertising etc., which happens to be the firm that John Faso is a partner in, and they recently made a deal in the pension probe.

Corporate:


You can see that it's mostly insurance and health industry related.


Other Monetary:



More insurance and health industry related.


In Kind:



Transfers Out:




Expenditures/Payments:





As a part-time Assemblyman, it is imperative that you eat at as many restaurants as you can in order to work hard on that legislation to lower taxes and create jobs.....otherwise, you might imperil your political fortunes....err....I mean.....taxpayers! Yeah. The taxpayers.


Same ol' same ol' .....for the past 20 years.