George Phillips's Loss Is Ulster County's Loss

Joe Bubel has an excellent post on his blog. Joe notes:

"Our media-driven society accepted Obama by word only, and that is enough for them. And, there just aren't enough people left, who expect more than just words, to counter the droves of 10 second sound byte Obama followers at the polls. Time will only tell, if Obama can deliver the Christmas he promised.

"There will be those who will gloat. There are those who say to me, and others like me on the blog world, we are a blue county in a blue state, time for your 'kind' to move...So I say, I have the FREEDOM to live where I Like. You, however, are tied to where the government can take care of you, or you need to bring the government to you, which you have been doing quite successfully in Ulster County."

Sadly, Ulster County and the rest of New York's 22nd Congressional District has overwhelmingly voted another term for Comrade Maurice Hinchey, Congressman Price Control, who advocated price controls on gasoline earlier this year and never saw a socialist system he didn't wish to emulate. The 22nd district is gerrymandered to include Binghamton, Ithaca, New Paltz, Woodstock, Kingston and Poughkeepsie. They managed to slice in more than a half dozen colleges, Vassar, Marist, two SUNYs (New Paltz and Binghamton)and Cornell, plus Woodstock, home to trust left wing trust fund babies and rock stars. George Phillips mounted a noble campaign but lacked support from Ulster County's Democratic media and 2001 invasion of New York City liberals. The Obama-McCain debacle contributed as well.

Let us hope that George continues his noble efforts in pursuit of this Congressional seat.

Hey Hey, Ho, Ho, Maurice Hinchey's Gotta Go!

It is time to defeat Congressman Maurice Hinchey. He has been riding high in a gerrymandered district that goes as far west as Ithaca and includes Ulster and Sullivan Counties. According to Heather Yakin in the Times Herald Record Congressman Hinchey yesterday called for a price control ("cap") on gasoline prices to be set at $2.59 a gallon. Those of us who remember the 1970s gas lines (see photo above) caused by government rationing know that Hinchey is out of his mind. As a Congressman, Hinchey himself likely would have a special deal on gasoline or just tell an aide wait in the two-hour lines. Those who need gasoline the most will not be able to get it, while the politically connected, like Congressman Hinchey, would enjoy an ample supply. Congressman Hinchey need not need be concerned if oil exploration firms do not seek new sources of oil and poor people cannot get gas because of the "cap", or if people who have access to the gasoline do not economize. Hinchey's proposal is selfish, vicious and anti-environmentalist since those who have access to the gas will squander it due to the artificially low price.

A glance at the map of the 22nd Congressional district delineates the extent to which Congressman Hinchey has benefited from unethical and anti-democratic gerrymandering by New York State's corrupt political establishment. The district includes eight counties (Broome, Delaware, Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins and Ulster). Only Sullivan and Ulster are completely in Hinchey's district. The twenty-second district's absurd shape illustrates how Congressman Hinchey has enjoyed the fruits of New York State's political corruption. He has run unopposed for years.