Readers’ Column for the week of Nov. 2, 2014

You may call the Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2378 24-hours a day, or e-mail comments to readerscolumn@stny.rr.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any message.

If you are coming to the Paddle Party on Nov. 6 at the VFW, please note that the admission fee is $5.00 and you need to bring quarters to bid on prizes. I don’t think my ad was clear enough on that aspect. Hope to see lots of people there. It should be great fun!

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Beat the postal rush. Send your thank you cards to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Why? If you are an employee of a business certified by START Up NY and your income is between $21,000 and $77,000, your employee bonus is 6.45 percent per year for 10 years, $1345 – $4996 per year. Nice bonus. You did not have to pay these taxes. If you are a taxpayer, “Thank you Gov. Cuomo for committing me to 16 years of replacing revenue deprived from the system.” What is the potential value of the six taxes? Tens of billions but we have the Buffalo Billion and the 1.5 Billion pledge for Upstate New York. Alternative III set him free – No need to worry about loss of subsidies for health care after three years. Executive Order? Right to Life, assault rifle, anti-gay, fiscal conservation believers avoided Safe Act – Message of Necessity, START UP NY – messages of necessity. You need stress free time to tour the World.

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Thanks to the Town of Nichols Highway crew for the newly resurfaced road on Roki Boulevard.

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I live in the area outside the village, which is going to be protected by a new fire station in north Owego. To me it sounds like it’s going to cost more but more importantly, who is going to be providing the emergency squad and the ambulance services that are currently provided by the Owego Fire Department. This is very important to me and I do not believe there’s any plan to fulfill the commitment made by the Owego Fire Department. Could you please provide this data?

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You have got to hand it to Obama for once telling the truth, when he was asked why so many democrats seeking congressional office were criticizing him and running away from his endorsements. Obama said he could lie and all he wanted to because when it came to the bottom line they would all vote with him. So true, so true.

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Let’s see if you dare to print this one. It seems as though Obama and company are doing everything they can to stir up apprehension and fear and possibly even create panic in this country. Another case of Ebola, this time in New York City after the president assured us that there would never be a case of Ebola in this country. The war against Isis is not going very well at all and it won’t be too long before we start losing people over there too. So, what is the president going to end up doing? Well, it appears that before too long he is going to have to declare Marshall Law and when he declares Marshall Law in this country that means he will totally control everything. He will control the food, the water, the transportation, energy, and even confiscate all privately owned weapons. He will be the defacto dictator of the United States of America and as a matter of fact I believe that he would even have the power to cancel the elections in 2016 so that he can remain in complete control of the country for as long as he wants. Now, we’ll see if this one gets printed.

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Today is Friday, Oct. 24, and I just want to say thank you to all the feedback that I got on some of my comments on the social security administration. I appreciate everyone’s support and the positive feedback. I’m meeting with some very close friends and individuals that will help me with a website and a blog. As a reminder to everyone, Election Day is coming up on Nov. 4, so please get out and vote. If you think there can be any changes, most judges are appointed or elected and that applies to individuals out of Syracuse. I won’t name her again in the social security administration. So changes can happen, it’s very important to get out and vote. Once I get my site up I will post for all of you interested in sharing my frustrations on that website and my blog that’s coming up shortly. Thank you and God bless!

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I intend to cast my vote for Martha Robertson. It would take this brave and patriotic woman at least two terms to get this stench of corruption out of Mr. Reed’s chair.

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So let’s see. The republican obstructionists are the cause of all our troubles yet the presidency is democrat and the democrat senate leader, Reed, prevents all republican house bills from even being voted on. What a laugh! Paul Ryan is one of the few politicians that understand macroeconomics. Obviously Obama is clueless. Vote for Tom Reed just to shut up the local Marxist low information caller.

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When local newspapers have a front page that only contains a half sheet of a normal horizontal size sheet, it is a total pain to try to read the paper. It is so annoying that I can’t imagine a newspaper even allowing it!

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In order to accept a local headline in the local newspaper that is embracing the adversity to add strength to the region, one would have to totally ignore the situation Endicott and Johnson City are finding themselves in.

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Why must the Town of Owego taxpayers be burdened with a $1.1 million fire station just to satisfy the ego of some disgruntled former Village of Owego firemen? Wake up commissioners! We do not need this new fire station. We can’t afford this new fire station and we don’t want this new fire station!

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Congressional candidate Martha Robertson is pushing a yet more intrusive form of Obamacare. It is called single payer socialized medicine. It has been tried elsewhere and it costs even more than the present Obamacare version. The only control and cost is to restrict care and that is what they are doing, usually cutting the care from the elderly. Obama was open about that when he responded to a question about a woman’s elderly mother. He recommended a pain pill for care. Socialized medicine has the compassion of the IRS, the efficiency of a road repair crew and the ethics of congress.

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This is the old man on the hill. I’d like to thank the workers on the Town of Owego Highway Department for finally doing something with the divot on East Beecher Hill Road. I can almost take a nap days now. Thanks again!

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I would like to have everybody vote yes for the Candor school project. It’s my tax dollars and I’d like to see them returned to my district instead of every other school district. Also, to the people that say that’s not the way it works, that is the way it works. The building is falling down. If you’d go look at it you would see it. It’s falling down, plus you voted for no merger. You either have to merge or fix the buildings. Prevailing wage is a state problem, not a town of Candor problem. We all have to pay prevailing wage, take it up with the state.

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Wow, today I was amazed! I actually got a rebate from the governor. Governor Cuomo sent me all of $12 in a check. Why thank you! I don’t know what else to say. By the way, guess whom I’m not voting for.

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Hello public! Those who use public transportation, as of Nov. 30 your public transportation will be finished. Why isn’t anyone protesting against this? Either letters to the editor, comments in the Pennysaver, why aren’t you protesting in front of the legislation building? I don’t understand. Are you waiting for it to close and then protest and bitch and whine because they’ve done away with your public bus service? Come on people of Owego, get yourself organized and let the county know that you need this service!

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If you still have the doctor you want and the healthcare plan you want, and are saving $2,500 a year as Obama promised, and view this election as a referendum on the Obama regime as Obama also stated, then vote democrat. If you want to repudiate the way this country is going and you want to never look at Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or Debbie blabbermouth Schultz, vote republican or better yet conservative. Take back your country!

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I wanted to express my disgust with the Town of Owego fire district commissioners for the outrageous budget and the ridiculous plan to build another station and to equip it for the expenses we have yet to see. This is another one of the good old boys self-serving group that steals from their neighbors. You set up one of your own with a district manager’s job, since all of your commissioners are firemen of Campville or Southside public input means nothing. The only way to change this self-serving group is to get honest people elected to the commissioner seats, but we know that is a joke. The residents of this district are sheep and kept in the dark. Thanks for the shaft commissioners, we really appreciate it.

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Have you noticed gas prices at the pump are dropping for us at last? Why? According to the Wall Street Journal the market has now been flooded with fossil fuels including oil, natural gas, as well as coal and yet, as usual, republicans seem to be out of touch with the real world. If the republicans take control of the U.S. house and senate, their first to do list includes: approve the Keystone XL pipeline, more off shore oil drilling, no federal restrictions on fracking, and open national forest to timber companies for exploitation. Let’s remember the Ryan plan for cutting Medicare, social security and food programs. Oh yes, we can forget pay equity, living wages, aid to education plus other things important to our lives here.

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I’m going to call myself a super senior because I’m not just a senior. I just want the people to know about this 1.7 percent we got from social security. I’d like to know local, state or federal, how many of them would go for that if that raise were their own. I pulled my duty.

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You probably won’t print this however it needs to be said. The Department of Transportation workers seem to have more time on their hands than work because whenever you go by them when they are working on the highways there’s always one or two working and the rest of them are leaning on the expensive heavy equipment and I think our taxpayer money is going to waste with all these people. They’re getting paid to do nothing. I think someone should look into it.

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My goodness, we certainly had some long-winded writers sending in their comments in this column on Oct. 26. I sure wish you would send your comments to the letters to the editor or make your own newspaper instead of taking up the room in this column, which we do enjoy reading. Some of these long-winded comments are very boring!

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Do you wonder why the pro-abortion crowd keeps ranting about Tom Reed? Well it’s because Reed does not want your tax dollars funding late term abortions while his opponent does. My vote goes to Reed just based on that!

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I just want to say why Cuomo has to go. It’s because he only cares about himself. He’s totally self-sufficient. He has his aim on the presidency and we need to get rid of Andrew Cuomo. I don’t care if it’s Astorino or whoever it is that takes over, but it can’t be worse. Andrew Cuomo cares about himself and Albany and below, and that’s the end of the story. He doesn’t care about the rest of the state, he only makes believe. Well anyway, he’s a farce. Let’s vote for somebody else.

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I’m calling about the Candor town barn. I don’t think they should build a whole new barn. I’m a person that likes to rebuild things, so just rebuild the barn. It will cost a million dollars compared to 20 million dollars and the barn will be beautiful. It will serve its purpose. Why burden taxpayers with a billion dollars of taxes that we don’t need to deal with when we can just put a roof on the thing. It’s a town barn, right? Get my drift?

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This is in regards to the Candor school district vote on renovations and other projects. The school already has $2 million they can spend on these projects. The facelift to the districts are not needed, they are just a waste of taxpayer’s money. Adding classrooms with declining enrollment does not make sense. The school board is out of touch with reality. Money does not grow on trees. Why not just spend the $2 million you have to fix what is really needed. Proposition 1 is too loosely worded, giving them the chance to create a Taj Mahal. Get out and vote No on Nov. 5.

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Does anyone know how to stop the bullying in the Village of Owego? The 200 percent increase in sewer based on flat rate?

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Voting. Yes, it’s time to vote. Yes, it’s time for a change. Yes, it’s time to vote for Martha Robertson. Remember, republicans are deservedly known as the party of NO. There are millions of us on the receiving end of their relentless NO history. NO jobs plan as in infrastructure or as in unemployment insurance or increase in minimum wages. NO pay equity. NO freedom to choose for women. NO health insurance for millions as in the Affordable Health Care Act. NO immigration plan. NO as in voter suppression. I could go on. Vote YES for Martha Robertson on Nov. 4.

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I hope the Candor school district realizes that if you house all the buses in a heated building all it will do is make the buses rust out and shorten the life of the buses. Tioga School did this, now the buses are rusting out because they are being covered in snow and salt in a heated garage. This is not the right way to do this. We need some common sense here. Vote no on this.

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It would be great if the police would enforce the 45mph speed limit in the Crestview Heights area.

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I would like to take a few moments to thank the crews that repaired the railroad crossing on East Front Street recently. Your time and labor was well appreciated. Again, thank you!

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Political reminder. Governor Cuomo appointed the Moreland Commission to route out corruption in Albany but to not investigate certain organizations. When the commission found information that pointed towards the governor they halted their work. Nothing in Albany has changed. Perhaps we need new faces in government who have not sold the citizens out in order to protect their position.

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This is to the irresponsible pet owner in Lounsberry on East River Road. On Wednesday night, Oct. 29, you left two inside dogs tied out while you went away from 6 to 8 p.m. There are coyotes, bobcats and who knows what else running in this area. The little dog barked the whole time you were gone. I’m glad you don’t have any children.

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This is to the people of the Town of Owego. If don’t want to be saddled with an unnecessary fire station you’re going to have to start making a lot of noise because it’s on its way.

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I would like to let the Town of Owego people know that you DON’T have a say in the building of the new fire department, even when it is going to increase our taxes by 22 percent. Is the Town of Owego Fire Board trying to drive us all into the grave from taxes? Maybe the board members should be the only ones to pay the 22 percent increase because they are the only ones who can vote on it. They are going to be taking fire trucks from another department on the Southside of Owego and use them and then will still have to buy others. I pity the Board members when they show their faces in public knowing that a lot of us can’t afford their tax increase. So eventually more people will either lose their homes to taxes or move, and then what will the new fire department have to save. Empty houses? So when you see the Fire Board members in public tell them what you think about their ideas and the tax increase. The service we all receive now from the fire department is great and fast. So, Southside people, we are going to have to wait twice as long for coverage, especially with them taking trucks from the Southside Fire Department. Go to the Town Fire Board on Monday, Nov. 10 and let them know how we feel. They meet at the Town Hall, usually around 7 p.m.

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Most of Martha Robertson’s campaign funds have come from voters in the 23rd Congressional District – unlike her opponent who is taking money from secret PACs and corporations like Oil & Gas, Royalty Pharma and insurance companies (opensecrets.org). This is important because Robertson will represent the people of Tioga County not big money interests. Martha is dedicated to propose and support legislation, which will strengthen the middle class so forgotten by the republicans.

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Why is it that the residents voted down a new fire station in Apalachin TWICE, yet the Town of Owego is able to push through a new fire station with NO VOTE? They are even claiming that it is a replacement for the Campville station when the proposed site is nowhere near Campville! We will all suffer from a tax increase due to this new station and don’t even have a say in it. Maybe it’s time to boycott the Fireman’s Field Days. Why give the Department more $ when they are stealing it from us for their new station? Guess we should have known that since we voted down a new station in Apalachin, that the Fire Department would find a way to get what they want!

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Denmark’s citizens rate their country among the highest in the world for quality of life. These might be some of the reasons: free child care, free healthcare, free access to universities, a $20 minimum wage and a 33 hour work week.

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You have to laugh! The co-founder of the Weather Channel made a statement to the media this past week that there is NO evidence of global climate change anywhere. It’s not even science. It’s a hoax aimed at the low information crowd. Will this make any difference to the climate change bunch? No, facts don’t count, that’s easy to see.

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I have a question. I hear the term “Land Rights” thrown out when someone wants to blow off about zoning and government control. My question is, what are “Land Rights” Where are they listed? Unless you are a Native American, I fail to find any such thing.

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To the voters in Candor, please don’t believe everything you read in this column. Last week someone stated that we would be paying over $700,000 for the land. That is not true. Then they said the taxpayers would be hit with over $19 Million in the tax levy. That is also not true. The district has been planning for the project for a very long time, and they refinanced our past project debt at a much lower interest rate. There will be NO new local school tax increase – NONE – associated with this project. Vote no if you wish, but do not vote no based on lies. And please, those of you who support this project please get out and vote a resounding yes. We said that we did not want to merge with Spencer because we believed in our school and community. Now we must value our infrastructure and take good care of what we have built here.

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Tom Reed has voted in accordance with the wishes of the Republican leadership nearly all the time. So if you want more government shutdowns and continued inability of the House to work in a spirit of cooperation to pass badly needed legislation, Tom Reed is the one to vote for.

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Tom Reed’s voting record shows that he works for the wealthy industry moguls who support him. Martha Robertson works for the 99 percent and has my vote on Nov. 4.

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Candorites: The recession is still present in our area. According to the 2010 census the average family income is $43,186 a year for Candor. Most of us are living a “NEED be” budget, and hope to get by. The school board continues to bring forth proposals that are over the top of our needs. Our school bus garage has NEEDED repair for over 30 years. If the board would cut out the extras, I could vote for this project, but cannot vote for items that we already re-built not too long ago, or add two new class rooms for a declining enrollment, plus the administration office relocation again, just to name a few. They have not shown the bus garage design to know if there will be locker rooms, conference rooms, or an elaborate entrance as in the past proposal plans. We will have to pay for the maintenance and repairs on these extras year after year to come, plus the “ever”-increasing tax rate. I cannot support this proposal, and urge this community to tell the school board to rethink the difference between a NEED and a want. It starts at this level of spending and goes all the way to the top – county, state, federal. Agree, or disagree, vote Nov. 5. Take your right to voice how your money is spent. That privilege doesn’t cost you anything!

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The 2015 income Tax season will soon be here and the Tioga County AARP Tax-Aide Volunteers are starting to prepare. The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program is available free of charge, and provides safe electronic filing for tax returns. Through a cadre of trained volunteers, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide has helped individuals in Tioga County for more than 20 years. In Tioga County we prepare income tax returns at sites in Owego, Waverly, Apalachin, and Newark Valley. Over the years the Tioga County program has had to scale back because we have lost volunteers. To continue this valuable service to the residents of Tioga County, additional tax consultants are needed. The time commitment is a couple of hours a week from Feb. 1 to April 15 and some time in January for training. Tax prep and training materials and travel reimbursement are provided. If you are interested you can go to the AARP website at www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide for information about the program and how to Volunteer. If you like to talk to a local volunteer give a call at (607) 768-9905.

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An engineer visiting a fracking site in Pa. was shown why some wells have had leakage problems. It has to do with the concrete used to encase the steel pipe cracking. The engineer’s reaction, “That’s a fixable problem and it’s pretty simple.” NOW what excuse will Cuomo and the liberals have for not allowing fracking in New York State? Tickles me, people are using natural gas to heat their homes, businesses, etc., and cheering the fact that it’s less expensive and less polluting than the alternatives, but they see no responsibility to replace what they use. Kind of makes one wonder about ethics, doesn’t it?

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A BIG “Thank You” from Happy Tails Rescue, Owego to the community for their donations to, and purchases from our new store at 403 Main St. in Owego. The store is doing well, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to our animal rescue. If you have donations, contact us at 687-2433, or drop by Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. We are a not-for-profit organization and so, all donations are tax deductible.

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“On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this Supreme Being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in “A,” “B,” “C” and “D.” Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even angrier as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of “conservatism.” — Barry Goldwater, Speech in the U.S. Senate (16 September 1981)

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My vote is for Anndrea Starzak for Senate who supports the current moratorium on fracking. Fracking contaminates drinking water, pollutes the air with scary pollutants, risks our precious health, and threatens our tourism industry. Our best choice for Congress is Martha Robertson. As senior citizens, her election is critical to protect the benefits we have from Social Security and Medicare. We paid into Social Security our entire lives and we deserve to have those benefits available when needed.

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Has anyone heard that a fast food chain is looking to locate a small business in the Spencer area?

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Don’t forget to vote for Rob Astorino and Sheriff Moss on Nov. 4.

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To restore trust and integrity to state government and support our small businesses here in Tioga County, my vote is for Anndrea Starzak for Senator.