As Albany’s legislative session came to a close in June the State Senate passed a victims’ rights bill that never made it out of the Assembly, despite support by Eliot Spitzer and over 110 assembly co-sponsors. The bill would have required that defendants in sex crime cases submit to HIV testing so that their victims could have piece of mind and not have to live every waking moment worried and fearful of contracting the deadly disease as a secondary result of their already horrific rape or molestation.

Even though this bill makes all the sense in the world and had the support of the majority of the Assembly it could not come to vote as the Assembly leadership would not allow it to escape the procedural aspects of bill passage. It remained listlessly in the rules committee which is chaired by none other than Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver himself. Through the news media he openly showed support for the bill but when it truly mattered he caved-in to the few but very vocal dissenters in the Assembly who represent his peers, those on the very far left. These people not only believed the bill to be an assault on civil rights but also thought that the bill would make victims out of those living with HIV by giving the disease a negative stigma.

Never mind the rights of the poor rape victim. Never mind the Common Good. Only in New York could the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many.

Such is the norm with the governance of rights in New York State. Good laws are never passed while bad ones somehow seem to get passed, the liberal downstate interests influencing laws to the point of actually empowering sexual predators while taking away the rights of their prey.

This imbalance was fully realized last fall when Joan Diver’s body was found along the Clarence bike path, the victim of a brutal murder. Fearing that the Buffalo area Bike Path Rapist or a similar deviant was on the rampage again, authorities in Erie County strongly suggested - if not demanded – that women exercise at home or indoors and not venture out on the paths and trails.

By any standard, becoming shut-ins fearful of the outdoors is the only route health-conscious women could take under such circumstances. With a monster on the loose, a jaunt in the park could become a dangerous thing because women’s rights to protect themselves were thrown under the bus by Albany politics. Every single option that is available on the market in most states by which to give a woman an edge over a sexual predator is not an option here.

What if she wants a small pistol to keep on her person? A woman has to go through loopholes to get a pistol permit in NY, one of only twelve states that require such a permit, something in extreme defiance of our second amendment.

What if she wants to possess a stun gun? She can’t in New York, one of only six states in the whole US in which they are illegal despite their incredible level of safety.

What if she wants to carry pepper spray as a weapon? She has only a few places where she can buy it and she can only buy so much for New York is, once again, one of just a handful of states (8) with a limitation.

Basically, the women of New York State are left defenseless against their attackers. Without the access to self-defense weapons there is very little that a 120-pound woman can do against a 250-pound pervert intent on taking away her body’s sanctity and her mind’s sanity. Our Big Government lawmakers have guaranteed this over the years, doing everything in their power to make our women powerless and rapists empowered. Couple this insanity with the Assembly’s recent denial of the HIV-testing bill and the sex offender "wins" not only during the sickening crime but also well after it has been committed.

Last week was not a good week for the Food and Drug Administration’s management team. After months of being abused by the press, their “bosses” finally came down on them and dished out some abuse of their own. For starters, they were poked and prodded in a congressional hearing that pulled no punches in calling out the FDA’s inability to properly manage food inspections. Then, on the very next day, President Bush put another nail in their coffin, announcing the creation of a cabinet-level panel that was given sixty days to determine how to correct the flaws in import inspections. As if that wasn’t enough, the FDA stupidly announced amidst this fury their plan to shut down inspection labs, a decision that was lambasted to no end.

All of these attacks on the FDA are warranted. The organization has done little to meet it’s mission statement, the very meaning of its existence, which starts off by saying, “the FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply…”

The safety of our nation’s food supply has been suspect in recent years and it has come to a head over the past twelve months, during which a rash of crises have occurred. The most reported was the illness and/or demise of the many pets that ingested melamine-tainted food brought in from China. It was then that a red flag was raised and it was soon discovered that some Chinese-raised fish were loaded with banned chemical substances and Chinese toothpaste was sweetened with anti-freeze.

Not just an internationally-driven issue, domestically produced foodstuff have been just as troubled. Late last year, many people across the US took ill (and some even died) after three major outbreaks; one of E Coli-laden spinach sold in grocery stores across the nation, another with tainted lettuce poisoning Taco Bell tacos, and another instance where salmonella-drenched peanut butter was discovered in the marketplace.

The common denominator in all of these occurrences was the fact that the discoveries were too little, too late. The FDA did not act until these items were on the shelves or tearing-apart the bellies of man and beast. The FDA has shown time and again that it can only react to problems and not prevent them from occurring. Such is a telltale symptom of a poorly managed operation.

The FDA perfectly represents a government bureaucracy: Rather than focusing on hands-on operations it instead focuses on paper pushing and operational waste. Despite having a number one responsibility of food safety (attainable only through effective inspections) the Administration employs only 1,750 inspectors (20% less than just five years ago). This group of employees represents less than one-fifth of the 9,000 people employed by the FDA. That means 80% of the FDA’s workforce is not specifically dedicated by its corporate structure to fulfill the organization’s mission statement and responsibility to the people. The vast majority of its employment files reports, issues documents and creates standards that it can never enforce. It has become a regulatory agency lacking in the ability - maybe even desire - to regulate.

You can see the results of this “direct” labor disconnect in the insignificance of the inspection efforts. Foreign imports of foods and ingredients have grown to a $71 billion industry, one that brings in 25,000 shipments a day of which only 1% are inspected. In terms of domestic inspections, it has been said that US food plants are inspected only once every five to ten years.

Those are frighteningly pitiful results from an organization with a $1.5 billion annual budget which is three times what it was in the late-1980’s. One would expect better results out of such a growing investment. But, alas, because of the FDA’s bureaucratic ways and bad management it’s a very poor investment. The health and safety of each and every American has been dangerously put on the back burner, trivialized by the waste that is “government”.

How serious is this? Deathly serious. One shudders to think how easily bad foods could make it into the marketplace and kill not just a handful but hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. Such a nightmare can only be prevented by a major and truly immediate makeover of the FDA, one that emphasizes the safety and security of all Americans and not the job security of a bunch of paper pushing bureaucrats.

CANAL DUST-UP SHOWS LACK OF REGIONALISM
By Bob Confer

“Regionalism” is major buzzword in Western New York’s political and economic circles. According to the many people, supposedly WNY’s best and brightest, who are relentlessly pushing this concept, we in WNY need to drop our fiefdom mindsets and leverage ourselves as a whole, not as a Buffalo or a Niagara Falls, in an collective effort to make the area better, returning some semblance of prosperity to the region.

This regionalism sounds good, but sounding good and actually being good are two entirely different things.

The concept really can’t work as intended when those most promoting it maintain their fiefdom-serving behaviors behind their regionalism facades. Western New York has historically been - and continues to be to this very day - overly “Buffalocentric”. It has been believed by those in the Queen City and its richest suburbs (not to mention far away in Albany’s control rooms) that everything in WNY begins and ends in Buffalo or the wealthy parts of Erie County.

All efforts to bring progress to the region blindly focus on Erie County while Niagara, Orleans, and the other WNY counties are left to pick up the scraps. This is most insulting to Niagara County whose moniker was stolen and corrupted by the myriad regionalists who zealously label everything under the sun as “Buffalo-Niagara”. Symptoms and symbols of this meaningless regionalism can be seen where development and progress occur and where they don’t occur.

This issue of Buffalocentrism recently reared its ugly head in a conflict that seems trivial at first but after closer analysis truly represents something bigger. The State Legislature voted almost unanimously to label Buffalo as the end of the Erie Canal. This created a donnybrook amongst the local municipalities with the Tonawandas (the true end of the Canal!) rightly calling the bill fraudulent while, miles away, the Buffalo crowd cried for joy. The local press became a sounding board pitting the have-nots against the haves (once again, Buffalo).

This legislation and its resultant conflict should never have occurred for the legislation defies all geographical sense. A quick look-see will show that the Erie Canal ends at the Niagara River in the Tonawandas. Common sense and logic should have ruled this issue. But alas, they didn’t. Remember, we are talking about Albany and the regionalists.

It’s the regionalists who brought this on, somehow twisting reality to their own Buffalocentric ends. If they had really cared about the “region” component of “regionalism” they would have accepted with open arms the Tonawandas as the true Canal terminus for, after all, by their definition we’re one big happy neighborhood. But, as with anything, it’s all about money: By bringing the Canal in spirit (and law) to Buffalo they have brought with it an important label that can now bring limitless grants and tax dollars to Buffalo, much to the detriment of the rest of the region.

Don’t get me wrong, I love regionalism as it was intended. I truly believe that in order to turn around this tired upstate economy - and bring about a better tomorrow for we and subsequent generations who call this “home” - we all need to understand that we’re all in it together. Only by working cohesively can we positively affect change.

But, despite, these beliefs, I become disillusioned and disbelieving when those who tout regionalism relentlessly promote their false religion while continuing their self-serving sins. We simple people outside of Buffalo and the suburbs see very little from regionalism efforts and it’s high time that we did. So, until the regionalists straighten their act out and promote the entire region, I’ll continue to be a non-believer and understand that everything really does begin and end in Buffalo, knowing that maybe, just maybe, that’s why this area is in distress.

NEW YORK NEEDS INITIATIVE

By Bob Confer, www.BobConfer.net

Albany is broken and needs fixing. That, we know. And so do the politicians. That’s why every one of them the state over asks for citizen participation in the political process.

Sometimes this request is all bark and no bite, lacking in merit and meaning. Many politicians are not keen on extensive public input (it decreases their power) while others tout the philosophies of the representative form of government and the faith in the elected officials that comes with it.

But, quite often, this request for active civics does have something behind it. Many politicians do appreciate input and value the efforts of the citizens who have entrusted them. Case in point, the New York State Senate - a constant and well-deserved target of closed-government sentiments - has recently proposed a measure to afford New Yorkers a greater ability to participate in governmental affairs. They have introduced an amendment to the state constitution (S.6020 to be exact) that would bring initiative and referendum powers to the voters. Still awaiting approval and even acknowledgement from the Assembly, this would be a stupendous means by which to give power to the people.

An initiative is the most powerful tool that a citizen could have, even more powerful than a standard vote in an election. With this tool activists and other concerned people can create their own statutes and amendments which then appear on the ballot when enough signatures have been collected to show initial support. This is good citizenship and democracy at their finest: the average person is given the chance to see a need, develop the legislation to address that need, and then present that legislation to others.

A referendum is slightly different than an initiative but is still an asset to the citizen. In this practice voters are given the ability to pass or reject bills enacted by the legislature. So, if you feel disgusted or delighted with what your elected official has done, you can not only vote him or her into or out of office but you can also give the thumbs up or down to their actions. This gives significant responsibility and authority to voters, allowing them to offer a much-needed system of checks and balances, showing just who the boss is. After all, laws are by and for the people, and if the people don’t want them then so be it.

Based upon decades of bad government and the resulting economic and social malaise in New York, initiatives and referendums would inject some serious life into the political scene. Twenty-four states already have them and many of those states have seen their people use them with great vigor and success. The fact that our state - arguably the most important in the Union - is not one of the twenty-four is truly confounding. We have had an impressive history of varied leaders (including men who have gone on to the presidency) who have touted “democracy” and the rights of the “little guy”, yet we don’t have the most basic of democratic measures in place actually empowering the little guy.

Maybe someday we will. Chances are it won’t be anytime soon. The Senate has introduced this measure before with the Assembly turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to it. Such is the norm with two-party, bicameral legislature; one house or party won’t agree with the other if it has introduced a great bill that is out of the ordinary because the other party gets credit for it. The New York State Assembly and Senate have actually made their careers out of doing this to one another at the expense of the taxpayers (yet another reason for the passage of this amendment!).

If my pessimism is wrong this time and the Assembly accepts the most recent I&R amendment with open arms (which they just might with reform-minded Steamroller Spitzer in power) we’d be looking at this constitutional amendment being up for vote on the November 2009 ballot. Then it would be up to the people to pass the amendment and, afterwards, act upon the powers they were given. Then and only then will we know we’re living in a state with democratic tendencies, one where the politicians and the average citizens all care and show it.

From the 02 July 2007 Greater Niagara Newspapers

INDEPENDENCE FOR ONE AND ALL

By Bob Confer, www.BobConfer.net

Ask anybody about the meaning of Independence Day and the purpose of this week’s festivities and the typical answer will be something along the lines of, “July Fourth celebrates when we became a nation.”

That’s a brief but noble and relatively accurate answer. But, nonetheless, it is not fully accurate. The abundance and brevity of this response, probably based on what the majority of the Declaration of Independence expounds upon, leads one to believe that the only purpose of this document was to clarify the states’ exit from Great Britain’s kingdom. The narrowness of the common response fails to address a very key issue: Not only was collective independence determined but so was that of the individual.

The Declaration began with a powerful insight into what constitutes humanity and freedom, indicating that the governance of mankind should come not from overbearing tyrannical powers but rather from the Laws of Nature. Natural laws, as our founding fathers so simply yet so effectively stated, declare, “all men are created equal…they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Those key words, further codified in founding and supportive documents over the dozen subsequent years, are what separated - and continue to separate - our nation from all others on this world. Up until that time no nation had ever been founded on true personal freedom and liberty, let alone a participative government. Prior forms of national, regional or tribal identities relied on almost dictatorial rule that worked from the top down rather than the bottom up and featured stark and deliberate divisions in class, either defining peoples’ roles in their society or putting reins on their ability to pursue life in any way they saw fit.

The collective independence of a separate nation and the new style of self-rule so different from past governments that we gained from the Declaration of Independence are important. But, it can be said without a doubt that the singular independence of each and every one of us that came from our nation’s Genesis is much more important. It’s this personal freedom that makes America unique and it’s this personal freedom that makes YOU unique.

Consider yourself blessed to be an American citizen, for our nation is truly amazing, a land where each and every person is afforded the chance to be his or her self. We are granted the ability to be who we want to be. We are given the freedom to pursue our dreams. We are empowered with personal responsibility and the struggles, joy, and rewards that come with it. Our lives are what we want to make of them and it is best said, in the spirit of the holiday, that we are granted independence. You are who you are and can be who you can be because of the American Way.

The greatness of this independence for all and one is something that should not be overlooked in this week’s celebrations. Only here in the United States of America can you truly be free to aspire and achieve, so, as you celebrate our national independence take some time to celebrate your independence and everything that has come from it.

Relish life’s journey and savor the results. Our founding fathers would have it no other way.