Constitutional Convention - Let's Not Do It

In theory, a Constitutional Amendment is a great idea whose time is past due. In reality, however, the bastardization, partisanship and corruption of the process we currently face will make it impossible to get good, "clean", unencumbered representatives and the well-intentioned change we desire. It just won't work (& I do want it to). I'll explain.

In order for a constitutional convention or constitutional change to take place, the requisite representatives would need to be ELECTED. This requires campaigning. Campaigning is typically reliant upon money and exposure. I know this all too well as I am currently going through this as a candidate for the NYS Assembly (feel free to donate). There are no campaign finance laws that I'm aware of, anywhere in the US, to control the spending for this type of campaign. Consequently, special interest groups, corporations, current politicians, criminals, ex-cons, your wacko neighbor, etc., are able to run, spending unlimited amounts of money toward a campaign. And, anything goes, such as lying, incorrect information, and personal denigration and insults without recourse.  

Based on the pathetic responses we see at every election, the "wrong" person could get elected for this historic event, based on the campaign spending and exposure a candidate gets. As an example of how bad things are, 700+ or so people voted my last school budget election (Not bad, huh? Well, there are over 10,000 eligible voters!). It's no wonder our schools taxes are the biggest chunk of our tax bills. BTW, this lack of campaign finance control applies to the local, state and federal levels of a constitutional convention with no proposals for a change seeking regulation. Once these people are elected, there is no way to oversight of them as they create changes. Or, more importantly, as they vote for changes that should be in the best interest of all of us all, as they are not going to be up for reelection.

The city of Yonkers has cleaned house with term limits and while it's true you can also lose good people, we are all suffering with the alternative. I'd rather lose a few good people than having to suffer with most of the people we keep getting stuck with. NYC Mayor Bloomberg also proved the point by "buying" a third term in a normally term-limited two-year term.

Our constitutions are good, solid, time-endured documents that are not living documents. When people say appointments for judgeships don't really matter to us, they don't. At least, they don't until the balance is upset. As we are slowly witnessing, many of the same liberal judges are legislating from the bench, ignoring the constitution. It is the same social engineering from the bench that we see with a one-party democratic-party driven system; and the republicans have not proven to be much better but at least offer hope and change - heh, where have I heard that before?

There is more to it than what I've laid out here, but this touches on the highlights of some of the negative possibilities. Since there is no way to control the campaigning and outcome of the election and the decisions made by those elected, there is really only one viable recourse: vote in our regular elections. More importantly, vote the incumbents, professional politicians out of office and support term limits.

We don't need a constitutional convention to change the status quo into something most people desire: a better government with less spending, less taxes, less bureaucracy, less waste and real representation, not social engineering. If everyone they know told five people, or even more, about good candidates and why they should vote for them, we'd be in a better place. Of course, it's also reliant on their getting out to vote.

It really is simple: Vote!

Thomas Bock is the endorsed candidate of the Republican and Conservative parties for the 92nd Assembly District seat. He can be reached at info@Bock2010. Visit his website at www.Bock2010.com or his blog at www.electtombock.blogspot.com. You can contribute to his campaign through his website and Pay Pal, 

or by sending a check or money order to 

Elect Tom Bock, PO Box 1098, 405 Tarrytown Road, White Plains, NY 10607.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Cap and Tax

Did you know New York already has “Cap & Trade” aka Cap and Tax? It is called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – or RGGI. How did this get by most of us, slipping under the radar? Even though “Cap & Trade” has been stalled at the federal level, the RGGI scheme has been up and running for two years right here. This “Cap & Trade” program has already cost ratepayers across New York and nine other Northeastern states over $660 MILLION! As your Assemblyman for the 92nd District, I will work to eliminate this additional taxing scheme and look to develop incentives for everyone to use less energy and more green energy products without further taxes.

This “Cap & Trade” energy tax will cost New Yorkers more jobs and continue to cause energy prices to skyrocket. This is just what we need, higher energy prices. The states are now the battleground for “Cap & Trade”. If we don’t stop it now it will spread to other states across the country, some of which are already poised to adopt their own regional “Cap & Trade” programs, and our country’s already battered economy will be severely damaged for years to come.

You can help to fight this in New York City on September 8 – the date of the next secretive RGGI auction. The RGGI "Cap and Trade scheme operates in secret - a clandestine operation where you and I are told we have no right to know who is trading. Nor do we know how much the RGGI bureaucrats are making on the backs of taxpayers. This is ridiculous! That’s why we need to fight this “Cap & Trade” scam now.

There is an opportunity to send a message to the RGGI bureaucrats and the rest of the nation that we will not stand for a job-killing “Cap & Trade” energy tax! Join the Protest for New York’s Cap & Trade Program - WHEN: Wednesday, September 8 at 11:00am 
WHERE: RGGI Offices, 90 Church St., New York City.

New Jersey has already started a revolt and you can read about it by going here:

http://nonjcapandtrade.com/?page_id=23

Thomas Bock is the endorsed candidate of the Republican and Conservative parties for the 92nd Assembly District seat. He can be reached at info@Bock2010. Visit his website at www.Bock2010.com or his blog at www.electtombock.blogspot.com. You can contribute to his campaign through his website and Pay Pal 

or by sending a check or money order to 

Elect Tom Bock, PO Box 1098, 405 Tarrytown Road, White Plains, NY 10607.

What’s Left?

New York's Legislature and Governor saddled New Yorkers with 243 new taxes and tax increases. It's time to stop this tax insanity. And, come the first of the year, we will be getting the tail-end of the tax double-whammy when the Bush Tax Cuts expire.

You may not be aware of what is happening with the Bush Tax Cuts, but they are set to expire as of the first of the year; all of them. Many in the media have tried to paint anything and everything that former President Bush did as bad. Was paying no taxes or less taxes bad? You’d think so by their accounts. In a nutshell, if the Bush Tax Cuts expire, everyone’s taxes will be increased by approximately 10%. It’s not going to matter that much for the wealthy. However, people who currently are in the lowest tax bracket, and/or pay no taxes, will now be paying at least 10% in taxes. This includes students, part-time workers and lower-skilled workers.

President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid say they want to renew the Bush tax cuts, but only partially. Some leading economists say their plan is a sham and may cause a serious recession or even a depression. Three leading Senate Democrats are breaking from Obama's plan and have called for a full and complete renewal of the Bush tax cuts. Finally, some legislators have stopped drinking the KoolAid. Pelosi and Reid plan a congressional vote as early as September on the Bush tax cuts. I’m not holding my breath for them to do the right thing based on what I’ve seen from them so far.

The Bush tax cuts can be renewed, but millions of Americans must have their voices heard by the major media and most importantly, Congress. Let your voice be heard. Let’s preserve the Bush Tax Cuts.

Thomas Bock is the endorsed candidate of the Republican and Conservative parties for the 92nd Assembly District seat. He can be reached at info@Bock2010. Visit his website at www.Bock2010.com or his blog at www.electtombock.blogspot.com. You can contribute to his campaign through his website and Pay Pal 

or by sending a check or money order to 

Elect Tom Bock, PO Box 1098, 405 Tarrytown Road, White Plains, NY 10607.

Let The Economy Fix Itself

When we talk about the economy, and whether or not we are experiencing a recovery, it garners a range of responses. But if you follow the business media, you’ll notice that corporate profits are increasing. Companies are amassing cash and yet, the unemployment rate is still increasing. Evidently, these same companies, already used to doing more with less, are still not hiring. The Washington Post stated the recession refuses to go away. Why could that be? I'm not sure but the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed our Great Recession is over. Hmm. Tell that to people still out of work.


Today, businesses replace equipment and inventory, but they are not hiring new workers. Advanced technology is the only investment companies are making. What can they accomplish by doing this you might wonder? They can replace more people and free them up to work on other projects. Typically, that would be considered progress. That is if new projects are being undertaken. But they’re not.


Increasing production and reinvesting in our businesses is what will help our economy recovery. The economy can fix itself if government would simply stop interfering with it and superficially co-opting it through phony stimulus packages. Last year’s trillion-dollar dose of government help infused into the coffers of companies too big to fail just wasn't enough. If we want a quick indicator as to what or when the economy is working, watch the retail sector. Retail demand is the most obvious barometer of how well the economy or confidence in it actually is.


Most business owners prefer tax cuts and a lessening of unreasonable regulations to help the businesses. While I agree with their opinion, there must be concurrent spending cuts or we’ll not accomplish a true stimulus and the deficit will just get worse. I had a colleague today ask me, “Okay, I agree with cuts. But now tell me what you’re going to cut and how is it going to impact me? What do I have to lose?” I explained that just the waste in budgets is a good place to start and the abuse in our social services sector would be the next waste-ridden place to go after. Then there’s the Wick’s Law mandates that are costing government projects one-third more in costs and regulations. One example in the Town of Greenburgh is a fifty-foot section of sidewalk that is being put in for a cost of $238,000. Wow!


Our economy is not recovering, unemployment nationally/NY is stuck around 18/10 percent respectively and if we just got government out of the way, left the economy alone, it would correct itself. In short order, the clouds would part, angels would sing and businesses would start spending their profits, reinvesting in themselves, taking on new projects and most importantly for New Yorkers, begin hiring again. But that’s not happening. The economy is not being left alone. The rules from the top are unintelligible and unpredictable. When New Yorkers, as employees, are potential threats because of Labor Department regulations, businesses have little confidence to hire. Our governor and more importantly, our legislature have mirrored the actions of our President and saddled our entrepreneurs and businesses with a larger burden via taxes and regulations. They are now being forced to carry the big companies that we deemed to big to fail. So, what are we doing for them?


Three arenas: health insurance, financial regulation and impending new taxes have taken the wind out of any economic “sail” that had any chance of working. The 2,300 page Dodd-Frank finance regulatory act contains 243 new formal rule-makings by eleven various federal agencies. Social Security and Medicare are teetering precariously. There’s talk of a value-added tax in addition to all of our other taxes. C’mon! All of this only increases a businesses vulnerability to government. It freezes business in a place that forces them to become a bigger and bigger loser the longer they stay in New York. Government should get out of the way or they will have the opposite affect on the economy, stimulating a gray or underground economy. And what then of jobs? What then of taxes and revenue? In short, investors face a regime of uncertainty to an extent that few have experienced in this country. Uncertainty, created by Obama's legislative "successes", perpetuated by Albany, can only be compared to the Depression and World War II. We are quickly about to surpass Greece's economic failures. It must change!


I need your vote on November 2nd. Help me change Westchester and ultimately improve New York. It’s time to make New York the Empire State again. Let’s Invent Tomorrow!

Thomas Bock is the endorsed candidate of the Republican and Conservative parties for the 92nd Assembly District seat. He can be reached at info@Bock2010. Visit his website at www.Bock2010.com or his blog at www.electtombock.blogspot.com. You can contribute to his campaign by sending a check or money order to Elect Tom Bock, PO Box 1098, 405 Tarrytown Road, White Plains, NY 10607.

Government Just Keeps Failing

This should be read and understood by Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Socialists

and everyone who believes government, especially big government is the answer.

   

The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. After 234 years to get it right, it is BROKE!

Social Security was established in 1935. After 74 years to get it right, it is BROKE!

Fannie Mae was established in 1938. After 71 years to get it right, it is BROKE! 

War on Poverty started in 1964. After 45 years to get it right; trillion of dollars of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and it hasn’t worked. 

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. After 44 years to get it right, they are BROKE!

Freddie Mac was established in 1970. After 39 years to get it right, it is BROKE! 

The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. After 32 years to get it right, it is an abysmal FAILURE. 

Government has FAILED in every "government service" they have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars on member items, special interests and themselves. 

Americans know government cannot be trusted to run anything, especially a health care system like the one recently passed and being forced upon us. We should vote to "opt-out" of government run health care.

Thanks to Todd Nelson for sharing this with me.

Remarkable Arrogance - Let's Invent Tomorrow!

Have you noticed our elected officials know what's better for us than we do? Are you tired and disgusted about being marginalized? I am. Here's one example at the federal level.

This past Tuesday saw Missourians overwhelmingly vote and pass a measure, exempting residents from President Obama’s costly health care law mandate. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, flatly dismissed the pelucid message from 667,000 Missourians. When he was asked what it means that voters in Missouri would vote against the federal mandate, Mr. Gibbs said: “Nothing.”

Many of us find this kind of condescension and political deafness from the Obama administration not only unbelievable, but insulting. Even though the White House has shown a blatant disregard for the votes cast by Missourians as ‘nothing’, it shows just how out-of-touch the Obama Administration and Democrats are with average Americans.

I am running for NY State Assembly because I am tired of being marginalized and dismissed because I am too something-or-another or not important enough to be a loud-enough voice (read: vote). I am tired of our politicians finding new ways to spend the precious monies I’m forced to relinquish via taxes (a different sort of ‘gun’). Help me Invent Tomorrow!

I need your financial support as well as your votes. There are two democratic challengers who must primary or exhaust each other until one of them quits. Regardless, they have both bragged that they each have the luxury of spending $100k on this campaign. This doesn’t sound like the kind of people who can feel the pain of anyone in our state who is suffering.

I’m an average guy with a small home in Greenburgh. Greenburgh has seen double-digit tax increases for a long time. It’s time for this to stop before the only people left are my democratic opponents and their rich friends and the social services supported poor. Help me change the way New York is run. Many people say they wish they could vote for somebody good for a change. Well, that time is upon us. I will be good in and for Albany, and I will be good for you! Let’s Invent Tomorrow!

www.Bock2010.com

info@Bock2010.com

ElectTomBock

PO Box 1098

405 Tarrytown Road

White Plains, NY 10607

Let’s Invent Tomorrow!

We know that many politicians pander to their constituents. It’s not limited to only one party. I can point a finger toward many politicians and know I'm correct about their pandering. The one thing we continually hear from many of the current administrations from the local to the federal levels is the need for a stimulus package to create jobs. It’s a concept that seems on target. But is this what we really need or are they pandering?

I don’t believe the previous stimulus packages have had the desired effect. “Real” jobs have not been created, because “real” jobs have staying power. Every locale would be happy to have jobs, but those developed through these pork-laden packages cannot sustain a family, much less have the necessary payoff needed to grow a community. Often, not only do the positions created have little value in terms of a community return, but they are awarded to select people who may not truly be in need. An example of one such job is a music director for one community.  Huh?

Other examples of a few grants that are available are 1) $2 million to retrofit or replace 575 diesel engines on public vehicles. The “goal”, which I interpret as an excuse, is to reduce emissions. What vehicles qualify and by when does it need to be completed, if ever? 2) $662k to rehabilitate and paint the steel gates of dams. Which ones? What is the criteria? Shouldn’t the requisite maintenance for these already have been budgeted? 3) And finally, $25k to hire a music director. Just one? Let’s all sing along… Later, we can have a group hug! It’s pandering at it’s best and worst!

The real question is whether or not this type of spending will actually stimulate the economy or is simply more pork? Contrary to what we’re always told, there is no long-term growth with these expenditures, only a very short term and limited impact. And, its not that the efforts won’t accomplish anything, but like any position that is created with federal monies, once the funding runs out, it’s up to the locale to fund the position or let it expire. These types of pork are a fleeting, feel-good, Three-Card-Monty type of shell game. They do not drive the creation of new and or additional jobs. Small business does. Keynesianism simply won’t work as it is continually forced upon us. We should abandon it completely!

Many who support the Keynesian model believe government can better spend our money than we can. Those in government who like this model believe big government can allocate massive sums of money toward their pet projects and the special interest groups they’ve relied on for votes. Only it doesn’t work. For instance, when a union backs a candidate, they typically make a donation to “their” candidates campaign with members’ money and then they “own” the candidate. All of the candidates will say that they are beholden to no group and will act in a fair and even-handed way when it becomes time to vote for against their donors issue. That’s crap!

Depending on which set of figures you prefer to believe, unemployment is at either about 10% or 18%. I tend to believe the 18% number because there are many unemployed who have given up looking for a job. Yes, there are jobs out there but they’re not being advertised as readily because businesses are afraid to commit to hiring people because of the uncertainty around us, mostly in the form of tax increases. We have issues in the Middle East with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Al Qaeda, Hamas and more. We have a health care bill that promises to cost businesses more than they can afford. It whittles away at private options and pushes a public option. It’s loaded with pork, and waste promises to be rampant. Unemployment insurance has risen, numerous other costs to business have increased, fuel costs are constantly rising and gasoline has creeped over the $3 mark and promises to be back up to $4+/gallon shortly. Property taxes are rising, seniors are leaving, our kids are going out of state to school and can’t afford to come back, even with college degrees. And these aren’t fluff degrees like those of philosophy and archeology. Trickle-down bureaucracy doesn’t work. Jobs work!

Help me fix Albany. Help me fix New York. Dare to change the way you’ve been thinking and what you’ve been doing. It hasn’t been working for a long time. Out of control government spending, record high deficits, an ever-growing federal debt, increased welfare spending cannot produce an economic boon. It’s time to think differently. Let’s Invent Tomorrow!

I pledge to work toward lowering taxes for businesses and individuals. I pledge to work toward having our seniors be able to afford to live here on their fixed income and still be able to splurge once in a while. I pledge to work toward having our kids be able to live here when they come back after college. I pledge to work toward closing the budget gaps and having a balanced, on-time budget. We need some grown-ups in Albany! I don’t want to be elected and then stay there forever. Richard Brodsky was in office for 28 years! Tom Abinanti is in office for 20 years! Haven’t we had enough of these kinds of politicians? I think it’s time we dare to change Albany; for Westchester’s sake. Expect more! Let’s Invent Tomorrow!

www.Bock2010.com

www.ElectTomBock.blogspot.com

info@Bock2010.com