NYT: Feeling Slighted, Rich Patron Led Albany Revolt

............

So who do the Republicans protect, who do they legislate for, and how many of them should remain in office?

So if millions of New Yorkers are ignored, it doesn't matter, but if one millionaire gets ignored he buys some senators off?

That alone is reason to strip him of what he believes gives him power, his money. And if it is true he bought a cou, then there are alot of people that should go down with him.

...were written about the 19th century, instead of about the 21st century.

The people who took the time to vote the 2 dems into office now know their vote is collectively worth jack-cheese compared to one really wealthy guy. That does not seem right.

Home of Tammany Hall. Our state politics are pretty much stuck in the 19th century.

if the NYTimes were "liberal", wouldn't you expect a headline more like this?

"Whining billionaire buys overthrow of government"?

Even though the national deficit is, that to dubya, at around 60% of GDP.

Here is Mr. "Thousand Points of Light" (GHWBushism) "giving his way," but resenting the coffers for the common good.

Just goes to show how much power our vote has compared to the voice of one billioniare. Does that seem fair?
To allow one guy with a ton of money to have such a powerful voice over that of voters? Of ocurse, "the will of the people," who voted for the two dems as dems, now find they have voted into office repugs!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Golisano



Blase Thomas Golisano (born 1942) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of Paychex, the second-largest payroll processor in the United States and co-owner (along with real estate developer Larry Quinn) of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and of the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. He is a founding member of the Independence Party of New York. He ran for governor of New York in 1994, 1998 and 2002 as the candidate of the Independence Party. Although he lost each time, he increased his percentage of the vote. He spent a combined $93 million on the three campaigns.<1> In 2002, Golisano challenged New York Governor George Pataki as the candidate of the Independence Party. By receiving more than 50,000 votes each time, Golisano brought the Independence Party an automatic ballot line for the succeeding four years. Golisano has an associate's degree from Alfred State College. There was speculation that he would run for governor on the Republican ticket, but he announced on May 15, 2009 that he was moving to Florida to escape New York state taxes. He said the move would save him $13,800 per day in income taxes, plus unspecififed amounts from lower sales taxes, gasoline taxes, utility taxes, and property taxes. He stated that by moving to Florida, we would be able to spend the money to fund "worthy causes," instead of spending it to fund "Albany's bloated bureaucracy, corrupt politicians or regular handouts to the special interests."<2>

Charity
Golisano has become a major philanthropist, founding the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation in 1985, which awards grants to organizations dedicated to providing opportunities for those with disabilities and offering support to their families.<3> Golisano has donated over 6% of his net worth ($1.3 billion) to charity. He has made major donations to fund health care and leading educational centers. He donated $14 million in February 2001 to the Rochester Institute of Technology to fund the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. Golisano donated $14 million to the University of Rochester, which re-named their pediatric facility at Strong Memorial Hospital in his honor as the Golisano Children's Hospital in 2002. In October 2003, Golisano donated $5 million to Nazareth College, which named the new Golisano Academic Complex in his honor. On March 6, 2006, Golisano donated $6 million to Bishop Kearney High School and Our Lady of Mercy Church. In September 2007, with a $10 million donation, Golisano launched the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology. On October 8, 2008, Golisano donated $10 million dollars to Niagara University for a new Center for Integrated Science building that will be named in his honor. On the list of contributors to the Clinton Foundation, which the foundation released in December 2008 as part of an arrangement with the Obama Administration, Golisano is listed as having given between $10 million and $25 million.<4> On March 19, 2003, he was introduced as the new owner of the the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. After not making the playoffs for the 2007-2008 season Golisano promised Sabres fans he would eat his microphone if the team did not make the playoffs during the 2008-2009 seasonhttp://blogs.buffalonews..../09/golisano-expect.html href="http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2008/09/golisano-expect.html" rel=nofollow><1>. The Sabres were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on April 9th, 2009, causing them to miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year and fifth time in seven yearshttp://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/635372.html href="http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/635372.html" rel=nofollow><2>. Nonetheless, he has since made no statement regarding his consumption of the microphone in question.

Political involvement
After New York's Republican Governor George Pataki announced he would not run again in the 2006 elections, GOP officials attempted to recruit Golisano to run for the Republican nomination. Golisano changed his party affiliation to the GOP (with the Independence Party's chairman's blessing) in October 2005, apparently in preparation for another gubernatorial run. However, on February 1, 2006, Golisano announced that he would not run for the governorship.<5>

Golisano has at times been an important figure in the national Reform Party, however his libertarian views have often put him at odds with the religious wing of the party. Some observers characterize this as similar to conflicts that drove former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura out of the Reform Party.<<