The Divided States of America

The evening of the Kavanaugh hearing, I “surfed” the channels to get the news. All I could find was the hearing or commentary on it. I finally turned off the TV. It made me sick.

The hearing confirmed to me that America is more divided than ever. It was not just his word vs. her word. It was “my guy vs. your guy.” No compromise, no middle ground — just smash mouth football. I decided to tune it out.

No compromise, no middle ground — just smash mouth football.  I decided to tune it out.

It can make you depressed but, in the long view, we have to face the fact that divided politics in America is a large part of our history. Right after a tremendous moment of national unity during the Second World War, the country descended into McCarthyism with conspiracy theorists finding communists in every corner of the government. After our most divisive conflict, the Civil War, the country really didn’t heal as one. It split apart again over the policies of reconstructing the Confederate States. As for my growing-up years, I was a Vietnam Veteran — one of the most contentious and divisive times in our history.

Is today’s division worse? Probably not, but it feels worse because of the magnified impact delivered by our multi-dimensional media, accentuated by tweeting from the White House (which I think should be banned for anyone who becomes President). When you get hammered with something like the Kavanaugh Hearing it comes at you in print, on the screen, on the radio and through your smart phone. It feels like a deluge that will sweep you away.

I honestly don’t think there are any real winners in the kind of spectacle we saw in the Kavanaugh hearing. The accuser comes to the table quite late in the process and questions linger as to her timing in coming forth. The accused, Judge Kavanaugh, responds in an angry diatribe against the system implying that the deck is stacked against him. The last thing he seems to have in his response is judicial temperament. The bewildered country looks on the whole process as a sort of “one-shot” soap opera. 

The losers are many starting with the country as whole.

The losers are many starting with the country as whole. The U.S. Senate no longer looks like one of the great deliberative bodies in the world. The Supreme Court itself is becoming more polarized and losing its credibility as a fair arbiter in the major issues facing the country.

National unity remains an aspiration in our politics, not a reality. If there is any historical perspective to this moment, it does give credence to our long-standing reputation as being the “Divided States of America.” 

Rolland Kidder 

This article first appeared in The Post-Journal on October 14, 2018

Cuomo Wins Decisively

This article first appeared in The Post-Journal on September 23, 2018

You have to give the Governor credit, he won the Democratic Primary in a big way. I thought that with the “Me-Too” movement and the “Progressives”dominating the news that Cynthia Nixon would have run a closer race. It helped that the Governor outspent her by about 8-1 but, that being said, you cannot detract from his very decisive victory.

In the other races, Letitia James was elected as the Democratic candidate for Attorney General and Kathy Hochul was elected to be the candidate for Lieutenant Governor. They won these races despite the fact that they were not endorsed by the New York Times. That, in itself, is an accomplishment. Often, the Times’ endorsement in New York City virtually assures election. However, this time, the voters in New York split their votes. For example, though Kathy Hochul lost in Brooklyn and Manhattan–she carried the day in the Bronx, Queens and Long Island. Not a bad outcome for a person from Buffalo running against a New York City Councilman.

Now, we repivot for the General Election. By most accounts, Andrew Cuomo will be re-elected Governor. The Republican candidate, Marc Molinaro, who is the County Executive of Dutchess County, is a well-liked and articulate person. However, so far, he has been unable to raise significant amounts of money for the race. In a state like New York, it is very expensive to go on television and communicate your message unless you are either rich or can raise money. Unless Andrew Cuomo stumbles badly or an investment “angel” arrives to finance the Molinaro campaign…it is hard to see the Republicans taking back the Governor’s mansion.

We who live upstate and are a minority in the State, will lose a strong, counter-balancing voice in Albany.

What is more concerning to me as an “upstater” is that it is likely this year that the Democrats will win a majority in the State Senate. Once that happens, I doubt that the State Senate will ever return again to Republican hands. Thus, we who live upstate and are a minority in the State, will lose a strong, counter-balancing voice in Albany.

I remember the days when stalwart, mainstream Republicans like Jacob Javits and Louis Lefkowitz could win statewide. Then there was Nelson Rockefeller and later, George Pataki, who found a way to be elected Governor. However, New York is starting to look a lot more like California in its politics. The Republican Party in California is now so marginalized that the State has gone to a system of having the top two “vote-getters” in the Primary run against each other so at least there is a choice in the General Election. Often the top two are Democrats. Could or should New York move in this direction so that voters in the General Election will continue to have a choice?

California has gone to a system of having the top two “vote-getters” in the Primary run against each other so at least there is a choice in the General Election.

This year there were double the number of Democrats voting in the New York Primary as compared to 2014. There is another New Yorker from Queens who can take credit for that and his name is Donald Trump. Though President Trump is still strong in some upstate counties (like Chautauqua County,) he is very much disliked in New York City and other urban and suburban areas around the state. It was interesting that Governor Cuomo ran more against Donald Trump than he did his actual opponent, Cynthia Nixon. I am sure the same will be true in his General Election campaign against Molinaro.

Yet, probably the most interesting political development in this election season will not take place in New York. Instead, the Nation is focused on seeing if Democrats will be able to gain a majority in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. That continues to be the main story-line in the elections of 2018.

Rolland Kidder

The Catholic Church Needs Married Clergy

This article originally appeared in The Post-Journal on September 16, 2018

I am not a Catholic but I do have a post-college seminary degree. Going back to those “old” days, I recall having conversations with my Catholic counterparts who were also in seminary, who wanted to be married but could not under the celibacy rules of the Roman Catholic Church.

Now, nearly every day when I pick up the newspaper there is a story about sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church. There are accompanying articles with apologies from Catholic leaders including the Pope. Catholic lay people are “turned off” by all of this and young people raised as Catholics find it a reason to leave the Church. Something significant has to change.

Something significant has to change.

This is not to say that a married clergy is a total answer. I also read recently of the pastor of a Protestant Mega Church in the Cleveland area who is under investigation for being a pedophile. Sexual harassment is a human problem, not confined to any particular religious persuasion.

However, fewer priests are being recruited for the ministry because of the celibacy rule, and a celibate priesthood can also be a magnet for those who may have sexual aberrations in their own character. If you compound this with the authority of priests to administer Church sacraments, you can see how a person with these difficulties could become a real problem in a Church where the priesthood has such a prominent role in the lives of the faithful.

I believe that being a minister or priest is one of the toughest jobs in the world. You are dealing daily with the fallen, people with deep problems, families that are being pulled apart, yet in a community that needs love and healing. No better way to face these problems as a minister or priest than having a family of your own to provide moral and spiritual support. A person should not be denied the rite of ministry because they are married. Marriage brings them closer to the human side of life, to a better understanding of what other families are going through.

Marriage can bring priests closer to the human side of life, to a better understanding of what other families are going through.

As I understand it, there is a “backdoor” way to be married and become a Roman Catholic priest. You can first get married and become an Anglican priest… and then transfer into the Roman Catholic Church. (The Anglican Church also holds to the view of “apostolic succession” where all priests have been ordained with the “laying on of hands” going back to Saint Peter.) But using such an arcane maneuver to address a church-wide problem is like trying to fix a large wound with a band aid.

There would be a great outcry from some in the Catholic Church if the rule on celibacy were changed. But, something deep and institution-changing is needed to ensure the continued viability of the Roman Catholic Church in Christendom. It is time for married individuals to be ordained to the priesthood.

Rolland Kidder

The Differences Between Public and Private

This commentary originally appeared in The Post Journal on Jul 22, 2018  

We have all heard the slogan that “government should be run like a business!” It sounds good but it may be not be that simple.

Most small businesses and even many large ones (like President Trump’s real estate empire) are privately held. That means that the business is controlled by a relatively few people who are actively involved in running and financing the enterprise. Privately controlled businesses must comply with accepted accounting principles and pay their taxes, but they are not subject to much public scrutiny. The owners usually control the Board of Directors and business decisions can be made quite quickly without involving the general public.

On the other hand, a “public” company which sells its shares on the open market or stock exchange, has very strict rules on transparency and reporting. Since the general public is buying and selling shares in these companies, it is important that everyone be given the same information at the same time. Directors and top management in a public company are under strict fiduciary rules not to divulge “insider” information which could benefit them more than other shareholders. There are even “black-out” periods before major announcements and regular earnings reports where Directors and managers are prohibited from trading in the company’s stock just to ensure that they will not benefit from “insider” information.

If the exchanges were deemed to be manipulated by “insiders,” then public trust in the stock market would be eroded. 

All of this is done and enforced by such organizations as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) so that public trust will be maintained in the buying and selling of stocks. If the exchanges were deemed to be manipulated by “insiders,” then public trust in the stock market would be eroded.

We were all reminded of these rules recently when Representative Chris Collins from the Buffalo area was indicted in federal court in New York for divulging “insider” information to friends and family so that they could avoid the inevitable price decline in a drug company stock they owned when a drug it was developing was found to be ineffective. Had this been a private company (as is the case with many of Mr. Collins’ own business interests,) it would not have posed as much of a problem. However, since this was a public company and Mr. Collins was on its Board, he was under a fiduciary obligation not to convey this information ahead of a public announcement made by the company itself.

All of this may seem esoteric to those not tutored in the rules related to public companies. However, many people today are participating in 401 (k) programs at their place of work. Most of these programs use mutual funds which in turn are buying and selling the stock of public corporations. A dishonest trading system in the stock market doesn’t just hurt individual shareholders, it hurts everyone who is connected to it… including those who are investing in mutual funds. That is why these laws and rules enforced by the SEC and the various stock exchanges are in effect.

The bottom line is that when you are looking for a comparison in the business world, public companies require much more of the kind of transparency and accountability that people also seek in their government.

Rolland Kidder 

The Impact of Tariffs

This commentary originally appeared in The Post Journal on Jul 22, 2018  

Last week, I drove by the Cummins Engine plant located on Baker Street near Ashville. The parking lot was jammed full with the cars of the employees who work there. It made me wonder whether the President’s new tariff policies could have any affect on this company which has made such a positive impact here in Chautauqua County. (Cummins also manufactures engines and engine parts in China.)

“This is a big headache. Making changes in your supply chain is not a three-week process.”

The answer, it seems, is “Yes.” In June the President of the Cummins distribution business was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying: “This is a big headache. Making changes in your supply chain is not a three-week process.” He was referring to a new American 25% tariff on imports from China which was to take effect on July 6th. The gist of the article was that at least in the short-term Cummins would have to pay the 25% tariff on some of its parts (or engines) coming into the United States.

The article also cited a profit warning from Daimler AG, a German company which makes Mercedes Benz cars in the United States. The implication of the Daimler statement is that tariffs would likely raise the price of SUV’s being produced at their plant in Alabama.

Until the election of the Trump administration, the Republican Party had been known as the pro-business, free-trade party. Now, it is becoming the party of protectionism and tariffs.

There is no doubt that there have been inequities in some international trade policies which needed to be corrected. The traditional way of dealing with them was through international trade organizations. Now America is going its own way in the belief that unilateral action is the best strategy.

Will it work? The business world is now so interconnected that, at a minimum, this new policy will likely cause problems in some sectors of the economy. The usual advocates for business like the Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers have come out against it.

When you look at the Southern Tier of New York State it is hard to put a positive “spin” on this new direction. 

When you look at the Southern Tier of New York State it is hard to put a positive “spin” on this new direction. The tariff on steel and aluminum may help those particular industries, but what about the many metal manufacturing companies in our region who purchase and then fabricate from these metals? In Jamestown we also have SKF Corporation, a Swedish-based international company that makes bearings. Will tariffs on raw materials affect them? Some of the tariffs are directed toward our European allies.

So far, the core of the Republican Party has stuck with the President, but that support could dwindle if this new protectionism doesn’t work. The stock market has held up surprisingly well. Yet, one of the axioms in the investment world is that uncertainty is not good for the markets. If corporate earnings begin to fall and unemployment numbers rise, there could be a correction.

One thing for sure is that it is certainly interesting to watch this change in the direction of American foreign and economic policy. We will just have to wait and see how it all plays out.


Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

‘Say A Prayer’ for the Dunkirk NRG Power Plant

This originally appeared in The Post Journal  on Jul 8, 2018  


You might want to “say a prayer” for the Dunkirk NRG Plant because things are looking pretty bleak as to its reopening.

                 The sun is setting on the NRG power plant in Dunkirk.              photo credit

We all remember the December 2013 “Christmas miracle” event in Dunkirk when the Governor, surrounded by plant workers and elected officials, came to town and promised that the plant would reopen. It is now halfway through 2018, we are looking at another gubernatorial election and we are still waiting. 

The governor’s action in 2013 pre-empted the State’s own regulatory agencies. The Public Service Commission, the DEC and other state agencies usually “weigh-in” before such executive actions are announced. When state agencies subsequently began to implement the Governor’s decision, Entergy, a competing large electricity producer in the State, brought a lawsuit alleging that New York had “jumped the gun” and that such a repowering decision was under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Throughout this whole process, we didn’t hear a lot from NRG. It is a big company home-based in Houston and owns 47,000 megawatts of electrical generating capacity in the country. The Dunkirk plant only generated 435 megawatts. It seems probable that such a small plant, under a legal cloud located in a state known for its anti-energy bias … probably was not on the front-burner at NRG. No notice was given to the State within three years that the company intended to restart the plant, and now the New York State Independent System Operator (which coordinates the grid much like the old New York Power Pool,) says that new costs will likely be placed on NRG if it repowers and reopens the plant.

Of course, during the five years we have been waiting for the Dunkirk Power Plant to reopen, things have changed dramatically on the grid. Millions of dollars have been spent to improve the efficiency of electrical transmission lines and substations thus reducing the number of required generating plants. Interconnections with Pennsylvania and other states have been or are being strengthened so that electricity can more easily flow across state lines. So, the delay on repowering has likely reduced Dunkirk’s chances for reopening the power plant. In addition, the governor has become involved in denying permits for new natural gas pipelines which could also kill any repowering efforts. 

I remain in favor of repowering the Dunkirk plant and believe that its conversion to natural gas would be a net gain for the environment.

I remain in favor of repowering the Dunkirk plant and believe that its conversion to natural gas would be a net gain for the environment. Natural gas is much cleaner than coal, and natural gas generation is needed to back up the renewable (yet interruptible) generation now coming online from wind and solar. I also believe that reliability on the grid is better if you are situated closer to the generation creating the electricity that feeds your house.

However, the future of the Dunkirk generating plant is now under a dark cloud. It may well turn out to be another example of being stuck out here at the western terminus of a big urban state like New York where what may be a priority for you, is not the priority of the powers that be in Albany or Houston.


Rolland Kidder 
Stow, NY

Primary Confusion

This appeared in The Post Journal  on May 27, 2018

We all know that primary elections are where political parties nominate their candidates for office. What we may not have focused on is that in New York State, in 2018, there will be two primary elections: the primary for federal office is June 26th; the primary for state offices is scheduled for September 13th.

Technically, both primaries could have been held on the same date which would have saved money for the County Board of Elections. But, this is New York State where the “deep thinkers” in Albany figured that a late primary was probably better for incumbents since there would be fewer intervening weeks between the primary election and the general election in November. (That means also fewer weeks to raise money and energize an opposing campaign.)

However, as things are stacking up, all of this strategizing could have been for naught. The Governor has now gotten himself into a rambunctious primary election fight with another Democrat from New York City who is coming at him from the left. At least part of her reason for running is that the Governor has gone out of his way to make life difficult for her good friend and fellow Democrat, the Mayor of the City of New York. To make things even murkier, a candidate has emerged from Brooklyn to run against the incumbent Lieutenant Governor who is from Buffalo. (This is no small matter since there are more registered Democrats in Brooklyn than in all of the counties of Western New York combined.)

There are more registered Democrats in Brooklyn than in all of the counties of Western New York combined.

Coming out of all of this brouhaha will undoubtedly be petition challenges trying to get candidates knocked off the primary ballot. The Governor with strong support from the Party and the public employee unions will probably have his way at the Democratic Convention. This will likely result in some of the significant political battles being shifted to the courts where the legitimacy and validity of petition signatures will become the issue.

The Republicans, who are now an “endangered species” in New York State, are, of course, cheering all of this on. (There are 2 million more Democrats than Republicans in the State.) For them, there is nothing better than the Democrats having a big scrap and beating up on each other right before the general election. Though a minority with their own differences, the Republicans seem to have avoided a primary fight and appear to have coalesced their support around the County Executive of Dutchess County as their candidate for Governor.

Getting lost in all of this political cacophony is the importance of the federal primary set for June 26. In Chautauqua County, five Democrats are vying for the nomination to run for Congress. (The incumbent is a Republican and there is no Republican Primary for this position.)

There is usually a low turn-out in primary elections. It is unclear if the different dates between federal and state primaries in New York State will sow confusion and lower the turn-out further, or if it will “stir up the troops” and increase voter participation. In any event, 2018 is turning out to be a very interesting political year in New York State and Democratic voters, in particular, will be having multiple opportunities to voice their opinions at the polls.


Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

There is Nothing Better than Baseball in the Spring

This appeared in The Post Journal on May 20, 2018

There were two outs in the final inning. He was five years old. He was so short that it was hard to throw strikes to him. 

He was so small that my father would have described him as “knee-high to a grasshopper.” It was a moment of high drama. He had struck out on his previous at bats.

Local phenom Jack Sherry on the mound

Sitting around the baseball diamond were parents and grandparents — I being one of the latter. It was all somewhat amazing since just two weeks before there had been snow on the ground. But this night it was in the 60s, the sun was setting and low in the sky, the grass was really green as only it can be in the Spring, the infield was dry, it was a great night for baseball!

The grass was really green, as only it can be in the Spring, the infield was dry, it was a great night for baseball!

This is one of things we live for in Chautauqua County — baseball in the spring. We were the visiting team but that side of the diamond faced the glaring sun and so I had chosen to be on the home-team side along the first base line. That had given me time, between innings, to talk with one of the home-team coaches who was also acting as the official scorekeeper.

I had commented on how beautiful and new the dugouts seemed to be: bright unpainted wood and new concrete. He informed me that all of the work had been done by volunteers and that the materials had been donated by local contractors and businessmen. The “homeiness” of it all made you feel good.

The game had gotten long. I had forgotten how much time it took to get through an inning with young, beginning players. There were a lot of walks and the few hit balls inevitably got through the infield and throws to the bag were either wild or not caught.

But that was not the point of the game. This was a teaching experience. Kids new to the game were learning baseball. Play would stop and a coach would instruct one of the players on how to squat and get in front of a ground ball. Hitters at the plate would be repositioned so that they were properly in the batting box. Pitchers would be moved forward so that their throws could reach the plate.

In the later innings (six in total,) the coaches began to pitch in order to get more balls over the plate and give the players a better chance at hitting the ball.

The coaches also acted as umpires and I heard words of admonition more than once that players were not to argue about the calls. Umpires are umpires, period. No complaints allowed. Learning the discipline of the game is important.

Before their last “at bats,” the home-team coach had gathered his players and given them a pep talk on how the game was still close, it was the bottom of the last inning, that they could tie the game by scoring two runs or win it by scoring three. “Go get ’em guys!” he said. “One, two, three “Go!” they all shouted.

It looked bleak with two outs and two on base. But that didn’t faze the 5 year old. He swung and missed. But, on the next good pitch he gave it his all and knocked a grounder out toward second base.

There was some confusion in the defense and he got to first, and the runners advanced. The momentum had changed. Two hitters later, three runs had crossed the plate. The home-team had pulled off a victory!

Can it get any better than this? Even when your team loses, you feel like everyone has won. There is nothing like baseball in the spring!

Rolly Kidder

The Donald Trump Phenomenon

This appeared in The Post Journal 

I recall in the early 1990s coming out of New York City from a meeting and picking up one of the newspaper tabloids at the airport-the headline read: “Ivana Better Deal” It was describing a divorce controversy involving our current President. Apparently, his first offer to his first wife for divorce terms was not being accepted.

Donald Trump, at the time, was generally perceived in the New York press as being a self-promoter from Queens who sought the limelight and was becoming a factor in the big real estate deals in Manhattan. Some of his deals went sour, like paying too much for the Plaza Hotel on the corner of 59th St. and 5th Ave. Others worked out. The investment in Atlantic City casinos initially worked out but, eventually, some of them slid into bankruptcy or needed restructuring by the bankers who held the paper.

But there was a perceivable constancy in the way he built his business; the Trump name was always at the forefront. When interviewed by a biographer, Donald Trump recommended one major change to the book…that the name “Trump” be made larger on the title and book jacket.

During his campaign for the Presidency, this worked to his advantage. Some of his campaign rallies were at airports where the Trump airplane would pull into a hangar full of cheering supporters. When he flew his Trump airplane to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, it came in low over the City to essentially claim his primary victories as the Republican nominee for President.

Frankly, I never thought that a New York City real estate tycoon with no governmental experience could ever be nominated or elected to the Presidency of the United States.

My parochial, upstate political views were that unless you lived south of the Mason Dixon line or west of the Allegheny River that your chances of being elected President were nil. I was wrong. Though steeped in the politics and business world of New York City, people in rural areas from Texas, to Louisiana, to Alabama and Ohio voted for him to be the 46th President of the United States.

Admittedly, the Democrats underestimated his candidacy. The Democratic candidate had national and international visibility as a experienced professional in government, but politics often is more a “gut-instinct” and emotional business than it is rational or intellectual. Donald Trump connected with more people in the States needed to beat Hillary Clinton in the electoral college.

As we look today at the Trump Presidency it is interesting that its success or failure will probably go back to his business dealings. It is clear that Russian investors were involved with his business investments Those relationships led, to among other things, the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013 when Trump owned that business.

It is noteworthy that President Trump has never denied his business relationships with Russians. He has only alleged that there was “no collusion” with them in influencing the outcome of the 2016 elections.

Fortunately, we live in a country where the truth or falsehood of allegations can be determined through a system of justice and the courts.

Fortunately, we live in a country where the truth or falsehood of allegations can be determined through a system of justice and the courts. To what extent the President was aware of, knew of or supported Russian influence in the election is the issue at hand.

An independent prosecutor is looking into all of this, and we will eventually know what did or did not happen. That is as it should be in a nation which prides itself in the rule of law. It is a good thing that, in our country, an elected official is not the one assigned to investigating himself or herself when it comes to such matters.


Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

A Tale Of Two States

This appeared in The Post Journal on Apr 29, 2018

Cynthia Nixon, running in the Democratic Primary for Governor, was recently asked where she thought “Upstate” started and she said she thought it was “somewhere around Ithaca.” Everyone Upstate chuckled about that. There has always been debate about it, but the consensus has generally been that anything north and west of the Tappan Zee Bridge could qualify as being “Upstate.” (An Assemblyman friend of mine from Manhattan once introduced me to his mother as a “friend from Upstate.” Her response was: “Oh, that’s nice. I’ve been to Poughkeepsie!”)

Ithaca, known by some as the “Independent Republic of Ithaca,” is actually an island of liberally-minded, highly educated voters hunkered around the halls of Cornell University. It could more readily be incorporated into New York City than Upstate.

The division between Upstate and Downstate has been around at least as far back as Martin Van Buren (circa 1830.) Though Andrew Jackson was popular in rural New York, the Democratic Party built by Van Buren was focused in New York City. It was the fear of Downstate by Upstate that eventually led to the Republican Party becoming the bastion of Upstate political clout… a position which it still solidly holds.

So, the upstate/downstate division in New York State goes way back. It is cultural: urban vs. rural. It is economic: manufacturing and agriculture vs. the financial industry and banking. It is political: Republican upstate and Democratic in the City and many of its suburbs.

What has changed over the years is that the New York City urban area has participated in the economic and population growth of the country, but Upstate has languished. Republicans have become stronger Upstate, but over a diminished piece of the pie. There are now over 2 million more Democrats than Republicans in the State. The urban area around New York City continues to be the “tail that wags the dog”… much more now than in the past.

We don’t like being pushed around, out-voted, told what our social policies should be, and treated like a second-rate step child.

The one thing that hasn’t changed is the minority status of we Upstaters. The New York City area has always been our big cousin that we resent because of its bigness and smugness. Economically, it actually contributes much more to the treasury of the State of New York than we do but, to us, that is incidental.

We are worried that downstate Democrats will soon take over the State Senate, and then every political office and power center in Albany will be in hands of those south of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Alas, this has always been our trial and our tale of the two states which make up the one we call New York.

Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

Chautauqua Lake: Financing Sewer Extensions

We knew that getting sewers built around Chautauqua Lake would be a long, involved process—and it is proving to be so.  I would describe the current scenario as being sort of a “good news/bad news” situation.

A good news / bad news situation.

The “good news” is that the county legislature recently approved a bond issue of $16.9 million dollars to finance the construction of a sewer line and laterals from the area around the BOCES school in Ashville up to Stow. 

The “bad news” is that the county needs to receive additional state or federal aid in order to keep the user costs down to what the New York State Comptroller deems to be affordable.  (That number is about $950 per user/per year.)  Though the state has committed $ 5 million to the project, there is still an approximate $3 million shortfall in order to make the project “affordable” so that construction can begin.

In my view, the biggest “bad news” is that nothing has been done in Washington to support such projects though there has been a lot of “bally-hoo” about building infrastructure.  Under the old federal Clean Waters Act, 50% of the cost of such projects was eligible for federal funding.  (This is what enabled the extension of sewers in the 1980’s to the Bemus Point area and provided funds for the construction of the sewage treatment plant in Celeron.)

Unfortunately, the absence of federal funding this year was virtually guaranteed when the big $1.5 Trillion-dollar tax cut was enacted.  Had the tax cut been for $750 billion and the other $750 billion designated for national infrastructure… then we would have seen some money from Washington.  However, now, after the massive tax cut, the federal government is really broke and there is no money left for infrastructure.

So, this leaves us with our only other real option, more money from Albany.  

If the County doesn’t get an additional $3 million from New York State — forget about starting to get sewers built up the Lake.

I hate to be bearer of bad news but, as of this writing, there is not sufficient funding to begin constructing sewers up the west side of the Lake.  This will mean that we will continue to “limp along” trying to upgrade septic systems which are failing and, which by their nature, are not able to remove phosphorus from the waste being discharged into the Lake.  This is unacceptable—somehow, we need to secure the additional funding.

More phosphorus means more food for the algae.  When will Washington get that message?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Albany has gotten the message.  Let’s hope that they can finish the job and help us get this project started!

Rolland Kidder

Stow, NY

This commentary originally appeared in the The Post Journal on April 8, 2017

The Best Super Bowl

It says something about my age, but I have lived through all 52 Super Bowls. I went to three of them, including the defeat of the Buffalo Bills in Minneapolis.

Thus, I deem myself to have some credentials when it comes to judging the quality of this national sporting event. I would put last Sunday’s defeat of the New England Patriots by the upstart Philadelphia Eagles right at the top.

In the paraphrased words of the great sports philosopher, Yogi Berra, this game truly “wasn’t over until it was over.” Because of his incredible skill as a quarterback, Tom Brady kept the Pats in the  game until the final throw when we saw the incredible hulk, Rob Gronkowski, jump high in the end zone to catch a Brady “Hail Mary” pass which everyone expected Gronkowski to catch… everyone, that is, except the Philadelphia defense. Somehow those green-shirted Eagles players put enough hands and bodies in the air to deflect the pass… and the Eagles won.

We saw some things in that game which we will probably never see again—a quarterback (Foles) catching a touchdown pass, over 500 yards of offense by each team, and, yes, perhaps the last Super Bowl for Tom Brady though he sounds like he will keep playing until he is 50 years old.

Before the game, someone in our family sent a photo of a cartoon by David Sipress to our family football group text.  The cartoon showed an old guy, like me, sitting on a couch in front of a TV, speaking to a young boy and saying: “Remember—we’re not Eagles fans or Patriots fans. We’re “Tom Brady Somehow Gets Humiliated fans.”

My seven-year-old grandson immediately picked up on it, and kept reminding me of it during the game. Last year, while visiting him in Washington, D.C., an SUV passed our car on the highway honking its horn. As it zipped by us, written in the dirt of its rear window, during the time Brady had been suspended for a few games, were the words: “Free Tom Brady!” The driver had seen the Buffalo Bills sticker on my car, and was just trying to rub-it-in a bit. There has never been a quarterback who has beaten the Bills more than Tom Brady.

Admittedly, I was rooting for the Eagles last week just because of that but, in my heart, I expected that the Patriots would find a way win the Super Bowl. (One member of our family was so irate when it looked like the refs might reverse a Philadelphia touchdown, that he texted in that if it were reversed, he would never watch football again!) So, when both teams put on a show which was one for the ages and which went way beyond my usual bedtime…I had to stay up and watch it. Out of the 50 some Super Bowls I have watched, this had to be the best ever!


Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

Focus on Capitol Hill

Usually, in Washington, the focus for a legislative agenda starts in the White House, especially early in an administration. (This is particularly true when the majority in both houses of the federal legislature is of the same political party as that of the President.) But not this time.

It was the Republican majorities in the House and Senate that really got the tax cut bill going and kept it going. The President sort of sat back and gave them a blank check. He just wanted a “win” and what that would look like was pretty much left up to legislators on Capitol Hill.

Passing legislation is comparatively easy where tax cuts are the issue… everyone likes a tax cut and nobody really worries much as to how to pay for it.

Passing legislation is comparatively easy where tax cuts are the issue… everyone likes a tax cut and nobody really worries much as to how to pay for it. However, when it comes to other matters like putting a national budget together, raising the debt ceiling, dealing with immigration issues, trying to find money for an infrastructure bill, etc.—that is tougher to do. Trying to find a consensus among 435 Congressman and 100 Senators on tough issues is akin to trying to “herd cats.”

According to press reports, the retreat held at Camp David by the President and Republican leadership soon after the New Year revealed the problem of “focus.” The legislative leaders had come to talk with the President about a legislative agenda but, unfortunately, the timing was just a day or so after the publication of the “Fire and Fury” book describing an author’s experience inside the White House. The President’s mind was on the allegations in that book, so not much happened in forging a unified legislative agenda to say nothing of dealing with a pending shut down of the federal government.

Though Republicans control both houses of the Congress, they are having a tough time governing. Their party is fractured between the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus and a more moderate/conservative/traditional Republican brand. Democratic votes were needed to keep the government running. Yet, that doesn’t mean the Democrats had an easy time of it. Conservative columnist David Brooks probably said it best when he wrote cryptically after the vote to restart the government: “Democrats, when you lose a negotiation to a President who doesn’t know his own position, you’ve really impressed me.” The Democrats have their own divisions between the more liberal “progressives” and the “pragmatists” who come from red, purple and rural states.

So where do we go from here?

So where do we go from here? I see more short term “continuing resolutions” needed to keep the government running. Somehow, the Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are going to have to find common ground and initiate legislation. The usual leadership expected from a White House is not going to be coming from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Senate Minority Leader Schumer described negotiating with the White House as trying to negotiate with “jello.” Senate Majority Leader McConnell has also expressed frustration when trying to get decisions from the White House. Maybe it is time for these two leaders of the Senate to negotiate with each other, find and pass legislation which has bi-partisan support, and then send that to the President. He will probably sign it for another “win.”

Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY

The New Year in Washington, 10 Predictions for 2018

In keeping with the general observation that in politics, as in life, 

“things don’t change more than they do change”… 

what can we expect in 2018 in terms of our national politics?

These are my Top 10 predictions for 2018:

1. The Mueller investigation will come to a close. If indictments are handed down, there will probably be pardons. As to the President, it will come down to “what did he know and when did he know it”… much like the facts surrounding the Nixon-Watergate scandal. However, unlike Nixon, I can’t envision our current President getting on a helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House and quietly leaving town.

2. I see more Democratic involvement on Capitol Hill. The Republicans already have one seat less in the U.S. Senate and the tough issues of passing a budget are not going to get any easier. The Tea Party Republicans will stop supporting Continuing Resolutions to fund the government, and so the President will have to reach out to Democrats in order to keep the government running.

3. Infrastructure legislation will pass, but it will not have a lot of money tied to it. Since we have already gone into debt another 1½ Trillion dollars for tax cuts… there just will not be enough money to do much of anything else other than support the ongoing existing obligations of the federal government.

4. The Democrats will have a chance of winning back both the House and the Senate, but it will be a lot closer than people think. There aren’t that many “swing” seats and as observed above… our politics tend to change slowly.

5. There will be some key elections around the country including the Governorship of New York. New York’s current Governor would like to run for President and so needs a strong re-election. If a viable Republican emerges in the race for Governor, Mr. Cuomo might decide that a path to the White House is more probable if he does not run for re-election.

6. There will undoubtedly be some big event or events which will dominate the political debate. In 2017, the news was headlined in many ways by weather… the hurricanes in the country and in Puerto Rico, and the fires in California. We will be paying for those costs for many years to come. Yet, we can deal with calamities from mother-nature a lot easier than we can an outbreak of war someplace in the world that would drag us into a major conflict.

7. There will be more proposals on getting the new Wall built along the Mexican border… but I don’t see a major construction start. There will continue to be more restrictions in international travel which will reduce immigration but hopefully not American engagement in the world at large.

8. China will continue to become a larger factor on the international stage.

9. I believe that the politics of the country will move more toward the center. People have had enough polarization and in “in your face” political engagement. After a while it becomes like an ongoing fight within a family… you just get tired of it and want a return to comity and normal discourse. In the end, Americans will find a way to work together.

10. And finally, I predict that in 2018 the Buffalo Bills will make the play-offs!

Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY