Common Sense Railroaded

The refurbished rail line to service North Creek and Gore Mountain opened last summer and has been a pleasant success. Passengers enjoyed summer fun, bright foliage, and now, comfortable access to the ski trails. The rail company is now seeking approval to open 15 more miles of existing track to service special metal mines in that area. This would greatly help local economies. Environmentalists, preservationists and forever wilders are in opposition. Reaching back to railroading is progress. These narrow minded groups are, once again, standing in the way of progress. As to their concerns: there are hundreds of thousands of untouched acres of existing pristine wilderness now in the Adirondacks. The tracks once were in use and are there still in place. Ore cars would replace the multitude of ten-wheelers and vastly reduce exhaust pollution. Highways would be safer without those huge trucks. Skiers using the train are reducing the number of cars on the road with the same benefits of not using trucks. Trains replacing cars and trucks consume far less fuel, reducing dependence on oil and gas. It is simple and it makes sense. Don't let the idiots stop it. ----Grandpa Gordon

Occupiers

The Holiday in Lights display in Albany, NY's Washington Park was severely vandalized two nights before Christmas. This annual event supported by many corporate sponsors, raises money for the Police Athletic League for youth programs. The Occupy Wall Street fools were allowed to break the 11:00 PM curfew in Academy Park for several months. They erected tents and started living there with unsanitary conditions and disruptive behavior. When Mayor Jennings finally changed his mind, the curfew was enforced and the protestors went raucous. Not surprising, a couple of nights later the Washington Park event was attacked with 30 thousand dollars with of destruction. In the beginning the Occupy Wall Street crowd was protesting corporations and their, so called, greed. They added the police to their enemy list after being forced to obey the laws of the city. The vandalism in Washington Park was directed at the donated corporate displays in the shadow of darkness. Hundreds of electric lines were cut to hurt the efforts of the PAL. In truth, the hundreds of youngsters that are served by the programs of the PAL are the ones that these idiots hurt the most. This was not a spontaneous act of teen-age vandalism. It was calculated, well planned and had all the proper tools in place. If not the crazy occupiers then who? ------ Grandpa Gordon

Riches to Rags

In todays political climate it is not good to be rich. President Obama, democrats, liberals, and the occupyers are contiually attacking the RICH.
President Obama, democrats, the media, and some republican presidential candidates are continually attacking Newt Ging-RICH.
If Obama continues to implement his foolish policies, nobody will be RICH.
We need to get back to a smaller government constitutional America ASAP---Grandpa Gordon

How much is fair share?

Annual government figures from 2010 show that the top 1 percent of the wage earners in this country earn 16 % of the total annual income. Yet they pay almost 38 % of the tax burden. The richest 20% of all wage earners pay 80% of the total federal tax burden. Almost 46% of the working population pay no federal income tax at all. That leaves the 44% of the middleclass workers paying the remaining 20% of the taxes. Fair share is a lot of BS. Every earner should pay a share. If they did, they would be more concerned about what goes on in Washington and vote to get rid of the big spenders. Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich to help reduce the deficit. Baloney! Cut out the spending by reducing the size of our huge un-neccessary bureaucracy and over-reaching entitlements. Vote the spenders out! Time is long overdo for term limits. Term limits will cure most of the ills in government. Elect candidates who will work for the people. We need a fair share of them. -------Grandpa Gordon