Opinion

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a lot of bad habits — ignoring New York’s unbearable taxes, governing with historic levels of secrecy, and chasing headlines at the expense of residents are but a few. However, treating convicted felons better than hard-working, law-abiding citizens may be the most offensive. His most recent stunt, unilaterally deciding parolees should […]

Many in upstate New York would like a split here, too Many Californians dream their State will secede from the U.S. That dream could become reality. And it might not be a bad idea. The Golden State already behaves as another country. It passes laws that spite the U.S. government. It encourages more illegal immigrants

In a world riven by tension, one skill stands above all others: the ability to resolve conflict. It is the paramount challenge of our time. I’ve seen first-hand its importance — in Congress as part of a legislative process that, at least at the time, was mostly focused on resolving differences, and as co-chair of

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, March 31 — as most of the state was sound asleep — the New York State Assembly was making final determinations of how to spend $168 billion of New Yorkers’ hard-earned money. Yet again, Albany’s notoriously secretive budget process relied on “emergency” messages of necessity to avoid the

Here’s a question society is facing today: What will we do with our old malls? Heck, we are still trying to figure out what to do with our old Main Streets. And our old downtowns. Now, the malls that killed downtowns are themselves being killed. Some of the outlet centers are feeling the pressure, too.

Recent surveys say 75 percent of television viewers don’t like the snide remarks. They don’t like celebs and sports stars lecturing them — about political and social issues. That probably won’t surprise you. Because there is a 75 percent chance you are one of the 75 percent.  As you know, the stars assault us with

For the most part, we Americans value expertise. We want our physicians to possess knowledge and experience. We want our lawyers to know the law inside out. We want our clergymen, our engineers, our farmers to bring the kind of proficiency and skill to their work that comes only with familiarity and practice. So, here’s

New York is facing some harsh realities — out-of-control spending, fleeing tax base, and a toxic business climate. The only way to fix it is to pass a budget that reflects the needs of the woefully-neglected taxpayers. There is no silver bullet. This isn’t an issue created in Washington D.C. Simply stated, our constituents expect

Our property taxes are among the highest in the nation. New York state government needs to make structural changes if there is any hope for reducing tax bills for property owners. Legislation has been introduced that would help alleviate some of this burden for upstate New York residents and stimulate economic growth. For starters, the

Imagine a college-basketball team, named the Eagles. It has lost to the Vultures 80 times over the last 40 years. Can you imagine? The teams meet twice a year, and every year and every game, the Eagles lost. For four decades. The Eagles changed coaches several times. They changed the roster of assistant coaches multiple