Meanwhile Back in Albany (v20)

Nathaniel Brooks/NY Times photo

Got a vending machine? Get a tax break!  Wouldn't that make a great billboard along the highways leading into all of the cities, towns and villages in upstate New York, instead of those silly signs we have on the Thruway?

I talked about the fake condominium tax break that certain homeowners are able to take advantage of in the last MBIA post; if that wasn't enough, now we've got the 'three vending machines in a room'  plan, which apparently passes for 'commercial space' in converted buildings.

Folks who pay attention to how things are done in Albany, particularly when it comes to the budget, will recognize the 'three (somethings) in a room' concept; that's how our Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie get together, hash out the budget, and make a plan to cram a bunch of legislative initiatives into the spending plan. In happier times, the three men in a room were The Three Amigos, according to Cuomo - except that two of them are now convicted felons. But I digress.

According to reporting by Tim Knauss of the Post-Standard and Syracuse.com, here's what vending machines have to do with anything.

Three vending machines at a Syracuse apartment building dispense candy, chips and soda. And they serve another purpose. They have helped the building owner avoid more than $3 million in property taxes. 

The vending machines are the only visible sign of commercial activity at Copper Beech Commons, a sprawling apartment complex for college students.

Here's why that matters: the property owner gets a lavish tax break that is available only to renovated buildings that have both commercial and residential space.  

Wait, wait -- vending machines count as commercial space?

State law created the tax break to help turn old and underused buildings into the kinds of places that filled downtowns in the old days. The idea was to restore the buildings with upper-floor apartments and street-level businesses - restaurants, offices and stores - to bring back the bustle of urban life. 

For Copper Beech Commons, vending machines did the trick. Without the tax break the owner would pay $560,000 a year in property taxes. With the vending machine incentive, the annual bill comes to less than $33,000.  

Nice deal if you can get it, right? And, believe me, they are getting it: there are 39 other buildings in Syracuse that are getting the same exemption as Copper Beech Commons. The exemptions are worth millions to the developers.

It's important to note that many of the projects that are receiving it actually have legitimate commercial enterprises in them.The good guys have renovated buildings that are now home to restaurants, offices, community development agencies, and retail establishments. Many of them were the kind of buildings the law was intended to help: older structures that have sat empty, falling into disrepair, that are now great properties filling gaping holes in our neighborhoods.

A few of them, though, are brand new buildings, placed on lots where older structures were bulldozed, which is clearly (to anyone other than a lawyer or developer) not the type of projects the law was intended to help. There are others, in addition to Copper Beech Commons, that are student apartments, including the largest one, Theory Syracuse, which stands to save over $9 million over the 12 year term of the exemption.

As with the condo loophole, there is not enough guidance for assessors to follow, and so each makes their own decisions, including  whether or not to regularly determine if there's any actual commercial activity happening. 

Some say that this is the way things have to be done in order to get development, to increase the value of the properties in the city over all, and that this exemption, which is good for 12 years, is more than made up for by the price of the investments and the related activities that stem from the development. That's always easy to say, and frankly it's probably easy to prove - but it doesn't mean that we have to open our wallets every time someone finds a loophole in a law and takes advantage of it.

This is the kind of bill that needs to have some teeth added, which will hold developers - local ones like the guy who did Copper Beech Commons, as well as those from out of state - who are taking advantage of the poorly-crafted bills.

Options could include things like the ideas below::

• Adding clarity to what constitutes a qualifying commercial use, such as hours open, number of employees actually working, annual payroll or payroll taxes, and so on.
• Defining what a qualifying commercial space is, such as minimum square footage required, accessibility, etc.
• Strengthening the guidance for local assessors to install consistency.
• Limiting the length of time for which the exemption can be claimed, and reduce the amount of the exemption to a lesser percentage of the development's overall tax bill.
• Collecting full taxes up front, and rebating the to the developers the amount of the eligible exemption only after ensuring that there's actually a commercial operation in the building on a full time basis.
• And finally, limiting the sheer number of exemptions that a development can qualify for; surely all of these projects don't need the mortgage tax exemption, the sales tax exemption, the 485-a exemption, payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements, moving expenses, furniture allowances, and the like.

At some point, we need to draw a line in the sand and let these projects sink or swim on their own merits. And if you're building a student housing project where folks rent bedrooms for over a grand a month, maybe you don't need our tax dollars to help you be successful. 

I Hereby Proclaim: November 2017

Like his predecessors, president Trump has a penchant for proclamations. I last looked at some of them he made in June, and thought it was time to drop in and take another look.

Here are a few of the ones relating to the month of November.

It's National Entrepreneurship Month!

National Entrepreneurship Month celebrates one of our Nation's proudest qualities: our innovative, hardworking, entrepreneurial spirit. American entrepreneurs invent and sell fascinating and endlessly useful new products and services, creating millions of jobs and driving American global leadership along the way.... we must ensure that entrepreneurs have access to the capital, markets, and networks they need to get off the ground, to finance and build helpful innovations, and to export their products and services around the world. My Administration will continue its work to eliminate unnecessary, burdensome regulations and to fight for a simpler, fairer tax code that eases the burdens on doing business and enhances access to capital... this month, I call upon Americans to recognize the entrepreneurs who strengthen our economy, drive creativity, and increase the vibrancy of our great Nation.

We should absolutely celebrate entrepreneurs, ensure they have access to capital, and do something about our problematic regulatory environment that at times makes it hard for businesses large and small to function well. Although, next month, when it's expected that net neutrality will be wiped out, it might get more difficult for many of our small businesses to function. But heck, forcing service providers to allow everyone equal access to the internet? That's just not vibrant.

Similarly, November is Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month!

During Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, we emphasize the importance of safeguarding our Nation's infrastructure. Critical infrastructure systems are those physical and virtual assets that are essential to our physical security, economic security, or public health.  We need resilient, well-maintained critical infrastructure so that all Americans have access to safe food, reliable electricity, clean water, convenient transportation systems, quality public health and medical services, and instant communication every day... Our critical infrastructure also faces threats from capacity-induced strain, terrorist attacks, accidents, pandemics, space weather, and cyber attacks... My Administration will help our businesses invest in needed capital and research and development by reducing burdensome regulations and enacting comprehensive tax reform.

Except, of course, for having a freely accessible internet. But having ready access to capital, no burdensome regulations, and comprehensive tax reform will help secure our infrastructure. Or something.

And, November is National Native American Heritage Month!

My Administration is committed to tribal sovereignty and self-determination. A great Nation keeps its word, and this Administration will continue to uphold and defend its responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The United States is stronger when Indian Country is health and prosperous. As part of our efforts to strengthen American Indian and Alaska Native communities, my Administration is reviewing regulations that may impose unnecessary costs and burdens This aggressive regulatory reform, and a focus on government-to-government consultation, will help revitalize our Nation's commitment to Indian Country.

Dakota Access pipeline, anyone?  Removing national monuments that protect Native heritage sites? Denying climate science? Abandoning environmental protections?  Let's do more to revitalize our commitment to 'Indian Country' -- or, are all of these things happening outside Indian Country? And where or what exactly is 'Indian Country' anyway?

I hope you celebrated November 13 through November 19, 2017 as National Apprenticeship Week.

During National Apprenticeship Week, we recognize the important role apprenticeships play in unleashing the American workforce... our Nation can renew one of our greatest assets - the American worker.

My Administration has taken important steps to promote and expand apprenticeships. The Department of Labor is fully implementing my Executive Order on Expanding Apprenticeships in America, which direct it to work with other Federal Departments and agencies to make it easier for companies to create and grow apprenticeship programs...

This week, I challenge businesses, educational institutions, and government entities to expand apprenticeship opportunities and other quality job-training programs to help open more doors for more Americans... Together, we will build an even stronger workforce and provide new and exciting opportunities for generations of Americans to learn, earn and succeed. 

I'm a big fan of these programs, and a bigger fan of companies starting them on their own, without burdensome regulations directing multiple governmental departments and agencies to make it happen. Creative, innovative companies who need skilled people are free to collaborate with high schools, BOCES and similar programs, technical colleges, state universities, unions - to develop the kind of programs that will help create the workforce we need. We shouldn't have to encourage them to make this investment in their future.

At almost the same time, we were celebrating November 12 through 18, 2017 as American Education Week.

During American Education Week, we recognize that the foundation of the American Dream is a quality education that instills lifelong skills and develops strong character... As parents, teachers, and advocates, we recommit to ensuring that all children in American have a meaningful opportunity to harness their full potential...  Parents and guardians are the best advocates for their children's success. Through engagement with teachers and local school boards, parents have the power to shape their children's education. The importance of family and community involvement is why I signed an Executive Order earlier this year to protect and preserve State and local control over the curriculum, administration, and personnel of our country's schools... By promoting lifelong learning and continuing to ensure relevant post secondary education is more accessible to students, we can help all Americans achieve their dreams... There can be no greater investment than into the success of our children.

There's a lot to unpack in there, as they say, but I'll only say this: complete local control over curriculum will not help ensure the success of our children, it will create a giant, unwieldy patchwork quilt of regulations which might actually hinder our children and the efforts at getting a relevant post secondary education. So I guess it's good that the federal government is helping to develop apprenticeship programs -- we're going to need them if the Department of Education is successful with its reforms.

OrangeVerse XX: Thanks Be to Me

The president talks to the military on Thanksgiving. I kid you not.

Better Me than You

Hello everybody and Happy Thanksgiving.

You're very very special

people to me and to

everybody in this country, 

that I can tell you...

We're going on live now,

and surrounding me

is a lot of press.

Better me than you, 

fellas, better me than you...

Giving Thanks

It's an honor to speak

with you all and

to give God thanks

for the blessings of freedom

and for the heroes who really have this 

tremendous courage that you do

to defend us and to defend freedom

so we want

to thank you all

very much,

very very special

people, like it

doesn't get more special.

Have You Seen My Colonel?

Representing the Army...

Colonel Toby and where is Toby?

Raise your hand Toby

where's Toby

Thank you Toby

 I hear so many good

things about you Toby

that's good news 

that Toby Magsig...

Everybody's Talkin' Bout Me (1)

I have to say just directly

to the folks in Afghanistan:

everybody's talking about the

progress you've made in the

last few months since I

opened it up. 

We opened it up we

said go ahead we're

gonna fight to win we're

not fighting anymore 

to just walk around we're

fighting to win and

you people are really

you've turned it around over

the last three to four months like

nobody's seen and 

They. Are. Talking.

about it so thank you very much.

Brave. Incredible. Fighters.

My Own Private Marine

Semper Fi. Semper Fi.

I have a great Marine

who's the chief of staff

as you know

John Kelly

doing an incredible job

just like any Marine would.

Everybody's Talkin' Bout Me (2)

...to you and all the Marines

doing this great work 

in delivering defeat

after defeat to ISIS

what you're doing with ISIS 

is again, being talked about.

We're being talked about

again as an armed forces. 

We're really winning.

We know how to win.

But we have to

let you win.

We weren't 

letting you win before.

We were letting

 you play even.

We're letting

 you win.

The Power of Positivity

The fight against ISIS,

it's coming our way.

They're coming our way -

big, big difference.

A lot of things

 have happened.

They say

we've made more progress

against ISIS

than they did in years

of the previous administration.

And that's because

I'm letting you

do your job.

We're very very proud of you

and believe me

everyone in this country

is watching and they're seeing

and they're seeing positive reports

for a change instead of

the neutral and negative reports.

It's all positive

One Two Three Four What the Hell are You Fighting For?

For each of you I know

it's hard to be away

from home at this time of

the year. We're doing well at home

the economy is doing really great

when you come back

you're going to see

with the jobs and the companies

coming back into our country and the

stock market just hit a record high

unemployment's the lowest 

it's been in seventeen years so

you're fighting for

something real

for something good.

 A lot of things

 have happened with

our country over

the last very short

period of time

and they're really good,

 they're really good.

I especially like

saying that companies

are starting to come back.

Now we're working on tax cuts,

big fat beautiful tax cuts

and hopefully

we'll get that and then

you're really gonna see things happen.

In Closing

So as we give thanks

for this holiday I know

I speak on behalf of

all Americans when I say that

we totally support you - in fact

we love you, we really do

we love you and this is a 

Thanksgiving that you won't forget.

You're in a very different part

of the world than you

 were used to but boy,

you're doing a job there and

thank God for you, thank God for you.

We also want to

give thanks to your loved ones

our amazing military families. 

I know they miss you and 

they miss you so deeply

and so badly.

They're every bit as

important as everyone

else who you work with

because they put up 

with so much they put up

with the time away

and all of those things

that they have to endure and 

they endure it

because they love our country 

and because they love you 

and believe me

I know so much 

about military families...

Mythbusting a Businessman in the White House

One benefit of the weekend is that I have more time to pay attention to interesting things that come across my various news and social media feeds. I stumbled upon a article on Alternet.org by Sophie A. McClennen, a Penn State professor of international affairs and comparative literature that caught my eye.

McClennen's article, which originally appeared on Salon, addresses a subject that I've covered in the past: the concept of having a CEO president - and why Trump may be the one who puts that idea to bed - for good.

I originally posted on this subject in May of 2016, admitting that I had considered the possible benefits of having an experienced businessman in the White House.

You know the drill -- we need someone who's actually run a business, met a payroll, fought through countless ridiculous regulations, someone who knows how to balance a budget, someone who understands the real world ramifications of what policy changes mean, someone who is accountable to auditors...  And maybe most importantly, someone who is accountable to customers and shareholders. 

I say the last two - customers and shareholders - are possibly the most important, because if nothing else,  those of us who bother to register and actually vote  year in and year out are the customers and shareholders of all politicians, even though they don't seem to act like as if that's the case. 

And, I expressed some specific concerns abut comments then-candidate Trump had made that suggested such a thing, with him in command, would be a no-go for me.

A year later, four months or so into this administration, I revisited the idea, and remained convinced that it would be a bad thing.

Seems I'm not alone; McClennen comes to the same conclusion. Along the way, using Anthony "the Mooch" Scaramucci and the Wall Street movie franchise as an example of how "weirdly confused" we have become, she says

For some bizarre reason the public is aware that businessmen, whether they work on Wall Street or are New York real estate moguls, are often shady, greedy and selfish, but they still believe somehow that they possess critical and valuable skills that could transfer to running government. There is the public sense that businessmen are effective leaders despite overwhelming evidence that businessmen can and have been vile, corrupt and incompetent. 

Generalizations are always a fraught enterprise: clearly not all businessmen are terrible people, but that isn't the point. The point is that the mistaken idea that businessmen are better equipped to run the country is exactly why our nation is poised for catastrophe. And that's not an exaggeration.  

She doesn't put politicians on a pedestal, nor should she. After all, there are more than enough examples of shady, greedy and selfish politicians to go around, in both parties and at every level of government. But she contends

...there is a basic difference between people trained to accumulate profit and people trained to foster public support.

Specifically in reference to the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave,

Put simply, there is not one facet of the job of president that Trump seems to have gotten even remotely right. Only a few months into the job it was stunningly clear that Trump wasn't just addicted to attention and overwhelmed by poor impulse control, but that he really didn't understand the job he was elected to do...

The list is literally endless at this point. But part of the reason why it is so long is because Trump had no idea how the shared governance of a democracy functions or what it means to work with allies because in his businessman model he really can make absolute decisions without building consensus or making compromises. He has zero appreciation for the notion of the public good, of the value in supporting allies and of the need to respect the opinions of other leaders.

The 'profit-accumulator' would think this type of thing is perfectly normal, but the 'foster public support' person would be, rightfully, aghast -- as has been the case time after time after time.  

For example, Trump has repeatedly called for Mitch McConnell to "go nuclear" and move all votes in the Senate to a simple majority - which it seems, would make Mike Pence the most important man in the country, as the tie-breaker in McConnell's fractured chamber.

There have been other occasions, too - for example, when Trump tweets and instead of marching in step, members of his administration jump back from his pronouncements; or when he calls for suing reporters who print mean things about him, or otherwise shutting down our 1st Amendment rights; or when he calls out the 'Mexican judge' for his assumed lack of impartiality, or other courts that disagree with him...

We love a businessman, even as he makes decisions that take away pensions and benefits; send our jobs overseas, or to cheap regions of the country; demand that taxpayers train their employees even as they sit on piles of money offshore to avoid paying taxes; raise prices beyond what we can afford; fight every regulation that protects workers, the environment, and our futures; buy politicians lock, stock, and barrel; and more.

Weirdly confused, indeed.

Back in May, here's what I said about future prospects of a businessman in the White House:

Since he became president, my opinion that Trump was the wrong one has only been confirmed, and he may have forever ruined the chances for any future businessman-candidate in my eyes.  

And here's how McClennen closed her piece:

None of this mess gets better until this nation takes responsibility for its unfounded adoration of businessmen. The notion that a businessman is better at politics than a politician isn't just wrong; it's led to the Trump administration. And if that doesn't kill the myth, I don't know what can.

A Businessman in the White House, Revisited

It was a year ago today that I questioned whether we needed a businessman in the White House.

You know, I wrote

someone who's actually run a business, met a payroll, fought through countless ridiculous regulations, someone who knows how to balance a budget, someone who understands the real world ramifications of what policy changes mean, someone who is accountable to auditors... And maybe most importantly, someone who is accountable to customers and shareholders.

Over the course of writing the post last year, I talked myself out of the idea, based on the words and actions of candidate Trump.

So - is this the businessman we need in the White House, one who's unaware of the laws, unclear on the situation, and who in response to just about every question anyone asks can only say how much he "loves" some bucket of people, or how much some bucket of people love him, and who can only point to what he did as a businessman? One who would even suggest putting the full faith and credit of the United States government on the negotiating table?

Since he became president, my opinion that Trump was the wrong one has only been confirmed, and he may have forever ruined the chances for any future businessman-candidate in my eyes.

• How many more times are we going to hear about how hard it is to do this job? 
• How many more times are we going to see him traipse off, leaving our House to go spend time at one of his houses, making money off his presidency?
• How many more times are we going to hear him praise despicable people, despots and dictators, and proclaim it would be an honor to be in their presence? 
• How many more times will we hear him blatantly lie about things that are of such little consequence they are unworthy of even the tiniest exaggeration?
• How many more times will we see him blur ethics lines, see others in his administration blur the lines, members of his family blur the lines between what most people intuitively know to be wrong and what is legally ethical? (Ethically legal?)
• How many more times will we hear him or see him shove blame onto someone else - another politician, someone on his staff, someone on Fox News - when he's called out for one lie or another? Does the buck not stop with the man at the top?

There are so many other reasons why he's not what we need. but don't take my word for it. Here's another opinion, published in The Week back in March.

But at any rate, the government is not a business, and not simply because its basic structure and function are dissimilar to that of a corporation. The really bedrock difference, as Charles Peters writes in his new book, We Do Our Part, is that quality government requires a sense of public spiritedness and a moral conscience. Sociopathic pursuit of profit at all costs - the defining characteristic of the modern American businessman - is a route to corruption and disaster. 

Yep.

Grains of Salt (v14): Growing Businesses, Upstate Style

Did you see the slide deck showing the fastest growing private companies in upstate New York?

It was posted on NYup.com, a page where you can find all kinds of news that's relevant to our neck of the woods (including the really outstretched neck that encompasses the Catskills and the Hudson Valley).

The rankings come from Inc's annual list of the 5,000 fastest growing private firms, based on percentage of growth over the past three years and 2015 revenue.

So, who's on the up and up in Upstate NY?

IT Service companies (nine), advertising firms and manufacturing shops (seven each), and business products/services companies (five) are the most populated categories for the Top 50.

Regionally, thirteen of the companies are in the Capital district; seventeen are in the Finger Lakes area, and another fourteen are in Western NY.  I'm not surprised to see a concentration in the Albany and Buffalo regions, given our Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo's fondness for these areas (the Buffalo Billion and the focus on nano in the Albany area). I hadn't been paying that much attention to what's been going on just to our west, but someone has. Fairport, Henrietta, Pittsford, Rochester, Victor and Webster are all represented.

What's frustrating about the list is the lack of any Top 50 companies in the Central New York area. With the exception of Canastota, there's nothing really close to Syracuse and Onondaga County. Not only that, but a search of the full 5,000 companies reveals not a single company in the Syracuse metropolitan area.

The same is true for 2015. And 2014. And 2013, and 2012, and 2011, and 2010. I didn't go back any further than that, because I was getting depressed.

Are private companies in our  neck of the woods doing something wrong? Are we as a region doing something wrong? How it is possible that not a single company has cracked the list?

Who knows the answer, and (maybe more importantly) what's the solution?