COLUMN THE VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT The Haves And The Have Nots Possibly the most important outcome of the recent meeting to discuss the future of the Schenevus Central School District is a quote from the superintendent: “The District’s revenues are inflexible.” She went on to say, “the District does not have property wealth or the income wealth to raise taxes enough to cover the deficit.” Finally someone in a position of authority has admitted the truth! We live in…
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VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT Democrats Keep Placing Blame On The Other Guy By MIKE ZAGATA • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com If you’ve been following the governor’s response to the inability of folks on Long Island or Westchester County to acquire natural gas from Con Ed or National Grid to heat their homes, you must be flabbergasted by the newest twist of events. The governor is now blaming the Public Service Commission and the DEC, two agencies he controls, for the energy…
THE VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT Regulation Coming Home To Roost By MIKE ZAGATA • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com For several decades our nation’s environmental policies have, for the most part, been driven by emotion or what “seemed,” according to popular opinion, to be the “right” thing to do. As a result, many of those policies lacked a scientific basis and the unintended consequences are, like lost chickens, coming home to roost. New York State’s ban on fracking may well be such an…
Column THE VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT Revisiting Clinton Playbook Think back to the days of the Clinton Presidency and the words “I did not have a sexual relationship with that woman.” Stains on her dress would seem to indicate otherwise – but it was her fault because she was a woman. Then Hillary runs for the presidency and she and the DNC hire a foreign agent to work with the Russians to dig up dirt on her opponent – Donald…
COLUMN THE VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT Poverty? Don’t Blame The Rich, But Ourselves Talk about getting things backwards and exposing your political bias at the same time, while totally ignoring the facts – and you’ve identified Oneonta’s mayor, as reflected in a column he writes elsewhere. We have poverty because of folks like him who deny reality when it comes to renewables vs. fossil fuels, who even fight renewables like solar and who do everything they can to keep industry…
COLUMN VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT Life Without Fossil Fuels? Where Would We Start? Do you really want to stop using fossil fuels? Your immediate answer may be a resounding “yes.” However, that could change your life in a way you hadn’t anticipated. That’s because so many of us grew up in cities and have no real tie to the land or to how the things we rely upon in our daily lives come from or how they are made. Do…
COLUMN VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT The Cost Of A Free College Tuition By MIKE ZAGATA • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com You might read the headline and ask, “How can something that is free have a cost. First of all, nothing is really free. That includes the free lunches at school, the free grants the City of Oneonta receives from time to time to pay consultants or deploy flower pots, and free college education. A public school education is free to the…
COLUMN Do Renewables Make Sense Yet? By MIKE ZAGATA • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com I see the left is at it again. If you disagree with or question their agenda, then you are labeled as “evil.” Now I’m being accused of being opposed to renewables. If you’ve read my writings on the topic, then you know nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who is aware of the concerns regarding climate change and understands that fossil fuels are not renewable,…
COLUMN Is Any Government Agency Efficient? By MIKE ZAGATA • View From West Davenport When Bernie Sanders starts a sentence by saying “The truth on this matter is,” it’s time to reach for your wallet to see if it’s still there. He’s not alone in that regard, as there are lots of candidates trying to sell us on the virtues of socialism. To learn how socialism has affected you, read the last three paragraphs. The major differences between socialism and…
from CARL SEELEY Nothing Is Perfect, But Green Movement Is Looking For Answers To the Editor: I don’t always catch Mike Zagata’s column, but every time I do, he’s revisiting the same two themes—one right, one wrong. Theme One is that even “green” technologies have negative environmental impacts. This is true, and it’s important to understand and keep in mind. When we get electricity from photovoltaics rather than coal or gas, we reduce our CO2 emissions, but we increase other…