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The In Box blog is a general news and discussion site for the News Department of North Country Public Radio. In Box contact information 
Latest NCPR News
The In Box blog is a general news and discussion site for the News Department of North Country Public Radio. In Box contact information
Latest NCPR News
THANK GOD we have choice in the GOP besides Hoffman!!! But it really doesn't matter. Hoffman will run on the conservative ticket even if he doesn't win the GOP primary. So much for the will of the people.
I never heard of the guy till today, but I tend to agree with Herb. Doug may be a nice guy with real values, but he's got all the pizazz of a Yugo. Maybe this guy will be a viable alternative.
Anti-tax? OH BOY!!! I hate paying taxes. He's got my vote, I cannot wait till we get rid of these taxes. Now only if we can get some anti-cancer politicians. The only thing that sucks more than taxes is cancer.
I'm glad to hear we'll at least have an alternative to Hoffman. And while I realize this was a press conference to announce his intentions to run, I heard no specifics about what taxes he'll advocate the removal of or specifically what regulations he hopes to get rid of. I hope we'll hear about them down the road as I'm tired of hearing the usual "generalities" and no specifics from our candidates. This is where I think most media seem to drop the ball. They never ask for specifics and candidates are allowed to say nothing but proven talking points.
to bret: i don't think a candidate's "pizazz" is a reasonable criteria for voting. substance might be better.to clapton: in fairness to the media, some do ask those questions but don't get the answers they seek.
Tax cuts means spending cuts. At least it should. Tell us exactly what spending cuts you propose. And, if you are really serious about spending cuts, let's talk about spending cuts in the range of 100-300 billion dollars. Then let's see how many votes you get.
Hi If Clapton/PCS – I asked Doheny about what taxes he'd cut, esp. when he's advocating to protect places like Fort Drum and universities and economic development that gobble up tons of taxpayer money.He said those are "good" uses of taxpayer money. But he didn't say what he'd cut or which programs he'd eliminate.
Maybe the discussion needs to be flipped to "reduced services" or "fewer services". We all understand lower taxes, but we need to know which services these folks would be willing to cut and by how much. Then voters can weigh the trade offs.
Great,Now we have two GOP candidates who are going to debate each other on how much they want to cut taxes without saying which programs/services they'll cut. Here how the GOP primary debate will go down:Hoffman: I'll cut taxes by 5% (applause)Doheny: I'll cut taxes by 6% (cheers)H: I'll cut taxes by 7% (standing ovation)The sad part is that these claims it will work at getting votes.
Herb,Sadly, you're probably right. Maybe the moderator can demand a specific answer before they move on. The result would be a two hour debate over one question that ultimately never gets answered.
Cement- Steve Forbes, Bob Dole, Ralph Nader, John McCain. 4 men, each dry as toast, each with really great ideas or credentials in one form or another. None drew much in the way of votes, though some did receive votes "against" their opponent. Without some pizazz/personality/personal charm/likeability that comes across the camera/mike you have nothing. It can go too far the other way also. Alan Keyes is a remarkable man, but he comes across as preaching when he speaks. Instant turn off to a lot of people. I'm with all of you that would like to hear some specifics on cost cutting. Generalities are fine, but having the vision, and the backbone, to lay out a plan means a lot to me.
My concern is that according to his donor records to date, the majority of the $ has come from his former and current Wall St. colleagues in NYC, and not much from anyone from actually within the 23rd District. His law firm represented these groups (hedge fund companies, etc.)and now he owns one. Makes me wonder if elected whether his focus will be with the 23rd Dist., where the average household income in my town of Massena prior to the 2008 crash was $40,000/yr, or, if he's just positioning himself to work on behlaf of his colleagues in the inevitable forthcoming financial reform debate.
The fastest growing part of the Federal Bidget is Military spending. Does he have the courage to say he will do something about that? Pork barrel spending if eliminated completely would not make up one-tenth of one percent of the budget, so do not lay that out as your reform. Be specific , and be serious, show the math ( not fuzzy) and I will believe someone who runs on " cutting taxes" someday. Oh, by the way, you have to raise revenue to deal with the issue, cutting taxes just made the problem worse. How you going to do that?
Here's the problem. See this article in the Economist http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/04/economistyougov_pollingIt seems the only thing a majority of us can agree to cut is foreign aid, about 1% of the federal budget.
April 8, 2010 6:36 PM PCSThe poll says it all. No matter how much people scream, they scream even louder if the cut is in their own back yard. The prison in Ogdensburg is a perfect example. You just cannot justify keeping it open, , and still people scream to keep it open. Those same people all agree we have to spend less.
Won't the republican party ever learn, letting this guy split the republican vote with Doug Hoffman may give Owens another shot at winning, Hoffman is the best choice to go up against Owens and thats a fact, not an unknown
April 9, 2010 4:09 PMThe only known fact is that on a ballot with candidates Hoffman, Owens, and Dede S., Owens got the most votes. Why would anyone who would not vote for Hoffman then vote for him now? And more importantly, why are Hoffman supporters so opposed to the Democratic process? Why do they think it is so bad for American citizens to exercise their right to run for public office.Why do they think it is just fine for a group of people to go into a back room, pick someone to be their puppet to run for public office, and believe that should be the only choice? Sounds a lot like Fascism to me.