The Cow and the Putz want a Woodstock Museum

Also from the Examiner, written by Susan Ferrachio, more pork from the Senators for New York; “Schumer, Clinton get skewered over $1M Woodstock earmark”

It was a little like throwing a juicy steak into a pit of hungry lions. Republicans could hardly contain their glee Thursday at the prospect of skewering Democrats on the Senate floor over a $1 million earmark for a museum in upstate New York commemorating the 1969 Woodstock concert.

The earmark was requested by New York’s two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer and presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said the money would help build a performing arts center that could boost the area’s depressed economy.

“I’m proud of this earmark, it’s the right type of earmark,” Schumer said on the Senate floor during a debate over a Republican amendment to remove the money from a health and human services spending bill.

Yes, that’s what New York needs – a museum to celebrate smelly hippies. I’ll give Mr. Schumer a little history lesson about the “area’s depressed economy” – Mrs. Clinton should read, too, because I’m sure the carpetbagger doesn’t know about New York recent history.

In the 70s, Upstate New York was a booming economy – manufacturing and retail facilities across the State. Several chain stores were founded there, auto manufacturers, typewriter-makers, breweries, even chocolate factories kept the hard-working locals employed. Then we got Mario Cuomo for governor.

Before Cuomo, there was a six-month residency requirement before anyone could collect welfare in New York State – which paid some of the highest benefits in the country because the economy there did so well. Cuomo waived that requirement.

Well, a blind man could see what would happen next – welfare recipients streamed into New York State from the South and cashed in on their good fortune. New York State’s economy flourished for a while, but the State government had a hard time paying out the benefits to so many people – so Cuomo’s answer to the problem was what you might expect from a tax-and-spend liberal. Raise taxes on businesses – and a blind man could also see the impending result. Businesses left New York for the lower tax States in the South.

Now Upstate New York is a wasteland of closed factories and department stores. But Albany still can’t get off of the tax teat – despite 12 years of Govenor Pataki (who was quite a disappointment to me) – and Spitzer isn’t helping either. New York State is like a third world country – since there is no real money in the State, they depend on out-of-Staters to bring them cash in the form of tourist dollars.

Now Schumer and Clinton want to perpetuate that strategy by using taxpayer dollars to build, of all things, a Woodstock Museum – a monument to sloth and marginal talent. Why attract musicians to New York State? They don’t have any money – that’s why they’re musicians. 

UPDATE: Apparently the museum was shot down in the Senate, but I suspect that Republicans wouldn’t have blocked it if it’d been two different Democrats trying to spend tax payer dollars. For example, if the museum was being built in Nancy Pelosi’s district. 

Category: Economy, Historical, Politics