4 | March 19, 2016 • The News Enterprise Sun
OPINIONS
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A
Dan Alexander is CEO of Sun Community News.
OPINION
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Words turn to violence
t a time when we would all hope the nation would take the up coming elections with a greater degree of importance, it now seems apparent that fighting in the streets, and back rooms, may forever taint the elections of 2016. Last week thousands of protestors successfully shutdown a Trump rally in Chicago and at other events in Ohio and Missouri protestors disrupted campaign plans. Politics has always been a deeply combative environment. Candidates can be arch rivals one minute and the best of allies the next. While we call it a “cut throat’ business, to my knowledge no candidate has ever actually cut another candidate’s throat. In everyday life we all say things like “I could just kill him” or “throw the baby out with the bath water.” Even the term “throwing someone under the bus” are mere expressions of our language to reflect a high degree of frustration and overly emphasize making a point. But in this day and age our culture has gone so overboard on political correctness that it seeks to demonize anyone using terms and phrases that at one time, even to stiff collared TV censors of the 50’s and 60’s, would have been considered more a comical expression. Can you just imagine what would happen today if anyone dared to say things like Ralph Kramden did on the Honeymooners when Jackie Gleason played Ralph in the late 50’s popular TV comedy? As a nation and a world have we become so sensitive to words that we can no longer differentiate between an actual threat and a figure of speech? Trump is bombastic, no doubt, but his competitors both inside the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have gone just as far off the reservation twisting his words to make him out to be far worse than the words he uses to reflect the anger he believes his supporters are feeling. Let’s face, we’ve been heading down this path for some time and those who know how to spin the truth could make Captain Kangaroo look like Jack the Ripper if they so choose. Political passion is one thing but it just seems folks are getting a little too wound up over this stuff, which if we aren’t careful, will continue to boil over until some one really gets seriously injured or even killed. Let’s hope everyone can calm down a notch or two and give these campaigns time to play themselves out before the violence and/or worse gets completely out of control.
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Publisher ............................................................................................Daniel E. Alexander Associate Publisher ............................................................................................ Ed Coats Operations Manager ............................................................................... William Coats General Manager Central...................................................Daniel E. Alexander, Jr. Managing Editor ...........................................................................................John Gereau General Manager North ................................................................. Ashley Alexander General Manager South .................................................................Scarlette Merfeld
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EDITORIALS
Paid family leave is the decent thing to do
I
t was a stunning display of pathos from a man known more for his chest-thumping bravado. At his executive budget address in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo poignantly recalled deep regret over not spending more time with his late father, Gov. Mario Cuomo, prior to his passing on New Year’s Day 2015. The governor he said continued to blame himself for not being there . “I could have. I’m lucky. I could have taken off work. I could have cut days in half,” Cuomo said. “I could have spent more time with him. It was my mistake, and a mistake I blame myself for everyday.” But many New Yorkers don’t have that luxury when a parent is dying or child is sick, he said. At present, the state does not offer paid family leave, which means folks roll the dice when they need to take time off. They get could fired or replaced. Out of 185 countries, the US is just one of just three that doesn’t have paid maternity leave, the governor noted. “This is not where New York should be,” he said. “At the end of the day, family matters. Intimate relationships matter.” It was the governor at his best, rallying New Yorkers for a common cause. What a speech. As Albany enters the endgame for hammering out a budget before the March 31 deadline — each house passed their individual budget resolutions on Monday — Cuomo is continuing to push for a 12-week program of jobprotected paid leave. If approved, the legislation would provide the longest such benefits period in the nation. Only three other states — California, New Jersey and Rhode Island — offer similar programs. (The federal Family Medical Leave Act offers 12 weeks of unpaid leave.) This week, the Family Planning Advocates of New York State got behind the proposal, which already boasted wide bipartisan support, and Cuomo urged lawmakers to “come together and move New York forward on this issue.” Advocates say the legislation would address a long-neglected problem that unfairly penalizes women, the working class and minorities. Here in the North Country, the lack of this safety net takes on even more serious dimensions due to the absence of child care services and our remote surroundings.
We’re all heard the stories of women being forced to stay home with their kids, or even enrolling leaving them at illegal daycare operations. What other choice is there for low-income families? Often, there is none. As a result, many end up on public assistance. How will it work? The governor promises no cost to employers. The plan would require all employees to contribute a nominal amount each week to a fund that would pay out up to two-thirds of the state’s average weekly wage. The number will gradually increase until 2021. Senate Republicans, who did not include the $15 minimum wage boost in their proposal, indicated they would support the plan. But the devil, as always, is in the details. The GOP proposal is said to contain measures to protect businesses from fraud by examining the length of time required for workers to qualify, as well study the impact on small businesses and if the employee charge is enough to cover costs. While we’re also cautious — the last thing our small rural communities need is another unfunded mandate — it just seems like common sense. Unlike the minimum wage proposal, which would disproportionately affect small upstate businesses and municipalities that are ill-equipped to handle a 67 percent increase in labor costs, this stands to benefit all of us: Employers will experience less turnover, the disadvantaged will see less hurdles in their career paths, and all of us will eventually face death and loss, like the governor. Perhaps the legislation needn’t cover 12 weeks — six would be more appropriate — and small businesses should be exempt. We also think more light needs to be shed what illnesses fall within the parameters, and what safeguards are available to prevent abuse. But the bottom line is people need time off to care for their loved ones, it’s a matter of common decency. The Sun Community News Editorial Board is comprised of Dan Alexander, John Gereau, Pete DeMola and Keith Lobdell. We value your opinion and want to hear from you. Drop us a line on our new Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, or email us at johng@suncommunitynews.com.
LETTERS
Gov’s lackeys destroy fishing derby, AdirondackÊ economy To the Editor: The annual ice fishing derby on March 5 and 6 drew 400 participants to our town. In spite of Cuomo’s state police harassment, intimidation and entrapment tactics, the derby was a huge success with some excellent fish being caught and weighed in. Noteworthy were the northern pike. Photos are available on the Schroon Lake Fish and Game Club Facebook page, Ice Fishing Derby. Prizes were awarded for first, second, and third in Northern Pike, Salmon, and Lake Trout, plus biggest Pickerel and Perch. Hourly drawn door prizes were also awarded both days. The main distraction was Cuomo’s state police who were imported just for the weekend. Normal years, they just harass the volunteers on their snowmobiles and ATVs who transport the fish from the ice to the clubhouse for weighing. This
we have learned to live with. This year with no snow and poor shore ice, the fishermen were required to bring the fish to the club themselves. This enabled Cuomo’s police to sit at the town dock and other locations, entrapping these out of town fishermen as soon as they came off the ice. It did not matter if they were going up to a town store or business, or bringing fish to be weighed. Because of this harassment, intimidation, entrapment, the local businesses lost out. With a very poor snowmobile season the stores needed to have a good weekend. Lots of these visitors, fishermen, will not be back. Cuomo claims to support Adirondack village economies and outdoor recreation. The actions of his police show this is a lie. Cuomo’s goal is to destroy the economy and jobs of every town and to drive all fishermen and other sportsmen from the Adirondacks. Time to remove Cuomo, the third criminal in the room, and all his lackeys from Albany and government. Donald Sage Councilman Schroon
OPINION POLICY
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