RUSSIA ON RIGHT SIDE OF CRIMEA ISSUE

I don’t like Russia. Never have. Probably never will.

When Niagara University hosted the World Juniors in 2010-2011 I was mortified by how many Americans were wearing Russian pride and passionately cheering on the Reds. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Don’t they know our history with Russia? Don’t they know what Russia still is?”

They seemed to buy into the myth that the Cold War ended and were oblivious to the fact that Russia was not the kinder, gentler country portrayed in the press, that it features a murderous KGB agent as its head, a court system that finds most defendants guilty, a controlled economy that makes our country’s income gap and crony capitalism look pedestrian, and a network of spies still working to this day (think back to the 10-person ring busted in the US in 2010).

Fast forward 3 years. Now it seems fashionable to hate the Russians again. Their friends -- which are what our elected officials and press seemed to become over the past 2 presidencies – have turned on them.

As an outcome of the Ukraine shake-up -- more specifically the Crimeans’ desire to join Russia -- the Obama Administration has placed sanctions upon Russia, neoconservatives are calling for more dramatic actions, and the press now paints Russia as deeply evil, just weeks after opining at length about how the Sochi Olympics had showed a good and just Russia.

Despite my long-held feelings for Russia, I have to disagree with the vitriol and diplomacy being thrown their way. Russia should be left alone. They are on the right side of this issue.

The United States and United Nations constantly tout the importance of democratic principles when it comes to governance and they love it when mass numbers of people make their voices heard to bring about change. Consider the silly fawning over the Arab Spring. That sense of revolt, the call for self-governance (or at least a new government), and the majority’s hunger for a new tomorrow really excited the Western world.

It’s obvious that in the Middle East or almost anywhere else in the world for that matter, the desires of the majority hold special meaning for Westerners. So, how do we as a society accept the Arab Spring, much of which was based in violence and death, yet when a peaceful people go to the ballot boxes and 96% of them choose to be annexed by Moscow, we find that to be wrong?

It’s likely that Western power brokers would prefer that the European Union gain as much control as it can. The Crimean dissent was an affront to that goal.

The Ukraine, with or without Crimea, is entering into a trade agreement with the EU, which is one of the stepping stones for ultimate inclusion into the EU.

Pick your poison: Is it better to be with Russia or the Europeans?

World leaders are enamored with the EU sociopolitical model, even though it is as broken and liberty-killing as any Russian federation. The EU is not just some multinational trade pact; it is a system of government that exerts a uniform rule over all of its participants, stripping them of their national sovereignty, subjecting them to common kangaroo courts, and making all engaged nations responsible for the fiscal and financial foibles of others (such as the bailouts of Greece and Spain). The world wants to drive more people into that system and others like it, pushing global uniformity upon everyone, wiping away the competition for people and prosperity that makes individual nations – and individual people – unique.    

When it comes to the Crimean issue, our foreign policy is hypocritical. And, it’s wrong; just like most all of our interventionist policies (Iraq and Afghanistan, anyone?).

It’s time we dropped our baseless indignation over the Crimeans and Russians and took the advice of George Washington:  

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is…to have with them as little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.  

CUOMO ADMINISTRATION’S INACTIVITY LEADS TO PROPANE WOES

I don’t have to tell you that it’s been a miserable winter in the northeast. We’ve been battered by an array of winter storms, from Polar Vortices to blizzards, and seemingly endless barrage of below-average temperatures.

This, of course, has led to higher than normal use of home heating fuels. Furnaces have been working overtime just to maintain a livable heat in households and businesses buffeted by the biting arctic winds.

Those of us from rural areas of Upstate New York are especially pained by it. Where we live there aren’t natural gas lines serving every house, so we opt for home delivery of propane. Back in October, propane prices were relatively reasonable in the $1.70/gallon range. Now, it’s in the range of $3.30/gallon. That’s a 94% spike in heating costs over the course of the season on a per unit basis alone. So it’s safe to say most homeowners (who didn’t opt for pre-buys or locked-in prices) are faced with heating bills more than double the size of last year’s.

Even though one would think that propane prices would be at all-time lows due to the explosion in fuel acquisition from Marcellus Shale deposits, it’s not the case due to an overwhelming number of issues affecting supply and delivery: demand for home heating is high; lots more propane is being used to dry corn due to a wet crop in the Midwest; a pipeline once used to bring propane to NY now sends ethanol south; the lack of propane pipelines forces mass delivery by rail already strained by oil shipments; propane exports are at record-high levels; there is a lack of adequate storage; and heavy snowfall prevented tractor trailers from moving propane.

So, it was a perfect storm.

Unconcerned with the big picture and out of tune with the science of economics (not to mention always on the search for an attention grabber), politicians and bureaucrats at all levels of government (local, state, federal) have been very quick to charge the industry with gouging. They want the masses to believe prices are high because the “evil oil companies” want to take advantage of their customers in a high-need winter.

It’s grandstanding at its finest and, in New York, it masks the blame that needs to be directed at the accusers themselves.

For four and a half years now, state officials have been sitting on an application by Crestwood Midstream to repurpose abandoned salt mines in Reading for storage of liquefied propane and butane. The $50 million investment would allow the Finger Lakes storage facility to contain 88.2 million gallons of propane at once. The fuels would be constantly cycled in and out, to the tune of 96 semis and 48 railcars per every 24-hour period, 7 days a week. A facility of that scale would keep New York – and likely the whole northeast - well supplied.

Were it in operation now, industry officials say it would have inhibited the supply and pricing issues currently plaguing Upstate New Yorkers. The savings to consumers for this winter alone would have surpassed $84 million. Looking ahead, the company has plans to increase total storage to 210 million gallons, affording New Yorkers price and supply certainty in perpetuity, capitalizing on the Marcellus Shale reserves and making for very affordable heating bills.   

All of those plans are well and good, but they mean nothing if Crestwood Midstream isn’t allowed to forge ahead with them.

The Department of Environmental Conservation’s silence over the firm’s application has been deafening. The public comment period closed in November 2011, and here it is March 2014, with no word from state officials about the future of the approval process. Making matters even more confounding is that the state’s geologist approved the integrity of the abandoned salt mines well over a year ago.

The word on the street is that Governor Cuomo is behind the holdup. He is a hardened foe of energy development, as this mirrors what he’s doing with the equally-extended and equally-silent fracking moratorium. Since the DEC falls under the auspices of the Governor, the Finger Lakes facility will likely stay as an idea and propane prices will ride a painful roller coaster until the man is out of office.  

VETERANS TAX EXEMPTIONS MAKE FOR UNEASY SCHOOL BOARDS

Following a debate that began as far back as 2006, last year the Senate finally came to agreement with the Assembly on a bill that allows school districts to extend property tax exemptions to veterans. It was signed into law by Governor Cuomo in late-December, a perfect Christmas present for the men and women who were willing to potentially give up their limbs or life for American interests and national defense.

Despite the positive intentions of the bill, the chances are good that you’ll also see a belabored debate about the exemptions in local school districts. Most school boards have already discussed them in detail, likely a little in public and a lot more behind closed doors -- and they still don’t have any answers. In order to meet the parameters of the new state law, school boards would have had to approve local exemptions by last Saturday to make them available for the 2014-2015 budget year. Only a handful of districts across the state have done that, most opting instead to delay the decision to a later date.

As simple as one might first think it is to grant the tax breaks (who wouldn’t support a vet?), it’s not. The boards are finding it difficult to balance altruism with fiscal planning, especially since the burden of making up for the lost revenues falls onto the communities, not onto the state as is the case with the long-lived STAR program.  

In some cases, it’s not chump change that we’re talking about. Take the Wellsville School District for example. They have nearly 400 veterans living in the district who would receive some sort of exemption (the state law has 3 levels of breaks). Those exemptions would account for $2.3 million in displaced revenue, which would have to be collected from the other Wellsville property owners. With a total budget a smidge over $27 million, they would be looking at an 8.5% increase in their property tax bill just to accommodate the veterans’ exemptions -- and there would still be the annual, overall spending increase to account for, too! Further confounding the issue is the near-certainty that as the exemptions are granted, those properties removed from the tax rolls will yield smaller STAR payments to the district. It’s a damning predicament for a village whose residents routinely pay the highest effective tax rate in the state.

The numbers are considerably less-frightening – therefore, the tax breaks are more attractive -- in the Lockport School District which is a larger district than Wellsville and is blessed with a much stronger economy (far more retail operations and factories). In Lockport, non-veteran taxpayers would see their taxes rise by 1.3% to cover the exemptions. For a $100,000 home, that’s an extra $36 per year.

Even so, Lockport decision-makers are finding it difficult to do their duty and come to a decision. Like all other districts, they are left wondering, “Who do you please? Who do you offend? Veterans or the majority of taxpayers?” They considered putting it to the voters as a referendum on the May school budget ballot, but that idea was shot down: It is illegal under state law; the boards themselves must make the final decision.

One district – Batavia -- has decided to take it to the polls anyways. They will be holding a straw vote in May. The results will be non-binding, but it will give them the understanding of public sentiment that they need to make their decision (which will be based entirely on the outcome of the straw poll).

That’s probably the route other school boards will take once word of Batavia’s actions spreads. Few board members want to be labeled as the bad guy who says “no” to vets, so a straw poll will serve as an adequate shield for that. That’s especially true given that most school board members across the state are actually against the tax exemptions: Of the 600 of them who responded to a recent School Boards Association survey, 70 percent were opposed.     

It’s a really perilous decision for boards to make. They all know that property owners are burned out by the amount of taxes they already pay, yet at the same time some understand that veterans are worthy of something for the blood, sweat and tears (and friends) that they gave for our nation.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

What do Gerald Ford, Neil Armstrong, and William DeVries have in common?

 
All of them were members of the Boy Scouts of America who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and went on to do great things.

That begs the question: Would they have contributed to society as much as they did were they not scouts? Would they have led our nation, walked on the moon, or transplanted hearts? Maybe. Maybe not.

What can be said with some certainty, though, is that the BSA had a significant impact on their lives and is partially responsible for what drove them to greatness. It taught them lessons on the values of community, work ethic and leadership which cannot be found in schools, sports or in many homes. It has done so for millions of young men since its inception in 1910, inspiring, if not creating, yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s leaders.

 
The Scouting program is just as important now as it was at it dawning 104 years ago -- and it could even be argued that it might have greater significance today. It’s the perfect outlet for youth and it can help them overcome some of the obstacles in their paths.

There’s a lot missing in boy’s lives nowadays: Their outdoor pursuits have taken a back seat to new-fangled electronics, they don’t share the same bond with their real-world communities that they do with their trivial Internet communities, their schools have totally lost sight of civic education, and they struggle to find continuity in broken homes which, sadly, have become too commonplace.

The BSA addresses all those issues and then some. Camping and other outdoor activities are the cornerstone of the Scouting program, using the struggles and successes of pastoral adventure as a source of experiential learning, teaching the boys a wide variety of skills accompanied by a powerful mix of leadership, teamwork, self-reliance and self-confidence.

 
Scouting also gets them out and about in their towns and villages, fostering a sense of community pride and a desire to help make better the world around them.

It is all of this - in combination with the guidance provided by peers and scoutmasters - that can give today’s youth the support needed to survive a broken home or beat a broken community.

 
Not only does this help the boy, it also helps the parent. Many mothers and fathers struggle to help their son find his voice, his calling, in any number of pursuits, be it sports, band or other extracurricular activities. Quite often these families find themselves with a void, unable to satisfy their desire to better their sons. Scouting is the one-stop source – the complete package - that can alleviate that stress. It combines the best of everything else into an all-encompassing program, one guaranteed to keep a boy’s attention and interest and one destined to make him a better man.

 
For today’s busy parents, it’s a convenient option for those who feel spread thin: It’s one meeting a week, one campout a month, and one week-long trip a year. That small investment of a family’s time can create a lifetime of memories and, more importantly, a lifetime of success.

 
Take it from someone who was a Boy Scout and achieved the rank of Eagle. I know I would not be the man I am now had it not been for Scouting. Scouting instilled in me the civic-mindedness that drives these columns and my volunteerism and it fostered the values that I apply in my day-to-day decisions. The BSA was so important to me that I place its significance on my upbringing second behind my family and far ahead of any schooling at a distant third. It was – and remains – that important.

 
It can have that same effect on your son, too. I strongly suggest that he give it a try. Visit www.scouting.org to find a local scout council near you that can assist in finding a troop in your hometown. Joining the Boy Scouts of America is a decision you – and your son - won’t regret.