Public servant pay raises should be linked to the good, and bad, fortunes of their municipalities

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Last month public outrage spilled into the streets, or at least onto the shoulders of the interstate, when the Syracuse Common Council agreed to boost the salary of the mayor to $115,000. Since 1994, the mayor of Syracuse had been forced to make ends meet with an annual paycheck of $84,388. Councilors felt that they had to increase the wage to keep pace with what other mayors in the region receive.

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Last month public outrage spilled into the streets, or at least onto the shoulders of the interstate, when the Syracuse Common Council agreed to boost the salary of the mayor to $115,000. Since 1994, the mayor of Syracuse had been forced to make ends meet with an annual paycheck of $84,388. Councilors felt that they had to increase the wage to keep pace with what other mayors in the region receive.

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Something big is gone. Tim Russert was a force of nature, an upstate ambassador, an unusual American presence who could speak to the powerful with the voice of working-class Buffalo. 

In a country that proclaims itself fed up with partisanship, Russert’s passing became one of those rare moments when the political elites seemed to see something more mighty, more important than themselves, and paused to honor him. In a political climate where everyone cries out for civility while going for the jugular, Russert insisted on doing his job with grace and a smile. He knew how to behave.

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

It turns out that Barack Obama’s radical religion wasn’t Islam after all. The church which Obama has now left turns out to be a haven for all sorts of free-thinking radicals. All I can say is, Hallelujah! Given the passive acceptance of so much evil by so much of mainstream religion these days, a candidate whose faith threatens to rock the world instead of rocking him to sleep isn’t such a bad idea.

By not confronting the real reason for rising prices, politicians play upon our fears and our wallets suffer

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

The first time I filled up with $4-per-gallon gas, I watched a truck at the next island fill up with diesel that was nearly five bucks. Is this supposed to make me feel good? 

Hardly. America doesn’t really run on Dunkin’, it runs on diesel. The price of diesel fuel affects everything from the food we eat to our school taxes, since both vegetables and kids need it to get where they’re going, and they do that, for the most part, in diesel-powered buses and trucks. And for many of us in the wintertime diesel goes by a different name: home heating oil. If the price of fuel continues to rise between now and the end of autumn, we may be looking at a pinch on working people that will have us missing the glory days of $4 a gallon.

A one-time community organizer, Barack Obama would bring a novel perspective to the White House

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

It will be no surprise to you that this November we may make history. For months the talk has been that, if the Democrats prevail, we will have, for the first time, either a woman or an African-American as president of the United States.

A black bear gains criminal status before authorities act to control its errant behavior

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Stimulus is a tiny rebate of a massive theft from the working class

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill could reverse years of plastic-bottle pollution

By Ed Griffin-Nolan

Sometimes we like to holler at politicians to do the right thing, when it would be simpler to just do it ourselves. Usually the most profound and subversive of acts are the ones that individuals can take on their own. Here’s an example.

Hillary Clinton may have to cede the nomination in exchange for Barack Obama pushing her health care plan

By Ed Griffin-Nolan