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The Saratogian Newsroom blog, complete with thoughts and commentary from our newsroom staff and regular posts on happenings around town.

Wednesday, July 29

Politics: local, national

In local politics, the ever-changing saga of the Independence Party, and the possibility of a primary continued to unfold Wednesday, when I heard that Republican Candidates endorsed by the Independence Party -- who might prefer not to fight a primary election to keep the line -- hired attorney James Walsh to represent them in their effort to challenge a petition to ballot, filed by members of the City Democratic committee last week.

The attorney would have been hired by the candidates, and not the Independence Party itself, said chairman Gordon Boyd, and candidates could not be reach for congress. But, if it is true, it would certainly indicate that the endorsed Ind. candidates are serious about avoiding a primary. Readers will remember Walsh from the spring, when he represented Assemblyman James Tedisco in his failed post-special election bid to win a seat in Congress.

On the national stage, U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy (who defeated Tedisco in the above-reference race) held a tele-town hall with constituents and press this evening, while in D.C. The call, which lasted about 40 minutes, allowed constituents to ask the congressmen questions.

Most of the questions concerned the federal legislatures efforts to create a new model for health insurance, which would provide a public option. Some callers wanted to know what Murphy was doing about it, other callers wanted to know why Murphy thought it was so important.

His answer was that he thinks it's important to provide citizens with cheaper health care options, and, being a former venture capitalist, he feels that good, old-fashioned capitalist competition is the best way to make it happen, while also working to reduce costs in the industry, particularly by fighting fraud.

One thing I noted was that of people on the call (or, at least, people asking questions on the call), were mostly from Saratoga County. There were several questions from Saratoga Springs, as well as at least two from Ballston Spa, and another from Rexford. Kinderhook was also represented, as was Glens Falls. But, I think the message to take away from that is that members of the community are engaged in what Murphy is up to, whether or not they agree with him. I think that kind of involvement is something we should all strive for, and be proud of.

1 Comments:

Blogger Trapped in History said...

interesting article about the insurance carrier on the 27th. thige mentioned that the plowing had changed, did he mention what changed about it? saying that he was getting plowed in was a curious statement, that happens to everyone.

August 1, 2009 at 11:44 AM 

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