By Jim Willis on Jan 26, 2008 in Business, Government & Politics | 2 Comments
Not to be outdone by New York State’s nannyism, Broome County now feels a compulsion to tell you what you can, and cannot, eat. Here’s a tasty morsel from today’s Press & Sun-Bulletin:
Local restaurant workers may soon be serving french fries fried in soybean oil and cookies baked with margarine substitutes under a voluntary program [...]
By Jim Willis on Jan 19, 2008 in Business, Energy, Government & Politics | 4 Comments
Hallelujah! The New York State Public Service Commission (otherwise known as the PSC) is recommending against the Spanish takeover of Energy East/New York State Electric & Gas. This is good news! It doesn’t mean the takeover of a key piece of the U.S. infrastructure by a foreign company still won’t happen…but it sure slows it [...]
By Jim Willis on Dec 24, 2007 in Business, Government & Politics, Taxes & Spending | 0 Comments
The Press & Sun-Bulletin reports a PA business, located in nearby Montrose, PA, has received nearly half a million dollars to switch from burning oil to burning wood. Oh, and it’s being funded by a grant from the State of Pennsylvania. Which leads me to think the taxpayers in PA are about as nuts as [...]
By Jim Willis on Dec 12, 2007 in Business, Government & Politics, Taxes & Spending | 13 Comments
The Public Policy Institute of New York State reports this cheery news: New York is the second most costly state in the nation for businesses. The most costly state? Hawaii, which is separated from the mainland by half an ocean.
The Institute uses the following criteria when making its evaluation: average annual wages, cost of electricity, [...]
By Jim Willis on Dec 4, 2007 in Business, Society & Culture, Taxes & Spending | 7 Comments
If you lived in the Greater Binghamton area in 2006, you no doubt vividly recall the flood of June 2006. It was referred to as a “500 year flood,” meaning it was the kind of “perfect storm” that results in flood waters rising to a catastrophic level–the kind of thing that happens once every 10 [...]
By Jim Willis on Dec 1, 2007 in Business, Government & Politics, Taxes & Spending | 1 Comment
New York State should either fix, or eliminate, Empire Economic Development Zones. Rather than helping our area, they are hurting it. What are Economic Development Zones and why am I worked up about it? In a nutshell, New York State has a program that grants tax breaks to businesses that locate in certain “economically depressed” [...]
By Jim Willis on Nov 26, 2007 in Business, Energy, Transportation | 7 Comments
Can anyone tell me why I’m paying $0.20 more per gallon for gas in Greater Binghamton than it costs 25 minutes over the border in South Gibson, PA? Does it really cost that much to deliver gas an extra 25 miles? Last Thursday as my family and I were traveling back from the Scranton area, [...]