Today’s “through the looking glass” moment: The City is applying for a $321K grant from the state for solar panels to save $7,500 per year in electricity costs at the sewage treatment plant. From the Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton considers solar panels for plant):

City officials are hoping to install solar panels at the Binghamton water filtration plant to save on electricity costs.

The city council voted Wednesday to authorize an application for $320,933 in grant funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to pay most of the cost of the project.

If the state approves the grant, the solar panels will save about $7,500 a year in electricity costs at the plant, said Amelia LoDolce, sustainable development planner for the city.

And further into the article, this:

In order to do the project, however, Binghamton must provide a 15 percent match to the state funding. This equates to $56,635, which the city will borrow.

So, Binghamton city residents will have to pony up $56, 635 out of their “City of Binghamton taxpayer pocket” while the rest of us across the state will have to pony up $264,298 our of our “New York State taxpayer pocket” to fund this folly. Why a folly? Anyone with a scintilla of business sense looks at the payback period for a capital investment like this. I would say most businesses, if they invested $321K, would want to AT LEAST break even and make back their investment in ten years or less. What’s the payback period for this one? What is the period of time it will take to recoup the investment of $321K by saving $7.5K per year? Try 43 years!

That folks, is why government needs to run as absolutely little as possible. They can’t even make intelligent decisions about a sewage plant! The technology itself will likely not last more than a decade, maybe 15 years, before it needs to be replaced. No matter, soak the taxpayer. The mindset is that state grant money appears magically, like a pot of gold someone found along the roadside. It’s TAXPAYER money taken (forcibly) from us, and you’re flushing it down the toilet Binghamton!

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, Matt Ryan, Binghamton City Council, Citizen Action, sewage treatment plant, government spending, government grants, Amelia LoDolce

This vote all got started a few years ago with mismanagement of union contracts for fire protection and other services in the Village. The unions got too much (with some firefighters getting nearly $100K a year!) and it’s breaking the back of JC taxpayers. I can sympathize with those that think by dissolving the politicial entity it will release them from the heavy tax burden. The problem is, you just shift the burden. The good folks of JC will still need fire protection, and if they can’t raise a volunteer fire department to do it and they need to pay people, what makes you think shifting it to the township level will somehow make it all go away?

In the end, what happens is that locally elected representatives for each precinct and district go away–representatives who are part time and paid very little for what they do–and you end up with less representation of your interests. You have fewer people to pressure about getting the potholes fixed on your street. That is, government becomes less responsive. Overall, I find that people who lobby for dissolution of our local political entities in favor of consolidation with larger entities view government as a benevolant ruling function that benefits society. I do not. I, like the founding fathers of our great nation, see government as a necessary evil–with a very limited role to play in peoples’ lives. The people who are in government are our servants–they work for us! NOT the other way around.

I’ll say what I’ve always said on this issue: Consolidate some of your services (like fire and police) with surrounding political entities like the Town of Union or the even Broome County. And share the cost that way. But don’t, for pete’s sake, dissolve the political structure of the Village because you think you’ll save a few dollars on your taxes. It won’t happen, and you’ll lose something far more precious–your political voice.

Technorati Tags: municipal consolitation, Johnson City NY, dissolution

Completely mind-blowing. The grand total number of jobs created by Obama’s stimulus money in our area of New York State so far? 3 1/2. You read that right…three and one-half jobs. Not hundreds, not thousands, not even tens…just 3 1/2 single jobs. From an article in the Press & Sun-Bulletin:

In the 10 counties of the Binghamton-Elmira-Ithaca region, contracts for federal projects have created the equivalent of 3.5 jobs, the Associated Press found. Three counties in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier have seen a total of eight jobs created.

I know of Subway sandwich shops that create more jobs–and don’t cost the taxpayers a dime! It begs the question: Of the $16 BILLION already spent from the $787 BILLION stimulus bill, where did it go? Or rather, into whose pockets did it go? The first place I would look is Harry Reid, Christopher Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and other sleazy, corrupt politicians.

Hey, how’s that hope and change working for all you Obamaclones?

Technorati Tags: federal stimulus, broome county, binghamton, stimulus jobs

A tip of the hat to the Town of Union (near Endicott, NY) for returning Obama stimulus money they didn’t want nor ask for, to the tune of $561,302. And a big “boo” to Broome County Social Services for sticking their grubby hands out to grab it before it went somewhere else–continuing the waste and fraud that is the Obama administration.

According to the article, Broome County accepts homeless grant rejected by Union, Town officials were surprised to receive the grant which was to be used to address the issue of “homelessness.” So smart those Obama people–blaziningly brilliant, the whole lot of them. Sending more than a half million dollars for homelessness to a place where there isn’t any.

Union officials tried several different ways to spend the money–one of them being to help the elderly replace their furnaces (need to be more green, dontchya know). But the Obamadrones said “no” every time Union officials proposed something–they flat out rejected it. So Union finally said “no thanks” and sent the money back. But then the Broome County Department of Social Services stuck their collective hands out–Social Services being the department with the largest piece of the Broome County budget, gobbling up 32% of all the money spent by Broome County each year (some $114 million proposed for 2010).

Social Services said, “Thanks, we’ll take that money off your hands Obamaclones, and we’ll pay peoples’ rent checks and utility bills with it.” You see, you can’t use Obamabucks to make mortgage payments of taxpaying homeowners who find themselves in trouble. No way. But you can pay rent for renters. How screwed up is that? It makes perfect sense when you factor that renters are more often Democrat (39%) than Republican (20%)*. The Democrats are simply buying votes, creating a depenendcy class who will keep them in power in perpetuity–it’s sickening and maddening.

So the Obamaclones are giving that half mil to Broome County Social Services and now everyone will live happily ever after. Until next year when Social Services wants that money again, and deadbeats who won’t pay their bills want it again, etc.

But you can only mortgage your kids’ and grandkids’ future once. What a shame and a waste and a FRAUD the entire “stimulus” package was. The bigger shame is that it won’t dawn on most people what they’ve done to their progeny until it’s too late. Hey, how’s that hope and change working for all you Obamaclones?

*Renter political party affiliation numbers are from a study by the University of Virginia and Dr. Larry Sabato.

Technorati Tags: Obama, stimulus money, government fraud, Town of Union, Broome County, Broome County Social Services

The Binghamton Housing Authority has won a $302,400 competitive federal grant to make one of its housing units more energy-efficient.

The grant, which was announced Tuesday, will pay for solar panels to be installed at the Carlisle Apartments on the city’s North Side, said David Tanenhaus, executive director of the housing authority. The panels will generate some electricity for the complex, he said.

The federal dollars coming to Binghamton are part of $500 million awarded nationwide by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to renovate public housing units, or make them more energy-efficient. Of the $500 million, nearly $20 million went to 11 public housing authorities in New York. The money is coming from the federal stimulus program, approved earlier this year.

This is so outrageously funny, and tragic, I can’t begin to count the ways. Anyone who has ever lived in Greater Binghamton (or has even visited) will tell you we get about three days of sunshine per year. Well maybe a few more…but not many more! Paying money for solar panels in Binghamton is like planting a field of corn in the Sahara Desert with no water or irrigation. Completely nuts.

Don’t take my word for it. The National Weather Service has records going back decades. They keep track of cloudy days (see Cloudiness – Mean Number of Days). If you check it out, you’ll find Binghamton has more cloudy days on average than Seattle, Washington! The average number of cloudy days in Greater Binghamton is 212 days of the year. Another 102 days are classifed as partly cloudy. And only 52 days are clear. Seattle, WA on the other hand, has 201 cloudy days, 93 partly cloudy days, and 71 clear days.

Where I used to live, inside the city limits of Binghamton, I had a neighbor who installed a large solar panel on the roof of his house to heat his pool. That was it…just heat the pool water to a comfortable level. Didn’t work. Not enough sunshine. I know that solar technology is gradually getting better–but come on! I thought stimulus money was supposed to go for “shovel ready” construction jobs. Practical projects ready to be built now, like bridges and roads. Doinking around with solar panels in one of the cloudiest cities in the U.S. is an utter waste of taxpayer money.

So the question is: If stiumulus money is being this poorly spent right here in Binghamton, what about other places? Multiply our piddly $302K by a multitude of other cities across the country and you get depressed really quick, and not just from the lack of sunshine.

Technorati Tags: stimulus money, Broome County, Binghamton, solar energy

A recent article in the Press & Sun-Bulletin by Gannett reporter Brian Tumulty, titled “Reports predict N.Y. financial crisis from health care,” starts this way:

New York’s Medicaid program will experience a financial crisis if Congress doesn’t enact health care legislation, according to two studies released this week.

Ten years from now, state officials could face a 93 percent rise in the cost of providing Medicaid services to adults and related health services to children from low-income families, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute predict in one report. That report says the average New Yorker could be spending 55 percent more for health services in 10 years.

“It’s a very dire picture, a very bleak picture without health reform,” said Dr. John Lumpkin, director of the health care group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, N.J. “There’s a lot of discussion in Washington about the various options. What’s not being discussed is that doing nothing is the worst possible option.”

Without our Savior’s health reform plan, all is lost. There is no hope. Woe is me. BUNKUM.

Nowhere in the article does it chronicle how New York has THE most generous Medicaid benefits in the entire country. Most states do not cover every hang nail under Medicaid–but New York does! No where does the article chronicle the cost per capita that New York pays, which in 2006 was $2,316 for every man, woman and child in our entire state (some $44 Billion)! Compare that to California which spent $939 per person and Texas which spent $771 per person on Medicaid in 2006–both of those states have larger populations than New York. Do you see how out of whack New York’s Medicaid program is?

And do you see the shameless shilling the mainstream media performs for the socialist Obama agenda in our country? The media intentionally misleads, leaves out facts and otherwise bends the truth. Shame on Gannett, and shame on the P&SB for running a yellow journalistic article.

Medicaid is bankrupting us–on that no one disagrees. The answer? Decrease Medicaid benefits and the services offered under the program, and do it now. We could freeze Medicaid benefits in New York at half the level we have now without denying basic services or killing anyone, and instantly solve the New York budget crisis with that single act. Who will be “man” enough to do it? Certainly no one in Albany. Don’t fall for the “health care bill will magically solve New York’s Medicaid problem” scare tactics being peddaled by the left.

And may I point out the obvious with regard to the health care plan being offered by His Magnificence? Medicaid IS socialized medicine–it is health care provided to people who don’t pay for it from people (taxpayers) who do. Medicaid is a small preview of what a nationalized system would look like. And Medicaid costs, according to the article mentioned above, are spiraling out of control with no end in sight. What, pray tell, is the difference between what will happen under nationalized/socialized health care and Medicaid? Answer: There is no difference. Conclusion: Either the tax burden will become so extreme in this country we’ll have to repeal certain rights, like free speech (because of concerns of an uprising by the citizens), or health care will be rationed. Perhaps both will happen if this horrible plan is enacted.

Medicaid itself is the best argument against the lunacy Congress is attempting to pass by using parliamentary tricks and deceit. Don’t stand for it. Burn up the lines to your Senators and Congresspeople to let them know WE DON’T WANT OBAMACARE.

Technorati Tags: Medicaid, New York Medicaid, media bias, socialism, Barack Hussein Obama, socialized medicine

Today I am pleased to announce a first for RSSBinghamton–a guest viewpoint. And it’s from someone who is (cordially) taking me to task over my recent remarks about Medicaid. Long-term readers of this blog will know that I welcome dissenting opinions and views from my own.

Today’s guest viewpoint comes from Leigh Ann Scheider, Executive Assistant to Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala. In the article Medicaid is Bankrupting Broome County and All of New York State I encouraged Ms. Fiala to “show leadership” and “think outside the box.” Those comments prompted Leigh Ann to write me a detailed email about Ms. Fiala’s record to date in showing said leadership. She gently chided me that perhaps I did not share enough facts on the matter. I asked Leigh Ann for her permission to post her email in toto (nothing has been changed), and she agreed. And forthwith:

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By Leigh Ann Scheider

Dear Mr. Willis,

This morning I read your blog post on rssbinghamton.com titled “Medicaid is Bankrupting Broome County and All of New York State”.  While your points are valid and very astute, your continuous chant that Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala has not addressed the Medicaid burden is sorely incorrect. In fact, as an outspoken member of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), Executive Fiala has continually called upon state leaders to address this state’s uncontrolled Medicaid costs.

What you seem to have avoided or did not take the time to research is the constant, persistent, identification of the Medicaid burden by Executive Fiala in almost all of her budget addresses. Before and even after the Medicaid cap went into effect, Executive Fiala has drawn attention to the ever increasing Medicaid costs, that as you noted, continue to balloon.

This burden does indeed put local governments and the state in a poor fiscal position. Prior to the Medicaid cap being instituted, counties were negotiating projected Medicaid figures as they would spreads between sports teams (let me be upfront in stating that comparison is purely my own opinion). Factually, it would be better described by any county Budget Director that had to go through the process using empirical data. While the cap has given local governments the ability to more soundly budget for such defined increases, costs continue to rise. As Executive Fiala has said publicly, “Broome County’s Medicaid problem is not fixed”.

In further contrast to your claim that Executive Fiala has not addressed the depicted elephant in the room, her advocacy has gone beyond calling for state leaders to take action. Under her leadership, the State awarded Broome County the ability to conduct an audit of nearly 35 million dollars worth of Medicaid claims. For the news release: Click here. This local action proves Broome County’s commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars and preventing fraudulent practices. More information will be released soon on a large settlement that will more than cover the costs of the audits.

I respect your interest and perception of the Medicaid problem. Provided with the information and public statements made by Executive Fiala, it is my hope you would consider including more factual information within your post. While your post draws attention to a very real problem, it would be more impactful if the information was factual regarding the actions taken by leaders within Broome County.

As with any freelance media, credibility always stirs criticism, however, that is not my intention. Below, I have included remarks from Executive Fiala where she has addressed the Medicaid burden that Broome County taxpayers are faced with. These remarks do not include transcriptions of her comments made to state leaders and or NYSAC. If you have any further questions or comments please feel free to contact me directly through the information provided below. I appreciate your time and willingness to correct information within the contents of your blog.

Best regards,
Leigh Ann Scheider

[County Executive Fiala's previous public comments]

2006 Budget Address

“Some might be wondering that now with the Medicaid Cap, why our taxes are not decreasing? What you have to understand is that the cap is just that. It only caps the amount Medicaid costs would have increased. Do not get me wrong, we are extremely grateful state leaders have finally tackled this tremendous burden that has rested on counties’ shoulders, far too long.

What the state has given us is a formula that allows for an orderly and predictable way to forecast Medicaid expenses instead of the skyrocketing costs we were forced to solely absorb in the past. While we do not know for sure what our Medicaid costs for 2006 will be until the final numbers are certified by New York State on June 30th of 2006, we anticipate our local share of these expenses to rise by $1.2 million dollars.

Medicaid is still the single largest item in the Broome County Budget comprising approximately 11% of the total budget. I will continue to pressure our state lawmakers to better manage Medicaid. Our state by far has the highest Medicaid expenses, including highest total amount, highest per recipient and highest per capita.”

2006 State of the County

“Medicaid is a concern but our Medicaid situation is in much better shape than it was a few years ago, thanks to the state Medicaid cap. But I feel it is important to note that even with the cap in place our costs increased by $1.7 million from 2004 to 2005 and they will continue to increase this year by approximately $1.2 million dollars.

The cap has been a tremendous help in planning for the future but everyone needs to remember this does not make our Medicaid problem disappear. It is still quite a drain on our local resources, comprising about 11 percent of our overall budget or about $34 million dollars a year.

That is why we need to work on continuing to reduce the Medicaid burden that exists for property taxpayers across New York State. This is not to say that those in need will be sacrificed or ignored. I absolutely do not believe that should happen.

However, the system and how it is administered by New York State is broken. It seems there is complete incompetence, fraud or both.

The New York Times reported last year that our Medicaid system which is quote-the most expensive and most generous in the nation-has been misspending billions as a result of fraud, waste and profiteering. This has got to be stopped.

I strongly advocate an aggressive approach to cracking down on fraud. That is why I sought to have Broome County become one of the first counties in New York State to join the Verify New York Program.

This program will enable counties like Broome to flag inefficiencies and billing irregularities. The demonstration project makes counties partners in the effort to detect, investigate and prosecute Medicaid provider fraud.

By participating in this project, we are not assuming there is fraud on the local level, however, if we do nothing, we will never know and I would rather take steps to protect the taxpayers’ dollars than simply hope there is not a problem.

This is not costing Broome County a dime and if any money is recovered as a result of fraud, we will share in those recovered funds.

I want to assure you that Broome County Security Department efforts, to investigate user fraud, will continue as well.”

2007 Budget Address

“In the 2002 resolution, lawmakers resolved that they would review the sales tax distribution formula, “…if within the next 5 years, New York State should assume the County share of Medicaid costs…”

Today I tell you that Broome County Government’s share of Medicaid stands at $33.7 million dollars and climbing. In my opinion, a nearly $34 million dollar Medicaid bill proves that the state has not “assumed the County share of Medicaid costs” and Medicaid remains a huge tax burden.”

2008 Budget Address

“Let me again reiterate, Broome county’s Medicaid problem is not fixed.”

“For anyone to say that the Medicaid is fixed is not only incorrect, it is irresponsible and a dangerous message to send to Albany.”

For full remarks visit: http://www.gobroomecounty.com/files/countyexec/pdfs/2008BudgetFinal.pdf

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Thank you Leigh Ann, for taking the time to write and bring to light Ms. Fiala’s efforts to contain Medicaid costs. As a taxpayer in Broome County, I appreciate her efforts. – Jim

Technorati Tags: Medicaid, Barbara Fiala, Leigh Ann Scheider, Broome County

I live in New York where everything is taxed. So when there was a recent national outcry over the Federal government proposing cow-farting taxes on farmers because the eco-nuts have finally gone berserk…I was unfazed. In our state everything gets taxed sooner or later. Now it’s water. Hey, farting, water, maybe we’ll tax oxygen next, right?

Specifically, New Yorkers are about to be taxed on water in bottles, or if you will, on the bottles themselves. From the Press & Sun-Bulletin in a story titled, “Area stores bracing for flood of bottles“:

Local supermarkets and convenience stores say they’re preparing for a major increase in the number of plastic bottles redeemed when a new state law goes into effect adding a 5-cent deposit to bottled water.

[R]etailers in this region are getting ready for the most significant increase in the flow of redeemable products in years.

More than 3.2 billion water bottles are sold in New York each year, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

Bottled water constitutes about a third of the retail beverage market, though industry studies project huge growth over the next several years.

Some 20-odd years ago when New Yorkers collectively jumped off the cliff (forget slippery slopes) of putting a “deposit fee” on soda cans and bottles, it was supposedly to encourage the behavior of recycling. Guess what, everyone recycles today. No, we don’t always return the cans to the grocery store or redemption center to get our nickles back, but we’ll throw them in the yellow recycling bin on garbage day. That’s just what the politicians want! They want you to pay the deposit fee, and then never redeem it. Why? Because all 80% of the uncollected deposit fees go (where do you think?)… that’s right, to the New York State common treasury.

Politicians LOVE deposit fees–let’s call them what they really are, taxes–because it’s a magical source of new revenue for them to spend. And politicians derive and maintain their power by spending money.

Instead of expanding the bottle tax to 1/3 more of the bottles found in stores (bottles of water), the state should repeal the deposit tax on ALL bottles. Our behavior in recycling has changed–reward that change in behavior by giving people a break! But no…that revenue stream to our state politicians is like a fix for a heroin addict. No way they’re giving it up, man.

Two predictions: (1) After this tax goes into effect, sales of bottled water in New York will decrease. That 3.2 billion bottles of water sold in New York each year is going to go down, not up. Consumers will not appreciate paying an extra $1.20 per package of 24 water bottles you buy in Sam’s Club or Costco. (2) Now that state politicians have successfully expanded this insidious law from soda and flavored drinks to plain water, they will next eye cans and containers of all kinds. “Hey, how about a nickle fee on every can of soup, tin of beans, or box of cereal!” I can hear it already. Politicans will eye the grocery store as the new source of revenue to feed their insatiable appetites.

Word of advice: If you’re visiting New York, be sure to bring your own bottled water.

Technorati Tags: bottle deposit, New York bottle law, bottled water

Each year when Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala releases the proposed budget my blood pressure goes through the roof. Not because of Barb or her proposals per se, but because the real story is so well hidden in the numbers. I believe politicians either do their best to hide from citizens the fact that we are quickly being bankrupted by Medicaid, or they are in denial, hoping the problem will magically go away.

For those not familiar with Medicaid, it is the immoral requirement that some citizens fork over money to pay for their fellow citizens’ health care. That is, the producers of society, those who work hard and contribute, are forcibly made to hand money to non-producers–those who can’t or (in most cases) won’t work, giving non-producers better health care than the producers themselves have. It is unfair.

Try to locate a single line item identifying total Medicaid payments by reading through the latest 526-page proposed budget for yourself: Broome County Budget – Recommended 2010 (PDF, 54MB). It’s not there. In and amongst the line items you will see something called Social Services, under which Medicaid transfer payments are hidden. Social Services is $113 million out of a proposed $353 million budget (or 32%), and that includes Medicaid, foster care, food stamps and other items.

In the proposed budget you’ll see columns for “expenses” and “revenues” for various line items, including Social Services. How can something like Social Services (and by extension Medicaid) actually generate revenue? It can’t. “Revenue” is a misleading label for what is, in most cases, taxpayer money coming from a different pocket. Instead of the money coming from the “county taxpayer pocket,” it may come from the “state taxpayer pocket” or the “federal taxpayer pocket.” If it comes from any pocket other than the county taxpayer pocket, Ms. Fiala labels it as “revenue.” It makes no difference how you label it–the only way for government to issue money (short of fiat printing it, which spikes inflation), is to take it away from some people (taxpayers) and give it to other people (non-taxpayers). It’s really pretty simple to understand, but completely obfuscated in the proposed 2010 Broome County Budget.

Back to Medicaid in Broome…According to a slide show prepared by Barb Fiala (this slideshow being the only way we know how much Medicaid on its own costs), the county will need to raise and pay $36 million in 2010 for Medicaid. Since the county pays 25% of Medicaid costs (or $36 million for 2010), and New York State pays 25% of the cost, and the Federal government pays the other 50%, that means the total cost (to taxpayers, from all of our pockets) for health care to citizens who won’t pay for it for themselves in (just!) Broome County will be $154 million in 2010. This is obscene and immoral in the extreme. Nationalizing health care will not drive costs down–if anything, the costs will go up. People tend to use services more and scrutinize invoices less when they don’t pay for it themselves. Funny how that works. It’s called human nature.

The only solution to continued tax increases is to cut Medicaid benefits dramatically–not only for everyone in the US, but particularly in New York State. I’ve written about this endlessly over the past few years. Medicaid is the elephant in the room that must be dealt with. Not until New York cuts back on benefits (we have the Cadillac version of Medicaid in NY), will we start to reverse the trend of escalating taxes, with the result that people and jobs leave the state.

What can Barb Fiala do in the meantime? It’s time for bold action. Someone needs to challenge New York State and start reducing Medicaid spending. If taxpayers are footing the bill, we should start acting like an insurance company. Set up review committees to approve procedures and control costs in Broome County. Clamp down on charges from doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, etc. Make Medicaid recipients (gasp!) responsible for a co-pay–say $25 per doctor visit. Give them an incentive to NOT run to the doctor for every hang nail. Make them fill out paperwork every few months (like insurance companies force us to do) re-certifying they don’t have insurance of any other kind that will cover part or all of their medical expenses. In short, let them experience the same level of hassle that hard working, taxpaying people experience themselves in order to provide health care for their families. Let’s subtly (or not so subtly) encourage them to get a job and get covered.

Think outside the box Barb, and show leadership on the most important issue facing this county! One thing is for sure, if nothing is done about Medicaid, the elephant in the room will surely bankrupt us within a few years.

Technorati Tags: Medicaid, Broome County, Barbara Fiala, county budget, county taxes

It’s one thing when your government forces you to give up your Second Amendment rights. Quite another when you do it willingly. Yet, that’s just what some of our fellow citizens recently did right here in good ole Broome County. The backdrop for my latest observation/rant comes from the Press & Sun-Bulletin (55 guns destroyed in collection program):

With a quick step on a pedal, the large metal jaws collapsed on the gun’s barrel, snapping the piece in two.

In less than a half-hour Friday, 55 handguns that were exchanged in June at the St. James Rectory parking lot in Johnson City for $150 Wegmans gift cards were destroyed at Ben Weitsman & Son in Binghamton.

The Broome County Sheriff’s Department, which has been in possession of the weapons since the St. James Peace and Justice team held the collection, had a deputy and detective stand by as even a World War II German Luger worth thousands of dollars was split.

Broome County Sheriff’s Detective Michael Clapp said the department brought an additional 70 to 80 guns for destruction. They were collected from criminals or were turned in because someone didn’t want them.

So people turned in their handguns–weapons they can use to protect themselves and their private property (yes Virginia, we still have some private property rights in the U.S.). And for what? Gift cards from Wegman’s grocery store. Honestly, I just don’t know what makes some people tick. You can bet your bottom dollar that the 55 people who turned in handguns at St. James were not criminals and the weapons they turned in had never been used illegally. And yet, they willingly disarmed themselves. Go figure. I call it the “easy way” to disarm the citizenry: Get them to do it themselves (idiots).

As for me and my house–well, let’s just say it’s time to take the hunter’s safety course, which I and my 13-year old are about to do this fall so we can go turkey hunting. I may even apply for a pistol permit!

Technorati Tags: Second Amendment, disarming citizens, Broome County, handguns