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I'm politically independent. I vote for person, not ideology or part, so I dunno how I'd fit in...
You say illegals? Is there a problem there with illegal immigrants? I've seen firsthand how they drain the county hospitals and school districts of resources. Not something I'd want to deal with again...
Being Politically independent is fine in Western New York. WNY has a good mix of liberals, conservatives and moderates.
Buffalo really doesn't have much of a problem with illegals at all. In fact if you won't hear much Spanish spoken outside of the West Side. There just isn't a big hispanic presence in WNY outside of a few small enclaves.
I'm politically independent. I vote for person, not ideology or part, so I dunno how I'd fit in...
You say illegals? Is there a problem there with illegal immigrants? I've seen firsthand how they drain the county hospitals and school districts of resources. Not something I'd want to deal with again...
It doesn't sound like you're too engaged politically, so that probably won't be much of a factor. I have strong convictions as a libertarian, so just about everything that happens here politically gets under my skin. And NYS is so liberal that a lot of NY Republicans sit to the left of Texas Democrats.
There really isn't much of a problem with illegals in Buffalo. My commentary was more that NYS represents an entitlement society at its worst. Just be prepared to accept the fact that you'll have to pay for taxi cab fare to take a deadbeat to the Indian reservation so that he can buy tax free cigarettes, or pay hundreds of thousands of medicaid dollars to keep an illegal in a hospital for over a year because he has no place to go. Oh, or paying hundreds of thousands for an illegal drunk to live in an assisted living facility, etc, etc.
Apparently that stuff doesn't bother many people around here, but when I see a region with so much potential slowly withering away primarily due to taxes and the actions of government, it really chaps my ass.
It doesn't sound like you're too engaged politically, so that probably won't be much of a factor. I have strong convictions as a libertarian, so just about everything that happens here politically gets under my skin. And NYS is so liberal that a lot of NY Republicans sit to the left of Texas Democrats.
There really isn't much of a problem with illegals in Buffalo. My commentary was more that NYS represents an entitlement society at its worst. Just be prepared to accept the fact that you'll have to pay for taxi cab fare to take a deadbeat to the Indian reservation so that he can buy tax free cigarettes, or pay hundreds of thousands of medicaid dollars to keep an illegal in a hospital for over a year because he has no place to go. Oh, or paying hundreds of thousands for an illegal drunk to live in an assisted living facility, etc, etc.
Apparently that stuff doesn't bother many people around here, but when I see a region with so much potential slowly withering away primarily due to taxes and the actions of government, it really chaps my ass.
The illegals we see are mostly pickers and they leave after the season. They don;t tend to be anywhere but the farm areas, and only for soft veggies or fruit, not corn, not hay. It is not highly full of illegals.
There are 2 Native Rez where you can get gas or cigarettes cheap. one is Seneca and one Tuscarora. One in southern Erie Co., on in Niagara. If you feel like giving them business, you go. My daughters do. We don't. I do respect they have improved their economy with businesses and I respect the treaties and figure they can do as they please.
Yeah, we pay too much for medicaid and other associated welfare stuff. We also got the people coming here simply since Buffalo was so good paying... the poor moved north as long as 50-60 years back, acc'dg to my husband. Now you are in multiple generations. In any case, you get lazy bums everywhere.
Vex is obviously vexed at living here. Some of us are not. You are not going to see a huge bunch of illegals like TX, you aren't going to find smoke filled bars/restaurants , and you are going to get poor ... but it isn't as bad as some make it seem.
And NYS is so liberal that a lot of NY Republicans sit to the left of Texas Democrats.
This is common knowledge & not specific to NY as the claim can also be made across most of the northeast, upper midwest & California.
That being said NYS isn't anywhere near as liberal as many of you right wingers claim it to be. In fact much of Upstate is very Conservative (by northern standards). 8 of the 12 General Assembly members from WNY are Republican ...... but you feel free to continue to generalize the whole metro area based solely on the leanings of inner city Buffalo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vex
pay hundreds of thousands of medicaid dollars to keep an illegal in a hospital for over a year because he has no place to go.
You do realize that you are talking to someone from Texas .. right? Do you think that when an illegal in Dallas or Houston is shot that they immediately take him to the border & hand him over to the Mexican officials or something? This isn't even close to the problem here that it is in Texas, California or Florida. Some people are so filled with hatred that they really need to take a time out before posting as it may keep them from making such a ridiculous comment.
This is common knowledge & not specific to NY as the claim can also be made across most of the northeast, upper midwest & California.
That being said NYS isn't anywhere near as liberal as many of you right wingers claim it to be. In fact much of Upstate is very Conservative (by northern standards). 8 of the 12 General Assembly members from WNY are Republican ...... but you feel free to continue to generalize the whole metro area based solely on the leanings of inner city Buffalo.
You do realize that you are talking to someone from Texas .. right? Do you think that when an illegal in Dallas or Houston is shot that they immediately take him to the border & hand him over to the Mexican officials or something? This isn't even close to the problem here that it is in Texas, California or Florida. Some people are so filled with hatred that they really need to take a time out before posting as it may keep them from making such a ridiculous comment.
Just to add to this, I believe the State Senate has been mostly Republican for several decades, if I'm not mistaken. So, the political party card should be played against both sides. New York State Senate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is common knowledge & not specific to NY as the claim can also be made across most of the northeast, upper midwest & California.
That being said NYS isn't anywhere near as liberal as many of you right wingers claim it to be. In fact much of Upstate is very Conservative (by northern standards). 8 of the 12 General Assembly members from WNY are Republican ...... but you feel free to continue to generalize the whole metro area based solely on the leanings of inner city Buffalo.
You're missing the point. Politicians here are liberal regardless of party affiliation. The "Republican" senate voted unanimously to raise some $2 billion in taxes. Dean Skelos called it a tax cut.
Both parties here are big government types, both cater to the unions, and both are content with more of the same. No change will come to NY.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jblake78728
You do realize that you are talking to someone from Texas .. right? Do you think that when an illegal in Dallas or Houston is shot that they immediately take him to the border & hand him over to the Mexican officials or something? This isn't even close to the problem here that it is in Texas, California or Florida.
Again, you're missing the point. The attitude among NY politicians is that everyone is entitled to everything, including illegals. The pervasiveness of this belief (and not necessary illegals themselves) is why our medicaid burden is twice the national average, a large part as to why NYS has such high taxes, and why businesses and people are picking up and leaving in droves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jblake78728
Some people are so filled with hatred that they really need to take a time out before posting as it may keep them from making such a ridiculous comment.
Do you really feel it's necessary to make snide personal attacks because you disagree with someone's characterization of the area and the problems it faces? Grow up
No you're missing the point in that you feel the need to point out to someone from Texas that NY will cover the hospitalization of an illegal like it doesn't happen much more often in Texas. That whole part of your post was utterly ridiculous (and really unwarranted in a Buffalo forum considering Buffalo/WNY really doesn't have an illegal problem when compared to Texas).
No you're missing the point in that you feel the need to point out to someone from Texas that NY will cover the hospitalization of an illegal like it doesn't happen much more often in Texas. That whole part of your post was utterly ridiculous (and really unwarranted in a Buffalo forum considering Buffalo/WNY really doesn't have an illegal problem when compared to Texas).
I would agree that it would be ridiculous to argue that Buffalo has a problem with illegals, especially relative to Texas. But that's not what I was doing whatsoever, so I don't know what your problem is. Again, I refer to my previous statement:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vex
My commentary was more that NYS represents an entitlement society at its worst.
With that in mind I listed off a couple of the most egregious examples of the "triumphs" of NYS liberalism.
But to get back on topic:
It's not too difficult to live a middleclass life here and the area does have a lot of positives.
But I would caution anyone considering a move here. There's a reason why Erie County's population has declined 3% over the past 10 years, and why NYS' population is becoming less significant relative to the rest of the country. The way people vote with their feet is always very telling about an area.
I find WNY politically distasteful and question its financial viability. That is why I'm making arrangements to leave. Moving is a big decision, so I think it's important that you get perspectives on both an area's positives and its negatives. If you'd like any more information why I think the WNY economy will continue to under-perform relative to the rest of the country please let me know.
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