NY Fracking Ban Is Literally Impoverishing Rural Towns

New York’s ban on hydraulic fracturing is great news for environmentalists, but horrible news for those living upstate who are seeing their economic opportunities fade as the state government closes the door on drilling.

A recent report by the state comptroller found that while New York added 538,000 jobs between 2009 and 2014, virtually all of these jobs were concentrated in New York City. The Southern Tier, on the other hand, has been suffering. This is the region where most natural gas operations would be occurring had it been allowed by the state government. It didn’t, and now people are losing jobs and hope.

“The Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley, Central New York and North Country regions all experienced employment declines over the five years, with lower rates of total wage growth,” the comptroller’s report found, adding that overall labor participation in the region was falling as well.

Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo finalized a state ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, over concerns it would contaminate state water supplies and worsen air quality. Ironically, Cuomo’s ban came after the federal EPA said there was no “evidence that [fracking activities] have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.”

Via: Daily Caller

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NEW YORK GOVERNOR’S PANEL VOTES UNANIMOUSLY FOR $15 AN HOUR MINIMUM WAGE FOR FAST FOOD WORKERS!!

The Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo is determined to destroy what little employment we have in this state just for political points as his political panel recommends that fast food workers’ minimum wage be raised to $15 an hour!

I love this girl who says the raise will “transform” her life. Yeah, if she’s the lucky one to get the raise instead of being unemployed. Then she’ll be magically transformed onto welfare!

From the execrable New York Times:

A panel appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recommended on Wedesday that the minimum wage be raised for employees of fast-food chain restaurants throughout the state to $15 an hour. Wages would first be raised in New York City and then the rest of the state.

The $15 wage would represent a raise of more than 70 percent for workers earning the state’s current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour. Advocates for low-wage workers said they believed that the mandate would quickly spur pay raises for employees in other industries across the state.

“Chalk one up for the 99-percenters,” said Bill Lipton, director of the Working Families Party in New York, which has campaigned for the $15 minimum wage. “There’s clearly a new standard for the minimum wage and it’s actually a living wage for the first time in many, many decades.”

Awesome!! I can’t wait to see the headlines of people being laid off by businesses in NYC just like they did in Seattle! LOL!!

Via: The Right Scoop

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Baby not covered under ObamaCare family plan

This baby’s not on board with ObamaCare.

Long Islander Cornelius Kelly found it would be no problem to secure a family plan for his wife and three older kids through New York’s health-care exchange, but his 18-month-old daughter was out in the cold. The baby would need her own insurance policy.

“I couldn’t believe what I was being told,” said the dad from East Quogue, in Suffolk.

Kelly said he was no fan of the Affordable Care Act, but when he received notice a few weeks ago that his current insurance plan was being canceled, he tried the New York State of Health Web site.

Kelly, 41, and his wife, Jennifer, 42, are self-employed and have always had to buy their own insurance. Kelly runs a title insurance business in Westhampton, and his wife is a pediatrician in private practice in Miller Place. “I initially went on with a lot of optimism,” he said.

Kelly said none of the plans offered out-of-network coverage, which was something he wanted. But even worse, they only covered his three older children, who are 3, 5 and 6.

When Kelly called a representative, he was told his daughter had to be 2 before she could be covered under a family plan. He would have to buy a separate plan for her, at monthly premiums that ranged between $117.21 and $369.31. The cost would be on top of a family plan with premiums ranging from $810.84 to $2,554.71 a month.

Kelly said he had been paying about $1,000 a month.

Via: New York Post

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