Is Representative Arcuri truly “fiscally conservative”, though, or does he just use that term as an excuse to support the Republican agenda? A recently introduced bill, H.R. 5353, provides a good test of Arcuri’s true fiscal character.

H.R. 5353 would eliminate federal taxes on the first $35,000 of every American’s income ($70,000 for married couples). Just think of how that tax cut could help you in these economically difficult times. The bill would also pay off 16 billion dollars of the federal budget deficit, providing a savings for the American people that will compound year after year.

How would H.R. 5353 accomplish this feat? It would merely require the Pentagon to pay for its activities through its official budget, rather than taking hundreds of billions of dollar in extra requests to Congress. So long as the Pentagon cuts its most outrageous pork barrel spending – such as money just approved for a second engine for the F-35, a single engine airplane – this requirement shouldn’t be a problem. The U.S. military budget is so filled with waste that it’s as large as the military budgets of all the other nations on Earth combined. Our planet’s 2nd largest military budget is from the European Union, and they’re U.S. allies.

Maurice Hinchey, the U.S. Representative for the district that includes our neighbor Ithaca, has cosponsored the bill. But Michael Arcuri? Apparently he doesn’t approve of this sort of fiscal conservatism. H.R. 5353 gives Arcuri a chance to dramatically cut taxes and pay down the deficit, but Arcuri won’t sign his name to the effort.

There are 18 homes for sale in Trumansburg now, and 13 homes have recently been sold. The median listing price for homes currently for sale in Trumansburg is $234,900.

“Yes, we have reached a milestone of two years at The Artisan Cafe. It hasn’t been easy but we are trying to hang in there despite all the inherent problems of running a new business in a difficult economy. As a thank you to all our customers we will be open Thursday from 11am until 8pm in addition to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We will also offer two dollars off every sandwich and entree all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! We hope to see you all during our Anniversary. For those of you who are having parties for the Super Bowl, remember we offer to go meals. We will have chili. burgers and our amazing cheesesteaks on the menu as well as our lunch menu to go all day Sunday. Just be sure to call in advance with orders. 387-4993. Thank you all for a great two years.”

In a time when some big restaurant chains have gone out of business, the Artisan Cafe remains, giving us opportunity for an occasional bite of comfort to help us get through the hard times.

Current tax law gave an exemption for the first million dollars of this form of income. Under the bill Arcuri voted for, that exemption will be raised to three and a half million dollars.

Middle class and working poor Americans won’t see one single cent of savings from this tax cut. In fact, we’ll be paying for this widened tax loophole for wealthy Americans. It’s going to cost the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars, a debt our taxes will have to pay off – with interest.

For years, when the Republicans were in charge, I heard Democrats complain about tax cuts targeted to benefit the wealthiest Americans. Will Democrats be silent now, when one of their own in Congress has voted in favor of the same sort of scheme?

Upon reading an analysis of the cost of the legislation by political site FiveThirtyEight, I find out this morning that Arcuri’s statements were even more off base. It seems that the average household expense from the legislation in New York State would be much lower than the national average: 19 cents a day – an amount easily offset by replacing an inefficient lightbulb. New York’s expense would be the second lowest in the United States, behind only Florida.

If New York’s energy expenses would be increased at a lower rate than any other state than Florida, wouldn’t that make our state more attractive to businesses and individuals looking to relocate? Once again, Mike Arcuri doesn’t seem to have been able to think things through. He’s thrown away for both environmental and economic improvement for our region.

“The Committee has made every effort to encourage Democrats from varied backgrounds to join and participate in Committee activities. Members of the Committee have taken to heart the task of increasing the racial, socio-economic, age and gender diversity within the community.”

Can we expect to see that kind of planning for diversity from the Ulysses Republicans? Any Ulysses Republicans want to inform me on that matter?

Actually, that’s $3.75.9 per gallon, to be precise. 24.1 cents per gallon of gasoline to go until we’re paying four dollars per gallon.

How soon will we make it to that point? It seems silly to predict, though gasoline prices typically go up during the summer time.

My family is not planning any long vacations this summer. I wouldn’t be surprised to see others staying closer to home as well.

It’s a national story, of course, and that means that we ought not to expect quite so many visitors as usual either… and perhaps a more local audience for the Grassroots Festival.

In the middle of Trumansburg, the new awning for the improved and enlarged Little Venice is up.

On the south end of the village, gasoline is selling for $3.30 a gallon (or, as the sign would have us believe, just $3.299). How much longer before Trumansburg pays $4.00 per gallon? Any friendly bets on that?