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Opinion

What kind of socialist are you?

Commentary

Anyone paying attention to state and federal politics has heard the word socialist ad nauseam ever since the 2024 elections. While on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a socialist at every stop. Trump continues to call his political opponents socialists. During the 2026 election cycle, many Republican candidates have called their Democratic opponents socialists. In recent primaries, even Democrats have called fellow Democrats socialists and cautioned primary voters to beware. As the phrase continues to be thrown around politically it may be helpful for ...

Quippies

Commentary

Nin Privitera, former Fredonia resident, offers some offbeat takes on recent headlines: — The AI world has developed a new computer that can read your mind. They hooked it up to Kamala Harris and the computer said, “ I give up.” — A mumbling Democrat council candidate named Jamie West from Indiana admitted she had three beers before a podcast interview. Those three beers indicate she’s not anywhere near ready to run for President. — Elon Musk just unveiled to the world a flying car that can go 0 to 60 in less than a second. That’s almost as fast as Trump can fire a new ...

Procrastination is not sound county budgeting

Commentary

As promised, and as accurately reported on your front page some weeks ago, I voted this week against Chautauqua County’s proposed budget for 2027. Why? First: it is not because I believe that county employees or management are less than dedicated or diligent. They are, by and large, both of these things. It is because this budget fails to get ahead of the two fundamental economic trends that are to blame for our widening gaps between revenue and expenditures. In the 2026 budget the expected overspend vs. revenues was budgeted at $2 million. In fact, it looks like it will come in ...

Proposal again proves council’s lack of power

The OBSERVER’s View

Over the last two weeks, there has been plenty of banter regarding the city of Dunkirk budget proposal — both on social media and during the most recent Common Council session. Overall, the plan calls for a 11% tax increase with spending totaling more than $32.2 million. Is that fair or responsible? That’s not the question that needs to be asked. For taxpayers, especially those who have complained about the burden and the hardship of living in Dunkirk, the most important issue is this: how do we stop the pain? The answer: You cannot. Dunkirk, like many other municipalities in ...

Regional politics choking water independence

Commentary

Once again, Fredonia finds itself under a restrictive water mandate. A conserve water and a boil-water order were in effect across the village and in parts of Pomfret. But a look beneath the surface of this latest crisis reveals that Fredonia's dry taps are less a failure of local engineering and more the result of a calculated one way political game being played by Chautauqua County and regional water advocates. Local officials and regional critics will waste no time pointing fingers at the village infrastructure, leaning heavily on the narrative that Fredonia is clinging to a ...

Bruce Blakeman Needs More Than A Victory

Commentary

LAKEWOOD—Let’s pick up where we left off three weeks ago. No one needs to explain to New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman that he and his team need to run hard through the tape on Election Day. They’re doing that. Hence the Oct. 28 whistle-stop tour across the Southern ...