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The OBSERVER’s View: More state waste Medicaid suit

The OBSERVER’s View

We find ourselves bemused by the wholly expected partisan reaction to news that the U.S. Department of Justice is suing New York for allowing widespread fraud in its Medicaid programs to continue. In a statement to the Associated Press, the state Health Department said the lawsuit was “baseless … inexcusable and completely lacking in merit.” It said the claims were “the latest attempt by Washington Republicans to score political points at the expense of vulnerable New Yorkers.” That’s an interesting stance for the Health Department to take, because New York Republicans ...

Who can Fredonians trust with water plans?

Commentary

After a March 30 Fredonia Village Board Meeting two members of Save Our Reservoir and I had a cordial and pleasant conversation with Trustee Ben Brauchler on the steps of Village Hall. During that conversation I asked Brauchler what he thought of the water cost projections made by former village administrator, the late Jim Sedota, which predicted that buying water from the North County Water District would be $52 million more expensive over the next thirty years than simply upgrading the village’s water treatment plant, dam and reservoir. Brauchler admitted he never read the study ...

Have a blast, but think of the pets

Commentary

The Fourth of July is the holiday I dread most. It’s not because I am unpatriotic. It’s just that I have no taste for explosions and screeching missiles, which go on here in Dunkirk from early evening to late at night, and from mid June until the end of July. It’s also because Rocco, our ...

Nation currently forgetting a foundation for equality

Commentary

What shall we sing to America to celebrate our 250th birthday? “This Land is Your Land” is a good one. It’s been a staple for patriotic gatherings; we all know the first verse by heart. It sings the praises of this country’s beautiful landscapes and declares that it belongs to you and me. That is America. That is what our founders wanted. But Woody Guthrie wrote this song in 1944, after experiencing the great depression, how workers and farmers and their families suffered. He wrote lyrics that the patriotic renditions cut out. It's not easy to remember or acknowledge ...

American war of independence was no revolution

Commentary

MECOSTA, Mich.—When this columnist was a newspaper reporter, one of the editors was fond of saying we needed to write in a way that would hold people’s attention when the kids were screaming, the dog was barking, and the television was on. Today’s column doesn’t follow that ...

The OBSERVER’s View: Celebrating 250 years of America

The OBSERVER’s View

Today, we Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Our focus is what the document meant — creation of a new nation, a new set of ideals to form a more perfect union. But what the document itself says about the Founders and about what they intended for us is just as important, in many ways. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness …” That single sentence is familiar to ...