Free Publicity

WBEN has become the Jim Ostrowski show lately. First yesterday on Bauerle, and now this morning during John & Susan's family funtime hour. Jim Ostrowski is a libertarian, and I dare say he has a very, very elevated opinion of himself. He's started a libertarian group called "Free Buffalo", which he bills as a "think tank". Bauerle lauded Ostrowski's group yesterday, and decided that he would probably want to become involved in a taxpayer-watchdog capacity. That's all very nice, and I wish him luck. But today, Ostrowski said something that I thought was very telling: he wants his to be a small group of experts - not a grassroots organization. He also wants money. To paraphrase: "the business community is going to have to step up to the plate with some money because it costs money to run candidates, hold meetings, etc." I'd prefer to be involved in something a little more...grassroots. Something that truly echoes the will of people, rather than a select few "experts." The WNY Coalition for Progress, to which I belong, is the more center-left think tank that we've already started here. It is a truly grassroots, non-partisan organization dedicated to making WNY a better place to live and work. Our local and regional working groups are already planning some fora and events to address the state of government and taxation in NYS. Please check out our website, our blog, and join our discussion forums. We don't want to be limited to a few "experts", and we don't necessarily want or need the "business community" to fund us. We're having a fundraiser on March 12th and all are invited. We'll have a $25.00/year dues next year, probably. James Ostrowski is the attorney who represented Tracy Diina on her ticket for talking on her cellphone while driving. He literally wanted to turn that infraction into a federal constitutional case. I think the WNY Coalition for Progress is entitled to some free publicity too, don't you?