Hey… just in case you missed it….the weekly Political Notebook on WXXI-AM 1370 (done during Morning Edition each Monday after 8:30 a.m.)… focused on a few topics of note.

We get into to the departure of Randy Daniels… the honeymoon for Bob Duffy… and the idea that all politics is local.

Go here and have a listen.

This may not sound like a locally-based column. But stick with it… it is.

All politics is local. It’s a phrase attributed to former speaker Tip O’Neill. Heck, he wrote a book with it as the title. This year, the phrase has been embraced by Republicans running for reelection in the House. But it’s always been followed by the incumbent class.

But, I wonder… at what cost do we all follow this belief? How harmful is following this idea?

For example, last week Rep. Tom Reynolds spoke with NPR on Tuesday about the GOP’s chances for winning post-Tom DeLay.

Reynolds talked confidently (he always does) about his party’s ability to keep control of the House (Check it out here). As you might know, Reynolds heads up the House Republican Campaign Committee. And what did he tell the NPR interviewer? He gave him the growing theme for a GOP that wants to shed the DeLay scandal (not to mention President Bush’s tumbling popularity) – that all Congressional elections are local.

These elections, Reynolds said, aren’t based on national issues, national news stories… such as those about a congressman who is stepping down because of his ties to a disgraced lobbyist. No, no. All politics is local. Reynolds spoke about the leading issue in his own district – jobs. He didn’t talk about his challenger, Democrat Jack Davis, who is slamming Reynolds and the Republicans in Congress for promoting trade initiatives that he says harm local workers.

His premise boils down to this – you vote the guy, the gal… not the party. You vote for the person who roams the district with his or her hand outstretched asking for your vote, eating the chicken at the local fair.

"It’s all about what each district has going for itself," Reynolds said. "Some, like mine, are talking about jobs… others may be talking about border security. Whatever it is… we believes its between both the incumbents and the candidates and their districts making it all politics is local."

So what’s the problem with this? Plenty, if that’s really the way we all approach elections to legislative bodies.

Reynolds may come from Western New York. And he may even be a likable fellow who relates well to Western New Yorkers in his 26th Congressional District.

But that approach disregards something. Reynolds runs as a Republican. As a member of the House, he is part of the Republican caucus. And – for better or for worse – he plays along with the team he chose. This is how a party in power – well…. uses its power.

So are you really just voting for Reynolds because he’s a great guy, who understands the concerns of his district? Doesn’t the team he plays for have any place in the vote you cast.

Are you really just voting for, say, Assembly Member Susan John, because she’s got the pulse of her Monroe County district? Is this all that’s behind your vote? Take a look at this article . John defends and supports labor in the argument for workers compensation reform. Nothing wrong with that on the surface. She clearly values the labor movement. She ought to, as head of the Labor Committee in the Assembly. It’s a position she attained because of the power structure in the Assembly, who appointed her to the post.

But, how does that make John local?

And we all know how legislative members like to go back to the district during election years and tell the voters  – "don’t forget, I know how to bring back important things for you." You know… goodies like money for local projects. They call them member items in the state capitol. A less flattering name is pork (just ask the Center for Governmental Research).

It sounds great on the local level…. just check out all the projects on this vast list that went to the Rochester area (thanks to the Empire Center for New York State Policy). What better way to show that a representative is really look out for his/her constituents than by showing the voters in his/her area the pork brought home. Why Sen. Jim Alesi has a music series at Eastman named after him. Why would he put his name there? All politics is local, right?

I’m not arguing that this premise is false. It’s a time-tested way to win reelection for incumbents.

I’m just saying that to forget that Reynolds is a member of the ruling Republican Party in the House… or that John is part of the Democrats in control of the Assembly… or that Alesi sits with the GOP majority in the State Senate… is to forget something vitally important. They help sustain that ruling majority. They are a part of it. And so… shouldn’t the decisions made by that ruling party reflect on the team members in their district come Election Day?

Maybe we could change that Tip O’Neill saying… turn it into this: All votes are local. And all voters have a choice about how they base their decision.

Well, a deadline is met again and New York State budget preparers jump up to take credit like a "D" student who has finally learned he needs to do his homework on time.

But has the "D" student turned in something that will make the grade? How is this state budget that sets (another) new record for spending being judged? Well, if you were simply to listen and read the comments and quotes about it… you might get a headache. Or you might think there is a strong bout of collective bi-polar disorder out there:

—"It’s an accountable, responsible, responsive budget." said State Sen. Majority Leader Joe Bruno to Karen DeWitt on 3/30/06.

—"The budget approved by the Legislature will be politically popular, but it is fiscally irresponsible." Press release from Tom Suozzi’s campaign. Suozzi is a Democrat running for governor on 3/29/06

As you know by now, this budget has something for everyone. Tax rebate checks for voters (just in time for the fall elections), increases for every conceivable local government. In Rochester, Bob Duffy and Manuel Rivera (the mayor and the city schools superintendent respectively) are beside themselves with excitement over the increase they landed in the budget. And so are others:

—"$11.2 Billion Albany Win for Mike on Ed Spending" – New York Daily News headline on NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s reaction to landing more cash for school aid.

—"Last night at around 9:30 I was literally jumping up and down on my couch in my (Albany) office." – State Sen. Nicholas Spano, R-Yonkers, in a quote to the Journal News on 3/30/06. This was in reaction to more state aid for the city of Yonkers.

Well… some others:

—"In the New York of the real world, we can not afford a government that operates like this." – The New York State Business Council, a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and a press release on 3/29/06.

—"Today the Legislature is passing a tax, spend and borrow plan that will lead to very large out year deficits. Their budget not only dramatically increases spending, but provides no reform of the two areas with the largest spending growth – Medicaid and education." – John Faso, Republican running for governor in a press statement on 3/31/06.

But surely everything is okay for the governor… and those who want to replace George Pataki next year:

—"We are assuming the governor will see the wisdom of our budget."- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to the Jay Gallagher and Cara Matthews of GNS on 3/29/06, talking about Pataki’s willingness to accept this budget plan.

—"The whole thing is like a big, exploding cigar for the next governor. ‘Here’s a Cuban’ … Boom!" – E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy, in an Associated Press report on 3/29/06.

—"Like everyone else, I am wary about the way spending is being increased at some levels." – said Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic candidate for governor in the same article.

But what did you expect… this was a budget with a surplus. And what else do you do with a surplus. You give it back, right?:

—"One of the things that is very important to me is that the state give back to hardworking taxpayers their money." – state Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton to Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin on 3/30/06, on the end of year budget surplus.

—"Legislative leaders are passing up a chance to reduce New York state’s excessive debt burden — already one of the highest in the nation — and to achieve structural balance between revenues and spending." Citizens Budget Commission statement on 3/29/06.

—"Even when the state is flush with money, the poor don’t get a cut of the pie." – Mark Dunlea, Associate Director of Hunger Action, a press release on 3/29/06

—"Nobody seems willing or able to stop the politicians in Albany from spending themselves into serious fiscal trouble, not so much for the budget year ahead but for many years after."- Newsday Editorial on 3/26/06

So what do we say about the "D" student who gets his homework in on time? Most of us don’t pat him on the head for simply meeting a deadline. We say "about time." But in this state, we are not yet grappling with what the student has wrought with the latest budget assignment. It’s spending more than before. It’s giving away plenty. But somehow we know that it still has begun to scratch the surface when it comes to Albany’s fiscal situation. And so the reaction sounds slightly inconsistent from report to report. Sometimes within the same report – by the same source.

—"If we didn’t get the state aid increase at that level, I never would have been able to deliver a budget with a 0-percent tax increase." Shawn Hogan, mayor of Steuben County city of Hornell, to the Hornell Evening Tribune on 3/30/06.

—"I think we spend too much money in New York state. I think we need to rein in that spending." – The same Mayor Hogan in the same article.

I don’t blame Hogan. I think we’re all a bit in a bind at what’s being offered by Albany.

At least it’s on time… I guess.