Label GMO's in New York Now! Your Right to Know

If you live in New York State you have a great opportunity to make your state both more informed as well as healthier. There are currently two bills in the New York State Legislature which would require all foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to be labeled as such. In the Assembly the bill is listed as A03525 and in the Senate S03835-A. There is no downside to this labeling requirement and a lot of upside. While you may still be on the fence about GMOs, there is no doubt that foods containing GMOs should at least be labeled, giving you the option of purchasing or not purchasing these foods.

I wrote a post last year in support of a similar bill in California which was in the form of a state referendum. (That post can be found on my blog archive dated 11/30/13). While you would think that a progressive state like California should easily pass this referendum you would be wrong. To understand why you would need to see the list of chemical and food companies who spent over $37,000,000 to fight the proposition. (They include Monsanto, DuPont, Council for Biotechnology Information, Grocery Manufacturers Association, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and the Kellogg Company.)

Here in the northeast there is a bit of a “game of chicken” going on. Now is the time to tell your legislative representatives you want the New York State bill passed and this “game” to end. Many of our surrounding states are involved but don’t want to be the first to make this labeling mandatory. You’ll know how close it is to becoming a reality is by how much advertising you see on your TV. As of my writing this post I haven’t seen any. Connecticut was the first state to pass a similar bill earlier this week but with the caveat for implementation being 4 more northeast states must pass similar laws (including one that borders Connecticut) before it becomes mandatory. Other similar bills are being discussed in Massachusetts, where there are hearings this month, Vermont where a similar bill has been pass by a large majority in the houses with no caveat, like Connecticut, thus making it the most likely state to have this labeling requirement become law, although the state senate may not vote until early 2014.  

To understand the battle you need look no further than the results in the other sixty-one countries around the world, including China and all of the European Union, that already require labeling of GMO foods. Ninety three countries in total have passed such labeling requirements. Where these labeling requirements exist, the public has made their preference know, that preference being choosing non-gmo products. Just how big is the issue? Seventy percent of all processed foods now have GMOs in them. Why? Just look at the seven largest crops that are now mainly GMO grow. They include (in order of volume) corn, soy, cottonseed, alfalfa, papaya, canola and sugar beets. (It’s not coincidental that the list includes most of the government subsidized crops.)

As far as the science goes both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Medical Association have confirmed that there are no proven negative health consequences associated with consuming genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The real question is what rights do consumers have. Do you, as a consumer, have the right to know what is in your food? An example: 90 percent of all cereal foods include GMOs. As a devout Cheerios eater, I’m not likely to stop buying this food. But that’s not the point. The point is do I have the right to know.

As I write this post one of the big stories of the week is the disclosure about the data the government is keeping on our cell calls, emails and other communications we thought were private. Just a few years ago this story would be gigantic. Instead, most americans failed to get “outraged.” It turns out that most of us are willing to pay the price of losing some privacy in exchange for security. I believe the same is true about the labeling of GMOs. The food companies are afraid that the public will react poorly to finding out what most of us know already, that much of our food has GMOs in it. Some of us in fact may change their food purchasing habits, but most won’t and while we may give up certain rights, the right to know is not one of them. Take some time to let your legislators know this is a right you want to hold on to.  

Getting the Most out of your Public Servants

As a small business owner I am used to getting threatening letters from the New York State Department of Finance and Taxation. They usually are bills for a form that was not filed with the department. I generally call my accountant and it always turns out that either I did not have to file that form or had filled it and they were incorrect. The bills usually break down into a filing fee of a few hundred dollars and a penalty of a few thousand dollars. It's always an inconvenience but you get used to it and it is always easy to clear up.

A few weeks ago I got a very different letter. This time is was personal, to my wife and I and was a notice of a limited audit of my 2010 tax return. Specifically it related to a tax credit I took for the purchase and installation of a 4.3k photovoltaic array. When I got the letter I was surprised, first because I was sure I had the system installed before 2010 and the second reason was that I had never been personally audited before. (To add to the issue, after calling my accountant I confirmed that the system was actually installed in 2009, which was more than 3 years after filing, making the audit illegal. As it turned out, had I been wealthy and had a NYS tax due of over $5000 it would have been too late to audit me but because my NYS tax due for 2009 was less then $5000, I carried over the tax credit through 2010, making it legal).

I was very concerned for a number of reasons. The first was that when I had my system installed I used a local contractor who wanted to do business with me and gave me a ridiculous price, thousands lower than the next bid. The second concern was that I live in a location in upstate New York where we had two major rainstorms in the past few years and my basement had been flooded. That was where my records were kept.

I panicked. What to do? They had only given me 30 days or they threatened to expand the audit. I had a conversation with my wife and she gave me a suggestion that I didn't expect. "Call your legislative representatives," she suggested. I thought there was no downside to taking her suggestion so I wrote a letter to each of my representatives. (In my case Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk and Assemblyman Peter Lopez). I expected nothing.

Within 2 days I got a call from both their offices and two days after that I received a call from a very pleasant tax investigator for the NYS Department of Taxation. He informed me that they received my letter asking for an extension of time and that it had been granted and that a letter stating so had been sent to me. (As of this post I had still not recieved that extension letter). In addition, he told me about the calls he got from my representatives and wanted to help. We had a very pleasant conversation and he suggested I made an attempt at finding any proof of what the system cost using bills or cancelled check.

I told him that I would try, but asked what the state was doing as these to storms had caused literally millions of dollars of damage and I couldn’t be the only person with damaged papers. (There were two towns that were totally destroyed in one storm). The next day I went down into my basement and found a bill and cancelled check from the company I purchased the equipment from but this represented only $18,000 of the $22,500 credit I took. The balance of my papers were too destroyed to be of any purpose and the account the remaining checks were paid out of had been closed so there was no banking access.

I decided to call back the NYS Dept. of Finance investigator anyway to send him what I had found. He had me fax him the bill and check I had and he called me back later that day to inform me that what I had sent would be all that he needed to “resolve” the case.

I believe that this was not normal procedure and that the calls from my legislative representatives had assisted in making my case a bit easier to resolve. While I had never contacted any of my representatives before this incident, I would not hesitate to do it again. We always think our politicians don’t really have much to do with the ordinary citizen but I’m proof that this is not the case. This is part of what they do when they go back to their districts. They are there for us. Use them.  

How To Save 10,000 Today or How I Stopped Overpaying Mutual Fund Fees

Later this week I hope to lay out a primer for Mutual Funds, having just gotten off the phone with a Financial Advisor, trying to sell me a Managed Bond Fund, but I have to put that post off. Having a conversation with a salesman trying to sell me funds always pisses me off. They’ve got their rap down and it’s always a challenge to Stop, and Think about what they are saying. They always have the right answer. Despite the FACT that there is no data showing that managed funds have any advantage over simple index funds in the long run (over 15 years) they keep the pitch up. I don’t want to insult my audience but I know statistically that most people own funds that they have no idea:

1. What the funds goals are?

2. What the management fees are?

3. What the turnover is?

4. What the price or quality of the funds holdings?

These are some basic questions and most people can’t answer them. While they are all important, the most important may be question # 2. What are the management fees. Today the average fee is 1.5%. Here is how I’m going to save you $10,000 and you don’t need to know the answer to any of the other questions. I’m going to assume that you are into a lot of different funds (your advisor gave you the safety in diversification rap) and here too you don’t need to know any of the answers to any of the questions, just know that if you have a portfolio of $100,000 and are paying a 1.5% expense ratio, you will have paid $11,681 in fees in 10 years. (If you really want to get sick, try calculating the compounded interest fees for as many years as you plan on saving before you retire.)

Now here’s my plan. SELL IT ALL FROM THE MANAGED ACCOUNTS AND REPURCHASE the same stuff from an Index Fund like Vanguard. While in my opinion Vanguard is the best, most companies have gone into Index funds so if you have an account at Schwab, buy from Schwab if you want, but KNOW THAT THE FEES WILL BE MORE LIKE .1%-.5%. Now run the same compounded interest calculations and guess what, that same $100,000 at even .5% will have only cost $5,127 (or a savings of $6,554 over the 10 year timeframe). If you can find funds with a .1% fee, the cost will just be $1,005, a savings of $10,613 (which is the $10,000 I promised). The beauty of this is you are investing in the same bucket of stocks, just not giving away the fees.

If you ran this out over a much longer time, say 35 years, the amount of money you have paid in fees could represent more than a third of what you made on your investments. Additionally, now most companies have created Index funds that are as diversified as any managed fund. Need growth stocks, there is a fund for that. Looking for value, there’s fund for that. REMEMBER, although the salespersons tell you that a managed fund does better, and it might in the short term, IN THE LONG TERM THERE IS NO PROOF THAT A MANAGED ACCOUNT DOES ANY BETTER THAN AN INDEX FUND. Hey, it’s your money, your call.

Is It Time To Sell (Your Stocks)?

I don't know who originated the saying, but whenever I think of Warren Buffett I think of "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." If ever there was an overabundance of greed, it's now. While the Dow is at consistent all time highs each day (today it closed at 15,215) and the Fed is touting stocks as "cheap", I can't stop thinking a correction is due. And that correction is likely to be big. The Fed did add a large disclaimer but I'm serious when I say while there are great signs the recovery is starting to look less anemic, the unemployment rate and addition of less than 200,000 new jobs a month still leads me to believe that we're on the wrong track.

The Democrats are in a defensive stance so no new jobs legislation is on the burner and with Obama looking weaker than usual nothing is likely to happen through the next election. In fact with the poor way the administration is handling BengaziGate and IRSgate things are likely to get worse before they get better. Could the Republicans actually get more house seats in the fall? Either way, nothing of substance is likely to happen through November and with the thieves on Wall Street needing to make some big money, selling short will need to happen. More for them, less for you.

I've gone out on the line but since I leave my posts online indefinitely  we'll know shortly so here's the prediction:

1. The "correction" will happen before the end of June.

2. It will be over 1000 points.

3. The Dow will end the year below 14,000 before it begins to rise again in January.   

What Should I Grow In My Garden?

One of the common questions asked of me is "What do I grow" in my garden? There's no simple answer because I don't grow the same crops every year, but I do have "core" crops that I always grow: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions,  garlic, potatoes and squash. If you look at this list you will see that with the exception of lettuce and onions, most of these crops are "expensive" to purchase, especially if you are purchasing the organic varieties. This may be one key to setting up your garden. If you can buy organic varieties at a reasonable price, why grow it? The best reason might be the special "taste" of fresh picked crops. There is no question that going to your garden and picking any vegetable will taste better than anything you can buy in a store.  

Because of this taste difference, I grow some crops like carrots and garlic  Every time I put out carrots for my guests they comment on "just how great they taste." "That's how a carrot should taste" is one of the most common comments at my dinner table all summer long. I hear the same for my string beans and tomatoes as well. Most store bought fruits and vegetables just can't match the flavor of fresh picked. If you only eat organic fruits and vegetables it's a tough question as to which is more important, price or taste. Most of the time choosing crops that are both better tasting and expensive as well is a good way to choose. Cucumbers fall into both categories, they are both better tasting and very expensive to purchase in a store. Evan non-organic are between a dollar and a dollar and a half for each cucumber and a summer salad with a cucumber is just not a salad.

Also expensive and good tasting are tomatoes  I could spend a whole post talking about tomatoes alone. I grow at least 4 varieties, from small grape strains to great eating tomatoes and a few for types for my famous tomato sauces. Unlike most sauce makers, I don't grow or use plum tomatoes. I like sweet or sweet/hot sauce and mostly use midsize tomatoes that I could either just slice and eat or make sauce with. Most are heirloom varieties but some of the new hybrids are too tempting to not try. I like to switch and try at least one new variety a year. 

Not all choices have to be expensive store bought crops. One of my favorite inexpensive core crops is lettuce. I grow at least 6 types of lettuce and an equal amount of Japanese Greens. Nothing is better to start a meal then a mixed salad. The Japanese Greens adds a multitude of additional flavors, from nutty to zippy. Depending upon the main course, I might add a little Arugula (which I also grow) to the mix. (Johnny's Seeds, which is where most of these links go sells Arugula in "seed disks" which make it very easy to plant). 

In addition to my core crops I add broccoli and brussel sprouts most years. Both can be harvested late in the summer and fall. For early crops I add peas and string beans. Last year besides my usual squash, I tried an italian variety  trombone zucchini, which now have become a standard annual crop.

A few red flags should be discussed. If you are not growing from seed (which is the best way to go), never buy from a discount source. Never buy from Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot or any of the other discount outlets that go into the gardening business 3 months of the year. They don't take care of their plants and sell deceased  uncared for plants. Plants from these sources can have everything from funguses to bug infestations. Purchase only from all year suppliers and only the best possible stock. 

Lastly, try at least a few "never planted before" crops each year. This year besides planting potatoes, I planted Jerusalem Artichoke, a potato like crop.  I also try and increase my fruit varieties, this year planting 4 more dwarf apple trees, 2 new varieties of strawberries, 2 new blueberry bushes and 1 new grape. It's not too late to plant, so go ahead a have a great planting season. You'll be a happy camper this fall. 

Drip Irrigation- The Right Thing To Do This Dry, Hot Summer

It has been weeks since the last rains here in upstate New York. It looks like it's going to be a long hot summer with little rain to speak of. Even if you get the rain you need where you live, now is the time to switch to drip irrigation for your gardens. I have been adding 100-200 feet of new drip irrigation to my garden each year, making watering less and less of a chore. While the lack of rain is one good reason to make the switch, some other good reasons include a.) the plants like it, b.) it saves 80% of our most precious natural resource (water), and c.) it's the right thing to do. 

If money is an issue, know that the price of drip hoses have dropped significantly. You don't have to but professional, using 5/8th inch hoses, 1/2" will do and with connectors and regulators you can have a professional setup for about $.10- $.12 a foot. 

Add a water timer and meter and you can simply turn a dial and you will be set for the day. 

If you have a large garden like I do you might need a multi-hose connection. If you use quick connects on all your attachments you can quickly move the water timer to each leg of your garden. 

The combination of all these tools will make you a very environmentally friendly gardener. It will free up a lot of time and will save all of us a lot of water. Your plants will love it, your garden will love it and the world will love it. For those of you who get a lot of pleasure hand watering (and I'm included), you can still hand water certain parts or certain plants to get that enjoyment. I have 4 raised beds I still stand over of hand water and suck up the love. Have a great summer. 

Where Have I Been?

I had built up a pretty good following of my posts until late February. While I have no intention on being too personal, in this case I have to explain my sudden absence from the posting seen. What no one knows is that for the last year I haven't felt too great. Every day I got a slight fever and had nightly sweats. None of my doctors could figure it out and none were very concerned. Finally after a year of this I decided to move forward and see someone new to get fresh look and a third  opinion. I was told that the correct doctor to see was an infectious disease guy. My daughter, an ER doctor recommended a specialist in Albany, NY and I saw him in early March. 

What a ID guy does is do a ridiculous amount of tests, scans, and x-rays. A few months earlier my gastroenterologist had done a CAT scan of my pancreas and seen something he suggested  I follow up on. Net, net, the chest X-ray showed what looked like lung cancer. After seeing a thoracic surgeon at Albany Med and having two surgeries I was diagnosed and confirmed with Stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. It had also spread to my spine. I was told that there was no fix but we could stop it from spreading with radiation (which I finished a week ago) and chemotherapy once every 21 day (for the rest of my life). 

So that's the deal. I won't talk or post about it again but anyone who has followed my posts deserved to know why I disappeared late February. Understand that I plan on being around for a long time. I have a great life and plan on living it to the fullest. When you get sick you surround yourself with friends and family and I have an abundance of both. I'm a very lucky guy. My older sister passed away 3 years ago from pancreatic cancer (at age 60) and the most important thing I took away from that is a reminder to live my life to the fullest. I plan on doing just that. You might want to do the same. 

What Does the New York State Gun Law have in Common with Bill O’Reilly’s Position on Gun Registration?

Let me start out by stating that I live in upstate New York and as is typical here, I own a gun. My son owns two and will probably purchase a third this year. Here in rural New York I assume most people own a gun. Most hunt, but many also own guns as a hobby and as a home protection device. As a non-NRA member I always read first and judge later. I am a non-NRA member because I don’t want to belong to an organization that is part of the problem and not the solution.

When President Obama was elected the first “warnings” from the NRA was “that they are going to take away our guns.” Never happened but did pump up the sale of guns and memberships to the NRA. Understand, the more the NRA can scare you, the more money they make. It’s an economic thing. When Governor Cuomo signed the new New York Gun Law gun sales throughout the country skyrocketed. They want to keep you scared. Scared=Money.

My guess is is that none of those gun purchaser’s read the law. (I sometimes think many couldn’t have read anything). At the end of this post is a elongated summary of that new law, but the short form is simple. It redefines what an assault rifle is and makes the sale and ownership of such weapons illegal. It severely restricts the mentally ill from owning all guns and it requires all gun owners have a background check and to register their guns. (It also requires a background check on all ammunition purchasers).

Currently in New York if you drive a car you are required to register your car and have it inspected. All roads have a speed limit. Everyone understands the logic of these laws. Cars can and do kill. They are dangerous. If your child was killed by a car you might want to add more protective laws to protect other children (like DUI or DWI laws).

You can not yell “Fire” in a theater. It is an exception to the First Amendment. A logical one. No one questions it but if you believe that the second amendment is different, you should stop reading this post now. We are simply not on the same page. If you believe that anyone should have the right to own any kind of gun, no matter how dangerous, you simply don’t understand what “We the People” mean. We give up some rights for the protection and benefit of us all.

Now that the Tea Partiers (or any other’s who believe that there should be no restrictions on anything) have clicked away I can continue with the importance of reading the actual law. If you actually read the law (which can be found HERE, with a summary at the end of this post) you will find little to be frightened of. In fact, the logic of each point will hopefully make New York safer and reduce crime.

Let’s look at each summarized bullet point;

1. The NY Safe Act of 2013 bans semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols purchased after Jan. 15, 2013 that have one prohibited feature – such as a pistol grip, a folding stock or a flash suppressor. This is the state’s new definition of an assault weapon. The ban does not cover pistol grip shotguns. Is there anyone who doesn’t understand that these features are only for killing cops? No one needs a rifle that folds up or suppresses the shooting flash.

2. For semi-automatic guns bought before Jan. 15, 2013 owners must be register with the New York State Police by April 15, 2014. We need to register our cars. We need to register our guns. (Are those finding a problem with registration protesting auto registration)?

3. The registration will trigger a background check through New York’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system. Problem with that?

4. If you own a gun that fits the new law and do not want to register it you have a year to sell your semi-automatic to an out-of-state dealer. After a year, you can only transfer it to spouse, domestic partner or a child. Again, Am I crazy or does this just seem logical.

5. Exemptions exist for relics and curio weapons that may meet the new definition of an assault weapon. Too liberal?

6. You have a year to get rid of any magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds (typically the 30-round magazines grandfathered in under the 1994 state law that previously defined assault weapons and gun restrictions). Under the new law, you can still use 10-round magazines, though legally you can only load a maximum of seven bullets at a time. I’m sure it’s fun to shoot off 30 rounds but this is where we have to sacrifice a little for the common good.

7. Handgun owners must have a pistol permit and re-certify the information in the permit to the New York State Police every five years. The information includes address, date of birth, firearm descriptions and other personal information. Local officials will still hold the authority to decide who gets a pistol permit. Let’s face it. Don’t we all want to know who owns what guns and these are the weapons most used in crimes. Is it too much to have accurate information about the owner?

8. The law required background checks now for ammunition sales through New York’s NICS.
9. All online sales must go through a dealer with a federal firearms license who also is required to do a background check on ammo sales. One more place to separate the good guys from the bad guys.

10. You can sell a gun at a garage sale or another type of private sale so long as the buyer passes a background check before the transaction takes place. The buyer is now required to get NICS clearance for gun transactions. The seller must keep the paperwork and can charge $10 to the buyer for the task. Failure to obtain the background check is a misdemeanor. The background check for private sales does not apply to transfers among spouses, domestic partners and children. Again, this is required for car sales, shouldn't it be required for gun sales?

11.  You must secure guns in your home if you live with a convicted felon, someone with mental health issue or someone under an order of protection. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor. Sorry but how many lives will this save.

12. Gun ownership is restrictioned for mental health patients and expands Kendra’s Law, a policy that allows a judge to order treatment for people who typically have very severe mental health problems, such as schizophrenia. The changes expand the court-ordered treatment plan from six months to a year. The law now requires an evaluation of state prisoners who exhibit behavioral problems at the end of their imprisonment to see if they meet the criteria for Kendra’s Law. And the law extends the original sunset in Kendra’s Law from June 30, 2015 to June 30, 2017.
The law requires mental health providers to report patients who pose a serious risk to self or others to local county mental health officials. The county then can report the concerns to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. DCJS then has the authority to suspend any pistol permit and can require the person to surrender all firearms to law enforcement.
The different facets of the law allow DCJS and the Office of Mental Health to “disqualify” mentally ill people from having a pistol permit or possessing firearms. The state also intends to add a disqualifying notification, without including detailed health information, into the background check database to stop gun sales. Disqualified people can petition the commissioner of mental health for a reversal of the designation. Can anyone have a problem with this?

13. There are a host of harsher penalties for those who break the laws when it comes to illegal gun buys, using guns in a crime, brandishing a gun on school grounds, or shooting a child or first responder. Here’s a summary:

*Makes killing a first responder responding to an emergency a first-degree murder charge.
*Creates a mandatory five-year minimum prison sentence for anyone who uses a loaded firearm during a drug sale or violent felony.
*Creates a mandatory three-and-a-half year minimum prison sentence for using an unloaded gun during any drug sale or violent felony.
*Increases penalties for “straw purchasers,” people who can easily pass a background check who buy guns for others. The crime goes from a misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
*Makes it a felony to possess a gun on school grounds or a school bus.
*Ups punishment for people, often gang members, who use community or shared guns to commit crimes. Can anyone have a problem with this?

That’s it. No matter what you heard. This is the law. Once again, don’t believe me. The actually legislation is HERE. No one is coming for your guns. Don’t believe me, would you believe Bill O’Reilly? Bill O’Reilly surprised everyone by saying on many shows that the “only way to get the guns out of the hands of the criminals is to federalize gun registration”. His concept is simple. Register guns and make having one a federal crime with a 10 year mandatory sentence. He too put it in terms of registering a car.

Before you go crazy about the new New York Gun Law, read it and understand that we may only have this one chance. Once we have some distance from all these school shootings the tide will subside. Its now or never. Now that it’s done in New York we have a big lab. I believe if we look back in New York we will find that the registration requirement will turn this tide.

The Legacy of Liberalism or Why Paint Don’t Stink

While I earn the bulk of my income from owning a retail real estate firm in Cairo, New York, I also have invested in multifamily apartments as my main retirement income investments. As the real estate market has come back from the collapse of prices in 2008, it still has not come back anywhere like the stock market has (now close to a 5 year high). Construction is up, new housing starts are up, and as I stated in my last post I’m optimistic about the economy. Having more free time has allowed me to do some things that I usually don’t get to do (and maybe shouldn’t). One of my winter goals was to paint the very large parlor floor entrance and three story hallways in my ten unit historic landmark located on Willett Street in Albany, New York. The key here is historic.

While the property is located on what I consider the most desirable location in Albany, most of my fellow landlords have completely renovated their apartments. For financial reasons I can’t compete with that. I don’t have the capital in this marketplace. In order to compete I’ve had to accept a discounted rent roll. In my desire to raise the rent roll I have been slowly making at least one improvement to at least 20% of the apartments each year. In addition I have tried to be a very hands on landlord. As any Realtor will tell you, you (or your building or apartment) only get to make great first impression once. That’s what I’m going for. A new first impression.

For those who have read my November 30th post of last year, you know that I’m a Green Landlord. Add the need to renovate and paint in keeping with the historic color palette of 1878, and the task becomes more difficult than expected. My last big issue became the fact that all of my research on historic paint colors are about exterior colors. There is no shortage of websites from paint companies as well as other sources to find appropriate colors. Interior colors is a whole other thing. After hours days of research I finally found that as I looked into paint manufacturing I was able to find the historic colors I needed.

In my case, the hardest problem to solve after finding the “right” colors was how to deal with the need to find the right primer, one that would not take off or “bubble” the existing wall paper when priming. Remember, I needed the paint to be both low or no VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds). All of my research suggested that no latex primer would work. The suggestions were to use either oil based or alkyd based primers. If you have ever used these types of paints you know that they really “stink.” My building, with high income tenants simply would not be very happy coming home to hallways that smell like chemicals. As we have become more and more litigious as a society, I worry about having a tenant get the flu and blame me, as the landlord. This is not beyond belief. (Remember the woman getting a million dollar settlement from McDonalds for a coffee that she spilled on her lap because she claimed it was “too hot.”)

The solution turned out to be simpler than I thought. After having no luck finding a primer that was both environmentally friendly and odorless I typed “odorless oil based primer” into Google and surprisingly multiple primers came up. I had never heard of any oil based paint that was “odorless,” but just adding that word in the search made all the difference in the world. I settled on Kilz Odorless Primer and it has worked out fantastically. I was able to tint it so I was able to one coat the finish paint. My tenants were thrilled that they could watch me paint and no one could smell anything.

You’ve got to be wondering “what does any of this have to do with liberalism.” Here, your age might help. As I grew up when all paint was oil based a smelled like the toxic chemicals it was made of, this odorless, low VOC paint is a miracle of evolution. Even if you’re younger you grew up with the latex version of the poisonous, smelly paints (the smell are the VOC’s). Now, for the first time in history you can paint with 99.9% toxin free paint. I should mention it’s not just about paint. There is now low VOC or VOC free glues and adhesives. In fact half of the building supplies are now either completely safe or much safer than they have ever been. This is not by accident. This is the payoff of 25 years of environmental progress.

Now is the time for the liberal left to join the fiscally conservative right to help save both the planet and our pocket books. For all those conservatives who have considered these environmental laws as government interference, you are viewing this issue from the incorrect perspective. All those toxins caused health issues that we all pay for. If keeping health costs down is desirable, join the fiscally conservative side of this issue. The more safe products we make, the healthier our lakes, rivers and streams will be, the healthier we will be, the lower our health care costs will be. This basic concept is true of every environmental law we have passed from removing the lead in gasoline to getting rid of the CFC’s in refrigeration.  When both were legislated, the warning from the polluters were that these laws would make these products too expensive. These warning have been going on for over 25 years and have never proven to be true.

We all agree that we can’t go on spending the way we do. Let’s look for areas where the data shows that we have solutions that should work for both sides. I would challenge anyone to show me an example of any environmental law that either cost too much and closed a business that didn’t have a health benefit that offset the cost. Now is the time to close the budget gaps by investing in cleaner products that reduce health costs. It just makes cents.

Is Now The Time To Buy Your New Home?

If you've read my past few posts you might think I’m in a bit of a pessimist. You couldn't be more wrong. I think that we will look back at 2013 as “the turnaround” year we have all been waiting for. Yes, I know about the Fiscal Cliff, the Debt Limit and all the rest but when you look at the job numbers, the stock market and the money sitting on the sideline waiting for a place to park it’s hard to imagine that the economy is not ready to really move forward at a faster pace this year. Construction jobs are up and with the spring coming and at least 50 billion dollars ready to rebuild the northeast this may be the tipping point. Add to that the fact that with mortgage rates as low as they are and the market betting that they will go up, making those who have been waiting to now jump into the market combined with an increase in sales prices in most places now is the time to buy.

One of the most common effects of the business cycle is that we tend to be in the recovery stage long before anyone realizes it. Although most economists believe we are in recovery, all agree it’s been very anemic. Now we can see that the job market has expanded and although the unemployment rate has remained in the 7.7%-7.8% range for a few months the number of jobs created has continued to go up and those jobs are beginning to show up where we need them, in construction.

As of November 2012 we can see that the number of homes for sale dropped by almost 20% from the same time the year before and the number of pending sales increasing each year since 2010, exactly the trend needed to end this recession. The combination of less inventory, more home sales, the lowest mortgage rate in years and an increase in construction jobs will lead to a great 2013.


While the banking system has gone through a number of regulatory corrections and lending requirements have become more stringent I have no doubt that all those buyers who have been waiting will find, by mid 2013 that the prices have gone up. Once those sales have become statistics, the train will get moving faster. Right now existing home prices are still lower than the cost of new construction and as less inventory is available, new home sales will tell the story.

As a member of the National Association of Home Builders I can tell you that most builders understand that the next decade of buyers will be looking for a smaller (1700-2200 square feet), more energy efficient home. Once these new homes have become the norm the value of the larger, older homes will fill out the market and make many more options available to purchasers. With more cash down the markets will be more stable than in the past and you will know I am correct in this optimism when banks again get more aggressive by the end of the year.

If you are not in the market to buy, sit back and watch, but if you have been thinking have we hit the bottom, the answer is YES. Jump in now. A year from today you will be bragging about what you paid for your new home. Below is a graph showing today's sales prices are almost exactly back where they were in 2005. They won’t be here very long. Take advantage.

Should I Switch From Oil To Gas For My Heating Needs?

While no one can predict fuel prices in the long term, we can look at current pricing and give an educated guess at what prices will be in the future. As with all predictions, the further the time line the less accurate this guess will be. Guessing on pricing in 2014 is very possible, 2020 a little less so and guessing prices in 2030 will need more then good luck. What we can do is look at the reason to ask the question, and then look at the various different answers. An example, if your home has a heating system that uses hot water (a boiler), your units life expectancy can be as much as 50 years. If we are heating with any kind of furnace (hot air), we can expect a life half as long, making the decision (shorter amortization) on fuels more important.

If you’re thinking of switching from oil to gas and need to replace your current oil burner or oil furnace you can expect to pay between $4,500 and $7,000. Hot air systems (furnaces) representing the lower end and hot water systems (boilers) represent the higher end of this price range. In addition, on top of these prices expect to pay an additional $1,000-$2,000 if you choose any of the highest efficiency (92 percent to 95 percent efficiency) units.

“They (the public) can expect to save in the range of 15 percent to 34 percent. That’s because natural gas is a lot cheaper than oil right now,” says National Grid’s Dennis McCaffery. To calculate the savings you can figure saving between $150-$340 per $1000 of current heating costs. Here's the rub, if you are switching to natural gas it’s clear the switch is worth it but if you are in a rural area where only propane is available you might want to think differently. Currently propane averages 30%-35% more costly than natural gas and with that extra cost, while burning a cleaner burning fuel, it’s price is similar to that of oil.

To add a few more complexities, gas is now being touted as the next big fuel. It is assumed that New York will soon join Pennsylvania and other states as a large producer of hydro-fracked gas. Whether this comes to pass is still in question (and will become a topic of a future post), but there is no question that domestic gas production will increase significantly in the next decade. With natural gas prices at historic lows now one would think that this means that if even more gas comes to market the prices will continue to be low. That’s where the problem lies. If you listen to any of the biggest domestic gas pipeline companies you will discover that their goals and long term plans have nothing to do with domestic sales. In fact most acknowledge that all this exploration and drilling is actually for foreign sales, mostly in Asia.

In China, they are preparing to supplement their coal production with imported gas. Because gas is so much cleaner, China has little choice but to pay a premium for this alternative fuel. The bottom line is that it’s hard to see gas prices doing anything else but rising. The November 12th headline of Money Morning was “ 2013 Natural Gas Price Forecast: Higher Prices Mean an End to the Bear Market.” These are the guys betting on the future prices and they feel very confident in the short term rise in natural gas prices. “In fact, natural gas prices have already rallied to $3.40 per mmbtu, up 79% in just six months, but regardless the day-to-day movements, the long-term outlook for natural gas prices remains bullish, particularly in light of a steady increase in demand,” says Don Miller, Contributing Writer to Money Morning. I’m sure that you could find energy experts who say the opposite, but the real issue is whether these fuel companies make the needed connections to their Asian users. My bet is that they will.

In the relatively small area covered by National Grid (an Albany New York utility) the current conversion rate is 14,000 conversions a year. One can assume that these conversions are taking place all over the country and will continue as long as the gas prices remain low. Interestingly enough, with each conversion demand is increased and supply reduced. Additionally, many, including spokesmen from Southern Company believe "Company officials say they have to think 30 years ahead. There’s a need to develop more natural gas infrastructure in terms of new pipelines and increased storage capacity. We need to determine the pace and degree of natural gas exports. They say once the U.S. begins exporting natural gas, prices will rise domestically."

Lastly I remind my readers that we have seen a similar pricing before. Our current prices are equal to 1976 prices. Do you really believe it is possible for these prices to stay this low for very long? I don’t. If we compare our domestic prices to those of Europe and Japan you can see from the chart below that there is only one direction for gas future pricing.

Getting ready for Springtime- Winter Catalogues

While it has warmed up to a toasty 36 degrees today, and the weatherman says we will continue for a few more days in the daytime defrosting, be careful. The real January weather will return and one of my favorite winter activities is looking through the new plant catalogues that begin to arrive right after the Christmas catalogues stop. My favorite continues to be Johnny’s Select Seeds, but Millers (for fruit trees), Park Seeds and Burpee’s still have a place in my heart for flower seeds.  

For supplies, try Gardeners Supply. If you want greenhouse supplies, stay local if possible. One of the largest greenhouse supply companies is right here in Schenectady, Griffin Greenhouse. They deliver in Greene county on Friday’s. You’ll find great supplies at Lowes, Home Depot and even Wal-Mart. My only warning on these are in reference to plants. All of these treat their plants poorly and therefore have sick plants with lots of bad bugs. They will have great prices but just one sick plant can ruin your whole garden.

For organic and heirloom seeds the choices continues to grow. Seeds of Change, Territorial, Bountiful Gardens, and last but not least The Seed Savers Exchange offers varieties that are decades old and will not only sell you great seeds but you will be helping a great organization when you do. If indoor tropicals are your thing, check out the Logee’s catalogue. Now is the time to get ready for spring and order your seeds. Flower seeds generally need to be planted 8-14 weeks before needed and may take between 4-10 days to germinate. All seed packets should be read carefully as many seeds have different requirements.

Don’t wait until spring to start start getting ready for the spring. Now is the time to get things going. If you want to extend the season it’s best to extend in both directions. While I generally use this time of year to plant flowering plant seeds, I also continue to plant lettuce and other greens. The short days are lengthening and I rarely need any additional lighting but if you do, now is the time to purchase the springtime needed supplies. That’s it for now, Happy Planting.