Oswego County Legislators would receive pay increase under proposed budget

The majority of Oswego County Legislators and Department heads will see an increase in their next year’s pay, syracuse.com is reporting. The budget includes a three percent increase for every county legislator. Some department heads will a pay increase of almost nine percent.

These pay raises come at a time when Oswego County has the highest unemployment rate in Central New York at just over nine percent. The raises are part of a management compensation plan rewarding them for cost of living increases and good job performance.

 My Take: It seems pretty weird for Oswego County to be giving out raises in a time of economic hardships. Jobs everywhere are getting cut because of lacking funds and state aid is looking even gloomier. I just don’t get how these people can justify getting raises in today’s economy.

Obama meets with top military officials.

President Obama met with several of his top military officials last night regarding troop levels in Afghanistan, cnn.com reports. During the meeting, Obama enacted a new plan with more troops and a higher emphasis on help from NATO.

Obama’s plan is predicted to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan while seeking more troop commitments from NATO.

Obama will announce his plan at West Point, New York where he will explain the new strategy. Obama has reached out to several world leaders in attempting to secure new support for the war.

My Take: The War in Afghanistan has clearly taken a turn for the worse and Obama needs to create a new plan to try and fix it. I think he has the right idea with more troops and more help. Right now there is not enough man power to fight off these terrorist groups.

Syracuse crushes Colgate

The Syracuse University Men’s Basketball team defeated Colgate 92-58 last night, according to espn.com. The Orange came out quick in front of the Carrier Dome crowd and lead 47-16 at halftime.

Syracuse improves to 7-0 and was led by Wesley Johnson with 19 points. The Orange finished with 35 assists and 38 rebounds in a dominant performance. This win marks the 44^th straight victory in the series.

My Take: Another big victory for the Orange, but against another inferior team. Wes Johnson looks very solid so far and the zone has been causing trouble. All that said Syracuse will not know how good they will be until they start conference play.