Stephen Gottlieb

Everyone says affordability is the big issue and wants government to make goods and services cheaper to buy. But the polls don’t ask us what we want done to make things we need more affordable, from groceries, to fuel to education.

Fires and natural disasters in California and the Southeast have made it hard to get homeowners’ insurance which has led people to think about how to provide it. Homeowners’ insurance has outpriced many. But providing insurance can lead people to stay put in unsustainable places. We can do better than that.

First, I want to wish you all a happy New Year, though I approach it with some trepidation.

You’ve heard a lot about former President Jimmy Carter but he and his family are pretty special for those of us who served in the Peace Corps.

I’d like everyone to have a very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays but I think that will take more than holiday greetings and bags of toys.

Mr. Trump takes aim at birthright citizenship. I think it is important to be clear about why we have it.

A long list of lost or submerged lands and extinct civilizations couldn't see ahead, didn't care about their descendants, or cared only about the present. Foresight or the will to do anything about it seems difficult. It took decades to approve building the Erie Canal lest other communities get more out of it.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Our children, grandchildren and daughter-in-law all stayed with us here in Albany. We went first to the home of a friend we’ve known since she was in elementary school. After going back to Latin America, she came back and stayed with us while going to the College of St. Rose, until she began to seem like family – we’ve been to her graduation, her naturalization, her wedding and will soon celebrate her daughter’s graduation from college too.

How about a break from politics so we can talk about law.

Sixty-five years ago, in the summer of 1959, I met a music student in Chautauqua whose name was Gail Zimmermann. I completely lost touch with her after that summer. She told me that she was planning to marry her accompanist at the Eastman School where she studied most of the year. So our relationship was completely platonic – we never so much as kissed. But Gail became a very close friend.