Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

First off, calm down. That price you see for the Aquasana Whole House 10-Year Water Conditioning System is all that youll pay for equipment, filter media, or installation hardwarefor ten years. Thats right: no changing out media and nothing to replacefor ten years (you may have to spring for pipe and fittings for your existing system).

Now, do you understand? Good, because this water conditioner is awesome and theres more to tell you.

The Aquasana filtration system pumps out healthy, clean water from everywhere in your house. 97% of the chlorine from regular tap water is removed along with all sorts of other toxic substances such as pesticides, rust, silt, metals (!), solvents, and more. Plus, the system doesnt use any chemicals or salt to make it all work.

The system is designed to hook right into your existing water supply system in one go. Say goodbye to scale, sediment, and more coming out of your taps and spigots. This water conditioner features a sediment pre-filter, a salt-free water conditioner, activated carbon filter, and a post filter to make sure all the water in your house looks clear and tastes great.

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11 Best Water Conditioners for Your Home (2021) - Heavy.com

The bitter colds months are here and southern tier and northern Pennsylvania homes are turning up the heat.

The Firemens Association of the State of New York reminds you that heating homes is the second leading cause of homes fires, injuries and death.

Many New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians are working from their homes and keeping the heat turned up, and putting more work on our furnaces and heat sources.

According to a FASNY news release December, January, and February are the months for fires caused by heating sources in our homes.

Make sure you are following all safety precautions during these times.

Smaller units like space heaters and plug-in electric heaters can increase the risk of fire in your home, and are responsible for 25,000 house fires, and thousands of burn injuries, if they are not properly used.

Always make sure your heating equipment is maintained and working properly, and make sure you have sufficient smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home, and check the batteries.

In the news release FASNY President John P Farrell says We recommend everyone place carbon monoxide alarms outside of sleeping areas in the home, especially as it gets colder and snow may block exhaust pipes in homes. We want all New Yorkers to be fire-safe this winter and remember if there is a fire: get out, stay out, and call 911

Here are a few tips from the Firemens Association of the State of New York.

Be Safe this winter, for more information CLICK HERE

See the article here:
Heating Homes Leading Cause of Fire in Winter - wnbf.com

You can find flooring perfect for any home or lifestyle

by: Hanna Erdmann

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) New flooring can be a major project to begin looking into, but since we are still staying home more often, why not give your home some needed TLC?

At Satolli Carpet and Floor Covering, you can find flooring perfect for any home or lifestyle. The carpet and hard floor coverings are built to last and take on lifes daily messes.

So whether you have kids, dogs or a messy handyman in your home, your flooring can handle it.

Most of the carpet I sell is 100% stain-proof. You can dump bleach on it and it doesnt change the color of the fiber, said owner Eric Thompson.

To keep those floors looking its best, there are a few things you can do.

For carpet, we recommend that it is professionally steam cleaned at least once each year, more often if necessary. We also sell spot remover and those kind of products that can help clean with daily maintenance for both carpet and hard surfaces as well, said Thompson.

With thousands of options of colors and styles, Satollis works with clients, asking them questions to find exactly the product that not only is the best fit, but also affordable for each customer.

Customers can come into the store then take samples home to see them in their homes lighting with their furniture and wall colors.

Then, someone will come out to your home and take care of measurements and estimates at no additional cost.

To save even more money, customers can come in and look at a variety of remnant carpet.

We have an entire warehouse thats full of nothing but rolls of carpet and remnants. So, if you have four bedrooms that you want to all do in the same color, we have that. If you have just the steps and hall that you want to do in the same color, we have that. So, everythings here and most of those remnants, some of them are 75% off. So, they are really a great value, said Thompson.

Customers have left very positive reviews of the installation on theirsocial media pagesand on their website.

This is the perfect time of year to get remodeling done in the home to start the year fresh.

Satolli Carpet and Floor Covering is located at 361 High Street NE in Warren. You can also give them a call at (330) 394-7573 or visit the Satolli Carpet and Floor Covering website.

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New year, new flooring with the help of Satolli Carpet and Floor Covering - WKBN.com

Village of New Paltz trustees may be looking at reining in the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Using much more pollution than two-stroke engines, leaf blowers used for an hour belch out the hydrocarbons from driving a gasoline-powered car for 1,100 miles, according to a 2015 EPA-funded study. Using the tool also creates sounds loud enough to damage human hearing after as little as two hours, according to a CDC report from 2017.

Trustee Alexandra Wojcik advised at the January 27 village board meeting that this was a topic of interest among Environmental Policy Board (EPB) members. Wojcik said that EPB members, who were initially concerned with the noise impacts, were curious if trustees would like to be educated on the subject. Wojcik also took some time to research regulations that have been put in place to regulate leaf blowers in other municipalities, pronouncing some of them as needlessly complicated because theyre based on times of day or year.

A brief discussion showed that consequences of any kind of ban could include making it more difficult for people who are older or have physical limitations to get leaves out of the way, but deputy mayor KT Tobin noted that encouraging people not to remove them at all is another option. Fallen leaves disrupt the lawn aesthetic, which was popularized when Louis XIV installed a green carpet at Versailles.

Mayor Tim Rogers suggested that rather than addressing the problems of leaf blowers locally, trustees might ask the governor to consider regulating them at the state level as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Its not clear how likely or quickly an appeal to state leaders would have any impact.

Switching to electric blowers could reduce the noise and hydrocarbon pollution, but it would not eliminate all problems. According to an article published on the Sierra Club website in 2017, As leaf blowers generate wind speeds of around 180 miles per hour, they propel into the air potentially hazardous substances such as dirt, mold, pollen, animal feces and pesticides. Exposure to these dust clouds, which take hours to settle, damages peoples respiratory systems and may cause irritation, allergies and disease. While a 2011 Consumer Reports comparison found that it takes twice as long to rake, it also burns twice the calories and comes with none of the noise or emissions problems. For those who hire others to do the work, it may be possible to negotiate a lower rate for a neighborhood kid with a rake than to secure the services of a landscaping crew that has to pay for all that gasoline. Another alternative, according to a writer for the National Wildlife Federation, is to leave the leaves where they fall, as they support wildlife thats imperiled by human existence, while improving soil health as nature intended.

Trustees agreed to get a report on this issue directly from EPB members.

See the article here:
New Paltz considers regulations for the use of gas-powered leaf blowers - Hudson Valley One

Bob and Caryl Hilke celebrate adding outdoor dining to Pastimes Pub & Grille.

In October, the Ripon and Green Lake area lost more than just a business owner when Pastimes Pub & Grille owner Bob Hilke passed away at the age of 68.

It lost a husband, a father, a grandfather, a son and a friend.

For many, Green Lake Area Tavern League President and Tall Pauls owner Paul Salzwedel said Hilkes death was like losing a part of your family.

Hes greatly missed, Salzwedel said.

Hilke worked at Oshkosh Corp. for 28 years, and married his wife and Pastimes co-owner Caryl in 1995.

A year later, the couple opened the Boondocks, a tavern located roughly four miles north of Mayville at the intersection of County Road V and Farmersville Road.

It's initial business venture largely served customers from Mayville, Lomira and Brownsville, the Commonwealth reported in 1996.

When the tavern launched, Caryl worked full-time at the Boondocks, while Hilke put in about five to six hours a day on top of running the control lab at what was then called "Oshkosh Truck."

Six years after opening the Boondocks, the Hilkes sold the tavern and moved back to Ripon, purchasing Pastimes in February 2002.

Shortly after purchasing Pastimes, the couple told the Commonwealth that it was enjoying its return to Ripon, finding the business to be much more brisk in its hometown than it had been in Farmersville.

In the years since, the Hilkes oversaw multiple cosmetic changes to the building, replacing windows, installing carpeting, replacing tables and chairs, reconstructing the outside wall and incorporating outdoor dining.

Aside from helping operate a staple in Ripons bar and restaurant scene, Hilke also was a longtime member of the Green Lake Area Tavern League, serving as the organizations treasurer for many years.

As treasurer, Salzwedel noted Hilke was responsible for monitoring the tavern leagues bills, noting Hilke also served on the leagues board of directors.

He was very active with the tavern league, helping with all of the different fund-raisers that we do, Salzwedel said. He and Caryl helped us with a lot of fund-raisers over the years, fund-raising for different charities throughout the area.

He explained that many of those fund-raising events helped donate to local food pantries.

Beyond helping with fund-raisers, Hilke and Salzwedel attended multiple tavern league conventions together and built a strong friendship.

Hilke eventually stepped down as treasurer, but he and Salzwedel still talked on the phone regularly.

Salzwedel explained that Hilke spent a great deal of time up north in his final months and Caryl managed the day-to-day operation of Pastimes and remained active in the Green Lake Area Tavern League in Bob's place.

When Hilke died in October, Salzwedel said it sent a shockwave through the local tavern league chapter.

Anytime you lose a friend and a fellow tavern keep, it's like you're losing part of the family, he said. Thats what everybody felt because he was such a long-time member.

To honor Hilkes legacy, the Green Lake Area Tavern League is making donations to multiple food pantries in the area.

The organization is donating $500 to the Ripon Community Food Pantry, $200 to the Brandon Food Pantry, $200 to the Markesan Food Pantry and $600 to the Green Lake County Food Pantry, which serves Green Lake, Princeton and Berlin.

Presenting a certificate to Pastimes owners Bob and Caryl Hilke, second and third from left, are members of Ripons Underage Drinking Initiative, from left, Gary Will, Danelle Phillips, Rev. Paul Nulton, and Ripon High School student Kali Kinziger.

Salzwedel noted the tavern league discussed ways to honor Hilke at its monthly meeting in December and decided that donating to food pantries would be fitting, especially with the increased need spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We just thought that he was such a part of the community and with this COVID the people hurting the worst could really use that help, Salzwedel said. We thought that he'd like to take care of the community and help some of the people that are really struggling.

More:
How is a local organization working to honor Ripon tavern owner Bob Hilke? - Ripon Commonwealth Press

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Oprah Winfrey is one of the most admirable African American media moguls of our time. She has built an empire that has inspired some of the most successful, financially-free people. Her ambition and accolades are to be studied and admired. At the age of 67, Oprah shows no signs of slowing down.

Beyond her amazing and influential career lies her stylish wardrobe. Oprah is a fixture on the red carpet. She has given us decades of fashionable looks. Weve seen her body transform from petite, to plus size, to standard size. It was her weight loss journey documented through Weight Watchers, that inspired others to follow in her footsteps.

She was fly in 1995, but her style over the last 2 years have been a downright fabulous. Though her pieces are simple, they make memorable statements that will send you to the store shopping for, that thing Oprah wore.

In honor of her 67th birthday, were checking out 5 of our favorite fashion moments from Oprah.

Oprah Winfrey posed with 2 awards at the 22nd Daytime Emmy Awards in a simple, powder pink gown. By 1995, she had established herself as a successful actress and talk show host.

The media mogul paved the way for many actresses, philanthropists, talk show hosts, and many more. In addition to making professional strides, shes become a key person to watch during every major red carpet event.

Oprah Winfrey gave a chic spin on the term business casual during an Apple product launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater. She wore black slacks, a white high-low blouse, and a black tie.

As Oprah gets older, she takes great interest in finding fun yet comfortable clothing that speak to her personal style. This black and white ensemble fits her personality perfectly!

Oprah Winfrey posed with the Cecil B. DeMille Award during The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards in a form-fitting black gown.

With her glasses and award in tow, the media mogul looked absolutely stunning.

Is anyone else obsessed with the way Oprah matched her glasses with her dress? Just me? Oprah attended the premiere of OWNs David Makes Man in a simple white dress, gorgeous curls, and chic glasses.

Oprah clearly has a drawer full of diverse, fun frames. I love that each outfit she wears features a new set of glasses that somehow tie into her outfit. Accessorizing at its finest.

Oprah Winfrey spoke during the WW (Weight Watchers Reimagined) & Oprahs 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus Tour in a stylish, khaki duster, paired with white slacks.

Everything about this ensemble is chic and timeless. I especially loved her white Stella McCartney platform lace-up brogues.

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Check Out 5 Times Oprah Winfrey Slayed The Red Carpet - HelloBeautiful

The first words God spoke in the Bible were Let there be light. As members of St. James Episcopal Church return to their renovated sanctuary, that may reflect their first impression.

A lot was done to preserve and restore the 125-year-old worship space in downtown Baton Rouge, but the most obvious is how bright the once-dark Gothic Revival interior now is.

Peoples breath is taken away when they come in and see it, said the Rev. Chris Duncan, rector at St. James. Everyone that walks in, the things that stand out are the floors, the ability to see the ceiling, which you could not do before, and how clean and crisp it looks.

The project the first wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling renovation since the church was built in 1895 follows exterior work that began after Hurricane Gustav damaged the roof in 2008, creating leaks. More recently, mortar supporting the bricks was replaced to better waterproof and protect the structure.

That work finished as Duncan became rector in 2018, and attention turned to the interior. The wiring, over 50 years old, needed to be replaced; wall plaster had water damage; and the white walls had grayed due to age and water leaks, Duncan said. The circa-1975 organ and the heating and air conditioning system both needed replacing, and the lighting was poor.

You couldnt see the ceiling. It was dark, Duncan said. There was only light shining down, so they blinded you when you looked up. It was also a fire hazard because we didnt have any kind of sprinkler system.

"All of these things started adding up, so we said the time now was not to do a small campaign but to do a larger campaign to fix the church.

Lisa Coco Hargrave was the lead architect on the project along with Chris Doiron and Liz Spedale at Tipton Associates.

The interior work has cost about $1 million, Duncan said, and the new pipe organ, which has not been installed, will cost about $900,000.

St. James will have its first worship service in the sanctuary at 205 N. Fourth St. on Sunday, though COVID occupancy restrictions mean that only those who have preregistered can attend. For those who want to see the renovations, open houses will be held from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday and noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday.

And what they will now be able to see with the addition of new LED lighting that nearly doubled the lumens of the light fixtures and directed lights are the elaborate wooden arches of the ceiling.

What they probably won't see are the new sprinkler pipes, which have been painted dark brown to blend in with the woodwork.

It may seem like a small feat, but getting these sprinklers in here and not having them not really very visible is certainly something were really proud of, Hargrave said. We actually went through nine paint samples to figure out one. The wood varies in color.

The most noticeable wood, however, may be the floor, which has been entirely carpeted since at least the 1950s, Duncan said.

The carpet was removed, the original wood floorboards restored by Paul Allen Flooring of Baton Rouge, and the walkways covered by a new, custom carpet filled with symbols of spiritual imagery: fleur de lis to symbolize the Trinity, wheat to represent the bread of Christ, quatrefoils in honor of the four evangelists, red to represent the blood of Christ, and martyrs, gold for the resurrection. Church members chose the symbols they wanted, and Avenue Rugs in Mandeville designed and made the floor coverings.

I just love the symbolism that can be brought out in church work, Hargrave said.

Removing carpeting can have a dramatic effect on acoustics, and the sanctuary already had issues with voices bouncing off the walls. The church brought in acoustical engineer Richard Boner from Dallas, who repositioned the speakers to solve that problem.

What we expect with the sound in here when its full of people that well be able to hear the spoken word better and the music will be heightened by the extra reverberation, Hargrave said.

Michael Terry and Bryan Brown with Associated Design Group served as electrical and mechanical engineers, and Mid South Church Construction also worked on the project.

Hargrave hopes those who visit will share her feeling of inspiration. Her architecture work doesnt typically involve churches.

Its really been an honor for me to be involved in the process, she said. Its really the highlight of my last few years.

See the article here:
'Let there be light': Renovation of St. James Episcopal Church's illuminates once-dark sanctuary - The Advocate

Katherine Gregg|The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE Weeks away from his likely stepup to governor,Lt. Gov. Dan McKee has begun lining up his cabinet, his own replacement in the state's No. 2 spot, and his counter-arguments to legislators seekingto halt the expansion of "charter" schools.

In a wide-ranging interview on Sunday, McKee said he has been reaching out one-by-one to the members of Gov. Gina Raimondo's cabinet that he hopes to keep.

He said a handful, he declined to name, have already signaled their intent to leave their jobs soon. But he said state Health Department Director Nicole Alexander-Scott,Business Regulation Director Elizabeth Tanner,VeteransAffairs Director Kasim Yarn,Adjutant General Christopher P. Callahan and James Manni, the superintendent of the R.I. State Police, would remain at the helm of their respective agencies.

And he told The Journalhehad more calls to make.

At the same time, he confirmed that Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisenais leading his effort to screen the candidates seeking to replace him aslieutenant governor when Raimondo leaves for her anticipated new job as commerce secretary in the new Biden administration and he moves up.

Once he is governor, McKee will get to appoint his own replacement, subject to Senate confirmation. .

The mayor of Cumberland before his own election as lieutenant governor six years ago, McKee said Polisena, as a mayor, "knows me [and] that's a top priority."

Polisena has already stated his first choice out of the dozen or so applicants: former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa.

Im coming out publicly for Mayor Diossa,'' Polisena told the Johnston Sunrise."Hes a friend and I feel confident in his abilities."

"I think he would make a great lieutenant governor,'' Polisena is quoted as sayingin an article published on January 15,"because hes got experience in running municipal government... Its not a position for someone to start learning... Hes very bright, very articulate, he ran Central Falls and he left Central Falls in a better position than when he took over.

McKee said: "I talked to Joe about that ... I know that mayors like mayors and I like (James)Diossa as well, but that doesn't mean the decision is made."

Women'sadvocates have pushed for the appointment of a woman; Black advocates for the appointment of a Black person and Latinos for a Latino.

McKee said the most important characteristic to him is: "someone that is able to work with me."

As an example, he would like the next lieutenant governor to be someone who would keep the 39 city and town plaques he placed on the wall leading to his State House office. Put another way: "somebody who has an interest in including all 39 cities and towns in their efforts."

Asked how important "diversity'' will be in the decision, he said: "It's important ... but I don't think it is a disqualifier to be non-minority ... I think that would be discrimination as well, right?"

McKee said he's been briefed on the state's budget predicament, but will not be in a position to say how he intends to close the projected $513-million deficit in the budget until he has a clearer picture of how big the deficit really is.

"If you need to raise taxes to be solvent, you are going to do it,'' he said, while stressing he is not yet convinced that is necessary.

He is most clear, at this point, on where he stands on the latest in a series of annual bills to curb the expansion of "charter schools."

The latest championed by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and the top-ranked players on his leadership team is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Education.

Charter schools are publicly funded alternatives to traditional schoolswith more freedom from mandates.

The legislation says: "The state shall not approve or appropriate funding to any new charter school orto expand an existing charter school that had not been approved by the council on elementary andsecondary education prior to July 1, 2020."

McKee, who as a mayor helped found a type of charter school in which mayors chair the board of directors and teachers dont pay into the pension system, objectedto any effort to stop the sixcharter schools that won approval in December toexpand or open in Providence.

"The agenda there is pretty obvious,''he said. "The agenda is to stop charters."

He said he would be "open'' to discussing a "reasonable pause to take a look at it."

But he pushed back hard against the argument "an argument motivated by self interest" that the public dollars given charter schools come at the expense ofthe traditional public school system.

"It's public money that's going to a public school," McKee said.

"So the notion that it is taking away from kids' education is not accurate,'' he said, citing the overall improvement in schools in his hometown when "mayoral academies" were added to the mix.

See the original post here:
McKee starts putting the puzzle pieces in place for move up to governor - The Providence Journal

Katherine Gregg|The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE Lt. Gov. DanMcKee expects every member of current Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo's cabinet to stay through his own imminent, mid-terminauguration as Raimondo's replacement.

How long they actually stay is another question.

For example, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor "has told the incoming governor that he is exploring all his options,'' according to Pryor spokesman Matt Sheaff. (For what it's worth:Pryorwas a Yale Law School student in the mid-1990s withRaimondoand her husband, Andrew Moffit.)

Democrat Raimondo is poised to resign mid-term to take a new job, in Washington, as President Joe Biden's commerce secretary. Her confirmation hearing was Tuesday.An committee vote on her nomination is anticipated next Wednesday, February 3.

The exact timing of Raimondo's departure is unclear. ButSen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republicanwho chairs theU.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, told Raimondo on Tuesday: "I do not believe you will be serving as governor of the state of Rhode Island for very muchlonger."

Against that backdrop, McKee is preparing for his move up one flightto the governor'sState House suite as soon as next week. He has set 5 p.m. Tuesday as the deadline for those seeking appointment by him as R.I.'s next lieutenant governor to submit "a letter of interest'' online to his transition team at http://www.mckeetransition.com/.

McKee, who had no working relationship with fellow Democrat Raimondo and no role in her administration's pandemic response efforts, issued this statement:

Selecting the nextlieutenantgovernorprovides an opportunity to reimagine Rhode Islands governance model and demonstrate how thelieutenantgovernors office can be leveraged to support the states pandemic response and economic recovery.

Our team looks forward to engaging in the selection process and identifying a partner to work closely with our administration starting on day one.

Brown University has confirmed that onecontender -former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa - started worked on January 25, on a six-month job as senior advisor to the BrownPolicy Lab.

According to a statement from Diossa, conveyed by the Brown public relations staff: "The Policy Lab conducts applied research to improve public policy in Rhode Island and beyond, bringing together experts from government, universities, and community organizations to collaborate and develop evidence-based policy and programs that improve lives and strengthen communities.

"As Senior Advisor, I will work closely with The Policy Lab Director, David Yokum, and senior staff to provide strategic advice on The Policy Labs engagement with state and local government partners at a high level...in particular, assessing and revising a proposal for a statewide municipal student internship program to support Rhode Islands recovery from COVID-19 and undertaking exploratory conversations with an array of prospective partners to refine this proposal and identify sources of philanthropic support."

Asked if Diossa wastaking his name out of the running for lieutenant governor, his political spokesman Chris Hunter said:: "He's still open to the opportunity for public service."

McKee's transition team plans to post updates onwww.mckeetransition.com.

Raimondo, meanwhile, appears to have spent much of the last week or so talking, in advance of Tuesday's confirmation hearing,to the members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Both she and they referenced these detailed conversations where the senators laid out the issues on their minds from "salmon infrastructure" and fishing in the Pacific Northwest to China trade policy so she could address them at the hearing.

On Tuesday, her Rhode Island press office announced a spate of 11th-hour appointments to state boards and commissions.

Most but not all were reappointments, such as the reappointment of organized labor activistScott Duhamel and retired union chief Stan Israel to the State Labor Relations Board.

An online profile describes Duhamel asan assistant to the general president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and the secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council. Israel was the long-time executive vice president of SEIU District 1199.

Her new appointees include some familiar names, such as former Auditor General Ernest Almonte to the Narragansett Bay Commission.

Other new appointees include Bill Stone to the board of the R.I. Commerce Corporation. Stone isaco-founder and managing member of Outside CFO, Outside GC, which describes itself as "the nations largest provider of on-demand general counsel services," and Patent GC, "an on-demand provider of intellectual property legal services."

She also appointed Mark Amato, president and CEO of Innova Logic, to the governor's Workforce Board; former Providence City Councilman Peter Mancini to theR.I.Convention Center Authority andMarcy Reyes, founder and CEO of The Financial Literacy Youth (FLY) Initiative, to the R.I. Public Transit Authority.

Explaining the rush of appointments in what could be Raimondo's last week as the state's elected governor, spokeswoman Audrey Lucas said: "Making appointments to Rhode Island's boards and commissions is a responsibility that Governor Raimondo takes seriously, and one that has been significantly delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic."

More:
Lt. Gov. McKee expects Raimondo's cabinet to stay through his own inauguration, unclear how long after that - The Providence Journal

The establishment wings of center-left parties know how to fight when confronting left-wing challenges from within their own ranks. But they rarely show the same capacity or willpower when turning to face their conservative opponents.

Hillary Clinton pulled out all the stops to beat Bernie Sanders in 2016, only to be bested by a candidate who proved the most unpopular president since the advent of modern polling. Four years later, Joe Biden rallied the Democratic establishment against Sanders once again, but his narrow victory over Donald Trump probably would not have happened without a disastrous pandemic that should have buried Trump altogether.

In Britain, Keir Starmer has concentrated on waging a factional war against the Labour Partys left wing, including his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. Meanwhile, Starmer still lags behind Boris Johnson and the Conservatives in most opinion polls, even after their incompetent handling of the pandemic has led to one hundred thousand deaths and counting.

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) follows the same pattern. The ALPs right faction likes to mythologize itself as the embodiment of ruthless pragmatism, willing to do Whatever it Takes to win power a motto most famously associated with the brutal bashing of a left-wing branch activist in the 1980s. But Labor Rights last candidate, Bill Shorten, was Labors most unpopular leader in thirty years, losing two consecutive elections in 2016 and 2019.

Since Shortens second defeat, Labor Lefts Anthony Albanese has led the party. Albanese has been an uninspiring leader, whose inadequate attempts at organizational reform have done nothing to challenge a coterie of right-wing bureaucrats who dominate the party machine. Few people in the ALP think he can win a national election against Liberal PM Scott Morrison, and theres mounting speculation that hell soon face a leadership challenge.

This would be the ninth time the ALP has changed its leader in just twenty years. But a change of personality at the top that leaves the ALPs organizational culture and policy platform unchanged will do nothing to address its problems. And most of the candidates to replace Albanese would represent a clear step backwards.

The nicest thing you could say about Jim Chalmers is that hes a nonentity. Right Labor presents him as a sensationally popular shadow treasurer, but 82 percent of Australians cant even recognize his name. Among those who follow politics closely, Chalmers is probably best remembered for having tearfully begged then Labor PM Kevin Rudd to support his preselection as an ALP candidate.

Chalmerss supporters insist that he is the right man to lead Labor because he hails from Queensland, which has a reputation as Australias most conservative state ignoring the fact that Chalmers has worked full-time in Canberra and Sydney since 2001.

Chalmers penned a hero-worshipping PhD thesis on former Labor prime minister Paul Keating, the man who first introduced Australias policy of indefinitely detaining asylum seekers. Keatings time in office revealed a staunch commitment to neoliberal economics: he referred to one economic downturn as the recession we had to have, and his stewardship of the Australian economy locked in a model characterized by spiraling inequality, privatization, and declining union membership.

Fans of Chalmers prefer to focus on his literary magnum opus, the bizarrely titled Glory Daze, which expresses his bafflement at the ingratitude of the Australian public toward the last Labor government. After all, Chalmers points out, former treasurer Wayne Swan for whom he worked as chief of staff delivered economic growth. Perhaps the lack of appreciation has something to do with the fact that for young Australians, the most realistic pathway to home ownership is waiting for their parents to die.

As immigration minister under Julia Gillard, Chris Bowen ensured that asylum seekers, including children, remained imprisoned in offshore camps. Some of those refugees sewed their lips shut in protest. He bears more responsibility than most for Australias illegal and inhumane asylum policy of indefinitely detaining refugees. When the history books are written, his name will be marked with shame.

While Labor Right members claim to be expert political tacticians, Bowens track record suggests otherwise. As shadow treasurer, he championed a reform to franking credits tax refunds paid to shareowners that are equivalent to the value of tax already paid by the companies whose shares they own. Even though Bowens policy would only have affected the wealthiest 10 percent of households, the Liberals still managed to present it as Labors death tax.

Bowen seemed helpless in the face of this bad-faith campaign, which presented franking credits as something that ordinary people could expect to benefit from. After the Liberals won the election, there were reports of pensioners ringing up the authorities to ask when their franking credits would come through, only to discover that the refunds were only available for the minority of people who actually own shares.

Albanese has just reshuffled the ALPs shadow cabinet, giving Bowen the climate change portfolio most likely in an attempt to appease Labors coal lobby representative, Joel Fitzgibbon. Fitzgibbon recently quit the shadow cabinet in protest against his partys confusing and scary climate change targets. Bowens promotion has brought Labor one step closer to abandoning those targets, leaving the planet to go to hell on a handcart.

Kristina Keneally perfectly embodies the gulf between the ALPs right-wing powerbrokers and Australian voters. Keneally oversaw the death throes of Labors last New South Wales (NSW) state government. Shes the apotheosis of the NSW disease, in which Labor frantically cycles through leaders in the hope of finding a popular one. Two Ministers in the former government have since been imprisoned, and one is currently facing a retrial. The NSW anti-corruption commission found that two more have been engaged in corrupt conduct.

Those corruption hearings were ultimately a sideshow compared to the social pain Keneally tried to inflict on the people of New South Wales with dogmatic neoliberal policies. In the teeth of entrenched opposition from unions and even her own right-wing faction, Keneally tried but ultimately failed to privatize the states monopoly on power generation, a move that would have raised electricity prices and led to cuts in pay and conditions for workers.

Labors right-wing bureaucrats may have forgotten about this, but voters havent. In 2011, Keneally led the most unpopular state government in NSW history to a record low vote share for the ALP of 25.5 percent less than half of the right-wing coalitions total. Six years later, she lost a federal by-election by 10 percent in Bennelong, a multicultural hub that should be one of Labors natural heartlands. That hasnt stopped the Right from trying to force through her preselection in Parramatta, against the wishes of left-wing party members.

Having found her way into the federal senate, Keneally has continued two old Labor Right traditions: hostility to immigrants and sycophancy toward the Catholic Church. Although she is an American immigrant herself, Keneally has called for crackdowns on asylum seekers and dog whistled about cheap foreign workers taking Australian jobs. At the same time, she has pandered to the religious right, most recently by opposing laws that would make it mandatory for Catholic priests to report child sexual abuse disclosed in confession.

Can a souffl rise not once, not twice, but three times? Faction man Bill Shorten, the most unpopular Labor leader in thirty years, hopes the answer is yes. Despite having led Labor to one of its worst results in recent history in 2019, Shorten hasnt had the grace to take a back seat in the ALP, seeking instead to undermine his successor Anthony Albanese.

The word voters most associate with Shorten is untrustworthy. Even his factional allies agree. As Samantha Maiden reports in Party Animals: The secret history of a Labor fiasco, ALP veteran Stephen Conroy told former general secretary Jamie Clements that he still wouldnt call Shorten a friend, despite being the only person to have attended Shortens 18th, 21st, and 40th birthdays (not to mention his wedding).

Shorten has earned that reputation with his long record of destabilizing Labor leaders. Hes the power broker behind the right-wing ShortCon subfaction, immodestly named after himself, and orchestrated the downfall of both Labor prime ministers to have been elected this century.

The Right claims that Shorten lost in 2019 because his platform was too far to the left. In reality, it was a very mild set of policies, with a handful of progressive proposals like scrapping tax concessions for property investors and bringing fairer taxes on family trusts used by the superwealthy. The policies werent the problem in fact, they were demonstrably more popular than either Shorten himself or the ALP.

Compared to the other contenders, Tanya Plibersek, from Labor Left, may seem like a distinct improvement. As health minister, she brought in plain cigarette packaging laws that were so effective big tobacco sued her twice in a bid to stop them. Plibersek also made the chemical abortion pill RU486 accessible to all women through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Plibersek supported same-sex marriage at a time when Jim Chalmerss hero Paul Keating was noisily insisting that two blokes and a cocker spaniel dont make a family. At times, shes even been willing to take controversial stands for example, by condemning Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes committed against the Palestinians.

However, we should still be wary. Even if the next Labor leader also hails from the Left, they will still have to face right-wing dominance over the party machine, which gives it massive influence over Labor candidates, caucuses, and policy. Even if Albaneses replacement proves to be another leader of the NSW Left, its hard to see what this would achieve without a more drastic reorientation of the party and its organizational culture.

Pliberseks personal record may not be as woeful as those of her potential rivals, but she has already shown signs of her willingness to capitulate to the Right in the interests of so-called party unity. Shes also been known to float conservative ideas like a pledge of allegiance for schoolkids a proposal that even right-wing talkback radio thought was pretty weird.

The real problem doesnt lie with the personnel at the top of the ALP its the factional balance inside the party. Labor Right claims to be in the busines of building an electable party. In practice, the factions tired mix of social conservatism and neoliberal economics has never inspired the electorate, but its leaders dont really care as long as they control the ALP itself.

This will only change if the ALPs left wing can find leaders with the courage to break up the corrupt, gerrymandered regime that controls the party, and decisively repudiate a commitment to neoliberalism that dates back to the age of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. Until that happens, the only real leadership choice will be one between disappointment and despair.

Excerpt from:
If Anthony Albanese Steps Down Now, His Replacement Will Be Even Worse - Jacobin magazine