Editorial Here's an interesting alert... we've heard that the new AutoZone store going into Ellenville hasn't been getting enough job applicants to schedule an opening yet. And no, we're not going to use this opportunity to moan about those who won't work, or why. Or comment about the quickness with which we all cast opinions about the state of the economy based on the way people react to so many of the jobs left out there these days.

Of more interest to us has been the reactions we've heard to the Nevele project's request for a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) deal from the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency. Why let them off easy's been the big complaint. How come the entities down in Orange County aren't asking for the same, or that county offering such help? Aren't casinos big moneymakers? Why do they need our help?

On the next page is an op ed explanation for why a PILOT's being sought, from the Nevele folks themselves. Our take on the matter is similar to our take on the Cahill/Hein battle over sales tax percentages last year... it all amounts, in the final rounds, to the same amounts. What makes a difference, for now, is that the Nevele felt they needed the extra cash in hand a PILOT could give them now that their competitors in Sullivan County have been granted the same, and that the stabilizing of expenses during their construction and start-up phases will make their financing more solid as they go up against the self-bankrolling major industry players gambling on licenses in lucrative Orange County.

Moreover, as noted, there's still going to be plenty of money flowing should the Nevele get a state okay; and all that's offered now comes back within the coming decade that such casinos are expected to be most lucrative.

In the long run, we feel the same about these PILOT matters as we do about teachers getting paid well because they have a strong union. You hand out money for results, and the remaining economic development promise of the Nevele, and the nearby Sullivan County casino prospects is — like education — a good investment in our region and its chance of finally starting to escape the doldrums it's been in since the death of the old Borscht Belt nearly half a century ago.

Unfortunately (or maybe just realistically), the world works via incentives.

As for other things on our mind of late, we've enjoyed hearing arguments arising from Quakers and others that the recent Supreme Court Hobby Lobby decision okaying religious exemptions to healthcare matters is equally applicable to taxes that pay for war and other national interests that run counter to many religious beliefs. How's that for a mighty slippery slope to have landed on?

And speaking of religion... there's also been a growing number of opinion pieces starting to circulate that are noting how the informal Tea Party has become more like a religion than an actual political movement, rendering it unable to reach the sort of compromises that have always allowed government, or any social interaction, to work on a civil level outside likeminded communities.

Talk about a great lens through which to weigh the House Republicans' new lawsuit against our President, or all this growing chatter about impeachment. Taking what's been happening politically to a more manageable local level, it's as though every town or village election ended in such acrimony that nothing could then be done for our roads, water systems, or sewers. Although we've seen such things happen, particularly in the wild realm of school board voting patterns.

It's like the question of immigration, which so many ignored until a "crisis" occurred. Is it really most important to place blame on someone, rather than larger trends. Or should we be caring instead for the fact that help is needed, and people turn to us because we are still seen as good?

It all reminds me of a time when we were in France in the winter and it snowed a half inch and everything ground to a halt everywhere... trains, buses, cabs, and even tow trucks. But by the morning everything melted and returned to normal.

The big difference? There, people laughed. Here, we accuse... and refuse to acknowledge when the "catastrophe" is all gone.