I’ve lived in upstate New York most of my life so I speak from experience when I say New York is a political disaster area controlled by special interests and powerful unions. Young people flee the state every year and we continue to lose jobs at an alarming rate. 

Thankfully New York Senator Charles Schumer has decided that the FTC needs to start policing what information social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can sell to other companies. 

Is it a slow week in Washington? Does the good senator have nothing better to do while real problems continue to drag the once great Empire State through the gutter? People who use Facebook and the like need to be educated about what information those sites are collecting and what is done with that information. Once again it seems like the government wants to step in and play the role of over-protective parent. Rather than hold users responsible for their own safety online, why not let the FTC handle it for us? That way we can brainlessly surf the internet safe from all the bad things out there. 

New York is a mess with job loss, a very unfriendly environment for small business, sky-high property taxes, and a government that seems to think that the state has a bottomless money pit somewhere in Albany. I wish Senator Schumer were as concerned about all the young people who are fleeing to other states. Or maybe he could help figure out a way to lower our outrageous property taxes. How about trying to give the state back to the people who live here and taking it away from the powerful unions and special interest groups that own Albany? 

Clearly something should be done about personal information being sold to companies on the internet, but it seems like a low priority issue compared to the very real threats the state faces. 

Because Senator Schumer has decided to take on such a small issue at a time when New York is on the brink of destruction, I’ll assume he has some motive other than protecting the public from Facebook. 

So thanks Senator Schumer.