Tonko’s kind of capitalism is not the common man's
I went to Rep. Paul Tonko’s town hall meeting in Colonie on July 16. He agrees with Obama on his decision to reject the construction of Canada’s Keystone Pipeline, ominously telling the crowd that it’s a pipe system that will go right through the heartland of our country, intimating danger to our farmlands. He told us they weren’t the types of jobs we wanted anyway. Furthermore, he told us that the oil will simply go to Texas and then on to the world oil market. So what’s the sense? He failed to mention that according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, we have over 2 million miles of pipeline in our country, safely transporting hydrocarbons for use. As for jobs, China is very pleased to get those jobs and oil from our Canadian friends. Tonko defended the new health care act (Obamacare). He talked about the many supposed benefits of government management of one-seventh of the nation’s economy without highlighting the 22 tax increases in the law. He didn’t talk about the additional 16,000 IRS thugs agents hired in order to harass us. Nor did he highlight the 111 new federal agencies created by the act. Paul Tonko can be spotted at community events. He’s everywhere. How do I reconcile the Paul Tonko from Amsterdam and the one who goes back to Washington and votes against the wishes of his constituents? I’m coming to the conclusion that Rep. Tonko, like our president, is a mastermind. Someone who thinks he knows the intricacies of our capitalistic system. You see, he knows how to manage a whole array of complex systems: health care, energy production and distribution, student lunches, etc. But he doesn’t seem to respect our God-given rights as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In public forums, he speaks glowingly about the entrepreneur, then wants the entrepreneur to check-in with him/government first before opening a business to see if it’s a job we want. Elections are popularity contests. But this election year, more than any other, we must dig deeper. Paul Tonko’s voting record is abysmal for entrepreneurs and small business. The National Federation of Independent Business Owners Annual Report says that Paul Tonko consistently voted against the interests of small businesses, receiving an overall score of 29 percent. Is he a citizen legislator or an unaccountable and entrenched government bureaucrat who places the interests of his political party and his long-term government career before those of the common man who pays his salary? This year, don’t be apathetic towards your vote. As Thomas Jefferson said: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
Brian McGarry Rotterdam The writer is a Republican town committeeman.
Many voters today complain about the tone of partisan politics, both in Washington and at the state and local levels. I was struck by the most recent example of this over-the-top political discourse in a July 24 letter from Brian McGarry, a Rotterdam Republican committeeman. Mr. McGarry, well within his rights as a citizen, launched an attack on Rep. Paul Tonko for his performance at a recent town hall meeting in Colonie, including Mr. Tonko’s defense of Obamacare. In his critique, however, Mr. McGarry said that the congressman “didn’t talk about the additional 16,000 IRS thug agents hired in order to harass us.” If this reference to IRS employees as “thugs” had come from an ordinary citizen, I’d have chalked it up to the vile rantings of just another right-wing nut case who was implicitly advocating violence against federal employees (how else does one deal with a “thug”?) But this is a representative of a local Republican party organization who aspires to political offi ce. He ran for Rotterdam supervisor in 2011 and received 37 percent of the votes. He is also a 6th-grade teacher in the Duanesburg Central School District, shaping the minds of our youth. I leave it to readers to decide if this is the type of individual they would want espousing their Republican political beliefs or educating their children.
I am not a huge fan (politically -- personally, he is a very pleasant person to know) of Brian McGarry but I think he was well within his rights to ask the question as he did -- and I do not believe for a second that Mr. McGarry was advocating violence against federal officials. On the other hand, I did find Mr. Jasinski's comments to contain an attempt to intimidate and threaten Mr. McGarry's employment as a teacher in a public school.
As far as public schools go, teachers seem to be allowed to share their political/ideological/moral/religious views as long as it serves the Neo-Liberal agenda (pro-death/pro-abortion, anti-2nd Amendment, anti-tradition, anti-Catholic/anti-Christian, etc.) as much as they like. But apparently the thought of allowing another teacher or other teachers from expressing an opposing viewpoint threatens the Neo-Liberals. What are the Neo-Liberals so afraid of ? Letting the public and in particular our youth actually know there are other points of view -- are the Neo-Liberal opinions/positions so misguided and ill-informed that they are afraid to be challenged?
Thankfully, I was raised and educated in an environment (home and schools) that allowed a wide-range of opinions/positions -- where debate was welcome -- and where individuals were ENCOURAGED to read, study and develop opinions/positions based on that process of studying and debating.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
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