(an essay written to potential voters of NY’s 22nd congressional district on Election Day Eve, Nov. 2nd, 2020, to remind them why a local congressional election is important to their future. Hopefully, it rings true for voters in other districts who also face a “Trumper” running for office.)
Sorry to
have to say it, but it must be said: Claudia
Tenney will be useless in Congress.
Why? Because the House of
Representatives will surely be Democratic once again and Tenney has a record
that shows her bipartisanship to be on the lower end of the scale from her last
sojourn in Washington (see Govtrack.com).
If she couldn’t get any bills signed into law during her term when Trump
was President and Republicans held the majority in both Houses, what can we
expect to happen if this time around Democrats hold onto the House, regain the
Senate or at least reduce the GOP majority to a razor-thin margin, and the
presidency is held by Joe Biden? Claudia
Tenney will be as irrelevant as a legislator as Bill Barr will be as ‘ex-Attorney
General’.
It
makes no sense
whatsoever to send Claudia Tenney into a Democratic Congress where she will have
little opportunity to work with a majority she despises and a newly elected President
she has maligned. What that means very simply is that this
district in Central New York is going to miss a golden opportunity to
bring home some much-needed attention to this area. Tenney will perhaps still be able to serve
individual constituents who need help with red tape or difficulty with the IRS
but her working on legislation that names streets or buildings or post offices after
local people who deserve such recognition, is about all that can be
expected. She is not going to get
legislation signed into law that promotes a local company like the SPOONS
Act did for Sherill Manufacturing under Congressman Anthony Brindisi’s
leadership.
Despite what one Utica O-D Opinion letter-writer tried to claim -- that Brindisi
couldn’t rightfully claim that he was responsible for that Act since Claudia
Tenney was the one who authored it when she was in office -- the argument that Tenney
should get the credit for that Act fails on two accounts. One, Tenney did not get enough bi-partisan
support for her bill, and two, Tenney failed to get it passed in the
Senate and signed into law by her idol, Donald Trump. She failed to get it into law, unlike Congressman
Brindisi who GOT IT DONE, enlisting bi-partisan support all along
the way, and then getting it signed by a president who even today in a Tenney TV
ad denigrates Rep. Brindisi for being a “Liberal” who votes with Nancy Pelosi
and not with him. Yet, this man who
occupies the White House (hopefully, not much longer) has signed six bills
authored and managed by this so-called “Liberal” Pelosi-supporter that will
assist constituencies that Republicans used to support -- veterans, farmers, small businesses including his
two latest bills focused on veterans' Mental Health. Tenney got no such bills signed into law – nada; zilch, zero, none! And that, my friends is the whole point – it
matters what gets signed into law, not what gets proposed and never reaches
that final level! Tenney failed;
Anthony Brindisi GOT IT DONE!
And, Brindisi
has been recognized nationally for his sterling efforts by the national Chamber
of Commerce organization.
One more thing. This claim that Congressman Brindisi is tied
into the Democratic majority in the House and therefore a flaming Liberal -- is
not only irrelevant, it misses two important points:
One – our Congressman is widely recognized as a moderate
Democrat who has supported progressive and pragmatic legislation, not
certain legislators, or leaders. Because
he believes in fair elections, and adequate and affordable healthcare, in
measures that aid people dealing with the burdens of poverty, or measures that
aid in environmental clean-up, does not
make him a “puppet of Pelosi” or anyone else.
He votes for resolution of issues and problems that are national but affect
his local constituents as well.
Two – because he is in Washington to
solve problems, he cooperates with many people who want to address such
problems. Some are liberal, some
moderate, some conservative. An in-depth
analysis of Brindisi’s activity by GovTrack.com indicates a person whose
ideology is much more toward moderate right than radical left. They rank only eight Democrats in the House
to the Right of his ideology which indicates a far different picture than the
false one that Trump/Tenney have thrown at him and us. Brindisi has never been, and probably will
never be, a Radical Left politician.
His work on the Utica School Board, in the New York State Assembly and
now as a problem-solver in the U.S. Congress has never been ‘radical’ but
moderately progressive. As a moderate, he has emerged as one of the leaders of
a bi-partisan group in the House that defines itself as “Problem-solvers.”
Association
with certain individuals or groups is NOT the issue.
The issue is: what can be accomplished to address the needs of
people of this nation, and the people back home in central New York. Anthony Brindisi, I believe, acts upon a core
belief that he was sent to Congress to solve problems and reform systems
and structures that prevent the solving of those problems and issues. Those who reduce the duty of congresspersons
to ideological and political absurdities with “buzz words,” or to accusations
because of necessary association with other representatives and with leaders, make
themselves into obstructionists. With
their glaring misrepresentations, they are the ones who keep problems from
being resolved and better avenues of implementation from being created. They are the ones who build walls, not
bridges. They are the ones who do not
work in the best interests of the People because their main concern is not
problem-solving but making problems for adversaries that end up making problems
for us all because nothing gets done!
When Nancy
Pelosi is making it possible to pass problem-solving legislation, or
legislation that faces future challenges, or legislation that expands people’s
rights and freedoms; rebuilds our infrastructure, or any other worthwhile
endeavor that improves our lives, then we must thank Congressman Brindisi
for associating himself with those efforts on behalf of the people, whether
those actions are considered liberal or conservative.
We are left
with the question: what
matters most in terms of voting?
Whether your ideology leans left or right from the center of the
political spectrum, what is important in the short and long run is the desire, the skill and the pragmatism to solve problems
in order to protect our health, our lives, our freedoms and our values as
demonstrated by Brindisi’s extraordinary accomplishments as a first-term Congressperson.
In stark contrast, stands Donald J. Trump -- a
narcissist, inveterate liar, bully, child abuser, and failed businessman who
displays and values fascist tendencies -- has no business leading this
country. And, what’s worse perhaps, we do not need
unquestioning sycophantic cult-like followers like Claudia Tenney who, whether her despotic leader is still calling the
shots or is shunted out into the night, has no business being in the Congress dedicated to adversarial and
ideological outcomes rather than critical problem-solving applied to
the needs, problems and issues of our people.
Claudia Tenney is not equipped to get the job
done, because what appears to be of most importance to her is securing
her own future and prosperity by catering to wealthy individuals and rich
corporations, not resolving problems or meeting needs facing the rest of us. Why
would she vote consistently against affordable and universal healthcare for
constituents unless something or someone was motivating her to do so for her
own good? If she is elected, those who voted
her back in office will be the losers because she will:
Ø continue deconstruction of government
Ø diminish government assurances to us of
Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid;
Ø continue attacks on consumer
protection and advocacy through deregulation of the for-profit market,
Ø denude its ability to guard us
against war, domestic terrorism, and loss of rights like universal unrestricted
voting.
Help
“One-Term Tenney” keep her title – it fits perfectly!
RE-ELECT CONGRESSMAN
ANTHONY BRINDISI – HE “GETS THINGS DONE”!
