Take back the country
This year may be an off-year election, but it is surely one
of the most important in recent history. The Bush administration has done
incalculable damage in its first six years, and the nation will have to endure
two more years with the Bush team in charge. Only Congress can begin to put an
end to the madness.
The tragedy in Iraq has killed thousands of Americans and
hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and whether we stay or leave, there will be
great suffering. The situation in Afghanistan worsens, and the Taliban is back,
in fine form. And as the danger builds in North Korea and Iran, the country is
ruled by an administration that has turned belligerence into a foreign-policy
art form — and that has thumbed its nose at nations whose cooperation we badly
need.
The administration has protected and handed out big favors
to its corporate friends. It has turned a budget surplus into a megadeficit.
Masquerading as the friend of the working class, it has given tax cuts to the
rich while the costs of the war in Iraq have mushroomed.
It has turned important institutions like the FDA over to
anti-science conservatives. It values the interests of the pharmaceutical
industry above those of ordinary Americans. Among the results: blocking funding
for stem-cell research and continued high prices for prescription drugs.
Then there are the principles this nation once stood for.
There, last week, was the president of the United States, grinning as he signed
a bill that legalizes torture and denies the crucial right of habeas corpus to
detainees at Guantanamo.
Through all of this, Republicans in Congress — including
the three representing the Greater Rochester area — have supported the administration.
In fact, in their voting all three — Tom Reynolds, Randy Kuhl, and Jim Walsh
— have been among the president’s strongest supporters.
On November 7, voters in the Greater Rochester area can help
put the breaks on the Bush administration. Senator Hillary Clinton and longtime
Democratic incumbent Louise Slaughter should be re-elected. And voters should
replace Kuhl, Reynolds, and Walsh with Democrats Eric Massa, Jack Davis, and
Dan Maffei. They have strengths in their own right, and together they can form
a coalition to block the Bush agenda.
(We’ll have coverage of the Congressional races in our
November 1 issue.)
Reform the state
In this state this year, there are certainly plenty of
issues: the Upstate economy, education, the state debt, public-authority
reform, stem-cell research, health care. But one issue overshadows all the
others: governmental reform.
The Brennan Center at New York University’s law school has
spelled out the need for reform, as have numerous articles by media throughout
the state, including this newspaper. None of the other issues will be dealt
with adequately until we have reform in Albany. And New Yorkers will not have a
real democracy until we have reform.
In the state
legislature races in the Greater Rochester area, there are a number of
strong candidates — candidates we would endorse, in an ordinary year. But
until there is reform, with few exceptions, it won’t make much difference who
goes to Albany to represent us.
In place of endorsements, then, for the State Assembly and
State Senate we suggest that voters join the citizen reform movement and write
in the word “reform” on the ballot. It’s easy to do that on voting machines.
There’s a tab above individual offices at the top of the machine; push that up
to expose paper for the write-in vote. The slot will close automatically when
you pull the red lever to record all of your votes.
A pencil should be in the voting machine. And if you have
questions or need assistance, ask an elections inspector before you close the
curtain.
For governor, we
endorse — with hope and concern — Eliot Spitzer. There’s been way too much
“trust me” in this campaign. But he has been more specific in his campaign than
he has been given credit for. And he has the strength, the political savvy, and
the experience to lead the state in the kinds of reform we need.
Spitzer has plenty of insider contacts, and our fear is that
he will not be interested in doing the head-knocking necessary to break Albany
out of the lethargy, power-grabbing, and political partisanship that gotten
this state into the mess it’s in. Our hope is that, backed by voters’ cry for
reform, he’ll be able to pull Assembly and Senate leaders together to work on
behalf of the interests of the people of New York.
About all voters can do at this point is give Spitzer a
strong endorsement, and hope that other state leaders will recognize that as an
insistence on change.
As for the comptroller’s
race: We’ve been a fan of Alan Hevesi, but no more. There is no excuse for
his using taxpayer money to provide a chauffeur for his wife. There is no
excuse for his not knowing it was wrong — particularly since he had done the
same thing when he was comptroller of New York City, and had been criticized
for it then. And his insistence that he meant to repay the state is shallow; he
kept no records so that he could do that properly.
He ought to resign. Now.
Want to respond to our
endorsements? Our last issue before the election is November 7. We’ll need your
comments — 350 words max — by the end of the day Friday, October 27. Write
us at themail@Rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2006.
