NY 23rd Congressional Race and Edward F. Cox

The New York State Republican Party has elected Edward F. Cox, the son-in-law of President Richard M. Nixon, chair of the New York State Republican Party. You will recall that President Nixon, besides having been involved in break-ins and an improved relationship with China (recall the US/China ping-pong match), was Mr. Inflation. He abolished the gold standard and pressured then-Fed chairman Arthur Burns to reduce interest rates to create a stock market bubble to assist his own re-election. Hence, he was as tightly linked to the corrupt New York City economy as is the Democratic Party and its publicity wing, the New York Times. Morally and politically Nixon represents the worst in the Republican Party.

But should the sins of the father-in-law be visited on the son-in-law? Cox has worked as an attorney with Patterson Belknap, a white shoe law firm in Manhattan. The firm is intimately linked to the Wall Street-and-bubble economy, and so the Democrats are very much in his corner. The Democratic publicity wing describes Cox as "centrist", which is a very, very bad sign. When the fringe left describes a Republican as "centrist" the smell of co-optation is in the air.

Mr. Cox assumed his post on September 29 and cannot be held responsible for the Republicans' shooting themselves in the foot in the 23rd Congressional district. The Wall Street Journal reports that Joe Mondello led the charge to nominate a left-wing extremist to run in the 23rd Congressional District. The brilliant and lovely Raquel Okyay has blogged on this depressing race. As an active Republican I cannot support her endorsement for the Conservative Party candidate, though.

Newsrunner publishes a Daily Kos poll that finds that in the Republican 23rd district, the Democrat is ahead because the state Republicans have allowed a left-winger, Dede Scozzaava, run on the Republican ticket. Doug Hoffman, a Conservative Party candidate who represents the mainstream, is getting more than 20% in response to Scozzafava's candidacy. That leaves the Democrat Bill Owens ahead. The Journal reports the same points.

The Journal seems to claim that Joe Mondello and the Republican County chairs are stupid. Perhaps they would rather run a left-wing extremist like Scozzafava than a conservative even if it means losing. Actually, it's not that bad because they thought she would win.

The question for Liberty Republicans in New York is: Can the Republicans recover from the dominance of the extreme left at the state level?

The Republican Liberty Caucus in New York has been discussing the Wall Street Journal editorial which claims about the conservative Republican 23rd district:

"...party bosses have managed to nominate a rare Republican who could lose: Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, whose liberal record has caused voters to flee to Doug Hoffman, a business executive who is running on the Conservative line. Mr. Hoffman has more than 20% support in the latest poll, which is only a few points behind Ms. Scozzafava, who is only a little behind Democratic lawyer Bill Owens."

The Journal is inaccurate in describing the district as all that conservative. First of all, there are a number of higher education institutions in northern New York and they will slant the vote to the left. Second, the former Congressmen, John McHugh, was a loot-and-spend, big government Republican about whom I blogged in May 2007. McHugh was not only corrupt, but he was so "conservative" that Obama appointed him Secretary of the Army. That's really a sign of conservatism. Their former Congressman was a regular John Locke. After all, he was appointed by Obama.

Third, I lived in northern New York and found the population there to be mostly interested in two things: their next welfare check and how to best clean the buck they just shot. Combine that with widespread drug abuse and a high mental retardation rate due to all the in-breeding and fathers raping their daughters, then you get a sense of the "conservative" population up there. Hence, the Journal overstates northern New York's conservatism. The county chairs may not have been crazy, but they were not people whom I would support in a thousand years. They belong in the Democratic Party, not the Republican.

The question, though, if you care about freedom, is how to get candidates who can help optimize the quest for freedom. Edward F. Cox seems unlikely to be able to do a good job, even if he, as did other Progressive Republican types like George W. Bush, speaks the language of lower taxes and reduced spending. I have concluded that Ivy League types make bad politicians because they have been indoctrinated in the failed ideas of Progressivism. Cox is a graduate of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Government. I very much doubt he knows the first thing about free markets, Locke or the principles on the nation was based. I very much doubt that he will make a difference with respect to Scozzfava or similar kinds of calls.

There is no question that candidates must market themselves to voters and liberal districts need to be regaled with liberal candidates. But I would like to see people who are genuine conservatives who win by pandering to liberal voters on the surface, rather than what the Republicans have now, Republicans who are Progressives at heart who pander to the conservatives in the party and expand government when they are elected, not the least of which were George W. Bush and New York's George Pataki.

Congressman John M. McHugh--Republican at the Trough

The Federal Election Commission permits review of all the Political Action Committee contributions to Congressional candidates for the Senate and Congress. One can trace the sources of influence on our elected officials through this site.

One Congressman who outshines all the others from New York's delegation is Congressman John M. McHugh a Republican from northern New York, New York’s 23rd district. McHugh received $384,126 in campaign contributions through August 23, 2006.

Congressman McHugh sits on the National Security, Emerging Threats, and the Energy subcommittees of the Comittee on Government Reform. He is also on the Readiness subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services. He is also on the Intelligence Policy; the Technical and Tactical Intelligence; and the Terrorism subcommittees of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Congressman McHugh's web page emphasizes that he is "recognized as a 'Champion of Dairy Farmers' for his aggressive approach to forcing Congress to address the needs of dairy farmers." The website also states that he is a "champion of education" but education interests do not dominate his list of contributors. Rather, a wide range of labor unions in the construction industy along with mail carriers and direct mail firms that likely have an interest in his postal reform proposals.

A clue as to why he receives such heavy contibutions from construction unions is in this statement:

"He believes that a good educational foundation allows children to reach their full potential and lead responsible adult lives. As such, Rep. McHugh has been a strong supporter of a bill that would subsidize $25 billion in zero-interest school modernization bonds..."

A flurry of school construction would not do much to improve education (that would require reinstatement of traditional teaching methods and discarding of the left wing ideology that dominates our education schools and the education establishment) but rather might benefit construction interests.

As far as his postal activities, his website indicates that:

"as a recognized authority on postal matters in light of his six years as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Postal Service, Rep. McHugh was appointed to serve as the chairman of the Committee’s Special Panel on Postal Reform and Oversight in early 2003. In the 109th Congress, he has again introduced legislation to significantly reform the Postal Service for the first time in 35 years..."

In addition to the postal bill, Congressman McHugh has proposed bills to: promote the use of digesters by agricultural producers; amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax credit to farmers in value-added agriculture; and exempt individual health insurance premiums from tax. He has been involved in several additional tax- and health insurance-related bills, which may explain the heavy presence of health insurance firms and health providers among his contributors.

What is fascinating about Congressman McHugh's long list of contributors is the wide range of business and labor interests who are helping McHugh get elected, some of which probably salivate at the thought of the needless construction of school buildings. Some of his contributors reflect local interests such as Fort Drum, dairy, other farming, paper mills, lumber and a General Motors plant. Other of his contributors appear to relate to projects whose purposes are unrelated to the needs of his constituents or of the United States.

Given the rural nature of McHugh's district one wonders why he needs so much money for his election campaigns---air time and newspaper space cannot be very expensive in the frozen north country of New York State.

McHugh's donors in excess of $5,000 since 2000 include:

Advo Inc. (direct mail company)
Agri-Mark (Dairy Farmer Cooperative)
Airline Pilots Association
American Chiropractic Association
American Federation of Government Employees
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of Teachers
American Hospital Association
American Maritime Officers
American Medical Association
American Postal Workers
Capital One Financial Corp.
Carpenters and Joiners
Committee on Letter Carriers Political Education
Con-Way (supply chain management and logistics services)
Credit Union National Association
Dairy Farmers of America
Direct Marketing Association
Electrical Contractors
Operating Engineers
Farm Credit Council
General Dynamics
General Motors
Health Net
Humana
Bridge Structural and Iron Workers
International Association of Firefighters
Bricklayers Union
Laborers' International Union
Lockheed Martin
Magazine Publishers of America
Retired Federal Employees
National Association for Uniformed Services
National Association for Postal Supervisors
National Association of Postmasters
National Association of Realtors
Beer Wholesalers
National League of Postmasters
National Postal Mail Handlers
National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
National Star Route Mail Contractors Political Action Committee
PMA Group (automotive products)
RR Donnelly (printing, brochures, direct marketing)
Service Employees International Union
Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors
Time Warner (magazine subscriptions)
Treasury Employees
United Auto Workers
Verizon
Wal Mart
HJ Heinz
Georgia Pacific Corporaton (paper)