Letter from Mayor Ed Koch Supporting George Phillips for Congress

Dear Friends:

With less than two weeks to go before the mid-term election, we know this letter -- asking for support for George Phillips for Congress – is coming very late in the day. But we are making this unusual request because this is both a moment of urgency and opportunity.

The urgency is that this is a crucial moment in the U.S.-Israel alliance. Iran is edging ever closer to becoming a nuclear power. If that should come to pass, a grave threat will become an existential threat for the state of Israel. All against the backdrop of an aggressive  international campaign of deligitimization and isolation against Israel. So now more than ever, Israel needs strong allies in America – and strong allies in the United States Congress.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Maurice Hinchey, who represents New York’s 22nd District, we have one of the least sympathetic, most hostile lawmakers in Congress on all issues impacting the U.S.-Israel relationship. Hinchey is a member of a small group of Representatives that routinely votes against the bipartisan resolutions and legislation by which Congress supports the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Consider just a few items from his record:

-In 2002, at the height of the Intifada, as Israeli civilians were being murdered by the hundreds in suicide bombings, a simple House resolution expressing solidarity with Israel passed by a 352-21 margin. Hinchey voted “present.”

-In 2006, Hinchey voted against a bill to promote democratic institution-building in the Palestinian territories titled the “Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act.” It passed 361-37.

-In 2009, he voted against a resolution condemning the Goldstone Report, an infamous product of the UN that accused Israel of intentionally committing war crimes in Gaza. The anti-Goldstone resolution passed 344-36.

-This year, he signed a letter to President Obama that accused Israel of the “de facto collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza and demanded that President Obama pressure Israel to open its borders with Gaza, a move that would leave Israel dangerously vulnerable to terrorism.

-Most stunningly of all, Hinchey voted against one of the Obama administration’s most important foreign policy initiatives, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Act, passed by overwhelming margins in both houses of Congress and signed into law this summer. This key piece of legislation, vital to both American and Israeli security, sailed through the House 412-12.

Hinchey voted against it.

If there is a Member of Congress who has voted more consistently against consensus American foreign policy interests and against U.S.-Israel friendship, we would be hard-pressed to name him.

Fortunately, the opportunity comes in the person of George Phillips, a young and talented candidate who was born and raised in Endwell near Binghamton. Mr. Phillips -- a dedicated teacher who also brings foreign policy experience from his days as a Congressional aide -- has closed to within just a few points of Representative Hinchey. A race that was once thought of as untouchable is now winnable. New York’s 22nd District is now on the national political radar screen. A stunning upset is within reach. Which is where you come in.

The two  of us signing this letter differ on many issues and indeed belong to different political parties. But we are united in our criticisms of and opposition to Maurice Hinchey; and in our support and enthusiasm for George Phillips, who would prove to be a strong and faithful friend of the US-Israel relationship.

Your help during this sprint to the finish will make a meaningful, and quite possibility a decisive, difference in the outcome of this race. That is why we are asking that you join this effort by going to www.electgeorgephillips.com,  and make an online donation today.

George Phillips will prove to be what Maurice Hinchey has never been: A serious voice on American national security and a stalwart defender of Israel. In protecting the interests of Israel we are protecting the interests of America. The United States and Israel are animated by the same principles. We care about the same causes. We are hated by the same enemies. And our destinies are therefore inseparable. As one who cherishes the special relationship between both nations, we hope that you can find it within yourself to make a contribution.

It can make all the difference.

Sincerely,

Ed Koch  

Campaign for Liberty on Jack Conway and Harry Reid

Jack Conway is running against Rand Paul. H/t Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty.  As far as Harry Reid, the CFL does not go far enough. Reid is human discharge.

Hinchey Self Dealing

I just received this e-mail from an elected official I know who alleges that Represenative Maurice Hinchey has been involved in corrupt self-dealing involving environmental companies in the Buffalo area:

 

Mitchell,

 

Just wanted to pass this on.  One of Hinchey's top adds had been talking at a wedding on how Maurice was making lots of money on environmental companies in the Buffalo area.  He invested a major amount in these companies and was getting them earmarks and legislation written for cleanups for the companies he was involved with.  One of the big things was is how does a Toll Collector get o be a Millionaire?

 

Just want to pass this on.  Not sure How old this is but it may help

De Russy Wins Debate

Cortes de Russy performs brilliantly in his Journal News-sponsored  debate with Congresswoman  Nita Lowey.  De Russy is a last minute write-in candidate but his performance is so grand that he dwarfs Lowey. De Russy warrants consideration for a run in two years.  More so, de Russy would make a great gubernatorial or senatorial candidate in four years.

In constrast, Congresswoman Nita Lowey seems foolish. An economic illiterate who makes repeated partisan swipes at de Russy and then claims that the Republicans are too partisan, Ms. Lowy never saw massive government waste and incompetence that she could not cheer and never saw a looting Democrat whom she could not applaud, all the while accusing Republicans of partisanship.

Their debate reminds me of the recent assertions by one of the speakers at the Ulster County Republican Committee last week, I think it was State Senator Bill Larkin but I'm not sure, that upstate ought to be separated from downstate.  Of course, Ulster County has elected Stalin-on-the-Hudson, Maurice Hinchey, who makes even Lowey look good so maybe I'm being unfair.

I am becoming a partisan separatist. Just as Rome was broken up into the eastern and western Empires, so America may need to be broken in two: the free and the social democratic Americas.  I don't have to tell you to which America Lowey belongs. Lowey's America  is not mine.  One of the funniest moments was when she was saying how great diversity was but she repeatedly displays utter ignorance of the values, culture, philosophy and ideology on which the United States was founded.  Lowey and I probably have similar backgrounds, but I don't consider myself a citizen of Lowey's America, and I don't want her to be a citizen of mine.

I do have one bone to pick with de Russy.  I don't think the banks should have been bailed out.  I think that they should have been liquidated just like the auto companies should have been.  A nation without Wall Street would be healthier and more agile. America needs commercial banks and Wall Street like my dear late mother needed lung cancer.

That said, I was otherwise delighted with de Russy's stellar performance. He is a natural politician and should consider running for Congress or something higher in the coming few years.