Topic category: Elections - Politics, Polling, etc.
Why Wendy Long, Not Bob Turner, for U.S. Senator from New York
Long: "You compromise on the margin of things, but you don’t compromise on a fundamental principle.”
Wendy Long's word is good.
Not so as to Bob Turner's word on the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
As an unsuccessful Congressional candidate in 2010 Turner signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge against raising taxes.
The Taxpayer Protection Pledge states: "I pledge to the taxpayers of my district and to the American people that I will: ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates."
On his second try, in September 2011, less than eight months ago, Turner became a New York Congressman.
During his second attempt to win a seat in Congress, Turner stated; “We must look at the totality of the three issues: economy, unemployment and deficit. The discussion is how we affect the economy and attack government’s spending problem. For every $1 we spend, we borrow $.40 which will be paid back by future generations. Raising taxes inevitably restricts job growth, and taxes cannot reduce the deficit. I am prepared to tackle these issues.” Quoted at http://raquelokyay.com/archive/2461/yes-bob-turner-for-congress/.
Either Turner didn't really mean it when he pledged not to raise taxes or a few months in Congress changed him.
Neither bodes well for New Yorkers looking for a replacement for "Senator Etch a Sketch," Kirsten Gillibrand, New York's junior senator running for a full term this year after morphing "from a moderate, fiscally responsible, guns-under-the-bed, upstate, Blue Dog Democrat into an entrenched vote for the hard Left, carrying water for big government and special interests." (www.nationalreview.com/articles/297451/wendy-s-no-long-shot-interview#)
Last Tuesday Turner said that while he voted for the latest version of the Paul Ryan budget — which includes deep cuts to socials service spending — he expects to compromise on revenue-generators.
Turner: “I’m trying to duck that specific, but we’re going to have to do what has to be done. This is a very serious problem. We cannot stand on certain principles that are inflexible. Everybody’s going to have to bend somewhere. The job is too big and too important.” (www.capitaltonight.com/2012/05/turner-on-taxes-whatever-has-to-be-done/)
So much for pledges from Turner!
So much for learning from President George H.W. Bush's mistake in violating his own "Read my lips: no new taxes" campaign promise.
Republican Senate hopeful Wendy Long, already the New York Conservative Party's nominee, commented that she was “surprised” and “saddened” by Turner's sudden willingness to raise taxes.
Long supported Turner in 2011, and her husband contributed $500 to his expected re-election campaign just before Turner announced that he would run for Senator instead of rte-election. (www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/04/5740040/turner-raises-slowly-run-against-gillibrand-while-maragos-gives-mil)
Surely the Longs expected that Turner's word was good.
In sharp contrast, Long has a principled view on taxes and pledges and stands by her principles.
“We have to be unwavering on that,” Long said in a phone interview last Tuesday afternoon. “I do not think you compromise on principle. You compromise on the margin of things, but you don’t compromise on a fundamental principle.” (http://raquelokyay.com/archive/2461/yes-bob-turner-for-congress/)
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.
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