Posted on 05/31/2006 10:27:58 AM PDT by justiceseeker93
The Republican Party in this state has a big decision to make: Is it Republican or is it Democrat?
The party faces this crossroads up and down the ballot, and all across the state - but an anecdote from the battle for the gubernatorial nomination between former Assembly Minority leader John Faso and onetime Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld really brings it home.
Earlier this month, Bill DeProspo, a Weld supporter and the GOP chairman of Orange County, sent a long letter attacking Faso for once voting against a comparable-worth bill - and complaining that this (along with other votes) shows Faso is "out of step with the direction of our party."
That statement summarizes what the primary will be about. What is the "direction" of the party?
"Comparable worth" pretends to be an "equal pay for equal work" measure. But it's really about having the government "correct injustices" in pay in traditionally-male vs. traditionally-female jobs. Thus, bureaucrats might rule that a secretary's work is comparable to a truck driver's - so it would be illegal to pay the trucker more.
The idea's so wacky that it's to the left of the Democratic mainstream. Yet a GOP county chairman saw Faso's vote against it as a sign that the candidate doesn't fit with the future of the New York Republican Party.
The scary thing is, he might be right - because the current trend is certainly "leftward, march!"
It's not just the woeful record of overall spending and taxing, which has helped leave New York both the most overtaxed state in America, and one of its bigger debtors. It's matters of obvious priciple, too.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Ping!
Running for a GOP nomination in New York is like running on a Christian Democratic Party platform in Saudi Arabia.
That's my point. If Pataki is a Republican, then there's no such thing as a Republican Party in New York.
Unforunately, Joe Bruno has behaved like a liberal and is no longer welcome on the Conservative line. The only disgrace is Nicky Spano who is a big, big lib.
The departure of Al D'Amato and the Nassau County debacle began the NY State Republican Party's inexorable downward spiral toward irrelevance. The Elephants sorely need a charisma injection.
But there are varying strains of opinion within the state party, and, as the thrust of the posted piece suggests, they will be aired during this primary season. The future is up in the air right now, and a different party may emerge.
Another discouraging post in regard to the GOP in NY. Most likely I will vote Faso. Admittedly, I have bounced around politically Conservative, Democrat, voted Libertarian quite a few times then switched to GOP last year. The GOP nationally has to start thinking Post Bush. In NY we have to pray for something short of the Second Coming. There are some folks in GOP that are willing to stir the pot and don't mind a bit of a stink--but there are also lots of folks that act like things are fairly hunky dory. Why do people get involved in political clubs (the step beyond just voting on election day) if they are just going to say yes to the status quo? I have pretty much always voted, but never was part of a political club---is it worth my while? I know it's not difficult, (just cough up more or less $50 bucks a year). Maybe I am a closet revolutionary---see what the internet has done to me!!!!
Well, John Faso is an impressive public speaker with a resonably conservative bent and women will swoon over his looks. Mr. Charisma?
We'll see ...
LMAO! So very true.
As you know we have a 3 party system in NYS. The 3 parties, Pataki, Bruno, Silver run the entire show. My local RINO (Volker) has voted with Bruno 100% of the time.
The state continues to lose productive citizens and only increases its percentages of pigs at the taxpayer supplied trough.
Mr. Millard used to be my city councilman here in New York, and his liberal platform used to drive me crazy. I met him when he was running for Congress back in 1994, and had an inkling that he was just running on that platform because he thought it might get him elected, not because he really believed all of it. For example, one Lefty came up to him and said she didn't like his stand on the death penalty (he was for it). He looked her right in the eyes and said "then don't vote for me." I was very impressed.
Things can be reversed to some extent by following three very basic principles: reduce taxes, reduce spending, reduce the scope of government. That's why it's still important to keep the left at bay.
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