Search This Blog

Monday, July 12, 2010

Backing Liz Berney Without Hesitation



By Raquel Okyay
Crossposted at RaquelOkyay.com

(Editor’s Note: I was supportive of Liz Berney in her campaign for Congress District 5 in 2008 and have been friends with Liz for a number of years. Admittedly, my avid endorsement for Liz Berney comes with prejudice.)

Republican Liz Berney, Esq., 2010 candidate for U.S. Congress (NY District 5) has done everything right to run a formidable campaign against Democrat Rep. Gary Ackerman’s sixteen-year incumbency. District 5 encompasses parts of two counties at lower New York State, from the town of Elmhurst at Queens County to the Town of Greenvale at the North Shore of Nassau County.

Even before Liz Berney ran for Congress in 2008, she was laying the groundwork for her campaign by working within the Republican and Libertarian parties and other organizations building a team of supporters who advocate fiscally sound principles in government and aggressive foreign policy measures to combat terrorism.

Liz Berney is a Republican committee woman at Great Neck and over the years has spent countless amount of time securing ballot access for Republican candidates and has provided pro-bono legal services to the GOP at both Nassau and Queens County.

It is Liz Berney’s tireless efforts in the Jewish community that poised her for a leadership role in the Republican Jewish Coalition and the endorsement of Republican Congressman Pete King (Nassau County District 3) who is well known for his continuing supportive voice of Israel, America’s ally, at a time when other officials are offensively defaming them.

Motivated by a family that was misplaced, tortured and killed during the Nazi occupation of Germany, Liz Berney (acutely aware of being part of a surviving generation) articulates her love of freedom and concern for a an overreaching government that works against American ideals of free market and free speech.

After escaping Nazi Germany my father joined the U.S. Army and fought in WWII. This example taught me that freedom needs protecting. Pursuing the American dream, my father would later become Dean of Queensborough Community College. This example taught me to aspire for excellence in an independent society.

Via heavy handed regulation and a progressive tax rate on American industry, the current administration however pushes forth an agenda that is antithetical to freedom. Policy decisions in Washington D.C. are injuring the economy and weakening individual choice. The time is now to be vigilant.

Liz Berney shows a certain level of expertise.

Liz Berney has written extensively on the issue of health care in her capacity as a candidate for public office and also as a practicing tax attorney. Liz Berney debated Ackerman on health care in 2008 and has hit the streets since at town hall meetings, gatherings and protests, all to warn the public of the dangerous policies embodied in the health care law.

In 2008, Newsday criticized Liz Berney for singling-out health care reform as a “government takeover of health care” that “can lead to a socialist system.” Liz Berney saw the writing on the wall back then and with growing opposition to the new Obamacare law, she has been a screaming voice today:

The new “health care” law has very little to do with actual health care. It is mainly another way of taxing and transferring wealth from individuals, employers, the insurance industry, the medical device industry and the pharmaceutical industry. The health care bill also contains new burdensome tax reporting requirements, and will require 14,000 new IRS agents to implement!

The new law (the so-called “Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act”) contains numerous new taxes …and mentions the words “tax” (including variants of “tax” such as “taxpayer”) 582 times. The reconciliation bill adds more than 100 additional mentions of “tax.”

Tea Party acting like political party bosses.

The Tea Party erupted early last year just in time to grab the attention of disgruntled Americans. Disgruntled by an America that is looking more like Hugo Chavez’ Venezuela than the land of opportunity, the Tea Party movement is determined to collectively frame a government that represents not controls them.

The problem in the race for Congress District 5 is that the Tea Party has denied Liz Berney access to its members, perhaps inadvertently, essentially denying its members to a credible and worthy candidate. Instead some are actively defaming Liz Berney and actively supporting their choice in candidates, Dr. James Milano, without further review.

It is the Tea Party acting like the Republican Party they complain about. Corrupt Republican party-bosses declare candidates credible and deny access to candidates they dislike, not Tea Party patriots. This type of hard ball is reminiscent of the press keeping favorable news about President Bush out of the media.

Tea Party candidate Dr. James Milano

During a forty minute phone interview with Dr. James Milano, he shows a real concern for the economic mess America is in, especially with respect to jobs, Dr. Milano expresses:

A 10% unemployment rate has people giving up on work prospects. The best way to create jobs is to create an atmosphere where people can succeed. The government is trying to tax their way out of a recession even though a more effective policy would be to cut taxes for companies that hire people.

Dr. James Milano’s pro-life stance is impressive, particularly as a physician, he articulates a good defense for unborn life. He is well versed on a varied amount of issues, intelligent, creative and personable. Dr. James Milano has a bright future in politics as long as he stays on message and continues to communicate his views with the public.

Liz Berney for Congress

My reasons for backing Berney are as follows:

Liz Berney is the only registered Republican; Liz Berney has paid her dues; Liz Berney has lived in the District for 32 years; Liz Berney is an expert on tax policy and health care issues; Liz Berney is the only candidate who has been engaging the voters on the issues for years.

I’m supporting Liz Berney because she earned it.

0 comments:

Post a Comment