NY21 Dem candidate Aaron Woolf has some surprising proposals
Aaron Woolf. Photo: Woolf Campaign, via Facebook
So after Republican Matt Doheny’s defeat last night at the hands of Elise Stefanik, we’re moving into the “general election” phase of the New York 21st Congressional District race. Democratic candidate Aaron Woolf has come straight out with some interesting proposals. In a press release, Woolf says he’s looking to “bring the North Country to Washington, D.C.” Here’s more from that press release.
With the public satisfaction in Congress at an all-time low, it is no surprise that turnout in the most recent Republican primary election hovered around 15% of eligible Republican voters. As someone who has spent his career chronicling the consequences of Congressional short-sighted policies, Aaron understands and recognizes firsthand the frustration so many feel about Congress. This is a primary motivator for Aaron’s entry into the race—the need for citizen representatives unencumbered by the special interests in Washington, D.C. and untainted by the toxic partisanship in the U.S. House of Representatives. With widespread frustration surrounding the government shutdown and reckless brinksmanship over the debt limit, Aaron has introduced five bold proposals – all of which he has pledged to abide by if elected – that will bring Members of Congress closer to their constituents.
Five Steps to Change Congress:
-No budget, no pay for Congress – for real
-No funding for, nor use of, a taxpayer-funded gym or salon and barber shop by members of Congress on the public dime. It is unconscionable that numerous individuals in the -House of Representatives took advantage of these perks during the shutdown of the government while federal employees could not get paid.
-No funding for, nor use of, taxpayer money to pay for the rent or lease of vehicles.
-No funding for, nor use of, health care “perks” that are not available to the general public. Numerous lawmakers that have voted repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act have voted for themselves taxpayer-funded lifetime health care plans.
-No travel under the “charter jet” loophole allowing members of Congress to use political campaign funds to upgrade a privately-funded flight to first class travel.
As [Woolf] explained, “I am running for Congress to represent New York’s 21st District and bring the region’s spirit of independence, practicality, and hard work to Washington. Washington needs our bipartisan, cooperative spirit—we do not need more of Washington’s divisive attitudes determining how we live here. I plan to adopt these common sense reforms to demonstrate that what is fair in the North Country, like personally paying for personal benefits that we utilize, is also fair in Washington. We should be directing hard-earned taxpayer money towards creating jobs, investing in our region, and growing our economy, not for plush congressional benefits. As a Congressman, I will live by the same rules that apply to my fellow New York 21 residents.”
So what do you think? Are these proposals a good idea? Do you believe Woolf (or other legislators, for that matter) would adhere to them?
Tags: Aaaron Woolf, congress, ny21, woolf
And what do any of you think the chances are that Woolf would got o Washington and try to wrest Congressional power away from Obama? He’s clearly willing to bypass Congress, illegally, at any opportunity. He’s specifically said he’d continue to do so despite having the SCOTUS over rule his illegal moves at least 12 times so far, most recently with the NLRB fiasco.
We don’t need a President that by passes Congress. We need a President that will work with Congress. We also don’t need a Congressman that will support a President that ignores the separation of powers and acts illegally, like extending the Employer Mandate arbitrarily and without Congressional approval. Like it or not, the people the the US voted in their Representatives and the GOP will fight Obama just like the Dems fought Bush. Saying one side is obstructionist while trying to say the other side is doing the right thing is intellectually dishonest at best.
Interesting comments so far.
For me, it’s very simple. Aaron Woolf will get my vote because:
#1 He doesn’t want to repeal the ACA.
#2 He speaks more about what he will do in Washington instead of criticizing Elise (out of touch) Stefanik.
#3 He’s a democratic. And not a blue dog dem, from what I see.
The republicans are destroying this country.
Any voter who calls them selves a republican or votes for a republican has either not been paying attention to the fine details of what has been going on in Washington (and other red states in this country), or doesn’t mind the republican led-Congress taking our country into economic and climate death-valley.
And if someone complains that Obama is not doing his job, remember that he cannot get legislation accomplished without Congress putting the law on his desk to sign. And it is the republican-led House of Representatives (the ones we vote for) who have been acting like petulant children who have their own silver spoons, but don’t want any other families kids to have those spoons.
Facts: This congress has the dubious distinction of being the most do-nothing congress in history. Along with a President who promised change. House of Reps Republicans made it clear they would make Obama’s presidency a living He!!, and that is the one thing they have accomplished.
Period
And as an aside, regarding the post office.
No, it is not ready to be relegated to the like of the buggy whip. Nor is it being overtaken by the internet entirely. And if I give an example of why it is not, I am not the only one who can make these examples:
a. My mom is 94 years old and lives in a nursing home 1500 miles away. Internet to Mom? No. Card in the mail with a stamp on it? Yes.
b. I pay monthly bills like everyone else. I correspond with companies and entities that need me to send hardcopy documents. Internet to them? No. Hardcopy documents in the mail? Yes. I can do some internet banking and bill paying, but when that is not an option, we still need the post office.
c. Do they need to restructure the post office somewhat? Yes. My postal service comes from 9 miles away, but my nearest post office where I buy my stamps is only 2 miles away. Why am I not assigned to the closer post office and their zip code? No clue.
Please think twice before placing another republican in Washington DC. Please, if not for you, then for your children who will inherit the financial and climate destruction that is sure to get worse under republican ‘lack of’-leadership.
thank you
Comments like the one above remind me why I don’t come here anymore. You can not have a discussion with people who live in an altered reality.
Bret4207, you are either totally clueless, highly misinformed or of the school of if you tell a lie long enough and loud enough it becomes true. The REPUBLICANS controlled Congress, the Senate and of course the White House six of the eight years Dubbya was in office. Do tell how the Democrats tried to nullify two elections by obstructionist behavior when they did not even have a say in what was brought before their respective legislative bodies.
The NLRB situation came about because Republicans play a parlor game where Congress is never in recess even though they have set new records under Boehner for fewest days in session. They refused to appoint anyone to the NLRB positions which meant that the NLRB no longer existed because they did not have enough to meet by rule. Got it now? The Republicans , none of which ran on a platform of eliminating the NLRB used cheap, backdoor politics to effectively eliminate the whole organization. Sooo, President Obama took a leadership role and said, fine, but the country is not going to suffer because of congresses failure to do their job. And there you have it.
Please cite a similar situation during the Bush years and those Republican control of our country years where anything thing close to eliminating anything close the the NLRB.
And PLEASE explain why you and conservatives and tea party and whatever is left of Republicans who are in touch with the common man, have against the NLRB. Let me inform you just what the NLRB is first, then you can explain:
The NLRB is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices.
Now, do tell what you and the republicans have against the working man.
Welcome back Bret.
“President Obama took a leadership role”
That, right there, made me spill my coffee.
Knucke,
Yeah I know what you mean about the “old paradigm”. I guess that is where we kind of disagree. I think when it comes to Congress we need someone who will work on very specific issues for the North Country that will often be the old paradigm issues. I did throw a lot into that post some of it not well thought out. I think small business is important and I think broad band is also important. But the reality is that we need medium to large employers who pay good benefits. Right now those are places like Fort Drum, the Prisons, the Universities and the state of NY, local school systems etc. Those are all things that our representative can really help with. Most people are not going to be small business owners, most people are not going to be tele-commuting brokers or techies. We have to consider our whole population, not just college educated upper middle class people who like the scenery up here.
The only one of these national sound bite issues that will have any real impact on the North Country will be health care. But the question is how obama care impacts us? We need more access, we need more doctors who take medicaid and we need fiscally healthy hospitals. So does the HCA help with that? I think it might.
For me today’s supreme court decision may make the bill stronger. There are many people such as myself who really do support government funded health care who really do see that we have a major problem with the status quo system, yet are really uncomfortable with the government telling private people and religious institutions they have to violate their beliefs on this one little issue.