By Dee Richard
All of you folks in the 9th Congressional District are now down to the wire. On Sept. 13, it will be time to cast your vote. Your choices are Bob Turner or David Weprin.
This is a pivotal election. It is not the usual Democrat vs. Republican contest. It has a more serious connotation than mere party labels. The whole nation is paying attention to this special election. I’m sure you’ve noticed that former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch is not the only high-ranking Democrat that has endorsed Turner.
The Democratic Party has been at the helm guiding New York City politics for many years. Human nature being what it is, gives people a tendency to take for granted the expected results of an election based on past performances. They also have a tendency to get lazy and careless and, as we all know the devil is in the details.
The two-or-more party system is great, as it forces each party to perform at their top levels. Lately, though, both parties do not seem to devote sufficient time to develop and present the best candidates they have to offer. Hence, the large decline in voter participation. There has been a yearly increase in fewer voters turning out.
This country, as well as New York state and city, is rampant with problems. Financial ones are big. Some problems have existed for years while others have gotten worse lately. All our problems require drastic solutions. We cannot continue with the same-old loosing strategies.
New York and New Jersey are paying the highest taxes, yet we both get less bang for our buck. Many of the other states with much lower tax revenues seem to be operating more efficiently with a lot less. Why is that?
One reason that comes to mind is our bloated bureaucracy. When you have an overloading of government jobs and the benefits and pensions that go with them, how can that type of government be sustained. To quote my late father, “The government — federal, state and city — is the biggest employer of the unemployable.”
Computers are tremendous time savers and a great means for accomplishing more with less people. That being the case, how is it our respective governments are loaded with more employees that ever in our history? It’s time for a change — an accountable change with transparency. The type of situation we find ourselves in presently simply isn’t working. To create more of the same is insane. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? It’s doing the same thing the same way over and over and expecting different results.
All of the above rhetoric brings us up to the case at hand in the 9th Congressional race. While I have known and liked the entire Weprin family for years going all the way back to patriarch Saul, I do not think David is the best candidate for that seat. David is a charter member of the current crop of professional tax-and-spend politicians, more interested in personal political careers than service to constituents.
Turner, on the other hand, is a retired and successful businessman. Just as Bloomberg, another successful businessman, got us out of the city’s financial mess when he was elected, I think Turner can help accomplish the same in our current crisis. He will try to use his business acumen to influence other members of Congress to cast votes that will hopefully start us on a road to recovery.
You are being asked to vote for the best man for you, your family and your community — not your party’s choice. Your party will urge you to vote for its candidate and, after all, that is its job. But the party’s candidate isn’t necessarily the best choice for the public. Think about it. Not only vote you own self-interest, but you’re conscience as well.
There are the usual party faithful coming out to endorse the party’s choice — they have to if they want the party’s support when they run for re-election.
We all know how many heavy-hitters have personally endorsed both Turner and Weprin. It’s the smart, survival thing to do. Whatever your choice, on Tuesday the 13th, get out and vote. Your vote can make a difference.
I look forward to your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Till next week, Dee.
This column reflects the views of the writer. TimesLedger Newspapers is not endorsing candidates in the Sept. 13 election.
