By Dee Richard
By now I’m sure you are aware that Eric Ulrich has been appointed as the New York City campaign chairman for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. After Romney won in both Iowa and New Hampshire, hopefully for Eric he will do equally well in South Carolina and Florida.
Personally, I like Romney. Why, you ask? First of all, most of the candidates have some good things going for them, but they also have some not so good things.
What are the attacks on Romney by Republicans and Democrats?
1. He came from the financial world, but did well by his clients and that type of talent is what we need right now in our time of dire financial straights.
2. He is a Mormon. I always thought a man’s religion was his private affair. When he was governor of Massachusetts, he never tried to convert anyone nor was it a factor in any governmental decisions he made.
3. His health care program in Massachusetts, they say, is too much like Obama’s. Since Romney implemented the health care program first, obviously the Obama people liked it well enough, albeit with some tinkering, to use it as their template. Romney also said each state should be free to elect whatever program works well for it, as all state needs are not the same.
4. They said he fired a lot of people when he was hired to turn companies around that were headed for bankruptcy. That obviously was the right decision, as later the companies became successful. A status they could not achieve while they were bloated and heavy with unnecessary employees. That same technique should be used in our bureaucracy, where we have one committee in charge of turning all the screws to the left and the other committee turning all the screws to the right. Romney said it is more efficient and cost-effective to have one committee competent enough to be able to turn all the screws either left or right. Sounds logical to me!
At this moment, it’s virtually impossible for a handicapper to predict with any accuracy who the Republican presidential candidate will be. They change on a daily basis, as some wag said — they change their first-choice candidate just about as often as the average person changes their underwear. Three candidates have already dropped out: Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman.
On Jan. 11, the 109th Precinct Community Council had its monthly meeting and it was an about-face. Instead of the members presenting the “Cops of the Month” with a plaque, city Comptroller John Liu, the guest speaker, presented the council with a citation thanking it for an excellent job it is doing.
Last Thursday night, the Jefferson Democratic Club held its meeting at the Club House at the Clearview Golf Course. Elizabeth Crowley was the guest speaker. She is as intelligent as she is attractive. She presented numerous solutions to common problems that most communities experience.
A sad note was that two of their longstanding members had retired. They were Richard Rapp and Jerry McSweeney. Both men did great jobs for the club and will be hard to replace, but that club has so many talented members I’m sure both seats will be filled sooner than later.
Everybody was reminded it’s now time to participate in the Valentines for Vets drive, which was originally started by Ann-Margaret Carrozza, who is still involved, and the program is co-sponsored by Dr. Robert Mittman, as well as the Jefferson Democratic Club. Questions? Call state Assemblyman Ed Braunstein’s office at 718-357-3588.
Sunday evening marked a change of pace, and what a fun evening it was. The “Trattoria 35” held a “Night at the Opera,” dinner in their upstairs party room. The dinner package included a four-course meal, beer, wine, tax, tips and valet parking. As to the opera part, they had Lloyd Arriola at the piano; Jennifer Gliere, a soprano; Kevin Courtemanche, a tenor; and Robert Garner, a baritone, and his wife Laura Kate, also a soprano.
Chapter 2 of the “Slap at GOP Queens King Makers,” this time the culprits in the frying pan were Dennis Gallagher, Dr. Jay Golub D.D.S. and Robert Hornak. It was on Page 6 of Sunday’s edition of the New York Post. We wonder who gets fried next week ….
