Published: October 15, 2009 09:31 am      

Letters to the Editor: October 15, 2009

Corrigan is capable mayoral candidate

I have had the pleasure of working with Jason Corrigan for his campaign for Mayor of Oneonta since its early days. I have witnessed the campaign as it has progressed and seen firsthand him enduring a smear attempt from one of his opponents with surprising dignity.

More importantly, though, I have also have had the opportunity to witness something increasingly rare in our society, a true leader at work.

Yes, many voters may dismiss him because of an apparent lack of experience and his age, but they are only doing a disservice to themselves. In the following years, Oneonta will surely be facing many serious issues, many related to the budget in a failing economy and other possibly worse problems. Rest assured, I know that Corrigan can handle any problem that has a solution.

When Oneonta Public Transit cut vital services to para-transit riders, Corrigan (along with the other mayoral candidates) was asked by those affected to speak on their behalf to the Oneonta Common Council. Of the three candidates, Corrigan did bring the issue to the Common Council.

Corrigan has also made much headway in having an Amtrak train stop put in place, something that could make a huge difference to revitalizing our downtown area.

Furthermore, Corrigan has also shown himself to be committed beyond a doubt to a more-transparent city government and environmental issues.

When it comes time to make a choice for the future mayor of Oneonta, I will be casting my vote with Jason Corrigan.

Jeremy Redlien

Oneonta



Grayson fights for American lives

Why is it that we allow the richest 1 percent of Americans to have as much financial wealth as the bottom 95 percent combined? We certainly don’t have a democracy, when the richest 1 percent get to call the shots. Lobbyists are spending $1.4 million a day, on the health care lobbying to ensure that their obscene profits continue.

Congressman Alan Grayson was elected by the people of the Eighth Congressional District of Florida to work for middle-class and poor Americans. He summarized the Republican health care plan as: “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.”

Republicans insisted Grayson apologize, but his response was: “I would like to apologize to the dead. According to a recent study, 44,789 Americans die every year because they have no health insurance... I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America... The people who should be apologizing are the Republicans. They’re the ones who should apologize for dragging us all through the mud here while we’re trying to improve health care in America.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee claimed: “This is an unstable man who has come unhinged. The depths of which Alan Grayson will sink to defend his indefensible comments know no bounds. This is an individual who has established a pathological pattern of unstable behavior.”

Grayson replied: “America is sick of you, Republican Party. You are a lie factory. That’s all you ever do. Why don’t you work together with the Democrats to solve America’s problems instead of making stuff up?”

Republicans warned that Grayson is going to be in a tough re-election bid next year. Grayson’s response: “If I have to choose between my job and saving the lives of 44,000 Americans a year, I know what my decision is.”

Jim O’Leary

Delhi