I went to a Suozzi for Governor campaign event last night where I was assigned a package to collect signatures to get Suozzi on the Primary ballot. Now I know from all the talk on this blog that Spitzer is the odds on favorite, but I think that Suozzi is getting a raw deal from some of the net roots. In fact, after last nights rally, I felt like I was part of a Howard Dean campaign all over again. Why did I feel that way? Well it's pretty simple. We were fighting the establishment once again! Read on...
Now let me be perfectly clear here. I believe that New York State is in a no-lose situation when it comes to the Governors race this year. A Dem will win it and the two main Dems competeing for the job are both high quality candidates. So either way NY wins this year (for a change). Let me also say that I in no way fool myself into believing that Suozzi has any chance of winning the Primary. Spitzer has a 3 year head start on him. Some may say that this race is over.
But this is not about the destination, this is about the Journey. As a Nassau County resident for 6 years, I watched a Republican machine destroy county finances to a point where NYS was threatening a take over. Just imagine a state government that couldn't even pass it's own budget on time for over 15 years taking over the finances of another county. It was with little wonder that in 2001, no Republican wanted to follow in Thomas Gulotta's foot steps. It seemed like a dismal period to be a Nassau county resident with taxes climbing faster than the space shuttle while services were being cut. How could anybody want the job of cleaning up this mess.
Well Suozzi wanted the job (So did Tom DiNapoli, who I volunteered for that year, but he lost to Suozzi in the primary). And he took it and amazed everyone by turing around finances in 3 years. Taxes were raised just once, then held steady for 4 years. 10 bond upgrades later, Nassau was in the black and had paid off $100 Million in debt earlier than expected. County government was running leaner than before and hope in the county's future was restored. When Suozzi first ran, he claimed that he could do it because he had done it (as mayor of Glen Cove). Then he got the job and proved that he could do it.
During that time, Suozzi also became interested in state government and the problems that the state was passing onto local governments. NY is the only state where local governments must endure 30% of the states medicare burden. NYS only subsidizes about 38% of education costs vs. a national average of 57%, and Nassau County only gets help to pay for 17% of school budget expenses. But our school taxes are skyrocketing. People are bitching that teachers get paid too much when the real problem is that we are being asked to pay for more of our local education expenses than the rest of the country. And because of this there is less money to pay for other local items like law enforcement, and this at a time when gang violence is becoming a real problme on Long Island. On top of this, in NYC, 50% of high school student don't graduate.
Tom Suozzi has made thiese issues his pet issues. Not only that, he has personally identified $5 billion in the NYS budget from wasteful or un-necessary spending that could be used to alleviate the school tax burden on all counties. And seeing as how Suozzi has a record of fixing budget problems, I know he is serious when he says he has identified the specifics. This man knows budgets and he has been looking at the NYS budget for 4 years. And like he say's, he can do it becuase he's done it!
So why does this matter? It's very simple. Elliot Spitzer has not spoken about these issues. In fact, most people I speak to who are supporting Spitzer cannot tell me the reason they are supporting him other than the fact that they like him. This is old guard establishment locking onto a machine that will ensure a victory. Tom Suozzi's aspiring insurgency is healthy for our democracy. If the press would pay more attention to the man that they themselves refer to as intelligent, energetic, and passionate, then maybe Spitzer would pay attention too. And if Spitzer would pay more attention to Suozzi, then maybe Spitzer would start talking about these issues as well. Then maybe we could rest assured that Spitzer is bringing our message to Albany with him.
So that's why I'm working for Suozzi for Governor. I like his message and I want it to be heard. And I want Spitzer to steal his message and take it to Albany and use him politcal clout to do something about it.