Today I came across a great speech on what Democratic Values are. It was spoken by underdog NY gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi, and it was one of the most inspirational things I have ever read. This is the type of thing that rings true in any state in our nation and something that everyone interested in making the Democratic party stand for something again should read and forward to their friends.
Good afternoon.
Thank you for that gracious introduction and thank you, to all of you, for that warm welcome.
It is great to be here with so many friends and with my family. My father, Judge Joseph Suozzi, born in Italy, immigrated to the United States as a young boy and lived an American Success story is here. And the chair of Irish Americans for Suozzi, my mother Marguerite Holmes Suozzi is here as well. I also want to extend greetings from my wife Helene, and on behalf of our children, Caroline, Joseph and Michael. I am sure they all would have enjoyed the field trip to Albany today to hang out with their Grandma and Grandpa, but the kids are finishing school today and had to be home.
Today I want to talk to you about a problem that has emerged in today's political discourse that has moved people of faith to vote along party lines. I will talk about how that political discourse can divert us from attending to some of the very real problems facing us today. I will talk about how my faith informs my public life and finally I will invite you to join me in an effort to focus on those problems.
My grandfather, the patriarch of our family, would always deliver a blessing at family weddings to the new couple: "non che sono rose senza le spine" which means "you can't have the roses without the thorns."
He meant that you can't have the beautiful things in life without the thorns as well - the hardships and the struggle, the heartache and the pain. You couldn't appreciate the good things and the good times in life without the hard times and the tough times as well. We also know that roses have roots - and in this case, the roots are the values and traditions that nourish and replenish our families and our communities. We know that there will always be pain, but that there will also always be happiness.
We know that there will be laughter and good times when we go to grandma's house for pasta on Sunday afternoon, I'll never forget the steam on the kitchen windows. We remember when we had different kinds of fish on Christmas Eve, when we drink some of that homemade wine that friends and relatives have made and they brag about how theirs is the best. We smile when we go into a friend's house and see that bottle of Galliano with the Napoleon head on it - that nobody every really drinks - or the statue of Saint Michael or a plaque or church calendar with a blessing on the wall.
It's what draws us together today; I am an Italian American like the rest of you - it is those shared experiences that make us comfortable with each other. It's why we can greet each other with a smile and say, "Hey, how are you" and maybe even slap each other on the back even though we have never met each other before. It's why we can think; "yeah, he's ok," based on our shared values and our common experiences that give us an understanding of one another.
Through my personal life experience and in my life as a public official, I have interacted with so many different people of diverse backgrounds. I feel just as comfortable having corned beef and cabbage with the Irish side of my family on St. Patrick's Day and I love it when my dad sings "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" to my mother. My in-laws are proud that I know all the words in Polish to the song "Sto Lat" and we share the blessings of the oplatek at Christmas.
In my life as a public servant I have come into contact with countless cultures and communities, each rich in their our own traditions - their own prayers, their own dances, their own food and songs.
Each culture finds ways to celebrate and bond; to share and to teach; to pass something intangible and unique and personal to the next generation. From father to son, from mother to daughter - we celebrate these traditions and find pride and comfort in passing them on to our own children and grandchildren.
One of the most enjoyable parts of my public life has been to learn about the wonderful Jewish traditions and those of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and other Christians from African Methodists, to Baptists and Evangelicals. I have tried so many different foods and attended so many functions to celebrate different cultures.
In Nassau we have ethnic night concerts - Punjabi, Armenian, Israeli, Turkish, Italian, Irish, Latino, African American, Greek, Indian, Polish, German, Korean, Chinese, Ukrainian, Scandinavian, Pakistani and Caribbean - each with unique sounds, foods and traditions.
At most of these events I have had the opportunity to watch proud parents and grandparents and community members celebrate their children. I have seen the gentle respect shown to their elders. I have seen a fond embrace by brothers and sisters brought together from their shared experience.
But beyond the uniqueness that each culture brings to the America experience, as human beings we all have a lot more in common.
I have learned, deeply to the very core of who I am - that there are certain universal values and beliefs that transcend the idiosyncrasies of each culture, community and religion. We all share the big fundamental questions of who loves me, who doesn't love me and who do I love - and what's right and what's wrong - and how am I going to educate and take care of my children and how am I going to pay my bills and how am I going to make my family and community better. We all think these same things.
Each of these faiths and cultures have their own ways of expressing their commitment to community and to connecting with their fellow man. Whether it is the injunction to "love thy neighbor" or the acceptance that I am "my brother's keeper" - whatever the expression may be, I fundamentally believe in the goodness of all people, and in their desire to do good. I believe in the intrinsic worth of all people regardless of their attributes and beliefs that may be different than mine.
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With all that we have in common, with all that should be bringing us together, the main point that I want to make today is about my concern that a division has emerged in politics today that is not based upon ideas as to how government should or should not function, but rather is a division based upon our fundamental beliefs and backgrounds.
My good friend Monsignor Tom Hartman and his partner Rabbi Gellman of the God Squad have spent a lifetime reminding us all that there is so much more that unites us than divides us.
I am concerned about the division that is emerging among Democrats and Republicans that has nothing to do with being Democrats or Republicans - it centers on the questions of faith.
There is an effort to divide us - an almost un-American style of politics that demands an adherence to the absolutes of the political orthodoxy of both Parties.
About a month and a half ago, The New York Times reported on a Pew Research Center study that found the majority of those Americans who attend religious services on a regular basis, despite their party registration, will vote Republican, and that the less people attend religious services the more likely it is they will vote Democratic.
According to the Pew survey, among some groups, such as white voters, 71 percent of those who attend religious services at least once a week voted Republican in the last election.
It is a remarkable finding, the implications of which should cause my party - the Democratic Party - to pause and think about the message that it is sending to the American electorate.
Many people are uncomfortable talking about politics and faith, but despite the risk, I think we have to talk about it, because I believe so strongly that the Democratic Party needs to recognize that many of its members - like myself - are motivated by our faith.
I attend church every Sunday. I am not a religious fanatic or extremist. I am just a regular guy who tries to go to Mass with his family every week, and observes the sacraments of my faith. I try to remember to say my prayers of thanks before dinner and teach my children the same practices.
My faith and values are a major part of who I am, and are the main reasons I remain in public service. I want to help poor people. I want to house the homeless and feed the hungry and help the elderly. I don't tolerate racism. I don't believe in taking advantage of people. I think a decent education and an opportunity to find a job is something that will help us all experience human dignity. I am in public life, informed by my faith, to help people, to serve people.
And my party, which is built upon the idea of helping people through government, is supposed to be about doing things - about helping those who need it, protecting the Divine creation of the Earth, and protecting the basic human dignity of every American.
But while I feel that many members of the Democratic Party share my desire to serve others, the statistics indicate that less and less people who share my practice of regularly attending religious services - regardless of their faith - feel welcome in the party I have chosen.
Too many politicians in both parties have centered election messages on the important moral issues of abortion, gay marriage and the death penalty to the exclusion of some very real problems of jobs, education and property taxes. As a result many people are losing confidence in my party that appears to have lost its way and forgotten its roots.
A large part of my public life has been about getting back to our roots, to the basics.
As Americans we believe we have an obligation to those who simply cannot make it on their own: the frail, the elderly, the children, the mentally ill, the addicted, families crippled by a catastrophic physical illness, the abused and neglected, and the veteran returning home changed or maimed by the trauma of war.
We also believe in personal responsibility. We believe that while helping those who cannot help themselves, we cannot burden the rest of our society with wasteful practices and giveaways of inefficient government, or pass the costs of high taxes to pay for poorly managed government along to those already struggling to get by.
And it is those principles and values that I have tried to bring to my job as Nassau County Executive. I have worked to make our government work better and cost less - while helping more people.
But good intentions are not enough - they must be accompanied by good works.
When I became County Executive I became the leader of what had been described the "worst run county" in the United States of America.
The eight departments that comprised Health and Human Services had not historically been assigned a place of priority - but I was drawn to them - for two reasons.
First, I was drawn to it because I wanted to help people who urgently needed help, and second, when I entered office in the midst of a fiscal crisis, these departments accounted for nearly $800 million of our County budget, most of it mandated by our State officials.
We put this huge portion of the County budget under the microscope of our larger program of sweeping reform. Our goal was to serve the real needs of the people most in need, but to do so in a more cost-effective way.
So we established a single point of entry into Nassau's Health and Human Services - consolidated, instead of eight departments in five locations, all departments at one location. We call it "No Wrong Door."
By consolidating financial operations, information technology, maintenance and security we saved money. We also saved additional funds and helped more people by looking at their problems holistically. Does a person seeking a Medicaid application or a welfare payment have a mental illness? Is a senior citizen involved or a veteran? We helped people address real problems and by doing so improved services and lowered costs.
For decades, going back to the greatest governors of social conscience, Al Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and their policies begun in New York that FDR brought to Washington as the New Deal, America has worked to create a society that provides room at the table for everyone.
Today there are dozens of Federal, State and local programs that offer assistance for those most in need. But the complexity of the bureaucracy, the overlapping of programs, the lack of communication between providers, has been both wasteful to the taxpayers and a source of further problems for the clients.
This is not a new situation in government. Nor is it new that elected officials should call for providing services in a more comprehensive, coordinated fashion so that we can help people solve problems, make their lives better, and at the same time save tax dollars.
What is new is that we have done it. We have designed and put in the place "No Wrong Door" program that we believe will serve as a national model. We created a program designed to put all of those organizations under one roof and they meet weekly to coordinate on cases, and it works.
No Wrong Door symbolizes the long journey Nassau has taken in a very short period of time, a journey which proves that good will and hard work can break the cycle of cynicism and political expediency, and rekindle idealism and optimism. We have started a new era of compassionate and cooperative service to our community.
"No Wrong Door" not simply a vision for the future. It is a real program that is already happening and helping real people.
The pundits said that we could never do it. The challenge was too great, the obstacles too many, the time too short, the money too scarce.
Whenever the pundits spoke, I was reminded of the little Italian boy who watched Michelangelo for many weeks as he sculpted his magnificent David from a huge block of marble. And when Michelangelo had finished, the boy looked at the statue and asked in wonder: "How did you know he was in there?"
Michelangelo knew he was in there, just as we know that New York can be and will be great again. We just need to chip away at the excess in government. We need honest, energetic and efficient leadership and the creative vision to see the possibility.
Our state government may never be a work of art, there is so much to be done. But we can again be guided by Michelangelo - the philosophy by which he lived and worked.
He put it this way: "The greatest danger facing us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we hit it."
Centuries later, the choice before us is still whether to aim high, or to play it safe. Today, most of our leaders aim low - and if they hit a high mark, claim they meant to do it all along. We have to make a choice - we can strive to do great things, or to join those mediocre under-achievers who, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
It is no accident that Teddy Roosevelt, with his rare courage and clear vision, was the only Long Islander ever elected Governor of New York. Or as my mother likes to say, that he was the first Long Islander to be elected Governor of New York.
Roosevelt knew that mediocrity - aiming low and hitting low - can only invite disaster.
We witnessed that truth first-hand when we took over Nassau.
But we aimed high. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work and hit our marks. We turned it all around.
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We learned that waiting for Albany to change was an exercise in futility. Their indifference and inaction inspired me to start a campaign called Fix Albany. Fix Albany was a political movement that ran candidates against incumbents in the state legislature from both parties who had stood in the way of real reform, and we beat them.
And that led to this campaign, where we are aiming even higher. We are running on a platform of values and common sense - a common sense approach to creating jobs by reducing the cost of doing business in New York State, which is currently rated one of the most hostile business climates in America.
A common sense approach to fixing our schools, by investing in our troubled schools and reforming them so that more teachers are trained in math and science and the best teachers are encouraged to work in the schools that need them the most.
A common sense approach to reducing property taxes, because New Yorkers can no longer endure what are the highest local taxes in the United States of America - 72% above the national average.
It is common sense based on our values. Every politician will tell you they will solve your problems, but as they say in the old country "guarda le mane, non ascoltare la boca." Watch the hands, don't listen to the mouth. Look at the work we have done, not simply the speeches we make. You know we can do it, because we have done it.
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New York and America are at a crossroads.
For too long the politicians have coasted - deferring the hard choices we have to make about our shared destiny - and refusing to fight the battles against those who benefit from the current dysfunction. It seems that many of our leaders have forgotten the history of our founding - the struggles, the sacrifice of blood and lives. The thorns if you will, that gave rise to the rose called America.
Too many of our leaders have forgotten their roots and values. Rather than make the hard choices, they have hidden behind false choices. Rather than risking their own necks where all that they might lose is an election, they have allowed our state to drift, while our people are losing their jobs, their homes and their sense of hope.
If we are going move past words into action, we have to elect a candidate who has a real record of reform and performance and a candidate willing to take on the armies of the status quo - and their general.
We have to cut the wasteful and disgraceful spending in Albany. We have to reduce the burdens that the state government transfers to local governments. We have to invest in creating a stronger business climate. We desperately need better schools in our cities to ensure the next generation of New Yorkers can compete with kids around the world. And we must reconnect with the values that make our country and its people great.
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Right now the pundits and self-appointed experts say that Tom Suozzi is a great guy, but he has no chance. It doesn't matter what they say - I am running because it is what I believe in.
I believe that the best way to help people is for me to run for this job and to win it.
I believe that things happen for a reason. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and I believe that everything I have done in my professional life has prepared me for this particular job at this particular time.
I believe I am the best person for the job - so this is what I am supposed to do - and I am doing it.
It's not a question of fate or destiny. It is about fighting for what's right, and the determination to get it done.
But to really change New York, I need people who don't normally vote to get involved and to take responsibility for changing it.
What the people who oppose me are really counting on is that you will stay home and sit out this election - that you are so frustrated with both parties because they do not really represent your values that you will throw up your hands and walk away, so that then they can keep spending your money.
Typically less than 14% of the registered voters actually vote in a Democratic primary. In election after election fewer and fewer people vote, while year after year more and more of your money is spent on things you never asked for or thought you would ever need.
And little by little as your taxes grow higher, your dollar gets smaller and your wallet gets lighter, we all look at each other and wonder "where did we go wrong"?
Well, it's time for us to stop standing by. I need the Democrats, the Republicans and the Independents in this room who believe in my message to find Democrats to vote in the Democratic primary on September 12th.
For those that do not like what I have said here today - please go on vacation around election time.
For those of you who don't feel comfortable any more in the Democratic Party, or concerned that it has become the party that has forgotten its roots and lost its way, I am here today as living proof that that's not true.
Some people would say that for a Democrat to give this kind of speech, especially one who is in a Democratic primary will permanently damage my career. Not that I haven't heard that before!
But I believe that Democrats like many in this room, including my mom and dad, don't feel that the Democratic Party speaks to their values anymore. And I believe that there are millions of Democrats across New York who feel the same way. But I wanted to give this speech to tell them they are wrong. I am running in the Democratic Primary for Governor of the State of New York. And I speak to your values, because I live them every day.
I am a Catholic and a Democrat and those two groups should not be mutually exclusive - and for those who may not be here today -those of the Jewish faith, and Baptists and those that are "born again" and Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs and Greek orthodox and any other person of faith who may no longer feel comfortable in my party - the Democratic Party - I am opening the door to you.
I do not ask you to join me in some religious or spiritual quest. I ask you to join me in politics and government to try and improve the quality of life for our fellow human beings - consistent with our shared values, and based on the belief that as John F. Kennedy once said "here on earth, God's work must truly be our own."
I will not appeal to you with the divisive language that has been used to excite us regarding the moral questions of abortion, gay marriage or the death penalty. There are already too many politicians that invite us to those divisions.
Instead I will try and appeal to you on some old fashioned "bread and butter" issues.
How do we create jobs so that our citizens can live lives of dignity in pursuit of the American Dream, how do we educate our children so they can live full productive lives, and how do we make it affordable for people to live and prosper in our state?
It is time for us to stand up. It's time for us to force our government and its leaders to return to its values. And I need your help to make them do that.
Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." The odds are against us, and it won't be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. If implementing reform was easy it would have already been done.
I know this is going to be hard and that even when we win it is will take a long time to set things right. It will be hard to change course because we have been headed in the wrong direction for so long.
But I think the people here in this room know better than just about anyone - Rome was not built in a day. And I believe - I know - that we can do it.
I know we can do it, because we've done it.
Thank you.
I'd love to hear your reactions to this.