To my fellow Republicans:
DON’T BE LURED OFF COURSE!
Letter from Curtis Sliwa to NYC Republicans
Recently many Republicans have received calls mostly from young, well-spoken and highly educated women. They represent BE COUNTED NYC; their goal – to register you as a Democrat. Briefly they say, this is to fend off the growing influence of radicals in their own Democratic Party so that a moderate Democrat will be elected the next Mayor of NYC.
Like SIRENS in Greek mythology who would lure sailors to steer their ships into the rocks only to ultimately be destroyed. This is a call for Republicans to commit political suicide, having them abandon their party and drive it into oblivion based on the false notion that Republicans can’t win running for Mayor in NYC. They insist “You can’t win in NYC” in spite of 20 years of recent history to prove otherwise.
They say help them now and then return to your Republican ROOTS after they win. And then they say the “Quid Pro Quo” is that they will work with you in a BI-PARTISAN way to push for open primaries and non-partisan elections in the future, even though they have strongly opposed such measures in the past.
But do not forget, there was already a functional bi-partisan leadership in the NYS Senate when 8 Democrats created the IDC and worked with the Republicans to establish just such a BI-PARTISAN coalition. But then Cuomo like the SIREN lured them back and said “Peace be upon you.” And what was their reward? The establishment Democrats exacted revenge on them by running the very same type of radical leftist Democrats they are pushing back against now. One IDC member, Jose Peralta, a friend of mine, suffered an untimely death. I will never forget during the time of his political Shiva how some Establishment Democrats cursed his name, called him a JUDAS.
Just this past November Cuomo exacted revenge against all third parties because he had a falling out with the Working Families Party. Tried but failed to eliminate them. The only 2 to survive were the Conservative Party and a now newly strengthened Working Families Party that is collaborating with the Democratic Socialists of America. And Democratic State lawmakers are moving to redraw their own district lines to ensure a Majority for years to come.
Here’s what they are really saying – They can’t beat the DSA takeover of their party so Republicans should join them to try to bail them out by giving up on the 2-party system and creating a 2-tired Democratic Party that engages in winner-take-all primaries with the radical left, where the left is better organized and motivated.
Instead of ending the Republican Party let us join together as NYC Republicans, build a true center-right coalition with Urban Republicans, independents and Reagan Democrats that can field strong candidates to run against the radical left, and refuse to capitulate to Establishment Democrats who want to use us and co-opt us while still verbally abusing us in the course of rendering us impotent.
Republican Mayoral Candidate 2021
The Politics of the Pandemic: Crushing the Backbone of America’s Small Businesses
By Phil Orenstein, on January 18, 2021
248 years ago, the British Crown picked winners and losers in the colonial economy of America, creating an unjust monopoly over the tea trade. The Crown ruled that the British East India Company would have the advantage over the American colonial purveyors of tea.
In March of 2020, the New York State Legislature abdicated its authority by granting Governor Cuomo unchecked emergency powers. King George III picked winners and losers in colonial America and discarded the rights of the people, and today King Cuomo, in crushing the backbone of small businesses across the state, has accomplished the same feat.
Over the last 10 months many New York City small businesses and restaurants have closed their doors for good. The ones that are left are on life support. Half of the 6,000 restaurants in Queens, and countless small businesses throughout the state, may not survive the forced Cuomo shutdown.
The essence of a free and democratic society is based on checks and balances on power. Queens County is one of New York State’s 62 counties. Queens suffers from absolute control by one political party. There are no checks on power and Queens legislators at the city and state level cower at King Cuomo’s exalted powers. At the end of this political gamesmanship rests the fate of the New York City small business community. After thousands of small businesses shutter their doors, the autopsy will reveal the true cause of death to put on the toe tag of each dream which was known as a small business. In varying degrees, many counties across the state have suffered the same fate.
A case in point is Antun’s of Queens Village, which is not just a catering house, but a community institution that has been serving all cultures from the greater New York area for generations. Now, like so many other businesses and restaurants here in Queens and throughout the state, they are struggling to survive. Antun’s employs hundreds of staff from the local Queens County region. Because of the arbitrary and capricious dictates of King Cuomo and the politicians who bow at his feet, not only has Antun’s cut its staff down to nothing, but its entire business ecosystem has been affected. Typically, on New Year’s Eve they hire about 100 wait staff to cater to the merriment. This year, zero.
This is not about stopping the spread of COVID. Something else is going on. Widely reported transmission data shows that only 1.3% of new COVID cases come from restaurants and bars, while 74% come from private in-home gatherings. But Governor Cuomo issues emergency directives that do not follow the science and data, and absentee politicians in our one-party town surrender without a fight for the people who elected them to office.
The New York State Legislature handed over absolute power to King Cuomo. This is eerily similar to the pre-Revolutionary War era when the British were cracking down on the merchant class in America. King George III and the British Parliament strangled colonial merchants by passing laws taxing products sold in the American colonies including tea, and authorized a monopoly on the American tea trade to eliminate competition. The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was a revolt of the merchant class against the oppressive policies of the British, which led to further “Coercive Acts,” and the shutdown of merchant shipping in Boston and establishment of British military rule.
This led to the American Revolution, from which our country was born, based on the struggle of small merchants against government oppression, for the sake of liberty. Small businesses and restaurants today face the same oppressive government overreach as the American colonies. Now our politicians, elected by the people, want to throw 250 years of our history down the drain, refusing to stand up to a New York Governor who is acting very much like the tyrannical British King.
Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency back in March and since then has issued dozens of “decrees” including the shutdown of restaurants and bars, and authorized which businesses and regions are essential, and which are not. In Nassau which has higher COVID rates than Queens, restaurants are open at 50% capacity. Just like George III, King Cuomo picks winners and losers, and Queens politicians, under one-party rule, willingly oblige.
Just over the border, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran (D) has an open invitation for Queens residents to drive out east and dine in Nassau, where restaurants are open and staying alive. Triple Crown Diner in Bellerose, Queens is closed while restaurants across the street in Bellerose, Nassau are open. Lights were out on New Year’s Eve in Floral Park on the Queens side, but on the Nassau side of the street, the lights were on, and people were happily ringing in the New Year. King Cuomo picks winners and losers on the Queens-Nassau borderline, and in similar localities throughout New York State.
Although a Democrat, Laura Curran is fighting for her constituents, and wants her business community to survive. The difference is that Nassau County has a two-party system with a thriving Republican Party to keep the opposition accountable. If Queens had a two-party system, restaurants would be likewise be open at 50% capacity and our local politicians would come out of hiding and end their silence. Similarly, the Democrat supermajority one-party system in Albany poses a dangerous threat to businesses all across New York State.
But we must not be silent. We will support our small businesses and demand fairness. We must open the economy and stop the tyranny of government overreach. We will work towards ending one-party rule in Queens and throughout the state, and elect Republicans who will go to bat for their constituents. With two robust political parties, all small businesses would be treated as essential, and our communities would prosper and thrive. We call on all fellow citizens to join the struggle for the very survival of our business community.
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Phil Orenstein is the president of the Queens Village Republican Club. Established in 1875, it is America’s oldest Republican Club. www.QVGOP.org Historian, Jerry Matacotta, founder of History Seminar Series at Queensborough Community College was the advisor for this article.
President Trump’s Legacy
Despite the hatred by the left who can never credit Trump with having done anything right, we present his record of great achievements:
*Enacted the largest tax cuts and reforms in American history.
*Set and broke record highs of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ,
*Withdrew from the job-and-trade-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and NAFTA, replacing it with the new U.S.-Canada-Mexico Trade Agreement. Brought back manufacturing industry to the U.S. and increased “Made in the U.S.A.” production while securing access to new markets for America’s farmers. Also withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.
*Stopped the insane vassal-lord dysfunctional and lopsided China-U.S. relationship, confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.
*Reached record low unemployment rates for African-American, Hispanic and Asian-Americans prior to the pandemic and returning now to the policies to resurrect them.
*Improved U.S. health care: Eliminated health insurance tax, medical devices tax, Cadillac tax, largest decrease of prescription drug costs in a half century, signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments. Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.
*Signed groundbreaking Criminal Justice Reform. Secured and protected the U.S. Constitution: Utilized executive privilege and legislative assistance to further secure religious freedoms as well as rights of the unborn with unprecedented presidential passion. Rated by Heritage Foundation as one of the greatest presidential advocates of our Second Amendment rights.
*Built and bolstered 415 miles of new border wall at the U.S. southern border.
*Appointed three amazing and scholarly justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.
*Confirmed more than 220 federal judges who interpret the Constitution as written.
*Built up and bolstering all U.S. military branches around the world and defeating ISIS and other extremists, killing ISIS leader al Baghdadi, Qassem Soleimani, Hamza bin Laden, Qassim al-Rimi, and freeing from captivity more than a dozen American hostages from all over the world. Launched U.S. Space Force as a new branch of the military and relaunched the National Space Council.
*Built up and bolstered America’s standing and strength in the International Community: Withdrew from shady Iran nuclear deal, moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, initiated Israel-UAE (and other surrounding nations) accord, providing more stability and commerce in the Middle East.
*Conducted historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula. Held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.
*Signed the VA Accountability Act, improving health care for veterans.