By Al D’Angelo
Well, it’s that time of the year again when politicians are all campaigning for your votes. For as long as I remember the themes are the same, education, crime, and taxes. Let’s take time to separate fact from fiction. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Let’s take education – many elected officials promise more money for education. New York City taxpayers spends $28,000 per student in the public school system, the highest in the country. Charter schools spend $16,000 per student and religious schools less than $15,000 (no taxpayer dollars). What’s more disturbing is the fact that graduation rates in public schools increased because the requirements were eased. That was not the case with private and charter schools, who still maintained a higher graduation rate. Obviously, it is not money, it is the structure of the system that is most important in a child’s education. Before we vote we should find out if the person is in favor of vouchers and charter schools. The teacher’s union has a very strong lobby and gives plenty of money to political campaigns. Are they concerned about the children or their financial interests? Crime is the second hot issue. Instead of just listening to what a person running for office says, check their track record on crime before you vote. Find out if they are in favor of bail reform and defunding the police and how they voted on issues related to crime, then make an educated decision on who to vote for. Third issue which is always brought up is taxes. New York has the highest tax rates in the country. We must remember every time the budget goes up, we have to pay for it. Are you in favor of helping illegal immigration which costs Americans about 120 billion dollars per year which in turn costs New Yorkers 2 billion dollars for illegal immigrants. More than 350 thousand New Yorkers left the state last year which diminishes our tax base leaving the rest of us to foot the bill. We must keep in mind anytime the government spends money we, the taxpayers, must pay for it. We must remember political parties have their own agenda therefore we must choose a candidate whose ideas and record reflect our ideas. Don’t be fooled by rhetoric and name calling, special interests spend millions of dollars to convince you the other candidate does not have your best interests at heart. The Hunter Biden story is a perfect example; only one Newspaper carried the story. Twitter refused to allow the story and other news media worked to convince us it was Russian disinformation they even recruited 50 supposed intelligence experts to agree. Had people know the truth the 2020 election may have been different. Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said it best “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” Don’t believe the hype look at the candidates’ records- it’s easy enough with all the technology available. Get to know your local candidates, are they community minded, did they serve the community before they were elected or is it just a job? Some candidates are taking to social media to tell you what a great job their doing, yet when was the last time you saw them in your community? Do your homework and register to vote, You can register online. It is also important that we vote in primary elections where the turnout is extremely low especially in local elections. Remember politicians play to those who get them elected and radicals on both sides of the spectrum vote, so they will lean left or right depending on where their votes come from.
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