Finding Ulysses

Our Representative in Congress, Mike Arcuri, voted yesterday in favor of extending the Patriot Act without reforming it one bit.

At a holiday party hosted at the headquarters of a lobbying firm, political action committees were asked to pay $5,000 to Congressman Arcuri, though organizations seeking a lesser level of political influence could pay a mere $1,000 for a “PAC Memento”.

Yesterday, Mike Arcuri voted for H.R. 4154, a bill which gives a tax cut of 18 percent, but applies exclusively to the extremely wealthy.

Many political leaders from around the world spoke today about the Seneca Falls Convention, showing respect not just for the historical efforts that make Seneca Falls special, but also honoring the place of equality that women deserve in our society. Congressman Arcuri was not among them. Michael Arcuri had nothing to say about the Seneca Falls Convention.

Are you okay with Mike Arcuri’s opposition to health care reform? Are you okay with the way he’s helping the Republicans agitate against health care reform? If you’re a registered Democrat here in the town of Ulysses, how do you reconcile being a Democrat with your Democratic U.S. Representative aligning himself with a group of pro-Republican politicians?

Will the Ulysses Democrats communicate the concerns of constituents here in our community to Congressman Arcuri, or do they simply regard it as their job to represent Arcuri’s interests to people here?

It seems that the average household expense from the American Clean Energy and Security Act in New York State would be much lower than the national average: 19 cents a day. New York’s expense would be the second lowest in the United States, behind only Florida. Why would Arcuri oppose this?

Michael Arcuri’s claims just don’t match the facts. Either Arcuri isn’t aware of the facts, or he doesn’t care about them, and doesn’t think that we’ll be able to tell the difference. Whichever is the case, Arcuri’s actions in opposition of the American Clean Energy and Security Act demonstrate that he is unsuited to the responsibilities of representing our district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

If Gillibrand continues to ignore the growing concerns of people living atop the Marcellus Shale, she may find herself surprised in 2010 by some upstate resistance to her effort to gain the Democratic Party nomination for New York’s junior U.S. Senate seat.

Congress has begun consideration of legislation to require the disclosure of toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing in the process of drilling for natural gas.