Jewish Voice Editorial – Vote for Lee Zeldin for Governor of NY

  Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), a highly effective congressman from Long Island. As the winner of the GOP primary race in which he was challenged by Andrew Giuliani and others Mr. Zeldin proved that his position on the bread and butter issues that impact our lives resonate with New Yorkers.

Rep. Zeldin has called for complete transparency and total accountability for all elected officials and has every intention of cleaning up the deplorable corruption that is endemic to those who govern us in Albany.  Moreover, Mr. Zeldin not only seeks law abiding officials throughout the state, but plans to boldly confront the Albany hegemony which has failed to produce effective legislation on a panoply of issues that directly affect the lives of every New Yorker.

Let’s begin with crime. Mr. Zeldin is of the firm belief that the rule of law must take precedence in any civilized society and aims to restore the respect and admiration once shown to those who wear the uniform every day and go out and risk their lives to protect us and our families. He plans to call for federal support for local police, state troopers and others on the front line of defense. Despite the call to defund the police, Mr. Zeldin remains entrenched in his position that criminal bedlam must be confronted.

On that note, Mr. Zeldin will also be in the forefront of repealing the state’s current bail reform policies. Repeat offenders will no longer be granted a mere slap on the wrist that is perfunctorily handed down by judges. As governor, Mr. Zeldin will be in a position to take on and fire district attorneys who are soft on crime and pro-criminal and will push for legislation that will ensure that those charged with violent offenses be prosecuted to the fullest extent that the law allows.

Under a Zeldin administration in Albany, New Yorkers who are afraid to ride public busses and subways will no longer cower in fear.  Under a Zeldin administration, our police forces throughout the state will make it their business to apprehend criminals as they answer the collective call from New Yorkers to restore safety and civility.

On the economic and fiscal front, Mr. Zeldin is prepared to bring back New Yorkers to the state they called home for their entire lives but who now have opted to live elsewhere. He is planning to offer tax cuts to small and large businesses to provide concrete incentive for job growth and economic vitality. As he has already done in Washington, he also plans to lower taxes for the middle class as well as substantially reduce the burden of property taxes as he works on plans to expand home ownership in the state.

Mr. Zeldin’s goal is the tax reform arena has always been  to ensure that the hard working men and women of New York keep more of their paycheck, reduce their cost of living, and are able to save more for retirement.

As to providing a quality education for all New York children, Mr. Zeldin believes that the opportunities to do so include rolling back the excessive amount of federally-mandated testing in schools, advancing the investment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), modernizing student loan debt financing, and restoring more local control of education to put parents and teachers back in charge of education, and give every child a better opportunity to succeed.

In the matter of private education, Mr. Zeldin believes in the constitutional proviso regarding the separation of church and state and will work to ensure that both private and parochial schools are not subject to government intervention or harassment. In particular, he has championed and continues to champion the right of yeshivas and Jewish day schools to construct their own curriculum and adhere to their religious values without the constant eye of governmental officials on them. Mr. Zeldin believes that school administrators in conjunction with parental participation should be the arbiters of what their children are learning.

While in Congress, Mr. Zeldin championed the issue of healthcare for his constituents by voting in the affirmative of the American Health Care Act.