My wife's family has an annual 4th of July barbecue and besides there being no shortage of food, drink and games, there is no shortage of opinions. Now being family you would assume that means I already have their support and of course with that their vote? No way! Now mind you they are all excited about the process, but before they would lend any support we had to go through the Caiola / Villatore "Inquisition"!
A little background on the "committee", all very successful, financially independent, highly educated, mostly of Italian heritage, socially and politically active, Democrats. I have been a part of this family officially for 23+ years and in spite of being a Republican (and Irish) they have always been great to me (I do believe that having served in the Navy, as did the patriarch of the Family, gave me instant credibility in the early years). I love them, and they love me and my family!
Question #1: Are you still a Republican?
There in lies the problem gang! We are living in a polarized and paralyzed society. You know me, I said, we share the very same values! We may differ in our opinions on the government's level of involvement in the people's day to day lives, but we all agree in individuals civil liberties, education, free enterprise, private entrepreneurship, equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity.
Question #2: What can you do?
Create a new atmosphere and force transparency on Washington and more importantly follow the will of the electorate! Break up the aristocratic mentality that exists today. Over the last 7 election cycles an average of 96% of the incumbents were re-elected, sounds like pretty good job security. (Source: Opensecrets.org)
Statement #1: The Republican leadership will never permit you to be elected if you are not going to "toe the line"!
Wow, what happened to the questions? This is how quickly we get distracted and shows how little faith the American people have the electoral process. I honestly believe, and maybe this is naive, that in this new era of mass and instant communication there is no need to "toe the line". There is now the ability to report to the constituents exactly what is going on, who politicians are meeting with, what they are considering, what and who is offering what to whom. If you say you are going to do one thing and do another you will, and more importantly SHOULD, be held accountable.
Question #3: How do you intend to raise money?
Again in this new era of communication we live in, I don't think there is a need for much money. In this campaign there will be no pollsters, I intend on saying what I believe, not what a poll says I should believe. No speechwriters, I will admit that I will need a speech editor, but it is my intention to write every word I will ever speak. No conventional media mudslinging. There will be no "Daisy Ad", no "Black Baby of John McCain", no "Willie Horton", and no "Swift Boat". As a matter of fact I believe there should be spending limits on all elections.
Question #4: Why not run for a Town or County position first?
Why should that be a prerequisite for federal office? Will I be a better or different person with an investment first in local office? I think this would just make me a politician which by definition according to Merriam-Webster is "2a - a person engaged in party politics as a profession 2b: a person primarily interested in political office for selfish or other narrow usually short-sighted reasons".
I wish I could continue, but like the rest of us I have work to do, obligations to my employer and a commitment to my family. I can tell you this though, the questions / statements / and debate continued for 5 more hours (this is why I am sure politicians just make quick "appearances") and I am confident that I have a majority of their support.
Next weekend a barbecue with my Mom's side of the family, as tough a bunch as the in-laws, If I can get past them getting to DC will be a piece of cake. Happy 4th of July!!!
Questions, comments, suggestions? Contact us at dooley4congress@gmail.com
Monday, July 6, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Genesis
1960's - Anne and Robert Dooley, both children of Irish Immigrants, meet, get married, move to the suburbs and have 5 children (4 boys and 1 girl, the youngest). They imprint on this brood a moral and ethical code, and did so through a combination of rules and regulations and by example. Pretty basic stuff, the Golden Rule, work hard, be a good neighbor, don't lie.
1970's - Raising the children by herself during the day, no car, Dad works 60 hours a week, Mom does her best. Be home when the street lights come on, do your homework, don't hit your sister. Topics of conversations, Munich Olympics, Apollo Missions, Fall of Saigon, Khmer Rouge, Barbara Jordan's speech during Watergate, Wip inflation now (WIN), Draft Ted, OK lets vote for Carter (we need to clean house, send them a message), Patty Hearst, Bi-centennial, the Troubles in Ireland, if it was politics it was open for debate, good honest old fashioned, no feelings hurt, debate. We all read the newspaper, all of time and when Live at Five (NY News show) started we watched the news before dinner, to help aid in the conversation. So on and so on...the Crisis in Iran (I knew more about the Shah of Iran than I did Pete Rose) and finally Uncle Ronnie (OK we taught them a lesson now lets get back to work).
We all had jobs and we all did them the best we could. We all hustled. We went door to door, offering everything: cutting grass, shoveling driveways, doing odd jobs. Our competition was each other. Who got out of the house first, shoveled the most driveways, made the most money. I think back to those times and I now understand the appreciation that our neighbors had for "The Dooley Kids". You see they were all children of immigrants and respected the work ethic that we had. It was instilled in us as much as it was imprinted in our DNA.
You know I remember complaining to my Grandfather once that I had spent 12 hours the day before washing dishes in a restaurant (Barnwood family restaurant, I was 14 or 15) and I clearly remember him saying "12 hours? Lad, that's only half a day". I have said that to people who work for me now and they look at me like I am from another planet, where as I looked at Pop-Pop and thought "yea good point"!
You look at the recent news stories regarding the New York State legislature and the fact that Gov. Paterson is asking a Judge to force the Representatives to report to work, and in the depths of my soul I am furious. You have been elected to serve the people of New York and the Governor has to get a Court order to get you to report to work and you don't? I say send this whole bunch back to the real world, they are doing a disservice to the hardworking people they have been elected to represent.
Call them to the carpet!! Shake them up!! When you are considering voting for your local Representatives in the next election, consider their motivation and do they have the backbone to stand up for you, work hard, protect your interests? Or will they follow the direction of the "Party Bosses" who control the purse strings for their next election, or appointment to some "no show" job.
Send someone like yourself to Washington who you know will not only respect your views but work as hard as you do!
Questions, concerns, comment? dooley4congress@gmail.com
1970's - Raising the children by herself during the day, no car, Dad works 60 hours a week, Mom does her best. Be home when the street lights come on, do your homework, don't hit your sister. Topics of conversations, Munich Olympics, Apollo Missions, Fall of Saigon, Khmer Rouge, Barbara Jordan's speech during Watergate, Wip inflation now (WIN), Draft Ted, OK lets vote for Carter (we need to clean house, send them a message), Patty Hearst, Bi-centennial, the Troubles in Ireland, if it was politics it was open for debate, good honest old fashioned, no feelings hurt, debate. We all read the newspaper, all of time and when Live at Five (NY News show) started we watched the news before dinner, to help aid in the conversation. So on and so on...the Crisis in Iran (I knew more about the Shah of Iran than I did Pete Rose) and finally Uncle Ronnie (OK we taught them a lesson now lets get back to work).
We all had jobs and we all did them the best we could. We all hustled. We went door to door, offering everything: cutting grass, shoveling driveways, doing odd jobs. Our competition was each other. Who got out of the house first, shoveled the most driveways, made the most money. I think back to those times and I now understand the appreciation that our neighbors had for "The Dooley Kids". You see they were all children of immigrants and respected the work ethic that we had. It was instilled in us as much as it was imprinted in our DNA.
You know I remember complaining to my Grandfather once that I had spent 12 hours the day before washing dishes in a restaurant (Barnwood family restaurant, I was 14 or 15) and I clearly remember him saying "12 hours? Lad, that's only half a day". I have said that to people who work for me now and they look at me like I am from another planet, where as I looked at Pop-Pop and thought "yea good point"!
You look at the recent news stories regarding the New York State legislature and the fact that Gov. Paterson is asking a Judge to force the Representatives to report to work, and in the depths of my soul I am furious. You have been elected to serve the people of New York and the Governor has to get a Court order to get you to report to work and you don't? I say send this whole bunch back to the real world, they are doing a disservice to the hardworking people they have been elected to represent.
Call them to the carpet!! Shake them up!! When you are considering voting for your local Representatives in the next election, consider their motivation and do they have the backbone to stand up for you, work hard, protect your interests? Or will they follow the direction of the "Party Bosses" who control the purse strings for their next election, or appointment to some "no show" job.
Send someone like yourself to Washington who you know will not only respect your views but work as hard as you do!
Questions, concerns, comment? dooley4congress@gmail.com
NY State GOP
http://www.nygop.org/party-principles/
The link above takes you to the NY State GOP web page titled "The principles of the New York State Republican State Committee". Please read it completely (Coach) before you judge me, it is a platform that, as written, is almost everything that I believe in. The problem is in the "as written" aspect. You see I believe it is not what you SAY but what you DO, and this is how one should be judged. The document clearly states the following:
As a nation and party founded and supported by people of great faith and unwavering religious beliefs, the Republican Party firmly supports individuals who place their faith in a cause greater than themselves and will remain a tireless defender of individuals’ rights to worship and live their lives based on a high moral code and set of eternal convictions;
While individual members of our party may hold divergent opinions on key moral issues like abortion, the rights of same gender couples, or the definition of marriage the Republican Party remains a “big tent” that respects and welcomes diversity of thought on those issues that are, unfortunately, inherently divisive;
I love the "high moral code" and the "big tent" that respects and welcomes. Again it is not what you SAY but what you DO. I do not know about you but there are a tremendous number of people in our Party that quite frankly I do not want in my tent; specifically the anti-gay marriage, anti- abortion, anti-equal rights, basically with the exception of anti-American if it has anti in front of it, get the hell out of my tent!
Send some one to Washington that will call a spade a spade get in the face of those who interfere with the civil liberties of any one American!
The final paragraph of the Party Principles "As Republicans we believe that our party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government that will create a bright future for ourselves, our children and for generations to come." this could use some work. How about this instead; "As Americans we believe through hard work, open communication and respect of everyone we can create a bright future for ourselves, our children and generations to come!
Questions, comments suggestions? dooley4congress@gmail.com lets shake them up!
The link above takes you to the NY State GOP web page titled "The principles of the New York State Republican State Committee". Please read it completely (Coach) before you judge me, it is a platform that, as written, is almost everything that I believe in. The problem is in the "as written" aspect. You see I believe it is not what you SAY but what you DO, and this is how one should be judged. The document clearly states the following:
As a nation and party founded and supported by people of great faith and unwavering religious beliefs, the Republican Party firmly supports individuals who place their faith in a cause greater than themselves and will remain a tireless defender of individuals’ rights to worship and live their lives based on a high moral code and set of eternal convictions;
While individual members of our party may hold divergent opinions on key moral issues like abortion, the rights of same gender couples, or the definition of marriage the Republican Party remains a “big tent” that respects and welcomes diversity of thought on those issues that are, unfortunately, inherently divisive;
I love the "high moral code" and the "big tent" that respects and welcomes. Again it is not what you SAY but what you DO. I do not know about you but there are a tremendous number of people in our Party that quite frankly I do not want in my tent; specifically the anti-gay marriage, anti- abortion, anti-equal rights, basically with the exception of anti-American if it has anti in front of it, get the hell out of my tent!
Send some one to Washington that will call a spade a spade get in the face of those who interfere with the civil liberties of any one American!
The final paragraph of the Party Principles "As Republicans we believe that our party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government that will create a bright future for ourselves, our children and for generations to come." this could use some work. How about this instead; "As Americans we believe through hard work, open communication and respect of everyone we can create a bright future for ourselves, our children and generations to come!
Questions, comments suggestions? dooley4congress@gmail.com lets shake them up!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Why not?
What do a majority of your representatives in Congress have in common? Well it’s a number of things, first and foremost MONEY. If not their own than that of someone else’s, which to me means that they are representing someone other than those of who "pulled the lever". Second, connections whether it is that their father, uncle grandfather, father in law etc, etc... held office. Rockefeller, Lee, Stevenson, Long, Kennedy, Gore, Dingell, Rogers, Breckinridge, Patterson, Dodd etc, etc... Are we electing people or have we just created an American Royalty? Last for this blog, is it just me or are an obscene number of them Attorneys? I guess that is why although a majority of Americans are in favor of Tort reform there is never any mention of legislation to control the number of baseless lawsuits that are clogging our Courts.
So I ask you, why we have so few representatives that are average Americans? I mean who is minding the store, where is the guy or girl in the House that can say "Hey, in the real world we work 50 hours a week 50 weeks a year, where is everyone?" In my world people punch a clock, where is the clock in Washington?
Why do people spend millions of dollars to get a job that pays only 174,000 dollars a year? Could it be they just really want to be a public servant? Or is it the benefits that they get after their term (lobbyist, board member, political consultant…). Well I guess we need to look into that and I forgot it’s never their money they are spending anyway. I don’t know about you but I have lost a lot of faith in our elected officials and I think it’s time we go “Old School, Grass Roots” on DC, let’s send someone down there that knows what a hard day’s work is all about.
So I ask you, why we have so few representatives that are average Americans? I mean who is minding the store, where is the guy or girl in the House that can say "Hey, in the real world we work 50 hours a week 50 weeks a year, where is everyone?" In my world people punch a clock, where is the clock in Washington?
Why do people spend millions of dollars to get a job that pays only 174,000 dollars a year? Could it be they just really want to be a public servant? Or is it the benefits that they get after their term (lobbyist, board member, political consultant…). Well I guess we need to look into that and I forgot it’s never their money they are spending anyway. I don’t know about you but I have lost a lot of faith in our elected officials and I think it’s time we go “Old School, Grass Roots” on DC, let’s send someone down there that knows what a hard day’s work is all about.
who? what? why...?
Who?
Just plain honest, hardworking, average middle class, citizen.
Second generation Irish American, Father of 4, Navy Veteran.
No college education, Union Electrician, Cancer Survivor.
This is just some of the who but by no means everything that I am.
What?
Want to represent my friends and neighbors in Washington, and I believe the only way this can be done and stay true to the Who, is by avoiding the traditional methods of "paying your dues" through the ranks of local government, which I believe only removes the soul of the individuals whose intentions very well may have been good.
Why?
Good question. Why would anyone want to put their family through that. Well if you knew my family and what they have been through in their lives you would know this will be a cake walk!
A significant pay raise! Our representative are always talking about the struggling Middle Class, well we have the opportunity to help just one of these families out!
Send someone to Washington that can report back what the Hell is going on. Someone who will shame the rest of the Representatives into dedicating themselves to the needs of their constituents.
We are just scratching the surface here people, the establishment is not going to be happy with us and if we do nothing else, lets shake them up.
I'll keep you posted and for now you can contact us at dooley4congress@gmail.com.
Just plain honest, hardworking, average middle class, citizen.
Second generation Irish American, Father of 4, Navy Veteran.
No college education, Union Electrician, Cancer Survivor.
This is just some of the who but by no means everything that I am.
What?
Want to represent my friends and neighbors in Washington, and I believe the only way this can be done and stay true to the Who, is by avoiding the traditional methods of "paying your dues" through the ranks of local government, which I believe only removes the soul of the individuals whose intentions very well may have been good.
Why?
Good question. Why would anyone want to put their family through that. Well if you knew my family and what they have been through in their lives you would know this will be a cake walk!
A significant pay raise! Our representative are always talking about the struggling Middle Class, well we have the opportunity to help just one of these families out!
Send someone to Washington that can report back what the Hell is going on. Someone who will shame the rest of the Representatives into dedicating themselves to the needs of their constituents.
We are just scratching the surface here people, the establishment is not going to be happy with us and if we do nothing else, lets shake them up.
I'll keep you posted and for now you can contact us at dooley4congress@gmail.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)