Sit-Down with Senator Gillibrand

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with the Democrat and Chronicle Editorial Board and Senator Gillibrand for an hour and a half or so.   I will agree with many of the comments that have already been made by my fellow board members. She seemed excited to give and take on the issues.   Also, she is very in command of her facts and feelings on almost all issues presented to her. As many of the other board members have heaped on the praise I will take a step out and highlight some of the things that I didn’t feel 100% about after leaving.

First would be spending.   It seemed to me that she favors the terribly high amount of spending that this admin has done in the name of getting things back on track.   We are spending way too much money and not seeing what we were told we would for these efforts.   I asked her essentially “Maybe we are on the wrong track.   I have watched a large amount of my paycheck being taken for the last number of years and the government uses those funds to pick winners and losers.  Is it time for a Federal Income Tax holiday to get the economy going again?   Or maybe institute a flat tax and completely get rid of income tax altogether?”   Let’s say I didn’t see her jump to the table in support.

Second, I followed up on a question asked about her stance on immigration.   I heard “comprehensive immigration reform,” which to me always sounds like backdoor amnesty.   I am surprised to hear this as she advised me one on one after the meeting that her husband is an immigrant himself from the UK.   I had told her that my fiance is an immigrant and it is an issue discussed much in our home.   We both agreed that the way to go about becoming a legal resident of this country for those that do it the right way needs to be looked at.

I was somewhat disappointed, but not really surprised, that she took no stance on the Mosque debate other than to say that whatever the local board wants is what she is OK with.   My feeling is that if it is being built in the name of building bridges and the folks that they are looking to build bridges to are upset with it then they have failed.   If they are unwilling to move the location then it is not being built in the name of bridge building.   She did commend the Gov. for taking a lead on trying to find a new location.   Which to me means that she would like to see it moved.   If so Senator, just say it.   It would help you stand out amongst your Democratic peers.

Lastly, I am somewhat confused.   She came out in strong support of working to manage childhood obesity.   I am in total favor of ridding our society of childhood obesity, who wouldn’t be?   So she is willing to dictate what American children can eat but not willing to tell an Imam to move his building that is being funded from outside the country.   I would prefer to see an elected representative tell people who are not Americans what they can do with their personal decisions and not the parents of this country.