Hypocritical season

To the editor:

I have extensively written on the hypocrisy of political talking points. One Lee Zeldin ad is a prime example. In it, he tells us “You’re smart. You know the problems in Kathy Hochul’s New York” and goes on to say we need “a governor fighting for working families.” 

The ad touts his modest lifestyle, how he lives in a working class neighborhood, served in the military and that his daughters go to public school; the ad ends with Zeldin saying “I’m ready to fight for you.”

But, what does Zeldin’s voting record in Congress tell us? He voted against allowing the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices, no to repairing our badly neglected roads, bridges and infrastructure, no to the PACT Act that provides medical help for soldiers exposed to burn pits, no to the CHIPS Act, which The Times Union called “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the economic trajectory of upstate New York,” and no to the PRO Act that would repeal Right to Work laws that suppress wages in 28 states, all while voting 15 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, including to remove the provision that protects those with pre-existing conditions.  

Zeldin also abstained from voting on three separate bills to fund mental health resources after claiming his commitment to “strengthen access to mental health services” in the wake of school shootings. Are these examples of how Zeldin intends to fight for working families? 

Talk on the campaign trail is cheap. Lee Zeldin has a long history of acting against the interests of ordinary New Yorkers and we should expect no different from him as governor. Hardworking New Yorkers must return the favor by voting no to Zeldin.

Joseph Cannisi