The Emergence Of Suffolk Republicans

The New York primaries are over and the candidates have been chosen. For Republicans, it is time to unite around the victors. As September 14th approached, much ado had been made regarding a supposed “split” within the Republican ranks. This assertion, in this writer’s opinion, was much ado about nothing. In the first congressional district, and in the seats for the U.S. Senate, Suffolk County Republicans differed in their preferences for candidates based on issues of style, electability and history, but not in regard to principles. What makes this year unique for the Republican Party of Eastern Long Island is that all of the candidates share the same core values and adhere to the same basic tenets that have resulted in Suffolk County becoming the political force that it is. Suffolk County Republican Chairman John J. LaValle artfully placed the people he represents in the enviable position of a no-lose situation. While granting Republicans a choice in their candidates, he insured that good conservative-Republicans would prevail irrespective of the primary outcomes. One needs to look no further than Smithtown to see what a party united on principles can achieve for its constituency and how these results may supersede rival party factions.

2010 is proving to be the most crucial election season that I can recall. Throughout this nation, the American private sector is under attack and nowhere is this assault more virulent than in the state of New York. New York State’s top marginal individual and corporate tax rates are the highest in the nation. Its entitlement spending is literally out of control. This year, New York is projected to spend $49.2 billion on Medicaid alone, far more than any other state in the union. These policies, initiated by the Democrats in control of the State Legislature, have resulted in minimal economic growth, lackluster job creation, and diminishing capital investment.

During the course of the past two years, New Yorkers have borne witness to an all-out attack on small businesses. Throughout this assault, Smithtown’s state representatives, Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick and Senator John Flanagan, have stayed true to the free market principles that will ultimately prove the only path to redemption. Messieurs Fitzpatrick and Flanagan have consistently fought for the people of Smithtown by voting in opposition to tax increases, by introducing legislation intended to reform New York’s broken pension system, and by ceaselessly promoting a more business friendly infrastructure. It is these principles of tax cuts, free trade and pragmatic reform, along with a strong national defense, that have become the hallmarks of the Suffolk County Republican Party and of all the candidates it puts forth.

New York’s Democrat incumbents, Steve Israel, Tim Bishop, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, will run on the premise that they have “brought home the bacon” for the people of Suffolk County. This is the new phrase de jour for Democrats seizing our federal tax dollars and redistributing them as they see fit. What these incumbents don’t understand, however, is that the people of Suffolk County no longer trust their government to tend to their daily affairs. They want to make their decisions, spend their money, and invest in their workforce in ways befitting their populace. Their faith is entrusted in the people who make their region great, not in the government that attempts to exploit them.

The Suffolk County Republican Party has advocated the benefits of provincial autonomy and limited government intervention, thus electing men and women into local and state government who adhere to these core principles. Now is the time to transfer these standards to the federal level and to join in the fight, nationwide, to place the power back where it belongs – in the hands of the American people.

Jeremy Pitcoff