Recent Blogs on Massa For Congress

Commanders Table-Building a Majority Party: Reforging Democratic Identity by Eric Massa

In November of last year the Democratic Party regained majority status in both houses of Congress. Opposition to the Iraq War was by far the main issue of the election and the strength of the new Democratic majority status in the House was tested this week with a vote on funding and timetables for the Iraq War. Simply put, ending the Iraq War is what the American people expected from the Democratic congress it sent to Washington. The American people have realized that the War was started based on lies, that it has been poorly executed, and that our soldiers are stuck in the middle of a Civil War. And so they want out. They voted for the Democratic Party to get us out of Iraq and we need to show we are trying to do just that.

Commanders Table-Beginning 2008 Campaign by Eric Massa

This week at the studios of WETM TV in Elmira New York I told the audience of Coleman and Company, a local 30 minute TV political talk show, that I intend to run against John Kuhl of Hammondsport for the honor of Representing the 29th Congressional district before the United States House of Representatives in Washington DC.

I take this decision, one of the most difficult I, or my family, has ever faced, because of several reasons. But no other reasons are so clear as the continuing assault on the security of our Nation, the ongoing war on the Middle Class that built it, and the disgraceful shortchanging of the Veterans who defended it at home and overseas.

Commanders Table-When Heroes are Treated like Zeroes by Eric Massa

Nothing is too good for our Veterans and that is exactly what they are getting: nothing too good. This Thursday I transmitted a newsletter to many of our supporters and friends that discussed the ongoing and tragically growing scandal about the fate of the Veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. While much of what we are reading about this scandal is no real surprise to those of us who have experience with Veteran-related issues, one thing about this is surprising: that what we are reading about actually occurred within the boundaries of the Active Duty Army before they ever got into the VA system. And, lest you think that all these stories are just isolated occurrences, read (this piece http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17315490/site/newsweek/) about homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and you'll understand that what we have heard about is only the tip of the iceberg.

Commanders Table-A Brighter Future by cpettig

Now that the vast majority of the votes have been re-canvassed, and the counting of the absentee ballots is well underway, it is clear that the initial results of the election will not change. The owners of this democracy have spoken and I would like to wish Congressman Kuhl and his team the best of luck with the important work that still lies ahead.

Commanders Table-Veterans for a Secure America: Announcement and Discussion by Eric Massa

A Landmark Event in support of Democrats who have valiantly served our country and are now running for public office. Cosponsored by VetPAC and BandofBrothers2006. Wednesday, February 8, 2006 (VetPAC, BandofBrothers)

The election of 2006 will be known as the year vet candidates retook Congress. And we begin on February 8th when over 50 vets running for the U.S. House of Representatives and Congress will receive a salute in Washington, D.C. These are the Fighting Dem vets who will save us from the grips of those who would chart a course for America that distorts the values that have made America strong, disrupts the largest economy in the world, leaving our children and grandchildren to paying off our debt, destroys the working families that have been the bulwark of our nation, degrades our international image as a beacon of freedom and democracy, deprives our youth of education for their futures, and denies the elderly, the disadvantaged and our vets the health care they need. These Fighting Dem Vets will join their vet colleagues already in Congress to make America stronger and better than it has ever been.

Commanders Table-K Street Project Betrays our Troops by Eric Massa

Taking care of our fighting men and women should be a first priority for anyone who claims to be strong on national security. But the Republican Party, which claims to be strong on National Security, has an undeniable record of ignoring the needs of our soldiers both on the battlefield and off. On the battlefield they are not given the proper body armor and humvee armor. Off the battlefield they do not get proper pay or health benefits.

Democratic members of Congress have repeatedly fought for our soldiers only to be rebuffed by Republicans. (Here is a link from the Senate side and here is a recent speech by Congresswoman Pelosi) This is a very important part of why the Fighting Dems/ Band of Brothers and Sisters/Veterans for a Secure America (link) are running for office. We are all dedicated to the health, safety and welfare of our troops and would like to help the Democratic Party gain control of at least one House of Congress so that our fighting men and women have a voice in Washington.

Commanders Table-OF HURRICANES AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: NOT JUST CORRUPT, BUT INCOMPETENT by Eric Massa

As national Democrats rally against corruption in Washington this week, it becomes more
and more clear that one of the major dangers of the outsourcing of our government to fat cat
corporate interests is the gross mismanagement we have witnessed in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina and now the disastrous administration of the Medicare prescription drug
benefit. After hearing case after nightmare case of seniors, in the first several weeks of 2006,
who depend on life-preserving drugs walking out of pharmacies empty handed - in one report
in New York's 29th District, where I reside, up to 50 percent of those who tried to fill their
prescriptions - and states and pharmacies stepping in to cover co-payments while the
government and its private sector beneficiaries / benefactors dropped the ball, one is left
wondering what kind of mess we'd have to deal with should the Administration have
succeeded in privatizing Social Security.

Commanders Table-WHY TRADE MATTERS AND HOW WE ARRIVED WHERE WE ARE TODAY by Eric Massa

I spent a great deal of my youth and adult life at sea aboard the ships of the United States
Navy. On the ocean, national borders dissolve and the only evidence of nationality comes
from the flags on the various ships as they make their way from port to port. I am old enough
to remember seeing the American flag flying from US merchant ships, a sight that has since
disappeared from the trading oceans of the world. Those once familiar American ships--
carrying American made products and raw materials--are now gone, replaced by thousands
of vessels flying flags of convenience, moving cargos from South America and the Orient to
US ports. They usually depart empty for their return voyage. So empty, in fact, that many
Chinese companies have taken to loading scrap cardboard as ballast, then reprocessing it into
the industrial grade packaging that we have grown so accustomed to.

Commanders Table-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND LIVING WAGE JOBS IN THE 29TH by Eric Massa

During much of the past thirty years living wage employment has migrated away from
the rural western areas of New York State - sometimes to be replaced by minimum wage
employment offering restricted or no living wage benefits - including medical and
retirement plans. Today, meaningful employment that can initiate and sustain long term
economic development remains one of the stubborn most challenges facing public and
private leaders throughout the Upstate areas of New York.

Commanders Table-The Arrogance of Power and Washington's Culture of Corruption by Eric Massa

The week has brought a more complete understanding of the depth and scope of what is becoming the deepest institutional corruption scandal in the history of the US House of Representatives. Like the initial reports coming from hospital emergency rooms, the information on the sick patient is not yet fully understood, but with each update it is increasingly clear that it is worse than the American people were lead to believe.

While no political party has ever held an absolute command of the moral high ground, the American people are seeing a vastly Republican scandal that floats to the front page of our morning newspaper. The very Republican leaders who came to power in the early 1990's riding into Washington on the back of a self proclaimed Contract with America have shattered that document on the anvil of power hungry arrogance In the 29th Congressional District, Randy Kuhl, a 99% rubber stamp for Tom DeLay proudly proclaimed that the $20,000 of tainted Jack Abramoff campaign contributions he sold himself for, were no different than the funds he received from the Labor Unions who had supported his run for Congress. In short he sees no difference between the contributions of hard working middle class union brothers and sisters and the corrupt money laundered funds Abramoff stole in Tom Delays shell games designed to bilk the pockets of influence buying lobbyists.