Readers respond to LI Press Story

I forgot to post this.... go figure.

From the May 12, 2005 Issue

LETTERS TO THE PRESS
Long Island Press political writer Elizabeth Cady Brown's April 28 story, "Kingly Fashion," generated many letters reproaching Rep. Peter King (R-Massapequa) for comments he made on Cablevision's News 12 Long Island. He described In This Together Campaign (ITTC), the new multi-union coalition opposing Social Security overhaul, as "partisan hit men" and "wacko malcontents."

Dear Editor,
In my experience, it's the media, not constituents, who have "respected" King Peter's over-the-top remarks. I was ashamed for all of Long Island when King made disparaging and outright hostile comments last summer regarding the New Jersey women who lost their husbands in the 9/11 attacks. So I'm not surprised that he called those of us who care about preserving Social Security "wacko malcontents." But he is right about one thing -- I'm definitely not content with my representation in Congress!


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Dear Editor,
I am a constituent of Peter King's, and I have never been charmed by his rudeness. He says he only responds harshly when someone writes a harsh letter to him, but I haven't found this to be true. Whenever you disagree with his position and I disagree with almost everything he does he tends to be condescending at best. His stand on Social Security is just the latest indication of his contempt for the needs of his constituents. He couldn't be bothered to show up for a Town Hall meeting on the subject, but if he had, he might have learned something about how people in his district rely on Social Security. When I think of the heartrending stories I heard that night, King's dismissive comment that the people at that meeting were "wacko malcontents" makes me absolutely furious.

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Dear Editor,
When anti-privatization activists rallied outside the offices of Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), the congressman emerged and engaged his constituents in a constructive dialogue. Compare this to Rep. Peter King, who greets opposing constituents with derision. That's why Peter King needs to be replaced.


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Dear Editor,
Not all of King's responses are to "harsh" letters. When he called the police on constituents who wanted to speak to him, not a harsh word precipitated that. King called into question a letter writer's morality and intellectual abilities because the writer was urging King to censure Bush for lies regarding WMDs. No "harsh" words were directed at King. Peter King feels free to insult, belittle and lie because no one has called him on it. It's time someone did. The Social Security Town Hall meeting he was too afraid to attend was set up because King himself will not speak to his constituents on his own. Of course, King showed up at a union meeting, because he needs their money and support. Four hundred constituents don't mean very much when the unions can offer thousands of dollars and an endorsement. At that union meeting, they planned to ask the same questions on Social Security that the Town Hall meeting organizers and participants wanted to ask. Did King call the union members' patriotism into question? Did he call the union members "wacky malcontents?" Of course not. It goes back to endorsements and money. King is afraid of constituents who will question him and take him to task for his actions. He says he is not a "punching bag." Fair enough, but he works for us. He has an obligation to listen to his constituents. If he has to sit and take criticism, then that is what he has to do. That's part of the job. Unfortunately, his thin skin and lack of professionalism makes that difficult. The sad part is that unions still support King. He voted for the Bush budgets that have hurled us into historic deficits that will mean the working person will get the shaft at some point. King supported the Homeland Security Department bill -- which stripped workers in that department of collective bargaining. John Kennedy [head of the Building and Construction Trades Council] ought to look at King's record and see that it is more than one issue that would give the unions a second look at the man they support. King is not their friend.

John Rennhack
the editor of www.kingwatch.blogspot.com

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Dear Editor,
Re: "Kingly Fashion," I would have to disagree with John Kennedy, head of the Building and Construction Trades Council [of Nassau and Suffolk], when he says, "We probably wouldn't abandon a candidate over just one issue..." First of all, when that one issue is Social Security, that's big enough to warrant a break. Working people bled to earn Social Security for all of us, and we have to make sure we don't lose it. But secondly, Peter King is wrong on so many issues, it's hard to know where to start. He recently supported an extremely harsh bankruptcy law that extracts the last dime from working people who get in trouble when they lose their job or have exorbitant medical bills, but offers cushy exceptions for corporate defaulters. He supported making permanent the repeal of the estate tax which ought by rights to be called the Paris Hilton tax. We are paying for this loss of revenue from the super-rich with an increase in the stealth alternative minimum tax -- which affects more middle-class families every year. And finally, King recently voted for an energy bill that allows petroleum companies to sink MTBEs into our groundwater while exempting them from prosecution. Peter King is no friend to the middle class.