George’s Opponent
Many of the news stories about Congressman Maurice Hinchey, George’s opponent, are positive stories announcing federal grants for the district. Helping their district receive federal grants is something that virtually all Congressmen do.
However, Mr. Hinchey has very effectively concealed his views and votes on several key issues. Consider the following:
1) Taxes - Hinchey voted in favor of the largest tax increase in our nation’s history in the 1990’s when Upstate New York was struggling to recover from a recession.
(103rd Congress, HR 2264, Roll Call Vote #406)
Hinchey’s votes against tax cuts and for tax increases have continued. Hinchey voted in favor of a budget that would pave the way for the 2001 tax cuts to expire by 2010 and lead to another massive tax increase.
(110th Congress, H Res 1036, Roll Call Vote #130)
Hinchey has received an 8% ranking with American for Tax Reform for his performance in the 109th Congress, one of the lowest rankings in the Congress.
2) Lobbyist Paid Trips – Hinchey has taken over $200,000 in lobbyist paid trips since 2000 — the highest of all 29 Members of Congress from New York.
The trips included a $20,494 trip to Germany last year.
(Open Secrets Travel Database)
His frequent travels have caused the New York Post to label him a “Junket Junkie.”
3) Small Businesses – While small businesses in Upstate New York have struggled to make ends meet, in the last session of Congress Hinchey obtained a 14% ranking from the NFIB (National Federal of Independent Businesses) — the nation’s most active advocacy group for small businesses.
4) National Defense – Hinchey has voted against bills authorizing defense spending that fund the activities of Lockheed Martin and BAE — major companies that employ thousands of workers in the district.
(109th Congress, HR 1815, Roll Call #222)
Hinchey continues to be one of the few members of Congress to vote against diplomatic measures designed to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
(110th Congress, HR 1400, Roll Call #895)
Despite the known and very current efforts of North Korea and other powers to acquire nuclear weapons and the missiles to carry them, Mr. Hinchey also opposes our national missile defense program, once claiming that “we’ve passed that period in our history”.
(Federation of American Scientists)
5) Earmark Reform – Stopping wasteful pork barrel spending such as the now infamous “Alaska Bridge to nowhere” has become a major focus of reformers. Hinchey voted against a reform effort that would require earmarks would have to be made fully transparent in bill language.
(110th Congress, H Res 473, Roll Call # 451)
6) Gas Prices – Despite soaring gas prices and US dependence on foreign oil from unstable regimes, Hinchey has passionately opposed measures designed to allow Americans access to the hundreds of billions of oil available right here at home, and protected a regulation that forces our military to buy oil from foreign suppliers rather than using American fuel available from oil shale and coal liquefaction.
(109th Congress, HR 5429, Roll Call #209)
