Happy Birthday, Senator Buckley

On behalf of myself, the officers, and members of the NYS Conservative Party I would like to extend a very Happy 100th Birthday to former Senator, senior member of the Reagan Administration and Federal Jurist, Jim Buckley.

I was a teenager when I received an invitation to attend a speech by then Senator Jim Buckley at the Edmund Seergy Republican Club in Brooklyn. It was 1976 and the Senator was running for re-election. Of course, we were all campaigning for him back in the days when handing out literature was the standard.

The GOP Club which could hold two hundred people within its walls was so overcrowded that people were spilling onto the street. I did not get in, but was able to shake Jim Buckley’s hand and listen as best I could.

The hold the Buckley family, and in particular Jim and his brother Bill Buckley, had on the conservative movement in New York and the nation during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s could best be described as seminal. The family founded Young Americans for Freedom at their home in Sharon, CT. YAF in turn created the American Conservative Union and the annual Conservative Political Action Conferences. Jim and Bill Buckley were regularly in attendance. As a young man I had the honor of serving as a National Board Member of Young Americans for Freedom and considered speaking with Jim and Bill a highlight of my involvement.

Jim and Bill were key to Ronald Reagan’s 1976 effort to become the Presidential nominee and just as important in 1980 when he was elected President. Jim went on to serve in several senior Reagan Administration positions and for many years as a federal Court of Appeals Judge for the District of Columbia.

Currently, Jim Buckley has not been honored by the Federal government through the naming of a park, building or other federal installation. That could change. Senator Buckley was the sponsor of the legislation creating Gateway National Recreation Area in the New York City region. United States Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a onetime legal intern for Judge Buckley, and Republican Conservative Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island/Brooklyn have sponsored legislation to name the Staten Island portion of the national park after Senator Buckley. We will be strongly advocating for its passage.
Read my full press release here on Senator Buckley.

New Taxes to Pay for Biden Budget

It is a mainstay of the conservative movement that elections have consequences. Here is one: out of touch, left-wing manipulated President Biden has submitted a bloated federal budget that depends on tax increases to assist in covering its ballooning costs. Speaker McCarthy, Ways and Means Chairman Jason Scott, and the GOP House Majority have declared new taxes a non-starter. The end result will be that we win and Biden loses. Elections have consequences.

Zeldin Launches PAC

Former Congressman and Gubernatorial candidate wasted little time in getting back into the arena to fight for Republicans all over the country.
Zeldin announced the Leadership America Needs Political Action Committee on Wednesday that will aim to help candidates appeal to first time Republican voters, much like the voters who turned out for him in huge numbers this past November.
“We’re gonna be doing a bunch of different things that we’ll be announcing in due course, but from a political standpoint, I’m staying active,” Zeldin said to Politico. “I believe that at some point in the future, there will be re-entry into government. I don’t know exactly when or what, but in the meantime, we’ll stay heavily engaged in trying to continue our involvement for the 2024 cycle.”
The PAC announcement comes at the right time as the 2024 election season seems to be heating up fast.
I want to congratulate Lee and thank him for staying involved in the fight. He has been a tremendous leader and asset to both the Republican and Conservative Parties. With his help, I expect many victories in 2024 not only in New York, but around the country.

Nominating Petitions

Conservative Party organizations throughout the state have either nominated, or will soon nominate, their slate of candidates for local offices. County Executives, other countywide officials, County Legislators, Town Supervisors, Town Council Members, and other local positions are up for election in most counties.In a few counties, the party will be reorganizing. There is much to do. Before our organizations or the State Party can issue authorizations (Wilson-Pakulas) our activists and candidates must obtain a minimum of 5% of the enrolled Conservative Party members signatures on the nominating petition.If you are an enrolled member of the Conservative Party, please sign the nominating petition of your local party candidate when a member of the Conservative Party knocks on your door.  If you would like to sign but are not sure who to contact, please call the Conservative Party Headquarters at 718-921-2158 and we will point you in the right direction.

Follow us on All Social Media

The Party remains very active all year round. The best way to keep up with us on a daily basis is through our website cpnys.org, YouTube, or social media:  facebook, twitter and Instagram.
In fact, our highly successful Conservative Party Political Action Conference appears on YouTube which can be found at our website or through the YouTube link above. The conference had many great speakers including Gordon Chang, the noted author on Communist China, Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, a panel of newly elected Congressmembers, speakers on Charter Schools and children’s rights, just to name a few.

No Compromise, Mr. Speaker

We Know President Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell are all about more spending, big unwieldy federal programs, and willful ignorance of massive federal waste and mismanagement. This leaves Speaker McCarthy in the driver’s seat, and he must not compromise on lifting the debt ceiling.

In fact, since 1960, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times. It raises questions about how seriously past Democratic and Republican Administrations have taken this important cap. Amazingly, most Democrats want the current debt cap of $31.4 trillion increased by close to 3 trillion additional dollars. A subset of the Democratic House Conference has actually proposed entirely doing away with the cap. In my view, this is the definition of irresponsibility.

No one can say how much waste and mismanagement exists in the federal budget. Based on what we have seen in fraud that came out of pandemic spending, it is likely to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Incredibly the current per capita debt in the United States is $97,600. That becomes over $390,000 for a family of four. It’s a large mortgage that few Americans know they need to pay back.

The Conservative Party opposes raising the debt ceiling. First, we need to address fraud, waste, and mismanagement. The next step should be respecting the cap through the reduction of spending. Frankly, that is why, except for national emergencies, the cap exists in the first place.

GOP Senate Scores Important Win

The word arrogant is the best word to describe the Democratic leadership of the NYS Senate. Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins and Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, when confronted with a Gubernatorial Court of Appeals nominee that they did not like, chose to stack a Senate Committee and then ignore the State Constitution, which requires the entire Senate to debate and consider all gubernatorial nominees.

Senate Republican Leader Robert Ortt, Senator Anthony Palumbo, and the entire GOP conference took Senate Democrats to court Judge Thomas Whelan of the State Supreme Court made short work of this petition, declaring the action by Senate Democrats unconstitutional. It was consistent with the view of almost every NYS Constitutional scholar and editorial board that offered an opinion. It was arrogance and a pattern of disregard for New York laws that brought the Senate Democrats into court. Principle and the rule of law were upheld, making all New Yorkers winners.

Conservative Party names J. Daniel Mahoney Award Winners

Donald Mazzullo, our Monroe County Chairman, and Michael Buttino, our Greene County Chairman, will be the 2023 recipients of the J. Daniel Mahoney Award.

Dan Mahoney was the founder of the Conservative Party in 1962. His illustrious political and governmental career led him to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The event will take place on Monday, March 27th, beginning at 5:30 PM at the Fort Orange Club in Albany.

In honor of Presidents Day, the New York State Conservative Party pays tribute to the great leaders who have served as President of the United States. From George Washington, who helped establish the very foundations of our democracy, to Abraham Lincoln, who fought to preserve it during one of its greatest challenges, to Ronald Reagan, who worked to restore our national pride and strength in the face of adversity. Regardless of political affiliation, every president played an essential role in shaping our nation into the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

As conservatives, we believe in the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility. Our presidents have exemplified these values throughout our history, upholding the Constitution as the bedrock of our society. 

Our nation’s first president, George Washington, exemplified historic leadership during the American Revolution, which was crucial in securing our nation’s independence. His commitment to liberty and justice for all set the standard for future leaders to follow. President Lincoln recognized the need to preserve the Union at all costs, led our country through the Civil War, and ended the institution of slavery. President Reagan understood that America was a shining beacon of freedom and opportunity to the world, and he worked tirelessly to promote those values both at home and abroad. He knew that the strength of our nation came from the ingenuity and hard work of its citizens. 

The legacies of these  remarkable presidents, and so many more, will be forever ingrained into our society. Generations to come will have the opportunity to participate in the strongest democracy in the world and vote for a leader that will impact the lives of every citizen. It is essential that we choose leaders who will uphold the constitution, our values, and our freedom. 

As we honor our past presidents, let us be reminded of the timeless values that have made our country great. Let us work together to uphold these values and build a better future for ourselves and future generations. In the wise words of President Reagan, “We are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We have every right to dream heroic dreams.” Let us never forget the heroic dreams of our past presidents, and let us strive to achieve even greater heights in the years to come.

Bidens SOTU

President Biden wants you to feel that things are looking up for our nation. To make his points, the President filled his annual State of the  Union Address with half-truths and lies.  More jobs, sure, but make no mistake, they aren’t jobs created, but jobs returned as we rebound from the pandemic. Improving the economy, maybe. Out-of-control inflation, obviously.

On Mexico, the President was not willing to connect the dots between his foreign policy and border failures with the nearly one hundred thousand Fentanyl deaths in the country. Fentanyl comes over our borders from the South and through various mechanisms directly from communist China.

He touted a bring back the “Made in America” banner created in the early 1970s by a Republican Administration. Too bad his party spent most of the previous administration denouncing its “America First” theme.

Biden’s inability to tell the truth resulted in him using his address to the nation to falsely accuse the Republican Majority of working on cutting Social Security and Medicare the true third rail of government and politics. As though on cue, the Democrats denounced the GOP for jeering Biden’s lie instead of questioning why he lied in the first place.

Direct TV and Newsmax

Political speech, particularly dissenting speech, is America’s most precious resource, whether it comes from the political left or the political right. At a time when free speech is under attack and censorship by big tech, television providers should not be removing any news networks.

Newsmax is not just another network; it has become a wildly successful alternative to the major Networks, Fox and CNN, even going as far as to outperform both in the ratings at times.

I suspect the decision by AT&T to pull Newsmax is hardly over the financial reasons it claims; it just sounds too convenient for the moment. I know corporate boardrooms aren’t the friendliest places for conservative thoughts. I also know that corporate boardrooms should have no place deciding where and where not the consumer will get their news.

We are tired of being told what to think and how to think by elitists. This country was founded on Principals, the most important being freedom of speech. The longer they keep Newsmax off Direct TV, the longer they suppress our 1 st Amendment.

2023 Political Action Conference

Thank you to everyone who supported and attended our Conservative Party Political Action Conference. I have had the good fortune of hearing from countless attendees over the last couple of days and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive. From the beginning, the conference had a different feel and look. The centralized location in Albany, combined with a revamped speaker format, helped result in one of our largest turnouts. I am sure many came away with information they will put into action going forward.

The new member Congressional Panel of Nick Lalotta, Michael Lawler, Brandon Williams and Marcus Molinaro was worthy of its own public affairs show. Gordon Chang on China and Brandon Judd the national head of the Border Agent Council were insightful.

The Rookie reception had near twenty new members of Congress and the legislature in attendance. The Awards reception that closed the conference was in particular well attended.

Lee Zeldin’s news conference which received both national and statewide coverage had over nine cameras and countless journalists in attendance.

Lee who was the Luncheon speaker was modest in describing his efforts and thankful for all the  Conservative Party did for him.

The Conference was planned and executed by Jason McGuire, who acted as Master of Ceremonies, along with  Jim Thomas, Eileen Johnson, Chris Kendall, Aaron Martin, and Andrew Davis.

I would also like to thank our former Executive Director Shaun Marie who continues to provide guidance.

I look forward to continuing to grow the ranks of the Conservative  Party and helping deliver decisive victories around the state.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill O’Reilly, 212-396-9117
Bill@NovemberTeam.com
February 9, 2023

STATEMENT FROM NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN GERARD KASSAR ON AT&T’S DISMISSAL OF NEWSMAX CHANNEL

Brooklyn-NY…“Political speech, particularly dissenting speech, is America’s most precious resource, whether it comes from the political left or the political right.

“The New York State Conservative Party is, therefore, alarmed at AT&T’s decision to pull the Newsmax Channel from its Dish Network offerings.  We suspect this wasn’t done for the economic reasons AT&T claims — Newsmax has a considerable audience — it was a political decision based on faddish prejudices in corporate boardrooms against legitimate conservative opinion. (One America News Network has also been singled out for cancellation due to its ideological slant.)

“We urge AT&T to reconsider the cancellation of Newsmax. This country was founded on the premise that more speech is always preferred to less speech, and that wisdom applies as much today as it did at the beginning of the American experiment. Those who prefer not to be edified by conservative viewpoints have a simple solution available to them: change the channel. If that doesn’t work, they can always bury their heads in the sand.”

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Omar Removed from Committee

Congressional Republicans are finally playing hardball and treating Democrats exactly how they were treated the previous 4 years. Except Republicans aren’t removing House Members from committees without just cause.

Rep. Ilhan Omar has time and time again spewed anti-Semitic hate and downplayed terrorist attacks, such as 9/11, far too many times to be taken seriously as a member of the influential Foreign Affairs Committee.

There are no fewer than three times where Rep. Omar participated in and led anti-Jewish sentiment, at one point even causing her own caucus to at one point introduce a resolution condemning her comments.

I am happy House leadership is holding members accountable for their bigotry. For far too long, the media has provided cover to Democrats acting as in-kind contributors as opposed to responsibly journalist. Leader McCarthy and his caucus have had enough, and I agree.

The Hochul Budget

If big government were the solution to society’s ills, New York State would be heaven on earth. Instead, under Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget, it will remain a tax and regulatory hellscape, continuing to fall behind other states in job and business development. When will New York’s Democratic leadership finally learn that economic growth comes from the private sector, not government spending?

From the Governor’s proposed MTA payroll tax, to tone deaf responses on crime and bail reform, one party rule in New York is proving to be more dangerous and costly than we could have ever expected.

Read my full release on the Hochul Budget here.

CPNY Legislative Program Released

The Conservative Party is building on one of its most fruitful years ever. In 2022, it played a key role in the successful litigation effort that forced fair, court-ordered redistricting lines across the state. With reasonable district lines established, the Conservative Party supported 11 winning congressional candidates from New York, four of whom won with margins provided by line “C.” Newsmax called the New York State Conservative Party “The Majority Makers” for its role in the Republican takeover of Congress.

Political parties have a duty to spell out in detail the ideas and legislative measures they support, and we are pleased to do so again in 2023. Unsurprisingly, we continue to call for fiscally sound, pro-economic-growth policies; respect for human life; strong public safety laws; religious and other constitutional freedoms; free-market solutions to healthcare and housing shortages; accountability in education, and government reforms, including the return of powers to the State Legislature, a co-equal branch of New York State government. We urge that members of all political affiliations review and consider these prescriptions for a better state.

Please see our comprehensive legislative program for 2023 here.

BREAKING: Pentagon tells the public to ‘look up in the sky and see where the balloon is’

Nancy Mace says ‘Squad’ members are ‘drama queens’ for complaining about Ilhan Omar ouster

Food inflation is so high even Whole Foods is looking to lower prices