Columns

Supe spurned Tea Party with endorsement

I had a phone conversation with Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter a few weeks ago, after I heard he may have been planning to endorse wealthy businessman Randy Altschuler for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District race. After speaking to Mr. Walter about Mr. Altschuler’s history, Mr. Walter stated he would not be endorsing anyone.

Considering his about-face on the matter, it appears Mr. Walter is not a man of his word. And contrary to what the supervisor has said, the Suffolk County 9-12 group believes he is also fully aware that Randy Altschuler, his endorsed candidate, is not a U.S. jobs creator.

Mr. Altschuler may have created a few hundred U.S. jobs with his company, Office Tiger, but that company then outsourced thousands of U.S. jobs from other companies overseas to India, never mind the trend he set that then required even more U.S. companies to do the same to remain competitive.

Mr. Walter also knows that Mr. Altschuler joined the Green Party, which we believe to be a radical, left wing, Marxist organization, at age 30. Mr. Altschuler claims this was a youthful indiscretion, yet at 30 he already owned a very successful jobs outsourcing company. Mr. Altschuler had never even registered to vote until 2006, he told the 9-12 Project as we were screening for CD1 endorsements earlier this year.

As a matter of fact, most of the Tea Party activists and true conservatives in our group agreed that Mr. Altschuler was the least conservative candidate in a field of nine candidates for CD1.

My question to Mr. Walter is this: When Mr. Altschuler created hundreds of U.S. jobs, to then outsource thousands of US jobs, how does this define him as a U.S. jobs creator, as you had stated last week in a press release regarding your endorsement? According to my calculations it’s still a net loss of thousands of U.S. jobs, plus all the outsourcing that has taken place since his trendsetting example.

I also sent Mr. Walter an e-mail asking how things were looking for a 0 percent tax increase in Riverhead Town next year. He sent back an e-mail stating it looks more like it will be 4 to 5 percent. From what I hear from Town Board members Jodi Giglio and George Gabrielsen, Mr. Walter has fought them tooth and nail on any meaningful spending reductions that would be required to reach this goal. Just wait until all the new federal tax hikes kick in. The last thing we need is a local tax increase.

For the reasons stated above, and after careful consideration, the Suffolk County 9-12 Project has endorsed Chris Cox, a rock-solid conservative who has the ability to win this race. Our first and foremost requirement is that a candidate is acceptably conservative. It seems Mr. Walter is only concerned with the depth of a candidate’s pockets. Regardless of party affiliation, the Suffolk County 9-12 Project will not support candidates who do not meet our standards.

Let’s all not forget; the Suffolk County 9-12 Project pushed Mr. Walter to his victory with less than 200 votes to spare at a time when many on his own committee would not even show up to support him. Bad move, Sean. Best of luck in 2011! I’m sure you will need it.

Perhaps Randy can get you a job in India.

Mr. Meyer is a Baiting Hollow resident and president of the Suffolk County 9-12 Project, a Tea Party group.