To the Editor:
Congressman Marc Molinaro paid Cortland County a visit on Feb. 16 as one of eleven district-wide town halls. I found a front-row seat, appreciating that Mr. Molinaro had already surpassed his predecessor, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, in mustering the confidence to listen to his constituents in a forum of public dialogue.
Molinaro frequently presents himself as a moderate Republican with bipartisan instincts. Political moderation has an appeal to those of us in Cortland who are rightfully concerned about legislative gridlock in Washington, DC. Are we not deserving of representatives who will advance the policies on which we find ourselves in overwhelming agreement?
For example, a college education ought to be worth something more than mortgaging one’s financial future. I found it unfortunate that Molinaro, in several comments, fed into misinformation surrounding President Biden’s student loan debt cancellation effort: that it privileges the young at the expense of the old or blue-collar workers at the expense of managerial elites.
What about defending Social Security and Medicare funding? Molinaro assured us that he “supports the long-term success” of those programs, “Period.” But what exactly do those extra words “long-term success” entail?
To his credit, Molinaro seemed to earnestly support greater fiscal responsibility in federal spending. This is a welcome change from the Wall Street-friendly spendthrifts who populated the Trump administration.
Most of us in Cortland agree that the federal government should not spend money that it does not have, such as a $1.7 trillion tax break primarily for billionaires. On the expenditures side, I hoped that Molinaro would credit President Biden’s success at reducing our national deficit by a historic $1.4 trillion.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he did not.
Yet by merely showing up, Molinaro has offered us a listening ear. It is our responsibility to ensure that he will represent Cortland’s consensus for a fairer economy. Period.
Reed Cleland
Homer
