Zeldin to Bishop: Get to Work!

PATCHOGUE, NY (10/01/2008)(readMedia)-- Shocked by his opponent's failure to get back to Washington to do his job as a member of the House budget committee, Republican and Conservative Party candidate Lee Zeldin issued the following statement:

Yet again, Tim Bishop and the do-nothing Congress earned every bit of their 10 percent approval rating. Unfortunately, this year, we've learned some hard lessons about Bishop and our representatives:

• My opponent loves his vacations. Instead of heading down to Washington and doing his job during the defining financial crisis of his time in office, Congressman Bishop chooses to hide on Long Island instead. You'd imagine that he had enough time in the district during the recent five-week vacation that he voted for.

• Yet again, instead of doing what's right for our district, he continues to be the loyal Pelosi poodle who is a rubber stamp for a misguided agenda.

• Instead of providing solutions to this crisis, Congressman Bishop continues to respond with vagaries and non-committal statements. His indecisiveness and clear lack of understanding of basic economics is troubling, considering the responsibilities of the position. Make no mistake, the same Tim Bishop who helped run Southampton College into financial ruin as an administrator supports policies to do the same to America's financial system.

• Finally, and candidly, recent history has shown that our President's decision making deserves scrutiny. According to Bishop, virtually every shortcoming of our government can be pinned on the President's shoulders, yet we don't even allow a week to pass before Bishop signs on to the President's plan. This is yet another example of my opponent's blind commitment to Nancy Pelosi in spite of better judgment and lack of attentiveness to our district.

As of today, I've run a grass-roots campaign for exactly a year. Over the past 366 days, I've walked the district and met the hardworking men and women of Eastern Long Island. I've listened to their concerns and shared my platform while my opponent has ducked accountability.

I've also promised to keep our district at the forefront of my agenda. It's about time that our Congressman actually represented us and not just his party.

Men and women of the First Congressional District, I can't do it alone. With your vote, change is on the way.

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Paid for by Lee Zeldin for Congress