Jun 26, 2012
Severely Flawed Collins Limps Into General Election
Chris Collins (NY-27) brings an embarrassing amount of baggage with him into the general election against a strong opponent in Kathy Hochul. This campaign is going to be a race between two opposites. Voters will have the chance to choose Kathy Hochul, who has built a strong, independent record, or Chris Collins, a slash-and-burn corporate raider who wants to decimate Medicare and make Western New York seniors pay more for health care.
“Chris Collins has a record of making millions while laying off hundreds of workers, and now he wants to further hurt Western New York’s middle class families by drastically cutting Medicare and forcing seniors to pay more for their health care,” said Josh Schwerin, Northeast Press Secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Western New York voters have already rejected Collins when they threw him out of office in Erie County, and rejected the Republican plan to slash Medicare when they elected Kathy Hochul last year.”
Despite attempts to keep his positions hidden from voters, Collins has already said that the Ryan Budget does not go far enough, so the question is, how much further will Chris Collins go? Will he try to raise taxes on the middle class, like he did in Erie County? Collins needs to be honest with the people of the 27th district about the insider partisan politics he would bring to Congress.
Background
Collins told the Batavia Daily News that the Ryan Budget “doesn’t go far enough.” According to the Batavia Daily News, “Collins said he favors the Tea Party push to reduce the federal government. He praised Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, for ‘starting the conversation’ about reducing entitlement programs. But Collins said Ryan doesn’t go far enough. Ryan believes the budget could be balanced in 30 years, Collins said it needs to be done in 10 years. To delay it longer isn’t fair to young Americans who will have to foot the bill.” [Batavia Daily News, 5/9/12]
Collins Called for Property Tax Hike in First Budget. In October 2008, Collins called for a property tax increase in his first fiscal year budget as county executive, stating he needed eight percent more in property tax revenue to balance the budget. “I expect that the public will realize that this is a small price to pay to have a balanced budget in these economic times,” said Collins. [Buffalo News, 10/11/08]
Collins said his stance on the Ryan Budget is similar to Jane Corwin’s. In March 2012, Collins has admitted that his position does not differ significantly from Jane Corwin’s position. Corwin supported the Ryan Budget, which “would essentially end Medicare.” [Buffalo News, 3/25/12; Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11]
Collins tried to hide his position on the Ryan budget and its plans to end Medicare we know it. “Republican congressional candidate Chris Collins said he’s not yet ready to take a stand on the Republican budget plan that passed the House on Thursday, which is similar to a GOP spending plan from a year ago that helped propel a Democrat, Rep. Kathleen C. Hochul, into office.” Collins, however, “lauded House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan for ‘starting a debate.’” [Buffalo News, 3/30/12]
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