Op-Ed: Republican Congressional Candidate Says You Have A Choice On Election Day

The following op-ed is submitted by Alan Bellone, the Republican candidate running for Congress against Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Green Party candidate Colin Beavan in the 8th Congressional District.

If you listen to the media and the news, you will hear that you do not have a choice in the upcoming election for the 8th Congressional District. This is entirely untrue. You do have a choice, and that choice is Alan Bellone.

I have lived in Brooklyn all my life. I have had the luxury of doing business in all areas of our expansive district; from Manhattan Beach to Howard Beach, from Bed-Stuy to Canarsie, from Starrett City to Clinton Hill. I have worked with people in almost every area within the district. I have watched areas go through good times and bad. Recently, I have noticed more difficult times for business owners and home owners. It’s time for a change for the better.

I worked in the corporate world for 20 years before venturing into my own business. I started as a help desk analyst and worked my way up to director of technology at a law firm. Because of the enormous responsibility that was placed in my hands, I had to quickly transform my attitude towards work. I adopted the strategy of getting my jobs done in the best and most efficient way possible.

Now, the question is “Why politics?” What makes me think that I can start in corporate politics, advance to owning my own business, and ultimately settle in Congress?

Our country is in trouble. We are headed in the entirely wrong direction. Unemployment has stayed above eight percent for 44 months. From 1948 to 2009 — the time in between the presidencies of Harry S. Truman and Barack Obama (11 presidents in total) — our country saw 39 months of unemployment over eight percent. Of the 45 months that President Obama has been in office, 44 of them saw unemployment rates higher than eight percent. One in six Americans is receiving food stamps. Twenty-three million Americans are at or below the poverty level. His policies are not working. We have an administration that was dealt a bad hand, but continues to play the wrong cards. Now, as the election date draws nearer, you, the people of the 8th Congressional District, must keep one thing in your minds at all times: a vote for Jeffries is a vote for Obama.

Christopher Stevens, our ambassador to Libya, as well as three other Americans, were tragically killed in an attack on our embassy. The murder of Americans in our foreign embassies is an attack on our country. Yet, our administration treats this as another day at the office. The president went to a fundraiser that night in Las Vegas. Three days later our Secretary of State was celebrating Ramadan with the Libyan ambassador. Foreign countries are expected to protect our ambassadors. We send billions of dollars to these countries to protect our interests, including our personnel. Not only did they fail, our administration failed. Are you upset about this as much as I am?

The protests in foreign countries against the United States are attributed to the lack of an international policy by our administration. The administration shows disregard for Israel, yet meets with the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. These “mixed signals” allow other radical nations to believe that the United States is an indecisive nation that can be effortlessly manipulated. To make matters worse, Iran is continuing its efforts to create nuclear weapons. We have stood idly by for too long.  Israel, our closest ally, is rallying their military to protect themselves from the Iranian threat and America is nowhere to be found.

It is time to include everyday citizen in the decision-making process. The people have not been infused with the politician ideology. It is time to give one of us the chance to change things for the better. Give me that chance, and I will not let you down.

A vote for Hakeem Jeffries is a vote for President Obama.

On February 2, 2009, President Obama said on The Today Show: “If I don’t have this turned around in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” Well, Mr. President, nothing has been turned around, and your three years are up.

Alan Bellone is the Republican candidate running for Congress against Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in the 8th Congressional District.

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