LIBERTY – House Speaker John Boehner was the featured speaker at a private fundraiser for Congressman Christopher Gibson (R, NY19) Tuesday evening in Liberty. The event was closed to the media.
Close to 100 people gathered outside to show support for Obamacare, comprehensive immigration reform and to protest for an end to sequestration.
Citizen Action of New York regional coordinator Kat Fisher had a message for those assembled.
“Speaker Boehner, Congressman Gibson and Republicans in Washington are clearly out of touch with what is happening here in the Hudson Valley,” Fisher said. “Instead of creating jobs, investing on our communities, giving kids a head start, fixing our broken immigration system, and protecting our environment, their extreme Washington politics are dividing this country. Our communities are suffering while John Boehner, Chris Gibson and Republicans push this extreme agenda in Congress.”
Star Hesse of Narrowsburg, a member of the Sullivan County Senior Legislative Action Committee, was at the rally expressing concern over cuts in cuts to senior citizen programs “when you have big corporations and very wealthy top one percent in America, who can drop $2,400 in one evening getting tax breaks and tax loopholes that could bring trillions of dollars into the government.”
Linda Bastian of Callicoon, a member of Upper Delaware Community Action, claimed Boehner’s agenda is “anti-patriotic, very, very destructive to the country.”
Sandy Oxford of Hurleyville said immigration is “a massive issue in Sullivan County and this country.” She pointed out that downtown Liberty has a vibrant commercial district. “They are all immigrant owned businesses and many of the immigrants have really become stabilizing to the tax base,” she said.
Maude Bruce, president of the Ellenville NAACP, attended because “we support justice.”