Originally Posted by RichieLion

I said I supported him. I didn't say I voted for him. I was a student at St. Lucy's R.C. Elementary in N.Y.C., and the nuns were very enthusiastic about the candidacy of this young eloquent Catholic Senator. Thus, we studied him and his speeches, and his opponent Vice-President Richard M. Nixon.

It wasn't hard to like and support J.F.K. Anyway, my father, was a great supporter of J.F.K. and I am my father's son.

I was just a little younger, but my father was a Democratic committee man in our district. He took me to those meetings...He is the one by whom all candidates are judged and I suspect always will be. He press conferences were so much fun to watch.

Originally Posted by cologal

I was just a little younger, but my father was a Democratic committee man in our district. He took me to those meetings...He is the one by whom all candidates are judged and I suspect always will be. He press conferences were so much fun to watch.

My father also was active in Democrat politics in my youth, as he was first a New York Civil Court judge, and then later a New York State Supreme Court judge where he served the bulk of his career; and those are elected positions. He never lost an election in his career. Later on he revoked his membership in the Democrat Party and registered as a Republican. The values promulgated by the exceedingly leftist transformation of his party were too much for him to take. This was personified in the person of Ronald Reagan, also a former Democrat, and it was his candidacy that inspired and spurred my father to make this, for him, a momentous change.

Originally Posted by RichieLion

LOL; I don't dislike Democrats per se. But the Democrats of today, with rare exception, are not the Democrats I've supported in the past. Democrats like John. F. Kennedy. I'm not putting Gov. Cuomo in that category at this point because it way too early in his career. But I will keep my eye on him.

I was originally a registered Democrat like my father before me, but like my father before me, I changed my affiliation. In the words of another former Democrat, and one of the greatest public figures in my lifetime, "I did not leave the Democrat Party, they left me". These words were spoken by the one and only Ronald Reagan, and they speak for me.

We'll see if Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a return to the Democrats of old, who at least understood that what made this country great was the amalgamation of the hard work of the millions of free people who made their own way and carved their own destinies without looking to the government to provide for them. Safety nets are one thing, but we've gone way beyond that, and it's got to stop.

Tony Ditto: My father was a Democrat through and through. so when I changed party affliliations my fahter 's response was " How could you leave the Democratic Party" upon which I replied "I didn't leave them they left me"

the problem now arising is hat Republicans are not what they were when I crossed over

It was said to raise tolls so people will use mass transet well lets raise gas to say 20.00 a gallon so another form of energy will be developed. Isnt that a form of blackmail. We need to get people to do it because it is a good thing. That's what Martha would say. I try to cut costs and find a more economical way to do things every day at work. I'm not told to I just do it.

Originally Posted by DDoug

It was said to raise tolls so people will use mass transet well lets raise gas to say 20.00 a gallon so another form of energy will be developed. Isnt that a form of blackmail. We need to get people to do it because it is a good thing. That's what Martha would say. I try to cut costs and find a more economical way to do things every day at work. I'm not told to I just do it.

New York City is an overcrowded city of vehicles on it's best days. It also boasts about the most comprehensive mass transit system in the U.S. in my opinion. Whatever gets people out of their personal cars in NYC is a good thing, in my view. The tolls are not being raised to increase mass transit usage, but if that's the result, it is not a bad thing.

I'm imagining the following discussion.

"Look - if we raise gas taxes by a nickel a gallon every month for a few years, here's what you'll get out of it.. The potholes will be fixed - your local DOT's won't have to ever utter the word 'deferred maintenance' again. On top of that we can build good public trnsit - like they have in Europe. And you know what? That'll make your car last longer since you won't HAVE to drive it as much. You'll have OPTIONS. Funny thing is, when gas is $7-$9/gal (as in the UK) people still drive and economies still work."