Massa: Questionable Associates and Fringe Views
Joe Dunning puts out a column in the Corning Leader newspaper every Sunday that is usually political in nature. The editor has made no bones about the fact that he is a Democrat. However, he certainly has kept an open mind in the past (which this writer hopes that he does in the NY-29 race). This made it quite a surprise as to the seeming anger that was expressed in his Jan. 31st, 2010 column. His response makes me wonder if the Editor is as unbiased as he appears. Why else would Mr. Dunning go ballistic about a press release that clearly wasn’t calling Massa a Communist.
The truth is, Congressman Massa’s associations and who agrees with him does tell us a lot about what kind of man he is. First, let’s take health care. The Congressman has made a big display of parading around the district and in front of the media saying that he won’t vote for the health care bill. That’s because he’s for single payer healthcare (socialized medicine, government run healthcare, medicare for all, etc). This position is even farther to the left than even President Obama wants to go.
Secondly, his position on Afghanistan. The Congressman has called for an immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan. Let’s not try to capture Bin Laden. Who cares about the instability of the country or the area? This position also is even more radical than the President believes.
Lastly, his associations in fundraising and in the Congress. He has received help from Charlie Rangel and Barney Frank with fundraising at an event that was billed as a birthday party, with an entry fee much richer than any of our birthday parties. Mr. Rangel and Mr. Frank are two of the most corrupt members of Congress.
So that brings us back to the Communist comment. It’s not that Mr. Massa is a Communist. He may hold some socialistic viewpoints, but I don’t think that you could call him a Communist nor was that any reasonable reading of the press release. The question really is one of associations. What does it mean when people like Mr. Rangel, Mr. Frank, and the Communist Party endorse you? I can tell you what it CLEARLY doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean your views are a part of the mainstream.
It appeared the word "communist" in connection with Eric Massa pressed some buttons.
Pressed mine too, so I googled the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in search of the article that praised Congressman Massa’s decision to become a co-sponsor of Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s “Privileged Resolution to End the Afghan War”.
I found the article "Labor and People's Unity and Grass Roots Action Key in 2010" and, indeed, Eric Massa was noted just as Tom Reed's press release stated.
Finding Eric Massa's name on a Communist site was troubling, but so was the article. I kept scrolling back to the headline to make sure I was still in the cpusa.org site and not the Democrat National Committee site. It seems the Democrat's agenda mirrors the Communist agenda.
That same CPUSA article mentioned the Working Families Party (WFP) so I googled that too. They helped get Eric Massa elected in 2008 with 8,611 votes—a 58% increase from WFP votes for Massa in 2006.
“We’re proud to have helped put Eric over the top,” said Dan Cantor, Working Families Party Executive Director.
So who's the Working Families Party?
According to the party’s web site, WFP is a coalition founded by ACORN, the Communications Workers of America, and the United Automobile Workers. However, ACORN clearly dominates the coalition. It functions as a political party in New York State promoting ACORN-friendly candidates.
The Working Families Party benefits from a quirk of New York State election law, which allows parties to “cross-endorse” candidates of other parties. Thus when Eric Massa ran for Congress in 2006-2008 he ran both on the Democratic Party ticket and on the Working Families Party ticket.
Now here's the rub…the Democratic Socialists of America party works within states where "fusion" of third party and major party votes is possible. The Democratic Socialists of America co-sponsored the Working Families Party in New York State.
Does any of this information make Massa a card carrying member of the Communist Party? No. But voters should be asking why socialists voted for Massa and gave him mention of support in the Communist Party USA article that read like a Democrat Manifesto.