The Peru Gazette

Apologies to Rod Driscoll.  I received this press release on January 11 but failed to post it. 

Rod Driscoll for Congress in NY 21

“A strong voice for workers, families, veterans and retirees!”

• Our current congresswoman is leaving to be United Nations ambassador, resulting in a vacancy that will need to be filled by a special election that will likely take place in early Spring.

• This seat in Congress will be tremendously important to the future of the people of the 15 northern most counties in NY State.

• Our one congressperson is going to be crucial in the coming two years. We will have the opportunity to be a highly sought after voice in Washington, if anything is going to pass.

• Special elections have very low turnout, usually in the mid 20% range. That presents us with a unique opportunity to win, if we can turnout moderate independents, Democrats & Republicans.

Issues

Kitchen table, retiree and veterans issues are extremely important to me and the voters of this congressional district.

• It’s about time we brought some common sense to Washington!

• Our district has higher percentages of seniors, veterans and middle class people than the rest of the US. We also have lower incomes and fewer individuals with college degrees than other congressional districts. We have a very small percentage of people earning over $200,000 a year.

• Inflation, massive proposed cutbacks in Federal spending and huge tax cuts for the wealthy could have a massive negative impact here.

• The proposals that are already on the table by the incoming administration could be devastating for our residents.

Cuts That Will Affect Us.. It’s a scary list!

• President Trump, the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) & Congressional Republicans have targeted a total of $2 trillion in cuts.

• Elimination of: VA healthcare, the FBI, the National Institute for Health, Federal prisons, Pell grants to low income students, Head Start, The Consumer Protection Agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission (which prevents financial fraud).

• Allowing cuts in Social Security & Medicare Benefits when the trust fund runs out, which could happen as early as three years from now.

• Capping Medicaid Benefits which could throw many nursing home residents out in the street.

• Cutting national defense $125 Billion.

• 50-75% cut in the Federal workforce. So forget about getting help from Federal agencies like the VA, Social Security and Medicare.

• Billions would be cut from transportation infrastructure projects that employ thousands of construction workers in our district and make us safer on our roads and bridges.

• Elimination of the Affordable Care Act, ending health care coverage for 45 million Americans, over 100,000 in this congressional district alone. Our current congresswoman voted to do away with the ACA. It’s likely that another Republican would do the same for this issue.

• Eliminate Federal aid to education. This aid makes up 14% of the average school district’s budget, funding special education and programs to help students in poor districts. Since these programs are mandated it would cause local school taxes to spike.

VA, Social Security & Medicare benefits are not entitlements to be cut, they are earned benefits.

• Our people paid with their salaries, hard work and, for vets, risking their lives for these benefits. We need to make sure they are never taken away so billionaires can have another tax cut.

• I wholeheartedly support the Social Security Fairness Act of 2025 which protects Social Security benefits for public employees.

• I support reintroducing the Save Social Security Act which would be a great start to fully funding Social Security & Medicare into the future by eliminating the payroll exemption for wages above $176,100. The proposal would make all income above that amount subject to payroll tax, preventing the automatic cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits that will occur when the Social Security Trust fund is exhausted in the next few years.

Avoid Spiking Inflation:

• Tariffs would cause massive increases in inflation of 10-25%, particularly in grocery, technology, automotive and construction prices.

• These increases would cripple middle class families, VA recipients and retirees.

• We get 88% of our fresh fruit & vegetables from Canada and Mexico.

• Vehicle prices could increase by up to 25%, since nearly every pickup truck and car is partially or totally made in Mexico or Canada.

• All TVs and most electronics would be more expensive since they are made outside the US (mostly in China).

• We need to regulate large corporations that unfairly jack up meat and agriculture prices for consumers while squeezing our hard working farmers.

Secure our border and fix immigration

I fully support the bipartisan immigration bill authored by conservative Republican James Langford of Oklahoma. It would greatly increase the numbers of border enforcement officers and immigration judges, allowing for more efficient screening and processing of individuals who seek to become legally part of the American dream.

Tax Cuts Should Be For Workers, Families, Veterans and Retirees, Not Billionaires!

What now? How do we stop this from happening? We elect:

• Someone who has been president of a multi million dollar organization (Peru Central School) that balanced budgets and stayed within tax cap limits while preserving services for our community.

• Someone who understands the middle class because he is part of it.

• Someone who does his homework, understands how the government works and how to get things done.

• Someone who would never cut the VA, Social Security and health benefits earned over a lifetime of work.

• Someone who understands the need for a public school system that is second to none and serves all students.

• Someone who actually lives in the North Country and understands it’s people.

• Someone who would never compromise the safety and security of our region and the nation.

• Someone who believes that it doesn’t matter what party you belong to when we’re talking about working for all Americans.

• We all deserve representation, not just the voters who vote for the winner.

• Someone who is a committed moderate who reflects the common sense approach to politics where ideology is not as important as problem solving and results that help people in their daily lives.

This is why I’m seeking the Democratic nomination for congressman from NY 21 and, hopefully, the opportunity to win the special election to proudly represent the people of the North Country and northern New York.

Outreach Is Key To Good Representation:

• I am happy to answer any and all of your questions about my proposed candidacy.

• Please go to the “Contact Us” page to send me an email or call my campaign line.

• I’m available to any organization that’s having an event where they might like to have their members speak directly to me, please let me know. If I can possibly be there, I will be!

• We need to reach out to the media and not wait for them to come to us.

• Open Government is Good Government:

• I learned that lesson as a successful president of my local board of education.

The NY 21 seat is not yet vacant, therefore there can be no decision from the Democratic Party about a selection of a candidate for the special election by the 15 county chairmen until the vacancy is official. The President-elect will be sworn in on January 20^th at noon. It is likely that the appointment of our current congresswoman to the UN Ambassador’s post will be completed shortly thereafter, allowing Governor Hochul to schedule the special election, likely to happen in late March or early April.

Bio: I’ve lived in the North Country since 1972. Attended Plattsburgh State University. I have two bachelor’s degrees, a masters degree in education and a certificate of advance studies in education administration. I had a 34 year career in education, 32 years as a teacher, coach, advisor, union president and principal. I was also a board member & president of my local board of education in Peru, NY for 10 years. I have owned a small music business since 1978.