Patricia Maher: 'I Am Not a Career Politician, Unlike My Opponent'

Democrat Patricia Maher is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 2nd Congressional District. She faces incumbent Rep. Peter King. The 2nd Congressional District includes portions of Suffolk and Nassau counties.

Submitted by Patricia Maher:

I am running for Congress in the 2nd C.D. to help you, because Long Island needs a representative that will create jobs and bring new manufacturing to our area. We need tax credits and incentives to bring high tech industry and manufacturing jobs to both Nassau and Suffolk County. Sadly, my opponent has not done this for the district. It is the job of every member of Congress to “advocate and create” positive incentives for Long Island for future business holders so they will relocate or stay on Long Island. We need higher paying jobs on Long Island that can cover the cost of living.

The reason we are in such a dilemma has partly to do with the rules that Congress plays by. I am not a career politician, unlike my opponent who has been in office for 22 years. I have worked for a not-for-profit healthcare institution and currently work as the top sales Account Director for a private company. I am a life-long resident of Long Island and obtained my master’s degree from Hofstra University and a graduate of Holy Trinity High School and St. Raphael. I am president of a local civic association and active in my church. Being the daughter of a U.S. Nurse Cadet, assigned to the Navy and niece to the Lt. Commander of the USS Intrepid, I have a strong sense of pride for our country and Long Island. I grew up going to Memorial Day and 4th of July parades to honor our countries heroes. I am a strong proponent of passing the U.S. Nurse Cadet Equity Act to give those that served as nurses in WWII under the Public Health service grant, veteran’s status, which they have been denied, even though President Truman said they were a uniformed service. My mother was one of those nurses and worked her way through college to obtain her doctorate degree in Nursing Education. I am committed to helping all men and women that have served our country with veteran’s affairs issues, those that have been inflicted with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders and other issues.

I, Patricia Maher, promise to do the following to ensure that Long Island moves forward:

• Bring high tech industry and manufacturing to Long Island and invest in Main Street and “small business” so our downtowns thrive and enhance the high value of our homes. I will spend my time with local government and attracting new business to Long Island. I am creating a panel of national business experts from small business to Fortune 500 companies to attract the business we need. I will “sell” Long Island to these companies. We also need to give our workforce a reason to stay on Long Island, and that means building strong communities and providing jobs. I also will fight for more funding for repairing our roads and bridges that we depend on so much in the course of our daily lives.
• Reducing Student Loan Debt on loans and providing more opportunities for children on Long Island to obtain financial aid to achieve a college education or vocational school training beyond high school is a high priority for me. I will propose law that will allow our children to refinance student loans, if they choose, at a lower rate of interest. Today more than 70% of students graduate with debt. I also want to provide funding for new trade schools to accommodate those that want to continue with Long Island’s tradition of working in a small business. I propose indexing Pell Grants to inflation while extending the Social Security Student Benefit up to age 22 for students pursuing college or vocational school. This would create an incentive to pursue a degree. I strongly oppose Common CORE because of the scripted modules that undermine the essential teaching relationship by preventing the individualized exchange between teacher and student. The federal government should increase education funding to low-performing school districts to boost performance while alleviating the high tax burden we face on Long Island, and create a variety of incentives for teachers to work in these districts. We need a combination of competitive grants and non-competitive funding to states and local school districts to achieve equity among states and populations.
• I will pursue on a daily basis Hurricane Sandy Relief funding for those that are still homeless, living in a house that is still under repair or had to take out small business loans and now will repay them for the rest of their lives because they had no other alternative and for those that received settlements less than the value of repairs from Insurance companies, FEMA and NY Rising. I have continued to keep the plight and fight of our neighbors in the news by holding press conferences and always talking about Sandy Relief in the news. As a member of Congress, I will see each and every case satisfied and pursue a change in federal law that would allow those that took small business loans to be compensated by NY Rising grant money.I will help those that still cannot get equal value for their homes by changing the “loop holes” that allows insurance companies to under compensate or not compensate at all those that had insurance.
• Preserve and Protect Social Security and Medicare: Since its inception in 1935, Social Security has helped to reduce the elderly poverty rate by over forty percent. The program currently keeps 20 million Americans out of poverty, and puts almost $775 billion into the economy. I support raising the cost of living adjustment (COLA). With this shift, retirees would see an average increase of $70 a month in benefits, good for roughly $800 more annually. This accounts for the fact that seniors spend a greater proportion of their income on healthcare, whose costs have risen greater than inflation.
• Medicare, like Social Security, is an earned benefit that millions of senior citizens rely on. It is far more efficient and effective than private healthcare plans. I support allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceuticals to improve access while drastically lowering costs. This would save Medicare $14 billion annually. I also want to close the Medicare Part D doughnut hole earlier than 2020, when it is supposed to be closed by law. I am staunchly opposed to privatizing Medicare. However, my opponent, wanted to privatize the program, which thankfully did not happen.

I, Patricia Maher, want to represent you in the 2nd C.D., bringing Washington closer to the residents and holding community forums so you can address me at your local library and civic organizations. I have agreed to each and every debate and made scheduling allowance for candidate’s nights, but sadly to say my opponent, your current representative in Congress, would not debate in Brentwood or Massapequa, nor did he attend the scheduled candidate’s night from Bayport to Bay Shore, Levittown or Amityville including a debate in Brentwood canceled because he would not respond to the community organizations.

I ask you to change the environment of Congress by changing this member in the 2nd C.D. Give me a chance to help you. Congress was not meant to be a life-time career that has been infiltrated by “an insider’s network.” There should be term limits in Congress and I will fight for you as your representative. That’s my plan and I, Patricia Maher, will keep my promise to you.

Candidates running for office are encouraged to send letters to the editor, and a photo, explaining why they believe voters should elect them. Email photo and letter to ryan@patch.com