Says He Is a ‘Commonsense Democrat’
By Hank Russell
John Avlon, who is running as a Democrat in the 1st Congressional District, stated his case as to why he should be elected to Congress during the LIMBA (Long Island Metro Business Action) meeting, which took place at the Candlelight Diner in Commack on October 18.
Avlon, who headed up The Daily Beast and was a political commentator on CNN, described himself as “a commonsense Democrat” who does not subscribe to the left-wing radical views of his party, nor does he embrace the extreme right-wing views from the Republicans. “We are looking for left, right and center to come together and He is looking to unseat his GOP opponent, Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point), who was elected in 2022. “We got to rebuild the American dream.”
He said that, as Congressman, he will provide much-needed assistance to the middle class, whom he says “has been getting squeezed for too long.” He cites his private-sector background, whereas he describes LaLota as “a partisan patronage” candidate.
Big businesses and corporations are able to overcome burdensome regulations, while small business owners suffer from these burdens, Avlon said. “If you’re running a small business, [the odds] are stacked against you,” he said, “whether you’re talking to farmers on the North Fork, or small businesses here It’s not fair and it doesn’t make sense.” He also called on his own party to “stand up for small business.”
He said, with the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump (R) and Kamala Harris (D), the nation is “at a pivot point,” in which the results will have a significant impact on the nation for generations to come. “I don’t think you can understate it … the consequence of this election, at home and abroad.”
According to Avlon, the American people are mostly in agreement with certain topics, but what is driving the divide among them is the disinformation campaign spread online by foreign governments. “The original sin is the rise of partisan news,” he said.
He noted that the Russian government has posted false information about a certain candidate or politicians, then they pay a social media influencer to push that false narrative. “They push the same talking points,” which, he said, results in web visitors or social media users eventually believing what they read and creating “a crisis of faith in our democracy.”
When asked about the budget, Avlon said, “I care very much about fiscal responsibility.” As it stands now, the U.S. has a $1.8 trillion deficit and a debt load of $35.7 trillion. In addition, the U.S. government is paying $1 trillion in interest.
While the deficit has grown under President Joe Biden, Avlon said the previous administration could have done something to close the loophole when he reduced the corporate tax rate to 21%.
“The Republicans find religion [over the deficit] when the Democrats are in power, but they don’t say ‘boo’ when they are in power,” he said.
Another major election issue that was addressed was immigration, namely the border crisis. Avlon said he would have backed the comprehensive border bill that was introduced during the summer. It was about to pass, but then “Donald Trump opposed it and a lot of Republicans lost their nerve,” Avlon said, adding the bill would have cracked down on human trafficking and provided the technology to prevent fentanyl from coming into the country.
“Donald Trump didn’t approve [the bill] because he didn’t want [President] Joe Biden to succeed,” Avlon said, adding that LaLota “went on to social media and mocked it.”
Avlon’s plans for immigration reform include allowing legal immigrants in and granting work visas to those who are seeking employment. He also said more judges are needed to review asylum claims. The idea would be to hire enough judges to reduce the adjudication process times from four years to four months.
When asked about the illegal immigrants committing crimes, he replied, “If he did [commit a crime] and lived here, I’d kick his ass out of the country.”
The last topic that was discussed was education. There was discussion among the attendees as to what the children were learning in schools. “First, we need to stop demonizing teachers,” Avlon said. “It’s an insane thing to do.” He also called for the return of civics in the curriculum. “We need to teach about the responsibilities of citizenship, as well as the rights.”
Avlon also said students should learn about the entire history of this country — “the good, the bad and the ugly,” he said. “We need to teach that story…. We stopped doing that 20 to 30 years ago. That’s a real problem. … That’s what we’ve neglected and that’s how we have gotten into this mess.”
Avlon concluded his presentation with this: “You have to understand that the stakes of this election could not be higher — internationally, and at home, for your kids and your grandkids,” he said. “One side of this election represents an escalation of chaos, division, dysfunction and degradation of America in the eyes of the world. … Take it seriously.. I encourage everybody to think about this election, in terms of country above party … We are going to be judged by the decision we make in less than 20 days and your kids and grandkids are going to live in a world that we decide.”