In a letter to the editor, Republican 8th District congressional candidate Anthony Valdes gives his point of view on why the New Jersey delegation has failed residents.
Dear Editor,
The United States of America is now at a crossroads. The failed policies of the Biden Administration have led to unprecedented inflation! We have seen rising costs for food, rent, mortgages, fuel, utilities and all the essentials we need in daily life.
At the same time, we are now embroiled in conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, while our southern border remains wide open and completely unsecured.
We have seen millions upon millions of undocumented (and unvaccinated) migrants cross our border illegally, and sent all over the country to different major cities, creating chaos and negatively affecting their schools as well as EMS, Police, and Fire Department response.
We currently have more and more migrants entering illegally not necessarily from Central and South American countries, but from countries who hate the United States.
Our Congressional Representatives in Washington treat our daily lives and struggles as an academic exercise in politics.
Instead of recognizing that their decisions affect all of us regular American Citizens, they fail to realize it especially affects those of us like myself in the working class who are not connected insider politicians, sponsored by big corporations.
It is easy to preach a progressive ideology when you have never had to struggle a single day in your life. We need a congressional representative for our 8th District that knows its people and has lived their same experiences.
I have lived all my life in West New York, and have worked in West New York and Newark for years as a public servant connecting with the residents of Hudson and Essex counties — not only on the streets — but also in their homes.
I know what it is like to grow up poor and truly struggle. I am your average Hispanic American Citizen struggling with inflation and everything else, just like most Americans.
New Jersey is over one-fifth Hispanic, and District 8 is the only Majority Hispanic District in New Jersey.
As a Hispanic American myself, I am a firm believer that genuine representation matters and that the best way to represent your constituents is through shared lived experiences.
Too long have resume padders tried to advance their own careers on broken promises and misleading claims of progressivism.
Hudson, Essex, and Union Counties deserve a Representative who grew up here, works here, and understands the people of the entire district. We all deserve equal representation.
Anthony Valdes
Republican 8th District congressional candidate
Thanks to GOP policies favoring the rich, going back to Reagan, pretty much everybody knows what it’s like to grow up poor or struggling with money. So we should vote for you to get more? No thanks.
Hi Anthony,
Thank you for your letter.
You grew up poor and know how it is to struggle. So did I. You are working class. So am I. On West New York Wakes Up, you re-posted each time during the Pandemic the official notices of when and where the Town of West New York was distributing food to our fellow beleaguered residents. Thank you. This food came from stimulus funds passed by a bi-partisan Congress and signed by President Trump. Trump would have been re-elected had he handled his response to the pandemic in a more professional matter. His wild theories about bleach to cure COVID did not help him or us. Trump also saw high unemployment and creeping inflation in the last year of his presidency. The Pandemic caused huge supply-chain disruptions that greatly contributed to the inflation that both presidents had to deal with.
You say our current Congressional representation is sponsored by ‘big corporations.’ Which politicians and by which big corporations? Would you agree that corporations don’t want to pay fair taxes? When was the last time GE paid fair taxes ? Corporations love your Republican Party much more than my Democratic Party because we stand up to their greed and put people ahead of profits gained on the sweat equity of the working class. On the other hand corporations just love it when your Republican Party resides at the White House because the GOP lowers the tax rates on them and those making more than 400,000 per year. And many of these same rich Americans then buy equity into our debt to increase their personal revenue streams at the expense of the rest of us.
I Readily concede that something more has to be done about our Southern boarder. It is very pathetic that the man you voted for in 2016 and 2020 influenced the GOP leadership to withdraw their support for a BIPARTISAN boarder security bill, and the Oklahoma Republican led legislature censored or reprimanded their conservative US Senator for his major role in this bipartisan bill that Trump couldn’t bear that it might actually help with this crisis at the boarder which he wants to remain an open wound for us so he can score political points. However, we MUST continue to be proactive in Ukraine and the Middle East. I was taught to stand up to bullies. Thank God Speaker Johnson is not an Isolationist, like too many of your fellow Republicans.
“It is very pathetic that the man you voted for in 2016 and 2020 influenced the GOP leadership to withdraw their support for a BIPARTISAN boarder security bill” you wrote @WNY Voter. GIVE ME A BREAK! Trump had border crossings down to 10k a month using existing law and his Executive Authority. Biden takes office and the numbers jump to 300k a month and you dems blame Trump and the Republicans. The propaganda spewed by the dems is incredible and despicable.