By RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ
This is an open letter to Congressman Michael Grimm, seeking to better understand his positions on some current issues:
What policies do you support that differ from those during the George W. Bush years that had such negative effects for the United States, converting a major surplus to a major deficit, creating very few jobs, and leaving our country on the brink of a depression?
Do you support continued major tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, while major cuts are being made to social services and police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers, teachers and others are being laid off?
Do you support Republican efforts to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency, thus hindering their efforts to enforce the Clean Air Act that protects Staten Islanders from pollution?
Isn’t it advisable to spend money now to rebuild our infrastructure, invest in education and research, and develop new renewable sources of energy, thereby creating jobs and helping us get out of the recession, instead of cutting essential services, which will cause the loss of many jobs and worsen the recession?