Suozzi Joins Upstate and Central New York Voters in Calls for Spitzer to Debate
Suozzi Joins Upstate and Central New York Voters in Calls for Spitzer to Debate
So Far Spitzer Refuses to Talk About Upstate Issues
Utica, New York - Democratic Candidate for Governor Tom Suozzi today called out his opponent, Eliot Spitzer, for ignoring upstate and central New York voters and refusing to debate the issues of concern to the taxpayers in these regions.
"When Eliot exaggerates in the one debate in New York City that he has participated in, that he has visited every single village and town in the state, which is not true, Democrats in central and upstate New York cannot take comfort that this means Eliot Spitzer even understands the problems they face in their lives, much less has a plan to solve these problems and make their lives better," said Suozzi.
"The taxpayers of Utica and central New York face some very real problems, such as the NYRI project that still threatens to slice through the region, stagnating population and jobs leaving the area. Utica had more than 100,000 people in 1940, and has less than 60,000 now. That's a real problem."
"This is why it is so important to have the Democratic candidates for Governor debating these serious issues and in every region of the state between now and September 12. Democrats throughout the state deserve to know where both candidates stand on the real issues that affect their lives, and to know that there are real differences and a real choice in this election."
In addition to Suozzi calling for more debates, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Newsday, the Buffalo News, and the Syracuse Post-Standard have all recently called on Eliot Spitzer to accept debate invitations from good government groups and media organizations that have offered them throughout the state.
The New York Times, which gave Suozzi "special credit for making the event [the NY1 debate on Tuesday, July 25th] happen and forcing the front-runner to address matters that are crucial and politically sticky," called for the candidates to "meet again - preferably in different parts of the state, focusing on one critical issue at a time."
Instead, Eliot Spitzer has ignored no less than 10 different invitations from news stations and daily newspapers, including four in upstate New York.
The one debate that has occurred, hosted last week by NY1, a cable station in New York City, forced Eliot Spitzer to at last give some indication of exactly how much his proposals will cost New York's taxpayers, although he once again dodged the question as to how he will pay for his proposals. Tom Suozzi for months has called on Eliot Spitzer to say how he will pay for his proposals and he contends that the only way voters will get the answers they deserve is for both candidates to debate more.
"Eliot Spitzer's numbers don't come close to adding up," said Suozzi. "He's claimed he can save $11 billion over three years, while promising to spend at least $32 billion in the same stretch of time-while offering practically nothing to upstate New York-and last week he once again refused to answer the question of how he will pay for his proposals without raising taxes.
"New York deserves a Governor willing to stand up and answer tough questions and make tough choices," said Suozzi. "We need more than empty promises and vague plans.
"And we certainly need more than one debate that focused almost entirely on New York City-the debate wasn't even shown in Buffalo-leaving many New Yorkers to wonder why Spitzer won't bother to debate in front of them."
Tom Suozzi has already accepted invitations from CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as media organizations and good government group's invitations to debate in Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Albany, and has said that he will accept any group's offer to debate, any time and any place.
"Eliot Spitzer can continue to try to hide from me," said Suozzi, "but he can't hide from New York's Democrats."
http://tomsuozzi.com/announcements/pr-080106/