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Rick Lazio on Principles & Values
Former Republican/Conservative Representative (NY-2)
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2000: Pushed Hillary on "NY Freedom From Soft Money Pact"
Near the end of the Oct. 2000 debate, from behind hid podium, Lazio began hectoring me about soft money and challenging me to ban large Democratic Party contributions in my campaign. I could barely get a word in when he marched over to me, waving a piece
of paper--called the "New York Freedom from Soft Money Pact"--and demanding my signature. I declined. He pressed in closer, shouting, "Right here, sign it right now!"I offered to shake hands, but he kept badgering me. I only had time to utter one
sentence in response before Russert ended the debate. I don't know whether Lazio and his advisers thought they could fluster me or provoke me into anger.
The debate was another turning point in the race that helped push some voters into my corner,
although I didn't realize it right away.
Lazio had come across as a bully rather than the nice guy he was trying to project. Public opinion polls & focus groups soon made it clear that a lot of voters, especially women, were offended by Lazio's tactics
Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p.520-521
Nov 1, 2003
Supported NAFTA & assault weapon ban despite unpopularity
Q: Can you give me one example where you have taken an unpopular course despite what your advisers say because you thought it was right? LAZIO: I’ve done that many times. In Congress, supporting NAFTA and the assault
weapons ban after receiving thousands and thousands of calls from people who wanted me to go in a different direction, because I felt it was the right thing to do. I think it’s very important to stand up for your beliefs.
Even in this race, I know there are a lot of people who would like to see casino gambling. In one of our former debates, I expressed my personal opposition to casino gambling although I believe in the end it’s a state decision. So
I think there are many, many times when I have demonstrated independence on a whole range of issues.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Hillary’s a good mom, but it’s about different philosophies
Q: You would think that you dislike each other. Is that true?LAZIO: It’s not a matter of personal dislike, [but] to point at the differences between candidates and the philosophy between two candidates.
Q: Do you dislike him?
CLINTON: No. I think
that I have no personal animus at all toward Mr. Lazio. He seems like a very nice person.
Q: Well, name three things that you like about him.
CLINTON: Well, it seems like he has a very nice family. And that he has worked very hard. And that he’s an
attractive young man.
Q: And you name three things you like about her.
LAZIO: Well, I think you’re an attractive woman. And I think you’ve got a very nice family. I’m sure you’re a very good mother as well.
CLINTON: Thank you very much. But that’s
not what this election’s about. And what it is about are the very significant differences between us on everything like education and health care and the economy and the environment and guns and choice and Social Security and the budget surplus.
Source: (X-ref Hillary) NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Contract with America votes led to surplus and opportunity
Q: You voted under the “Contract with America” to shut down the United States Department of Education. Was this good for N.Y.?LAZIO: What we did try and send bills to the president, which the president vetoed. It was the work of people like me on the
Budget Committee that got to the first balanced budget in a generation. I voted for the highest levels of federal aid to education in our history, in part because we made the tough decisions back in 1994. Yes, we voted to balance the budget. Yes, we
New York has had a history of having one senator in each party. I’m looking forward to working with [Democrat] Chuck Schumer in the Senate. I’ve been in the minority and the majority. I know that it’s the people in the majority who craft the bills, who
write the language, who are in a position to actually get the job done. I think we need somebody in the majority party who can work well with others, who can be independent and who’s got the ability to make sure that New York gets its fair share.
Source: Senate debate in Manhattan
Oct 8, 2000
A majority party senator will be most effective for N.Y.
New York has had a history of having one senator in each party. I’m looking forward to working with [Democrat] Chuck Schumer in the Senate. I’ve been in the minority and the majority. I know that it’s the people in the majority who craft the bills, who
write the language, who are in a position to actually get the job done. I think we need somebody in the majority party who can work well with others, who can be independent and who’s got the ability to make sure that New York gets its fair share.
Source: Senate debate in Manhattan
Oct 8, 2000
NY is a great melting pot of bottom-line people
Q: Define a New Yorker. LAZIO: New Yorkers say, “You got to tell it like it is.” I can relate with New Yorkers lives, the fact that we have a great melting pot here in New York. Our ethnic diversity is our strength. It’s why people from throughout the
world want to come to New York. We’re tough, bottom-line people. We don’t want to hear a lot of talk. We have a history of rolling up our sleeves [and working]. I’m very, very proud to be a life-long resident of this state.
Source: Senate debate in Manhattan
Oct 8, 2000
Lazio: Hillary has chutzpah to make guilt by association
CLINTON: Listening to the congressman’s response, reminds me of a word I’ve heard a lot of this past year: chutzpah. He stands here and tells us that he’s a moderate, mainstream, independent member of Congress. Well, in fact he was a deputy whip to
Newt Gingrich. He voted to shut the government down. He voted to cut $270 billion from Medicare. He voted for the biggest education cuts in our history. Time and time again when he’s had a choice to make, particularly at the critical turning point, when
our country was really on the line with Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America, he stood with the Republican leadership and Newt Gingrich. LAZIO: Mrs. Clinton’s last remark has to redefine the word chutzpah. Mrs. Clinton, you, of all people, shouldn’t
try to make guilt by association. Newt Gingrich isn’t running in this race, I’m running in this race. Let’s talk about my record. Let’s lower taxes. Let’s deregulate energy. And let’s build on my work in Congress already to get the job done.
Source: Clinton-Lazio debate, Buffalo NY
Sep 13, 2000
With Dems on social issues; with GOP on taxes & impeachment
In his eight years in Congress, Lazio has regularly broken Republican Party ranks and supported President Clinton on matters like gun control, affirmative action and changes in campaign finance laws. But on the big tax and spending questions that have
broken along party lines and have often been decided by the narrowest of margins, he has been a reliable ally of the conservative Republican leaders of the House. He also voted to impeach President Clinton on two of the four articles.
Source: David Rosenbaum, New York Times
Jun 4, 2000
Proud of his “mainstream record”
When he announced his candidacy for the Senate last month, Lazio said: “I have a record that I am proud of. It is a mainstream record.” A review of Lazio’s record found ample support for that argument. In his first two years in Congress, when
Democrats were in control, Lazio voted in favor of the Clinton administration’s legislation more often than almost any other Republican. For instance, a study by Congressional Quarterly found that in 1994, Lazio supported the president on 72% of the
votes on which the president took a position, a higher percentage than all but two other Republicans in the House.
But after Republicans won control of the House in the 1994 elections, Mr. Lazio became a strong advocate of most of the items in the
Contract with America, the party’s election manifesto. Since then, he has been much less supportive of the president.
Source: David Rosenbaum, New York Times
Jun 4, 2000
Supported Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America
Lazio defended his support of much of Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America, in particular the balanced budget amendment and welfare reform. I’m for those things,“ Lazio said. ” I’m proudly for those things.“
Source: (Cross-ref to Budget) New York Times, p. A19
May 22, 2000
Effective representation comes from community partnership
To be an effective representative, you must work hard to improve the quality of life for your constituents. This is done by building partnerships and keeping an open mind. It is accomplished by seeking and taking advantage of opportunities. It is
not enough just to vote on legislation, you must also work to ensure that the people in your hometown can access those opportunities. That is what builds better communities and a better future. The satisfaction doesn’t come with getting legislation
passed or when I secure a project for my district, it comes when I visit with people who are benefiting from that work I have done. You wouldn’t believe how a smiling face can make you forget days of debate and negotiation until you see it on
a child trying out a new computer at school or a senior citizen opening the door to a new home. That is what makes it worthwhile for me.
Source: Issues Briefing, www.lazio.com
May 4, 2000
Politics is philosophy in action
I have been involved in public service since 1989 when I was elected as a county legislator. And the longer I serve, the more I have found that politics is nothing more -- or less -- than philosophy translated into action.
And the conservative philosophy -- which is at the heart of the Republican Party’s vision--is very different from that of the liberals.
Source: Speech to the Monroe County Conservative Party
Aug 27, 1999
Priorities: defense; education; social security; tax relief
Conservatives turned the economy around even though the liberals said it couldn’t be done. It wasn’t that hard. We just put an end to that old, liberal rule. You know the rule. If it moves, tax it. If it still moves, regulate it. And if it stops moving,
subsidize it. Four issues will decide which party will be the majority party as we head into the next century: - Strengthening Our National Defenses
- Improving Education
- Fixing Social Security
- Providing Tax Relief
Source: Speech to the Monroe County Conservative Party
Aug 27, 1999
Religious affiliation: Catholic.
Lazio : religious affiliation:
The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).
What’s an adherent?
The most common definition used in broad compilations of statistical data is somebody who claims to belong to or worship in a religion. This is the self-identification method of determining who is an adherent of what religion, and it is the method used in most national surveys and polls.
Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.
Source: Adherents.com web site 00-ADH11 on Nov 7, 2000
Endorsed Endorsed by Log Cabin Republicans; supports gay rights.
Lazio is endorsed by by the Log Cabin Republicans:
Log Cabin Republicans is the nation’s largest gay and lesbian Republican organization. Log Cabin was founded to battle the nation’s first anti-gay ballot measure -- California’s Proposition 6 in 1978. We enlisted Ronald Reagan to publicly oppose the measure, which was then defeated. Since then, Log Cabin Republicans has grown and expanded to become a leading voice on the national stage on behalf of the mainstream concerns of the gay and lesbian community.
We care deeply about equality and we hold Republican views on crime, fiscal responsibility, and foreign policy. We believe in individual rights rather than group rights. We believe in limited government rather than big government. We believe that free markets lead to free people and that all Americans should be able to participate fully in the political process.
We represent the next generation for the gay and lesbian community. No longer will we be told where we must live, how we must dress, and how we must vote.
Now there is a political alternative. We know that we will move ahead only when gay people are honest about who they really are. And as the far right continues its drive to dominate our Party, Log Cabin Republicans joins other mainstream Republicans on the front lines of the battle for the Republican Party’s future.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Log Cabin Republicans is to work within the Republican Party for the equal rights of all Americans, including gay men and women. The mission of the Log Cabin Republicans derives from our firm belief in the principles of limited government, individual liberty, individual responsibility, free markets and a strong national defense. We emphasize that these principles and the moral values that underlie them are consistent with the pursuit of equal treatment under the law for gay men and women. We believe these same core principles also best serve the best interests of the gay community.
Source: Log Cabin Republicans web site 00-LCR0 on Nov 7, 2000
Contract with America: 10 bills in 1st 100 days of Congress.
Lazio signed the Contract with America:
As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body, we propose not just to change its policies, but to restore the bounds of trust between the people and their elected representatives. That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.
Within the first hundred days of the 104th Congress, we shall bring to the House Floor the following bills, each to be given a full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote, and each to be immediately available this day for public inspection and scrutiny:- The Fiscal Responsibility Act: Balanced budget amendment & line item veto
- The Taking Back Our Streets Act: More prisons, more enforcement, more death penalty
- The Personal Responsibility Act: Limit welfare to 2 years & cut welfare spending
- The Families Reinforcement Act: Use tax code to foster families
- The American Dream Restoration Act: Repeal marriage tax; cut middle class taxes
- The National Security Restoration Act: No US troops under UN command; more defense spending
- The Senior Citizens Fairness Act: Reduce taxes on Social Security earnings
- The Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act: Incentives to small businesses
- The Common Sense Legal Reforms Act: Limit punitive damages
- The Citizen Legislature Act: Term limits on Congress
Further, we will work to enact additional budget savings, beyond the budget cuts specifically included in the legislation above, to ensure that the federal budget will be less than it would have been without the enactment of these bills. Respecting the judgment of our fellow citizens as we seek their mandate for reform, we hereby pledge our names to this Contract with America.
Source: Contract with America 93-CWA1 on Sep 27, 1994
Page last updated: Mar 11, 2011