Doctor, Mother, Businesswoman?

Doctor, Mother, Businesswoman. This is the slogan that Nan Hayworth, Hudson Valley Congresswoman representing Northern Westchester, ran on when she defeated John Hall in November 2010. She made a mockery of it this week when she callously announced that she would withhold disaster aid for the Hudson Valley unless cuts could be identified elsewhere in the federal budget, to offset the increased spending. She made it clear that disaster recovery comes second to Tea Party asphyxiation of the federal budget.

While we can appreciate Nan came to prominence in the Age of Palin, it’s clear she knows nothing about the Age of Pericles, where the most important figure of Western Medicine, Hippocrates, urged the those who joined the profession she got rich in, to above all else, first, do no harm. Harm she did this week, when she threatened to play hostage with her constituents’ lives, to placate the far right wing extremists that are the modern day Republican Party.

Mother she says? A mother protects her cubs at all costs. Unfortunately for the Hudson Valley, cost seems to be the main concern of our local Congresswoman, who likened not providing disaster aid to families not going on vacation because they had too many bills. We all have to cut costs, ya know. How many vacations did the 24th richest member of Congress miss during the economic downturn?

As for being a businesswoman, Congresswoman Hayworth once again demonstrated she has no appreciation for the Greeks, who first came up with the word hypokrisis. In her attempt to hold up aid for her constituents, Congresswoman Hayworth would deny local businesses in her district access to FEMA disaster assistance in the form of Small Business Administration loans and grants to help clean-up, replenish lost and damaged stock, and keep people employed. Unfortunately, Congresswoman Hayworth’s reading of the Tea leaves requires that the government have no role in the economy – or helping our small businesses, that should instead be left to the market… and natural disasters, apparently. This, despite the fact that in her district alone, damage to local businesses is expected to be millions upon millions of dollars.
She wasn’t left unscathed, however. Congresswoman Nan Hayworth faced heated criticism from local doctor, possible Congressional candidate, and Cortlandt Town Board member Rich Becker, as well as national condemnation for her position that no disaster aid should be forthcoming to her district unless it was offset by budget cuts. On top of that, a local Orange County Newspaper, owned by non-other than Rupert Murdoch, called her cruel.

Since her comments generated a massive firestorm, from coast to coast, Congresswoman Hayworth has attempted to backtrack and now suggests she never meant that aid would have to be tied to cuts. Well, as the former leader of her party once said, there is an old saying that says: fool me once… shame on… shame on you… ya fool me… ya can’t get fooled again.

Editor's note: This blog was written by the Peekskill Democratic City Committee. The Peekskill Republican City Committee was invited to blog on Patch as well and has indicated it will do so soon. Both parties' candidates were also invited to blog on Patch.