Gary Stein Opening Statement

Statement

Gary Stein Opening Statement

Hello to the curious. And to all of us in NJ disgusted with the current state of affairs; hello to you as well. Could things look much worse? Is it a stretch to say that even during the great depression, the problems may not have been as complex as what we're facing now? The debt structure and debt obligations back then, weren't as gruesome as what we have now, but most importantly there was a manufacturing infrastructure lying dormant and poised- here and everywhere else in our country- for a recovery. Folks I'm not running for governor as an economics guru, soothsayer or grim reaper. The wonderful Ramapo professor and perennial candidate for Senator, Murray Sabrin, has done that for years- better then I ever could- and has gotten nowhere. The process is rigged, money opens doors, and even if they weren't closed, I'm not executive material….however? In several different ways, I may be the most unusual independent running this year, in both our state or anywhere in the country.

Seven years ago an “illegal alien,” an “undocumented person.” or whatever we call these folks, took up residence in our house- at our invite; yes, you just read that correctly. I've blogged endlessly on the internet about it, it's no secret- and it's really quite interesting. Here's a thumbnail sketch…… if you're interested. We started out as mere acquaintances. One day about 7 years ago, he got short shrifted after he'd heard, through his church, that an old Puerto Rican man needed a roommate. He gave up the nice place he was staying at, but the act of generosity on his end was not reciprocated on the other side-(to say the least; there's endless stories with this candidate) Two days later, he showed up at our house, driving an ancient 4 door Buick Regal with every procession he had in the world packed in the trunk of that car. What where we suppose to do, send him scurrying?

Five years later there was an illness in his family and now he's been back in Mexico- two years already, and stuck there. I've visited several times and I've gotten to know his entire family, but more importantly- for purposes of this discussion, I've become intimately familiar with Mexico and their problems as well. It's incredibly beautiful down there; the majority of us don't know that; I didn't. I think about Mexico all the time when I see fires laying waste every year to California, and blizzards paralyzing half our country each winter. Their problem is really quite simple to understand. If it wasn't for petty corruption wrecking the economy, very few of the 12 million here illegally would have come over in the first place. They have everything they need down there, and then some. It's no exaggeration to say, at least from my weary family's perspective, that if not for the petty corruption in Mexico; I wouldn't be running for Governor. Isn't that a riot? Petty corruption in Mexico, not New Jersey- and we have a former prosecutor heading the Republican ticket for Governor in our state. Forgetting for a second another tiny problem we have in this state, holding two elected government positions at the same time, if Christie could simultaneously be Governor here and Governor in the state of Morelos, Mexico, where my friend lives- I'd vote for him.

I've been trying for 2 years to get one reporter- the New York Times fits the bill to a T- to listen to my (our) incredible story. You have no idea how hard I've tried!!!! To those of you who write your representatives or your local or the national news outlets, stop wasting your time, vote for me instead. Trust me, they hardly read what you say- and use it when it suites their purpose, not yours. Like I said above, you have no idea how hard I've tried, I could be the Guinness book world record holder. I'd invite one reporter to comb through my old e-mails, but you see, I just fell into my own trap- they don't care!

Anyway back to the topic at hand (my opening statement), and the reason I'm in this- Mexico, drivers licenses and homeland security. The solution to this immigration nightmare is really quite simple. A boycott by us of Cancun for starters, the illegals not sending home one dime for several months, and us issuing drivers licenses now and amnesty soon after, might jolt, might embarrass, might do something- anything; to get that cockamamie government into focusing a little less on the drug cartels, and a little more on petty corruption by their local law enforcement. A boycott here might be the kick in the butt they need! The 12 to 20 million here illegally are not going home anytime soon, so lets us and the illegals, give each other something in return- and stop arguing about immigration reform and doing nothing.. Amnesty, border security, and fix Mexico (the boycott). Just a pipedream on my end, or a solution to this mess- after which we'd watch trade with Mexico double (in our favor, that's one “shovel ready” fiasco down there…just waiting to be delivered!) The other nationalities here illegally, would be in on my general amnesty, and they'd forever be grateful to us- and to the Mexicans who would be holding back remittances, in my version of immigration reform.

Try e-mailing this idea to the elite media, or- think of me crisscrossing mid-town Manhattan on bicycle, “knocking on doors” like I did after coming home from my first eye opening trip to Mexico; from a location by the way, where I haven't seen an American so far in 4 trips.

So does the word kook come to mind as you read this? Hopefully not, and I now have a soap box of sorts, I'm a candidate, and we'll see what happens with the elite media. Think about me the next time there's a traffic accident and “one” party doesn't have insurance.

Not to be cute, but I think at this point you might be getting the picture why I'm here. These poor other candidates might not like the injection of immigration reform into the debate- (LOL, that's “laugh out loud” for any non bloggers out there), and that might be the biggest understatement of the year. Maybe I've peeked your curiosity enough that you visit my web site, because I've just given too brief an explanation of my mission and there's lot of other goodies on Stein for Governor.com. With that said I'll try and stay on topic the rest of the way in our virtual debate, courtesy of the Hall Institute. Thank god for them! I've been following politics since I was 12 years old, I'm 53 years old- getting grayer by the day, and I'm looking forward to answering the questions in the next several weeks about the economy health care, higher education, the environment, etc.

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