Teachout returns to Sullivan

Posted 8/21/12

MONTICELLO, NY — Zephyr Teachout, the Democratic law professor who ran a surprisingly strong primary against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014 and won convincingly in Sullivan County and many other upstate …

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Teachout returns to Sullivan

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MONTICELLO, NY — Zephyr Teachout, the Democratic law professor who ran a surprisingly strong primary against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014 and won convincingly in Sullivan County and many other upstate communities, was back in the county on February 15, meeting and listening to voters. She’s running for the seat in New York’s 19th Congressional District, which is currently held by Republican Chris Gibson, who has opted not to run for another term.

Teachout, who will likely face Will Yandik from Columbia County in a primary race, stopped by the Miss Monticello Diner in Monticello for an interview with The River Reporter.

The first topic was the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and what kind of healthcare system we should have. She said, “Certainly it’s something you hear about from everybody, healthcare costs and the mark-up. I was talking to a guy the other day who gets $5 dollar foot cream that gets marked up to $400. I think if we’re really going to fundamentally address costs, which is the key thing we have to address—people’s insurance premiums are too high—we have to directly take on Big Pharma, and make sure that the mergers in the insurance industry are not leading to higher rates, and I have a long history of standing up to monopoly power and big companies. I think the key here is understanding this isn’t a Republican-Democratic fight, but to get to where we need to be we need to reign in pharma and insurance companies.”

She next addressed the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the appointment of his successor. She said, “It’s a really important moment. With an opening on this Supreme Court, we have a chance to have a new justice who would overturn Citizens United, overturn Buckley v. Valeo [decisions which lead to nearly unlimited corporate and super political action committee (PAC) spending in elections]… Citizens United was just a five-four vote and that’s led to this scourge of dark money, super PACS. I hope and I believe that public anger over what Citizens United has done to our democracy will make that a sort of central question in the appointment process. So people are going to talk about the process, but the key thing is who our next justice is going to be. And I am very hopeful that Obama will appoint somebody who understands why corporations shouldn’t have unlimited speech rights.”

She continued on the topic of corruption. “I wrote a book about corruption in America, looking at the history of how courts have dealt with corruption, but it was really grounded in the Constitutional Convention, and how much our framers thought about money in politics. The book is called “Corruption in America: from Benjamin Franklin’s snuffbox to Citizens United,” and a lot of it is about how out of touch our modern Supreme Court is. The court that decided Citizens United—nobody had any political experience, so when they talk about politics, it just doesn’t feel real. When I read the transcript of oral arguments, it doesn’t feel real, it doesn’t feel like they understand what real politics is like.”

Teachout then segued to a discussion about how the current Congress is both corrupt and gridlocked at the same time. She said of the current campaign finance system, “Nobody would build a system this way. Members of congress spend 40% to 70% of their time raising money… That means you spend from 8 to 12 noon in your office, and then you walk across the street because you’re not allowed to fundraise on campus, to a little cubby and fundraise from 12:30 to 6. That is an entire afternoon where you are not talking to people across the aisle, you are not learning about renewable energy, you are not learning about the educational system, you are not understanding the tax code. So it’s actually leading to gridlock—our corruption is leading to gridlock—because members of Congress don’t even have time to spend time with each other socially, which allows for that kind of cross-the-aisle relationship.

“And I’m really proud of the fact that I have great working relationships with Republicans in my anti-corruption work, and I always have. I feel like if you know where you come from, it’s very easy to have gracious and polite relationships across the aisle.”

Asked if she thought the frustration with the current political situation in Washington is felt on both sides of the political spectrum, she said “yes.” She said there is “frustration that knows no party lines. And you certainly see it in this presidential campaign, where both Republicans and Democrats are saying ‘hey all bets are off, we’re not going to follow your usual rules.’ You also see it in the 19th Congressional District where there is a growing number of people who aren’t affiliated with either party, or who will register Republican and vote Democratic or vice versa. There is an incredible frustration that neither party is necessarily listening. And I’m a proud Democrat, but I think they’re shut out of the process.”

Specifically on the characteristic of the voters of the 19th District, she said, “Voters in the district will vote 60% Republican in one election and 60% Democrat in the next, and the voters in the district have an independent streak that is several miles wide. What that means is you’re going to see a lot of dark money flood this district, and part of the reason I’m so committed to running a grassroots campaign that’s really grounded is because the way to fight dark money and super PACs is have a campaign grounded in grassroots power.”

Teachout said she has received over 4,000 donations to this point, and the average donation is $30.

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