David A. Gay, Sr. for U.S. Congress

As there were no other Republicans officially declaring a run for Congress in our district - and, technically, there still aren't - my brother has taken it upon himself to represent a truly limited-government position in this race. Yesterday he announced his candidacy using the following statement:

I am writing this letter to inform the citizens of Central New York of my intention to challenge Dan Maffei for the 25th district of New York State in the U.S. House of Representatives.
I am particularly amazed that no one else in this district has stepped forward to contend for the seat on behalf of our beloved Republican Party.
Our Republican leaders should recognize the responsibility to continue serving our district's best interests on a national level. As a true Conservative Republican voter, I will answer this call to action. I will defeat my opponent using no other guide for my campaign than the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. In Congress I will work relentlessly in defense of our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I believe we should eliminate the income tax, stop taxing Social Security pensions, respect private property, secure our national borders, stop government spending with credit we can never afford to repay, and bring our troops home from all over the world immediately.
In Washington, I will fight to keep the government out of our wallets, our bedrooms, our telephone calls, and our daily lives.
I ask you all to support my campaign for U.S. Congress. Please help us in our efforts; together we will restore true Constitutional freedom and liberty in this great nation.

This article from this morning's local paper, the Post-Standard, introduces David as "a 26-year-old punk rocker" (the Post-Standard has featured him in that role before). Somewhat in response, David released the following statement today:


My name is David Gay, and I'm running for U.S. Congress in the 25th District of New York State.
I recently announced my candidacy to the media, and, as can be expected by a previously unknown candidate, received mixed reviews. Since I was given the honorable title of "Punk Rocker" for Congress, I'd like to take this opportunity to further explain how my platform goes far beyond my favorite kind of music.

I believe in eliminating the income tax. While many people have completely lost faith in our elected leaders to accomplish this, I will support any legislation that lowers taxes and brings us closer to the ultimate goal of an income tax free society. And while I'm on the subject of taxes, let me add that no one should ever have to pay taxes on their Social Security Pension; it's already taxed from us to begin with! Profitable free enterprise and industry cannot survive if the elderly and middle class are ground out of existence between the millstones of excessive taxation and extreme inflation.

I was born right around the time our great President Ronald Reagan was sworn in. I grew up proud of Reagan's example of conservatism in economic and foreign policy. President Reagan worked hard to rein in runaway government spending, limit the size and scope of federal government, and build a strong national defense.

Unfortunately, we see history repeating itself, as a new generation of American politicians is charged with the renewed responsibility to preserve a limited constitutional government, with almost no Reagans or Goldwaters left to answer the call. Making matters worse, our leaders double, triple, and quadruple the powers of the federal government, the executive branch, and the military-industrial complex, and allow our national debt to grow by means of all sorts of wasteful government spending, with little or no resistance from either side of the aisle, and no plans or even intentions of ever paying back what we owe.

Some very tragic examples come to mind when I consider how far off track we've gotten in recent years. More than 4,000 soldiers have been killed in Iraq and we seem to be making no effort to bring them home any time soon.

Once a sacred platform for Conservative Republicans, the protection of the innocent unborn against needless slaughter seems to have slowly gone the way of the buffalo. Even worse, we allow our government to subsidize abortion making little more than a quiet peep in protest.

We've allowed fear to hold us in its grip for most of this decade, giving up our individual liberties one at a time along the way. Not heeding the warnings of our founding fathers regarding what happens when you sacrifice liberty for security, we've unwittingly given up both, thinking that somehow, someday, we won't have to be afraid anymore.

Barry Goldwater taught us that preserving liberty and expanding freedom in our country are the only ways we can truly safeguard it from the forces of tyranny from without. Ronald Reagan toppled the Soviet Union without dropping a single bomb on Moscow. Reagan chose to build a strong national defense, rather than decimate the size of our armed forces in needless conflicts around the globe.

Not everything in this country is doom and gloom. The Constitution still exists and there is still time to restore it to its original magnificence. I call upon the growing number of conservative-minded people to advance our protest against aggressive foreign policy, high taxes, and large, overreaching federal government.

David A. Gay, Sr.