Orange Bank Hosts
Schneps Honorees
On Wednesday, March 24, Orange Bank and Trust hosted a dinner at Enzo’s on Arthur
Avenue to recognize a few of the Bronx Times Reporter/Schneps Media’s honorees of
2020. Pictured (l-r) Stephen B. Kaufman, founder, Stephen B. Kaufman, P.C.; Eliezer Rodriguez,
Esq., CEO of Bronx-Manhattan Board of Realtors; Hon. Fiordaliza A. Rodrigues,
Judge of the Family Court; Demetra Mattone, Events Concierge, Schneps Media; Carl
Mattone, CEO, CFM Development; Anthony Mormile, Senior VP of Orange Bank and Trust;
and Vanessa Baijnauth, Assistant VP/Manager of Orange Bank and Trust.
BY TONY SALIMBENE
Hi again, just a quick note,
for those who believe: The
Commander and Staff wish
all a Happy Passover, Palm
Sunday and a Happy Easter!
An extra special time to pray
for peace.
BRONX TIMES R 42 EPORTER, APRIL 2-8, 2021 BTR
News on the location of
the next 3rd Sunday regular
post meeting to be confi rmed
soon.
SAL paperwork submitted
and fl ags for upcoming memorial
ceremonies distributed.
Thanks Mr. Lucchesi, keeping
up the Dormi and Sons tradition.
Remember, the virus is
not over. If you choose to attend
functions, please follow
all public health protocols so
together we can beat this.
Community, State and
Nation: Next time, news on
an on going community problem
and what is or is not being
done to address it….
Until Next Time: When I
was young I always wanted to
be older, this was not what I
expected!
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
A vigorous debate is
healthy and good for a nation.
In the turmoil and contest of
ideas, the best and most useful
concepts should win out.
But when lies replace facts,
the discussion turns harmful.
That’s happening in America
now. There are several clear
untruths that not only affect
specifi c topics, but damage
the unity of the country. Some
politicians, as well as key biased
informational outlets,
the mainstream media, and
even some universities, are
the key perpetrators.
These are the subjects most
affected:
Freedom of speech is an
optional right. Adherence to
the First Amendment is not
optional, and the attempts to
portray it as such are dishonest.
The framers of the Constitution
were clear. Freedom
of speech and assembly is not
open to interpretation or limitation.
It is a myth that, in the
public square speech can be
constitutionally “cancelled,”
in other words, censored. Several
years ago, Senator Charles
Schumer called for the weakening
of free speech rights,
alleging that paid political
speech is not covered by the
First Amendment. He stated
that “The First Amendment is
sacred, but it is not absolute.”
Frighteningly, he received signifi
cant support. Happily, that
was not enough to secure passage
of the measure. CNN has
called for the “blacklisting” of
conservative news sites.
Defense spending is just
another government program.
For decades, many
electeds have bargained their
support for necessary military
allocations by demanding
pork barrel projects for their
districts, or for various other
programs. The premise that
national security can be used
as a bargaining chip is not
only false, but dangerous.
You don’t have to be an expert
on military issues to observe
China’s massive military
buildup, and its unprecedented
aggression in the Indo-Pacifi c.
Russia’s Putin seeks to restore
the Soviet Empire, and has invaded
and occupied portions
of neighboring nations.
Systemic Racism. Yes,
there are individuals who harbor
and act out on racist impulses.
That’s inevitable in
a nation of over 300 million.
But the claim of systemic racism
are inaccurate. There are
no laws, regulations or procedures
that allow racism. To
falsely allege that there are
promotes unnecessary division
and anger, and is used to
foster a radical agenda.
Heather MacDonald, writing
for the Manhattan Institute,
reports: However sickening
the video of Floyd’s arrest,
it isn’t representative of the 375
million annual contacts that
police offi cers have with civilians.
A solid body of evidence
fi nds no structural bias in the
criminal-justice system with
regard to arrests, prosecution
or sentencing. Crime and suspect
behavior, not race, determine
most police actions.”
Election integrity is partisan.
Even before the tumultuous
2020 election, the question
of election integrity was a
major debate. Honest attempts
to ensure the integrity of the
ballot through voter id, verifi -
able registrations, etc. are not
“suppression.”
Pew Center on the
States study found “millions
of voter registration records
nationwide that are either inaccurate
or no longer valid…
based on data indicating a
voter died, moved, or had been
inactive from 2004 to March
2011.” The study revealed that
2,758,578 individuals were registered
to vote in more than one
state. In addition, “12.7 million
records nationwide…appear to
be out of date and no longer refl
ect the voter’s current information,
more than 1.8 million
records for people who are no
longer living, but have active
registrations on voter rolls,
and 12 million records with
incorrect addresses…once duplicates
among categories are
eliminated, approximately 24
million registration records,
or nearly 13% of the national
total, are estimated to be inaccurate
or no longer valid.”
Jack Kelly, in a Pittsburg
Post-Gazette article, notes
that there have been recent investigations,
indictments, or
convictions for vote fraud in
California, Texas, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana,
Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina
and Maryland.
Hans Spakovsky, writing
in the Free Speech & Election
Law Practices publication,
emphasizes the problem of
noncitizens registering to vote.
He reports that in a random
sampling of 3,000 registrations
in California’s 39th Assembly
District, 10% contained phony
addresses or were not U.S. citizens.
America can be the
world’s welfare agency. We
are asked to accept the fallacy
that it is the duty of U.S.
taxpayers to support the poor
across the globe. Not only is
that unfair to Americans, but
it encourages corrupt and incompetent
governments to
continue their poor practices.
Open borders are a part
of this. Allowing signifi cant
numbers of aliens to enter
the nation, taking jobs from
Americans and diverting
funds from helping citizens to
assisting new unlawful arrivals
is absolutely wrong,
The Federation for
American Immigration
Reform provides this estimate
of costs: “At the federal,
state, and local levels, taxpayers
shell out approximately
$134.9 billion to cover the
costs incurred by the presence
of more than 12.5 million
illegal aliens, and about
4.2 million citizen children of
illegal aliens. That amounts
to a tax burden of approximately
$8,075 per illegal alien
family member and a total
of $115,894,597,664. The total
cost of illegal immigration to
U.S. taxpayers is both staggering
and crippling. In 2013,
FAIR estimated the total cost
to be approximately $113 billion.”
Unlimited spending is
ok. Judd Gregg, opinion editor
for The Hill, reveals how deep
the crisis is: “The most disconcerting
shift in the Biden budget
is its radical expansion of
the size of the federal government
as a percentage of national
economic activity. For
the fi rst time in our history,
other than during the Second
World War, the federal government
will absorb almost 25
percent of our nation’s wealth
under the Biden budget. If you
add in the activities of states
and cities, government spending
will easily exceed a quarter
of the country’s economic
output…Approximately $5.4
trillion of spending on new
programs or expanded federal
social programs is proposed
in the Biden budget over ten
years.”
Those who perpetuated
these ideas in pursuit of “fundamentally
transforming”
America into a socialist model
are not engaging in honest debate.
Editor’s note: the views
expressed in submitted letters
refl ects only those of the
writer.
CIVIC CENTER
Korony Post 253
CIVIC CENTER
C.O.M.C.A.T.A