OntheWilderSide

The Corrosive Effect of Money on Local Government & Politics

Longtime political activists Michael Kornfeld of Huntington and Jim McDonald of Deer Park address “The Corrosive Effect of Money on Local Government and Politics” during an hour-long program slated to air Wednesday, April 4, from 8:30-9:30 p.m. on Channel 115 on Cablevision’s Woodbury system. A condensed, 30-minute version will be broadcast the following Wednesday, April 11, at 6:30 p.m., on channel 20.

The public access TV show was taped during a recent Long Island Progressive Coalition-sponsored public forum at the Huntington Public Library at which Kornfeld and McDonald spoke about the insidious influence of monied special interests on our local political institutions and the need for campaign finance and other systemic reforms.

Kornfeld bucked the local Democratic Party organization last year by waging an aggressive primary campaign for town council, while McDonald mounted a strong campaign — with scant party support — against State Senator Owen Johnson in November. Both secured more than 40 percent of the vote despite being vastly outspent by opponents who relied heavily on special-interest campaign contributions.

“We ought to have more citizen-legislators who are motivated by a desire to serve the public interest, rather than the monied special interests,” declares Kornfeld in his concluding remarks. “Corruption, cronyism, greed and the arrogance of power know no party label.”

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