A Message from Independence Party Senate Candidate - Jeff Beller

I would first like to take the opportunity to thank the members of the New York State Independence Party Committee for giving me the opportunity to represent the Independence Party in the Primary of September 12, 2000.

I would like to begin by telling you a little about myself. I have been a resident of New York State my entire life. I was born on Long Island and moved upstate about 30 Years ago. I worked for American Airlines as a freight handler and was very fortunate to be elected Chairman of my union (Transport Workers Union) in which I served for 12 years.

I joined the Independence Party because it was apparent to me that major parties were focusing their party agenda on the symptoms of our nation's problems rather than on the causes of those problems. Our nation as a whole, and New York State in particular, are facing difficulties in the area of health care, social security reform, education, welfare reform, crime, and the need for more better jobs. I realized like many others that the Dems and Republicans were talking the talk but not walking the walk.

I decided to do something about it and seek the senate seat from New York for several reasons, among them my sincere belief in the need for an effective third party voice in national affairs. For too long, both Democrats and Republicans have allowed certain special interests to dominate our political system. Too often, major Congressional decisions effecting the well being of our country are made in favor of those special interest rather than in favor of the people whom the elected officials are supposed to represent. Our elected officials must be accountable to the people who elected them, not just those who financed their campaigns. I am a firm believer that we must reform our system. We must enact meaningful Campaign Finance Reform, Same Day Voter Registration and Initiative and Referendum.

As many of you are aware one of main issues in this campaign is my stance on renewable energy. The renewable fuels industry does more than just produce the energy we need. The renewable fuels industry also creates jobs, which allow New York State's economy to grow and prosper. Today, New York State imports upwards of $35 billion worth of energy each year - more than any other state in the Union. For every $1 billion we keep in New York State by producing our own renewable fuels, we can create 20,000 new jobs that each pays $50,000 per year. Imagine what that $35 billion that we send out of New York could accomplish if it were all kept in the state.

Many of us can remember when we could fill our cars' gas tank for $5. Now that same tankful costs $25. Actions such as simply releasing into the market the strategic petroleum reserves would only be fixing the symptom and not correcting the problem. The solution lies in developing renewable fuels. The technology already exists to supplement, and eventually replace, costly and environmentally damaging imported fossil fuels with less expensive, cleaner renewable fuels we can produce right here in New York State; biofuels, bioelectricity, and biochemicals we can produce from corn, forestry residues, grasses and trees, yard waist and compost.

Other issues that I hope to bring out in this campaign are:

HMO Reform - It is time to bring back the Doctor- Patient relationship and to end the practice of insurance providers making medical decisions.

Judical Reform - It is imperative that we take the politics out of the judicary.

Social Security Reform - We need to begin by paying the system back what we have taken out.

I will providing position papers on all my issues, please look at our web site at www.jeffbeller.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line at jeff@jeffbeller.com or give me a call at 518-797-3377 Thank You

Jeff Beller

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