ERIE COUNTY, NY – Wealthy contributors, affluent backers and just plain rich folk are expected to congregate in the nation’s third-poorest city today as Sen. John Thune (R-SD) makes a quick cash stop to drum up support and funding for Chris Collins at a $1,000-a-plate event at the Erie County Historical Society.
“While John Thune knows nothing about Erie County, he and Chris Collins are a lot alike,” said Peter Anderson, spokesman for Mark Poloncarz. “Thune voted ‘yes’ on the Paul Ryan budget, which would have ended Medicare as we know it and left millions of Americans on their own after retirement; Collins has made drastic cuts in local healthcare and left needy families to fend for themselves. Thune voted to cut $98 million from the National Endowment for the Arts; Collins has vindictively used the local arts community as his own funding piñata. Thune voted ‘no’ on a Senate bill to furnish bridge repair funding; Collins has let our county infrastructure crumble while hoarding stimulus funds meant to address the situation and put people back to work.
“Without a thought, millionaire Chris Collins and his out-of-touch political cronies easily spend $1,000 a plate while supporting cuts in services, decimating arts and cultural organizations and suffocating infrastructure repair. Thune’s views don’t represent those of the hard-working men and women of Erie County just like Collins doesn’t work for the people of Erie County.”