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Ithaca August 27 -- In a briefing to Ithaca Chamber of Commerce members Monday United States Congressman Maurice Hinchey compared President Bush to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arguing that both leaders govern by fear.  "Having set up the Axis of Evil in a State of the Union Address, the most important speech that any president ever makes, they attack one third of the Axis of Evil," Hinchey said.  "If you were living in a country that is part of the other two thirds, what are you going to do?  You're going to say, 'They're going to be coming after me next.  We've got to do something.'


"What did the Iranians do?  They elected the Iranian version of George W. Bush.  Ahmadinejad, somebody who is out there whacking, running around, creating a culture of fear within his own country.  So the administration has been focussed on attacking Iran to get the pressure off of them with regard to Iraq.  And expanding this culture of fear.

"There are only two ways that any government can operate.  One is that you have to have the consent and confidence of the people being governed.  If you can't get that then the only other way you can govern is by fear.  By making the people that you are governing so scared that they just keep turning to you saying, 'Help me, help me, help me.  Protect me, protect me, protect me.'  That's the objective of this administration."

	More quotes: "I am deeply grateful for all the friendships that I have all across this district, especially here in Ithaca.  Ithaca's a wonderful place.  I'm very proud to be the person who represents the city and some of Tompkins County." - Maurice Hinchey

Hinchey represents New York's 22nd district, which spans eight counties with Ithaca at its northwest boundary.   He is currently serving his eighth term in in Congress, where he is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, among other responsibilities.  Before being elected to Congress Hinchey spent 18 years as a representative in the New York State Assembly.  Born in Manhattan, he enlisted in the U.S. navy, serving on the destroyer U.S.S. Marshall in the South Pacific.

He spoke for about a half hour before opening the floor to questions, blasting the administration on the economy, health care, the decline in U.S. manufacturing, and media owned by a few large corporations, following up with a question and answer period.  He also spoke about the state of African nations he visited last week, saying that some are making progress, while others are steeped in corruption. 

He charged that a half trillion dollars wasted on Iraq has contributed to a $9 trillion national debt, saying that while incomes and the middle class decline, Americans are spending a lot more than they make.  He said Congress has passed a bill to bring health insurance to 6 million uninsured children, but fears Bush will veto it.  He advocated pursuing effective alternative energy sources, singling out solar power as having enormous potential.


But the one theme Hinchey applied to nearly everything he said was that the Bush administration, and President Bush in particular, lied to the public in order to stay in power, and continue to do so.  "That's the objective of this administration," he said.  "Make people fearful.  So fearful that they can continue to govern."

	More quotes: "There are some historians who say that democratic republics don't last more than 200 years.  Well, we've got to show that you can last more than 200 years.  We've got to continue to sustain the system, and the only way you can do it is by sustaining the constitution and by confronting lies face to face, head on, aggressively." - Maurice Hinchey

Ironically, Hinchey was picketed outside by a lone woman wearing sandwich board signs chastising him for not taking a more active stand on impeaching the President.

Hinchey also accused President Bush of family of allowing oil interests guiding policies in Washington.  "The Bush family has been so closely tied to the Saudi family for generations," Hinchey said.  "The power they have assumed, the Saudis have always had.  The Saudis are the only family in the world that named their country after them.  The connection between those two families has been very detrimental to us, and even to Saudi Arabia."

Asked about the likelihood of the United States attacking Iran, he first charged that the administration wants to do so in order to distract the public from Iraq.  But when pressed, he said, "I think it's quite a bit less than it was a year and a half ago.  But with this administration it's hard to say for sure. Hopefully a new administration will begin by perhaps setting up a meeting in Switzerland, and start talking and begin to wipe all of this stuff off the table."

	More quotes: "We're seeing a lot of circumstances here that indicate this economy is showing signs of weakness that are very troubling." - Maurice Hinchey

"This situation can be solved easily with the countries in the Middle East," Hinchey claimed.  "But if you have a government that is afraid that if they solve the problem they'll be put out of office, they're going to make everybody else afraid in order to keep them in office."

With the failure of the Lansing sewer initiative, local officials have said that the sewer project will only be brought forward if significant federal assistance is made available in the future.  When asked about the prospect of meaningful federal help building rural local infrastructure, Hinchey was cautiously optimistic.  "I think it's going to improve over the next ten years," he said.  "I'm just a complete optimist, so I could be wrong.  I think the main reason for that is the increasing evidence of how important it is, how it has to happen, how the country is beginning to fall apart."

	More quotes: "Now the situation is that we've spent $500 billion (on Iraq).  The money that we've spent has really not produced anything that's solid or significant, and that moves the country forward." - Maurice Hinchey

Hinchey noted that laws were created during the Nixon administration to create 'drinkable, fishable, swimmable waters all over America.  "But then the Reagan administration changed all that in the 1980s."

"Are we going to get a president who is going to step up and say, 'Look Ladies and Gentlemen' in his radio message or a press conference, statements to the people?  'We have a responsibility to ourselves and our country.  Yes, we have obligations around the world, but we can't deal effectively with our problems around the world unless we deal effectively with our own problems.  So we need a president who is going to do that."


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