Survey from assemblyman asks many biased questions and should be considered a campaign mailer

Editor:

I received another purported “legislative survey” from Assemblyman Steve Hawley the other day, and wondered how much this one cost me. These thinly disguised political ads get under my skin.

So I’ve written some poll questions to go along with Mr. Hawley’s, perhaps not slanted the same way as his:

Do you feel sending out right-wing push polls is the best use of your taxpayer-paid assemblyman’s time?

Do you support calling them “legislative surveys” rather than campaign flyers in order to use your taxes to pay for them?

Would you like to know how much of our money your “representative” spent on it?

Do you think New Yorkers should continue to pay over twice as much for health insurance as citizens in all other advanced nations?

Do you think our school children should be protected from infectious diseases, like measles, which may be carried by anti-vaxers’ children?

Do you support jailing arrestees who are unable to afford bail, at tens of thousands in tax money per inmate per year, while those who can afford thousands of dollars in legal fees go free?

Would you prefer to share our highways with undocumented drivers who are unlicensed and uninsured, or would you prefer them to be qualified for a driver’s license and be insured?

How do you feel about those who have been imprisoned and paid their debt to society?  Should we give them a chance to become contributing citizens again, or discriminate against them for the rest of their lives?

Do you support continuing to spend our limited tax money subsidizing wealthy farmers (like, for instance, the Hawleys)?

If you have other questions for our representative, please, do let him know!

Don Welch

Clarendon