By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Since the World Series is soon to be upon us, what better analogy to depict the campaign of Jeff Brown for New York State Senate than to liken it to Strike Three called. Jeff is out.

Strike One: Recently Jeff began running a series of radio and television commercials pandering to the bloodlust and lowest base elements in society. Whatever may be your opinion on the Death Penalty, Jeff waited until the eve of the election to raise the issue. Query where he has been these past two terms in the State Assembly and why he has not led the charge for a new Death Penalty Statute. If the only basis upon which you decide to vote for a candidate is their stance on the death penalty … shame on you. That aside, however …

But, Jeff Brown looked the camera right in the eye and told you and me that the reason he is so much in favor of that penalty is because of testimony from a recent trial. A State trooper was recently shot and killed and at the trial, Jeff Brown ran commercials that claimed that the one surviving defendant testified that they shot the trooper because New York did not have a death penalty.

It turns out Jeff Brown was not being so truthful. “ Lawyer Richard W. Rich Jr. said Adams, who drove the getaway car, gave 144 pages of testimony to the state police before the trial "and nowhere did he indicate anything to the effect that Horton had even mentioned the death penalty.” Had Jeff Brown looked a Judge in the eye instead of a camera when he said what he did, his license to practice law would probably have been suspended for two years. Instead, all we can do is not vote for him. Pandering in the name of fallen officers to suckle votes is a horrible move. Standing upon the graves of the dead as a soapbox to argue in favor of strengthening Josef Bruno’s control is appalling. Lying and misrepresenting the facts is downright shameful.

Strike Two: Mr. Brown has been running commercials attacking Senator Valesky because of budgets and school funding. First of all, let us be clear … for every budget passed during Mr. Valesky’s tenure, that same budget passed on Mr. Brown’s watch. In fact, Valesky has only served one term. Brown has messed up our taxes and spending through two election cycles. But the offensive nature of Brown’s attack is the accusation that Valesky is allegedly taking “our tax dollars” and giving them to downstate schools to the detriment of our own.

Let us be clear. The Oneida Indian Reservation gave Josef Bruno $2.1 million. Bruno has spent almost half of that already on advertising and promotion to steal the Valesky seat for the Republicans. Josef Bruno has pledged millions of your dollars to downstate schools and teachers unions. What gall is that to stand in front of a television camera and accuse your opponent of doing the very thing you yourself are doing. It appears the Oneida Indians and Josef Bruno are going to be using Mr. Brown as their face and shill. What we do know is that Mr. Brown is not directing monies toward upstate schools. For goodness sake, two terms in office and our schools are worse than ever. Enough of Jeff Brown

Strike Three: “Mr. Brown, “strongly support[s] lowering prescription drug costs for our senior citizens by creating an organization that will negotiate discounted prices directly with pharmaceutical companies.” Oh I bet Mr. Brown would love to build another taxpayer funded spending boondoggle jam-packed with patronage jobs where a bunch of his Oneida and Syracuse Lobbyist friends can sit around and make back room deals with his other group of buddies called Health Care Industry Lobbyists. What Mr. Brown proposed was creation of a State funded State Agency to negotiate for prescription drug costs. Brown also vehemently opposed buying drugs from Canada to offset State Medicaid costs.

What Brown did not tell you is that such a consortium and apparatus is already in place. It is called the Northeast Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Pricing (NELA). “In late 1999 legislators in six New England states, plus New York and Pennsylvania formed the Northeast Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Pricing to discuss regional and state pharmaceutical activities. A core group met initially in Vermont in December 1999. The Association was formally established at a meeting of legislators in Maine in June 2000, with follow-up meetings held in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. In July 2001, participating legislators voted to support a Prescription Drug Fair Pricing Coalition (PDFPC). The proposal stated, in part: "The eight states of the Association could create a joint purchasing coalition to aggregate purchasing power with manufacturers and jointly contract for pharmacy best practice and benefit administration services. The Association's role is to create the concept of the PDFPC and propose a structure for each state's participation.”

Do not tell me Mr. Brown did not know of this coalition.

Also and fortunately for us, “Congress … approved a $34.8 billion fiscal year 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill (HR 5441) that includes a provision to allow individuals to purchase lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. … The prescription drug reimportation provision would allow U.S. residents to transport personally as much as a 90-day supply of FDA-approved medication from Canada. The provision would exclude controlled substances and some biological products (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/26).

Mr. Brown clearly did not have the better idea.

In the end, Brown’s campaign is without substance and causing more harm than good. His personal greed and loyalty to party over country is appalling and shameful. I cannot encourage you with words strong enough to keep Mr. Valesky in the Senate and let Mr. Brown move on to what is obviously his next career; lobbying.