Dear Editor,
North Salem Republican District Leader Paul Rinaldi implies that the North Salem Democratic Committee reacted to President Trump’s May 22 appearance at a Rockland County visit in support of Mike Lawler without any awareness or sensitivity to the two local families that were honored there ("A defense of Congressman Lawler's bipartisan record," July 23, Page 14).
In fact, our letter was written only to address Mike Lawler’s use of that rally to portray himself (falsely in our view) as a bi-partisan member of Congress. The implication that the North Salem Democratic Committee is not sympathetic to the Crowley and Gorman families is false and unfounded.
Democrats throughout New York State have consistently honored Welles Remy Crowther’s memory in the last 25 years. The Gorman family’s tragic loss has been commented on by Gov. Hochul as follows: “Sheridan Gorman’s killer should serve a maximum sentence and then be swiftly deported.” We agree.
We continue to mourn the loss of a young life and demand justice for her, but we do not appreciate Mr. Rinaldi using this tragedy to portray us as insensitive to the Gorman family. If you have any question about what that rally was about, watch the entire rally by typing “The White House May 22, 2026” on Youtube.com for the video and please decide for yourself.
What preceded those two tributes was 60-plus minutes of Trump regurgitating his greatest rally hits in a 95-minute video. Hardly the non-partisan local memorial event that was implied by Rinaldi.
As to our response to the “highlights” of Mike Lawler’s legislative record made by Rinaldi in that recent letter, we can only repeat our main point that the data showing the impact of the OBBB (“One Big Beautiful Bill") signed by Trump in 2025 on CD17’s healthcare system speaks for itself. There were minor “carveouts” that Lawler sought for New York State healthcare after he voted for OBBB, but the ultimate damage done to the healthcare system and consumers in this area by this Republican bill is unfolding and serious. We stand by the figures and projections for New York State healthcare as stated in our previous letter to the editor.
The Medicaid work requirements of OBBB praised by Rinaldi need to be mentioned here as well. Most of us know a family or individual who will be impacted by this new regulation, which will take effect in January 2027, well after the midterm elections. Some “able-bodied” individuals on Medicaid are temporarily disabled, between jobs or just underemployed and will not be able to fulfill the monthly work/school requirements. If a recipient fails to meet these stringent work requirements and loses Medicaid coverage, they now have few options. The Obamacare (ACA) enhanced premium subsidy was terminated by the Republican Congress in December 2025, making these plans unaffordable for many. Facing this, those who lose Medicaid coverage will opt for no healthcare plan at all. Therefore, in addition to the existing budgetary cuts impacting hospitals, institutions and families, expect more misery in 2027.
The OBBB did help one group of voters in CD17, and they are the billionaires who live here. Their taxes as a group were cut in the projected amount of one trillion dollars to accommodate the one trillion dollars in federal cuts to this nation’s healthcare by OBBB. Billionaires may love their OBBB tax cut and will be happily voting for Mike Lawler in November 2026. As for the rest of us, we’ve had enough of Mike Lawler and the Republican-led Congress.
-North Salem Democratic Committee
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