There is a new thing on facebook–after long periods of silence, Tom Reed is responding to constituents again. Is it because he senses widespread opposition to Republican politics?
On June 15, Tom wrote:
This (Appalachian Regional Commission) grant is great news for the project at Alfred State. The BDCC project will make the local economy stronger and bring jobs to the area: http://bit.ly/2swz3L5
A constituent questioned the impact of the grant on the environment. Tom replied:
… the funding will actually go to the BDCC program which is a facility that will be used to develop a process that extracts chemical assets from wood and uses them to manufacture energy and biofuels. It is designed to help diversify economies that have been impacted due to the reduction in the use of coal for energy. There is more information on the grant in the link. Feel free to reach out to our office for more info.
Tom ignores the fact that the Trump Administration continues to promote coal production. Many believe that burning things in whatever form is not a good for the environment.
A second constituent noted that President Trump’s budget proposal eliminates funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission. Tom replied:
I am aware of the President’s budget proposal. I don’t support eliminating ARC. The commission does great work in our region.
Tom may not be backing away from Donald Trump yet, but here he distances himself from Trump’s budget. One wonders if he objects to anything in the budget that cuts funding for programs not targeted narrowly at NY-23.
On June 16 Tom posted a video; he wrote:
I was on MSNBC this morning talking about bipartisanship and working across the aisle to get things done http://bit.ly/2sBb65b
A constituent suggested that talk was no good substitute for action. Tom replied:
We have to start somewhere. The Problem Solvers Caucus is taking action, though. We voted as a bloc to keep the government up and running.
Tom didn’t mention that the continuing resolution passed after the leadership made a deal with Democrats. It is anything but certain that the Problem Solvers Caucus had anything to do with that decision.
Why has Tom or his staff suddenly taken an interest in facebook? One wonders if this will continue.
New NY 23rd 