Paul Szmal: Fortunately, it looks like Plan B is going to work and we have the Assemblyman on the phone. Assemblyman John Lamonti is representing the 126th District, Points East, in our listening area. Good morning.
John Lemondes: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
Paul Szmal: So, first thing is, congratulations on your re-election and what would you like to say to the people who supported you and your constituents for another two years?
John Lemondes: Well, thanks for the opportunity, Ted. For everybody that supported me, I really appreciate your support and your continued support and I just hope everybody understands that I represent apolitically and if you need help or have problems with things, by all means, please reach out and we will help you in any way that we can.
Paul Szmal: So I mean, we've talked about a lot of these things, but just give us some of your top priorities and those of the GOP conference for the upcoming session.
John Lemondes: So yes, of course. Number one is having our New York borders closed, expulsion of the migrant population and returning tax benefit dollars earned by hard-working New York families, local and throughout the state, back to them. And I mean, so we have to stop the diversion of taxpayer dollars going to foreigners from other countries that have been allowed to enter illegally. We have a legal immigration process. Everybody knows that. We don't say no to immigrants. We just want them to enter legally. So we understand what's coming into our country and that we don't lose control and have unfettered access of drugs, weapons, disease, traffic, children. My God, my orcas lost, you know, upwards of 300,000 children that are unaccounted for. And I have a, we participated, I don't know if you've covered it, Ted, a human trafficking task force meeting recently, a couple of weeks before the election. We're going to follow up on that and we are going to keep driving that home to bring justice to the families and to these children.
And secondly, that ties in perfectly with we have to maintain and rebuild our public safety infrastructure, provide dignity and resources to all of our law enforcement officials at every level, corrections officers, police officers, investigators, state police, local police. And they have to be able, they have to be empowered to do their job and they have to know that somebody's not looking over their shoulder to put them in jail with a felony like has been the case under the bail reform laws that made it illegal for local law enforcement to coordinate with federal law enforcement. ICE, for example, with respect to illegals and their detention, I mean, that's just one of the stupidest things I've ever heard in my life. Who would have ever thought they would wake up in any place in the United States of America where a state would make it illegal for law enforcement agencies to, on behalf of their own people, make it illegal for them to coordinate and conduct the business of public safety.
And then, of course, without question, the economy, prosperity, the reduction of inflation. We're going to see all these things. Energy prices are coming down. President Trump is going to help immensely. And we're going to be on a pro-America agenda. And I'm happy to be a part of that in New York. And we're going to be on a pro-New York agenda, but we have to do those things first.
Paul Szmal: So this kind of ties in, but your overall thoughts on the election will start in New York. President Trump, President-elect Trump, did better than any Republican presidential candidate in New York in several years. The GOP made some inroads, I believe, in the legislature. On the other hand, I think it was three congressional seats flipped back to Democrats. So what do you think is the message that we should take out of the voting overall here in New York?
John Lemondes: Yeah, I think all of that is really interesting. I think, you know, I think people spoke, and people spoke loudly. And we could speak on each of those points if we segregated them. You know, we could do the whole interview on them alone. I think even though the issue of abortion was not, the sanctity of abortion in this state has not been violated, it's not weakened. It was actually strengthened over the last two legislative cycles. But I think the Democrats were very effective in scaring people and making women think that abortion was on the table. And ultimately, if some of these seats that were flipped, I haven't studied their individual policies, but if their policies were, you know, pro-life with no exclusions, you know, I think women spoke loudly in those areas. I think those exclusions are important. And as a guy, as I've said, even on your show before, I think, you know, I'm a guy with two daughters, three sisters, nine nieces. There's plenty of women in my family that I can reach out to for direct opinions on what's right and what's not for women's health, for men's health, for anybody's health. And I know what they think. And I know, you know, as a dad, I mean, I just can't, some of these things are unconscionable to me. So I think those seats that flipped, you know, people spoke, and that's our system. The most important thing, and you and I spoke about this last time, I hope you and I can share a sigh of equal relief that this has been done peacefully.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. What are your thoughts on Proposition 1?
John Lemondes: It passed pretty easily. My thought about it was, support it or not support it, it was incredibly poorly written and really wasn't very clear, in my mind, on what it was trying to do.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, I agree. I voted against it. I want everybody to know that. Again, citing, you know, a dad, two daughters, three sisters, nine nieces, a natural-born woman, girl, will never win first place in any sport in New York State ever again, because she'll have to compete with men. They can call themselves whatever they want, but this trans craze on the left is going to undermine women, and women, especially in athletics, are going to be left behind if this trans craze keeps going, which I don't understand. I mean, you and I are old enough to remember that we spent, what, three decades? Our whole entire nation trying to eradicate genital mutilation in Africa? You know? I mean, if you remember that back to when we were kids through the time, you know, middle-aged adults, and now we're saying that it's okay to do here? I don't get it. I mean, it doesn't pass my common sense test.
John Lemondes: Now, obviously, I'm sure you're quite happy with the election of Donald Trump to a second term. What would you say, though, to the Democrats who are afraid of tyranny and dictatorship and whatever they want to call it?
Paul Szmal: Yeah, I think that's all election hype, and you could see, you know, if you put together the list of major media stations and papers that were all screaming about how Kamala Harris was going to resoundingly beat him, well, look what happened. I mean, he didn't get elected without the support and trust of people at every socioeconomic level, people in the center, and people on the left as well. I think the failure, the epic failure of the Biden-Harris administration was felt resoundingly at every level of our society, and people have said, enough is enough.
John Lemondes: President-elect Trump has promised to impose tariffs on a lot of imported goods. Aren't those going to drive up the price of those goods for all of us?
Paul Szmal: Of course, but I think if you look at what he's trying to do, and I'm in agreement with this, so those particular goods will be more expensive. However, that should, and I hope, you know, so we've got to wait to see what happens, I hope that that means more domestic production will come home, and those American-made goods will be cheaper at home. And you know, for example, in my own business, I think, you know, I raise sheep and goats, my number one competitor is Australia, 9,000 miles away, and their pricing structure, which is subsidized by their government, their pricing structure is made to undercut us, local producers, there are 58,000 sheep farms in the U.S., 3,000-some-odd in New York, their pricing structure is made to undercut us at the county level in the lower 48 states. The Alaska and Hawaii pricing models are different, so what I'm saying doesn't apply to them, but in the 48 contiguous states, they can virtually undercut us cheaper than we can produce literally in your backyard through their government subsidies. So I think, I see exactly what he's trying to do, I believe in it, and I think it will achieve the goal, but, you know, to your point, until it happens, we can't say that it has, right?
John Lemondes: What do you think of the New York flavor of the Trump cabinet? We already have Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin and possibly more coming in.
Paul Szmal: New York has always been a leader and has always provided sound leadership to the nation. I think it's great. I think it's a loud statement, and, you know, the unfortunate thing is with our population loss, don't forget, we've lost 13 congressional seats since 1980 because of population outmigration, but wouldn't it be great to turn that around and get people moving back to New York if we can get some sound economic policy? I mean, I just recently, right before the election, in an economic development hearing, I recommended that we have legislation requiring legislators at the state level, Senate and Assembly, to demonstrate competence in economics before they can vote on anything that impacts businesses. My colleagues on the left resoundingly did not like that, but I think if you're passing laws and bills that will make or break businesses, you should have to demonstrate competence in what you are executing laws are that will crush people's lives and businesses or enhance them.
Paul Szmal: Assemblyman John Lamontes has been with us today representing the 126th District. Congratulations on re-election for another two years, and thanks for sharing your time with us generously each month. We appreciate it.
John Lemondes: Thank you, Ted. I do as well. Have a wonderful day.
