Caroline Shinkle for Congress Interview and Q&A

with no income caps that would help a lot of young people who are getting saddled with student debt at the outset of their careers and it's wrong. Things like protecting your paycheck, this is one of my key policy proposals. So I fundamentally believe that your paycheck, the money you earn, it belongs to you and not to the federal government. And so I want to eliminate the federal income tax on W2 wages up to $150,000. So if you're a hardworking American who makes $150,000 or less, I don't think you should have to pay any of that harder money to the government. And we have to think about incentives here as an economist. I do that a lot and fundamentally work is good. Productivity is good, participating in the economy is good. So why are we taxing the hell out of something that's so good? We want to incentivize that behavior, not drive it away. So those are some of the policies I'm focused on. Certainly fighting anti-Semitism that's become another core part of my campaign. And I say this as a proud Catholic, but I'm somebody who has lived in Jerusalem. I have walked those ancient and holy streets in Israel. And I understand what anti-Semitism is. It is not just a targeting of the Jewish population. It's a targeting of all of us as Americans. It's inherently anti-West. It's anti-democratic. It's anti-United States. And it fundamentally goes against our Judeo-Christian tradition. So I'm out front fighting against anti-Semitism. And this is a key point too. I want to use my background in international finance to actually track down and prosecute the sources of funds that are underwriting this anti-Semitic violence. And when we do that, we're going to shut down a lot of this behavior, a lot of it is coordinated efforts. So that's some of what I stand for. And I would encourage all of your listeners tonight to take a look at my website, Caroline4NewYork.com, to learn more. That's F-O-R-N-E-W-Y-O-R-K. I'll spell it out. And you know, that's some of what I stand for. But there's a lot more information on the website as well. Why don't we just talk a little bit about policy? What are the policies in your mind that have caused New York, state, California, other, if you will, states that have feared very far left over time. How have they been counterproductive in terms of issues like affordability, quality of life, public safety? What are those policies and how do we fix them? It's crucially important. And as you say, we see the same behavior going on in other states and other major cities across the country. These states have embraced the socialist mindset. And we know this bill, socialism doesn't work. It's never worked throughout history. It's not going to work here in New York City under Zoraan Mamdani. What we have to do is embrace the power of private enterprise, embrace the power of capitalism, and incentivize and empower the individual and harness that productivity for the greater good when places like California and New York, where the cost of energy is, at least here in New York, 70% higher than the average across the rest of the country. That is failure. That is failure in terms of policy. It is leading to an out-of-control cost of living. This is something that we can address here in New York state. We have one of the largest natural gas reserves, but we're not allowed to tap into it. I'm in favor, for example, of an all-energy options on the table approach. That is that, yes, we want to pursue clean technology and renewables, but we don't want to go bankrupt over the matter. So embracing common-sense policies like that is something that's vitally important to attracting business, attracting families to stay here in New York City rather than driving everybody away. Theatrix from Zoraan Mamdani, like the Pieda Territax, which when you think about it, is really taxation without representation. It sends the wrong signal. Why should we penalize success and vilify successful people here in New York City? When, in fact, we ought to be laying the groundwork and developing policies to attract high earners and everybody for that matter to move to New York City to double down on investment here in New York City so that we can remain the center of global capitalism and the beacon of opportunity to the world. And certainly when it comes to the crime policies and in states like New York and California, we have a pro-criminal government. When you think about it, the current Democratic Party leadership, they want to protect the criminals and coddle the criminals at the expense of the rest of us, the hardworking American taxpayer. When you go in a CVS and a Dwayne read here and all the Baronessesides, the Deodorant, the toothpaste, when all of that is locked up, but the repeat offenders and the criminals are not, that tells you everything you need to know about how this city is run. We don't embrace common sense here. And I think for a long time, voters have gotten in the habit of voting for one particular party. But things have gotten so bad where I think people are really looking for a credible, viable alternative to this insanity coming out of the Democratic Party right now. And certainly, here in New York 12, in our district, we are not a socialist district, we are a common sense district. All we have to do is look at the results of the mayoral election last November. This district, New York 12 did not vote for Zora and Mamdani. This district went for Cuomo. So fundamentally, people are looking for a viable, credible alternative option. And I think I'm that candidate. Maybe you can kind of compare and contrast yourself with your competitor here on policy issues. Anything you like, a vote for you means what versus a vote for the Democratic candidate. A vote for me is a vote for proven success and proven solutions that have been demonstrated to work throughout history. A vote for my opponent is a vote for failure. I'm running against a guy bill who's never worked today in his life in the private sector. He's a career political bureaucrat or a political aparatic, as I call him. He only knows failure because he's only ever worked as an aid to other failed politicians. This is somebody who endorsed Zora and Mamdani immediately. Even politicians like Kathy Hocal had to take some time to think about whether that would be sending the right message. Michael Ashre did it immediately. If you look at his policy platform, he has totally embraced the DSA agenda. He's totally embraced socialism. He wants universal everything for everyone with no conception as to how to pay for anything. And this is dangerous stuff when you think about our national debt. We're at $40 trillion in climbing. This is not only irresponsible from a fiscal perspective, but it's also a matter of national security. So this is a guy who's totally caved in in every respect, including on the issue of anti-Semitism and Israel. He's been asked many times on the record whether Israel is committing genocide and he's been asked by the way while sitting in a synagogue. And he will not say no. So this is somebody who if I don't stop him this November bill, the moment he's elected, he's going to be voting lockstep with Zora and Mamdani and the DSA. Otherwise, he knows he's going to get Dan Goldman. And I just made that a verb. Yes, he's going to go the way of Dan Goldman because he will get primary from the left. So this is a guy who only cares about his political career. He has go along to get along and I'm going to go one step further. He is not a serious candidate. Nobody has seen him. Nobody has heard from him. He does not campaign. He will not debate me. He will not give the voters the respect they deserve. He is functioning from the Joe Biden School of hiding from your basement in terms of campaigning, hoping that by staying quiet, nobody will notice his serious failures. But I notice and I'm calling him out. And by the way, when I'm elected bill in Congress, I'm going to sponsor legislation that requires any candidate for federal office to have to debate if they hope to be on the ballot. This behavior of hiding and not giving voters the respect they deserve by stepping up to debate, this behavior walks. You're elected to Congress. What do you give us the first 100 days? What are your priorities and how does it benefit New York? We're going to balance the federal budget. This is something that is so critically important. I don't think we talk about it enough. We've got the tools to do it. We did it in the 90s under President Bill Clinton working with a Republican Congress by the way under Newt King Ridge. So that was a great show of bipartisan support. We got to balance the federal budget. And this is important because it will help to address the underlying cause of the cost of living crisis. And that is inflation. So by addressing inflation, that'll help to create the conditions, as you know, for the federal reserve, my former employer to lower the cost of money and lower rates. And that's important for the hardworking American who's trying to buy their first home and get a mortgage at a favorable rate. So a lot of this ties back to economics and a lot of it ties back to balancing the federal budget, which I will always fight for and offer balanced budget amendments. And let's remember, the deficit spending in Washington, this is not a Republican or a Democrat problem. This is a problem on both sides of the aisle. We got a reign in the deficit spending. We have to practice some fiscal accountability, some fiscal sustainability. And that is something that I will always fight for. So that's going to happen. And then, you know, some of my signature policy proposals as well protecting your paycheck, eliminating that federal income tax on W2 wages, up to $150,000. Really championing the issue of fighting against anti-Semitism and treating Jewish safety like public safety because that's really what it is and making sure that all of our communities here in New York City feel safe. They feel supported and they have the opportunity to thrive. Okay, I don't want to have a monopoly on the question. So why don't we open it up for questions for the audience? You want to ask a question, just request an open mic. I'm going to start with John D. Bieleriel, if I hopefully I said your name correctly. If you could unmute John then you should be able to ask a question. I've now upped with speaker. Sometimes there's a delay on X. Go ahead, John, but you have to unmute to ask your question. Okay, while we're waiting for John to unmute, who else would like to question, just request the opportunity to ask a question? If you can't relate to it. Now we can hear it, yes. Sorry about that. I didn't double on you. Thanks so much Bill. Great to hear from you and thank you for this form and Carolyn. You sound amazing as a candidate. I'm a veteran of many campaigns. You can see my stuff later. I don't want to bore anyone with my biography. But my main question is, I would love you to witness this sentence, this, sorry, this congressional district. How are you going to do it? What are the practical politics? I know there's a fundraising gap at least by normal disclosure. There's obviously a voter registration gap. What are you going to do to win this seat? Absolutely. And thank you for that question. We're going to win this seat. Yes, because this is a political realignment. This is no longer business as usual. This is not going to be a typical 80-20 election here in New York 12. This is a very different dynamic for a couple of reasons and I'll walk you through some of them. So one is, it's an open seat. Jerry Nathler is stepping down. He's retiring. He was first elected before I was born so that gives you an indication of the stale thinking and really the need for some new leadership, some new blood, some fresh perspective. I'm running against a highly unpopular week candidate. This is a guy, Michael Asher, who barely won his primary in the Democratic primary. He barely won and it was highly bitter and divisive. So a lot of people are not happy with their choice on the Democratic side. He was considered the best bad option. Well, I don't think in this country that we settle for the best bad, we should have the best period. And so that's where my candidacy comes in based on my track record of success and performance. We're also dealing with a situation where lifelong Democrats and a lot of lifelong Democrats, particularly within the Jewish community, feel politically homeless. They feel betrayed by the Democratic Party. They do not subscribe to the DSA and the socialism that's really overtaken the Democratic Party. And they are looking for a real credible alternative. And what many of these voters are finding out, and this is the majority of the district, by the way. It's a heavily Democratic district, but let's remember, it's not a socialist district. These common sense Democrats are realizing that they have much more in common with somebody like me, based on my common sense agenda and my values than they do with somebody like Michael Asher, who is totally embraced DSA and socialism. And so we're finding that this has become a political realignment. I'm a champion for all constituencies here in New York City, but certainly for the Jewish community, I'm unapologetically supportive of the Jewish community and of Israel. And so that's really been resonating with people. And I'm a highly, highly unique Republican candidate when it comes to this kind of a lot-sided district. And so for all those reasons, this race is very much winnable. And if everybody gets out and votes this November, and actually you can start voting on October 24th for early voting, if everybody goes out and votes, I will win this. And if people support my campaign and donate to my campaign every dollar matters, I would love it if you would. And all of our listeners tonight, if people support the campaign, I will win this. So this is not business as usual. And this is going to be the greatest political upset in American history. And let me tell you, it could not come at a better time. Great. Let's go to David's schedule. And if you will unmute yourself, David. Hey, can you hear me? Yes. Okay, I'm getting kind of feedback from the conversation still kind of going, but I'm just going to ask my question to ignore the other. Yeah, it's a little bit of a delay. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. Basically, my question is on, okay, sorry, it's a little hot. Okay.