McCain Should Visit Bethel Woods

by: Bill Liblick

United States Senator John McCain in an effort to gain momentum to his stalled campaign for President has assisted in putting an end to a million dollar federal grant for a Woodstock museum at the Bethel Woods.

Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma did the dirty work for McCain in squashing the funds arguing that public monies should not be awarded to a private foundation.

McCain also alleged campaign contributions from Alan Gerry to Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer were the reason grants were approved in the first place. Who is John McCain kidding?

McCain is well aware that Congress delivers pork back to its local communities. I am certain if we go through his voting record with a fine tooth comb we will see items he allocated monies for which we would deem as being contemptible.

The fact of the matter is that a federal grant to assist Bethel Woods in constructing a museum celebrating the Woodstock era would not be a waste in spending. The potential benefit for Sullivan County would be enormous.

Should we fault the Gerry Foundation because they know how to work the system? We forget that there is also a state grant of a million dollars earmarked towards the same Woodstock Museum. There was no out cry when that was approved back in 2006.

Nor was there an outcry when Bethel Woods received millions in grants to construct the performing arts center, or when a portion of land was removed from our tax rolls. No one complained when Alan Gerry spent millions of dollars of his own money to build Bethel Woods either.

The truth is that Bethel Woods is probably the single best thing to take place in Sullivan County since the Borsch Belt Hotels were alive and well. What Allan Gerry did for our county single handedly is beyond belief. John McCain has lost it.

My only criticism has been that there is no special handling fee or surcharge tagged along with ticket sales to assist our cash strapped county in its spending of Sheriff and State Police patrols during concerts. There should have been a mechanism in place to offset these huge costs.

It is criminal for McCain to suggest that Clinton and Schumer, or any elected official for that matter, were influenced by campaign contributions from Alan Gerry for their governmental financial support of Bethel Woods.

Alan Gerry is a man of great wealth and integrity, and it would be expected that he contribute funds to political candidates he deems worthy. That does not mean he is buying a persons support for a project in which he is involved.

The American system allows people to contribute to political campaigns. If we go through a list of those who have contributed to McCain, I am sure we would find millionaires and even billionaires whom he has indirectly assisted by his votes in Congress.

As a United State Senator McCain should be leading the fight for campaign reform. Those who win elections are usually the candidates with the biggest bankrolls. If they cannot raise money, they lose because they cannot get their message out. People like Eliot Spitzer, Michael Bloomberg, and John Corzine get elected because they spend their own money, and they are beholden to no one.

To add Bethel Woods and a museum celebrating the Woodstock era into the presidential elections is just downright wrong. But then again, we just completed an election that indicated a vote for Neil Gilberg would have endangered our public safety. Anything goes in campaigns even if it encompasses scare tactics and misinformation.

John McCain knows better. He should tour Sullivan County and see for himself what Bethel Woods is all about. But he doesn’t have the guts to pay us a visit.

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