West Orange, NJ — Lawrence D. Poster, a business leader, entrepreneur, and lifelong Democrat, today announced his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. Larry is founder of the Catalyx Group, an Executive Search and Strategy Consulting Firm focused on high-technology, biotech and medtech and is a graduate of MIT. He lives with his wife in West Orange and is a 35-year resident of Essex County.
Mr. Poster said, “My purpose in running is to fight for you. I’m running for public office for the first time to fight for America and the working and middle class. I have no political boss. My candidacy and campaign are independent of entrenched party interests. My sole focus is to restore our, and your, American Dream.”
“The working and middle class are the backbone of America. Many of us are immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants. We have built America into the greatest country the world has ever known. But the world around us is crumbling. We feel it every day in our pocketbook. At the grocery store and gas pump. In our bones. Particularly if we are young, we can no longer buy a home. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the middle class grew faster and outperformed all other groups. We gained in income and wealth – and earned it. It was A Golden Age of Prosperity. But our share of the economy has been in steady decline for 50 years. For some of us there was never a Golden Age. It is time for a comeback. It is time for re-balancing. Trump and Republican leadership are killing us. It is time to put America back on track and make our aspirations real. It is time to set things right and to bring back the American Dream.”
“I’m a Democrat who will champion the middle and working class. I call myself a ‘Kitchen Table’ Democrat. Every day, I will strive to support your ‘kitchen-table’ needs and those of your family. As your Congressman, and from my bully pulpit, I will fight tirelessly to restore your American Dream, defend democracy, defend your safety, promote growth, preserve the environment and, more than anything, work without end to assure that America succeeds and that America will be a far better place for your children and grandchildren.”
“I will fight to bring a New ‘New Deal’ to America.”
Key positions of Poster are:
Grow Economy
- Economic growth without inflation.
- Avoid recession.
- Restore historic strength and viability, and place in the economy, of the working and middle class. Restore our livelihoods. Restore our American Dream.
- Restore affordability by reducing cost burden of life necessities by:
- Enacting free or nearly free universal childcare.
- Passing single-payer Medicare for All (age 55+) and restoring and improving Obamacare for everyone else.
- Forgiving most student loans.
- Restoring Social Security benefits to cost-of-living levels of seniors in 1950’s, or at least the 2010’s / Abolishing federal taxes on most Social Security benefits.
- Rescinding Trump’s “beautiful” tax give-away to the rich.
- Passing ‘Fair Taxes’ based on a progressive tax schedule, far greater minimum taxes for high earners and corporations, closing most loopholes favoring rich such as a) forever avoidance of inheritance taxes, b) shell corporation shenanigans, and c) parking income abroad.
- No federal taxes for those at the poverty line and limiting federal income taxes to 5% for those earning at twice the federal poverty level.
- No longer favoring investment income over wages and salaries: treating federal taxes on investments and salaries/wages equally.
- Passing sweeping housing and education bills for everyone modeled on GI bills passed just after World War II. Making American Dream of home ownership real again, especially for young and first-time home buyers.
- Enacting creative new higher federal minimum-wage law with new higher minimum wage by metro areas to reflect significant regional cost-of-living differences.
- Securing sufficient funding for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid to assure survival for next 3 generations of Americans.
- Supporting and stimulating job growth in all industries, especially in manufacturing, green electro-tech and 15+ frontier industries. To avoid dystopian AI future, investing smartly in education and retraining for everyone on scale not seen since federal education benefits for American GI’s returning from WW II.
Defending Democracy in America at the Ballot Box
- Defending constitutional right to vote (remember what happened in Bush v. Gore).
- Undoing Citizen’s United.
- Killing the Senate’s filibuster rule.
- Eliminating plague of gerrymandering forever by passing my radical proposal for immutable, bold new anti-gerrymandering law that forever takes congressional redistricting out of the hands of politicians.
Providing Safety and Security for All in the United States of America
- Overhauling/reforming ICE but protect our borders.
- Maintaining strong national defense.
- Supporting strong, sound and impartial justice. Ditto for policing.
- Protecting America’s infrastructure from cyberattack and a dozen other strategic vulnerabilities.
- Reforming gun laws to protect safety of America and American democracy.
- Restoring legal immigration in America to reflect America’s need for growth and to preserve our nation’s historic values toward immigrants.
- Providing a path to citizenship for Dreamers.
- Protecting and defending human, civil, women’s, gender, worker’s and children’s rights.
- Steering America back into environmental sustainability, not only to dampen climate change, but to significantly grow U.S. economy.
- Restoring national treasures such as NIH, the Smithsonian and our National Parks.
International
- Restoring U.S. leadership in world projecting our strength, equity and moral authority. Restoring world’s admiration and respect for America.
- Restoring America’s leadership role in NATO and our other major International Alliances.
- Seeking Treaty with Iran joined by all our major allies throughout the world.
- Once Iran war is solved, seeking lasting peace in Mideast based on 2-State Solution.
- Making U.S. once more the world’s Indispensable Leader and Leader of the Free World.
Mr. Poster said, “America is a land of opportunity for families, working men and women, innovators, educators, engineers, scientists, builders, entrepreneurs, immigrants, executives, first responders, healthcare providers, plumbers and electricians, other service providers, hospitality and retail workers, programmers, care givers, artists and entertainers, producers, explorers, athletes, members of our armed forces, municipal, state and federal workers and leaders, clergy, dreamers. We are diverse people and better off for it. Restore fairness. Restore equality. Restore the rule of law. Restore peace, security and tranquility in America. Leave behind to our children and grandchildren a safe, secure and better America. We lost our way. Make our American Dream real again for everyday people everywhere in America. Make our American Dream real again for everyday people just like us throughout our 10th Congressional District in Union, Hudson and Essex Counties.”