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Protesters greet Boehner at WNY fundraisers

Mike Desmond/wbfo news

Hundreds of thousands of dollars rolled into political coffers Wednesday night with two local fundraisers featuring House Speaker John Boehner. The public event was in the home of veteran GOP money man Paul Harder in Lakeview. That featured tickets for  $1,000 and $2,000 to attend and get a picture taken with the House Speaker. That was for the campaign fund of Congressman Chris Collins.

Then, Boehner and some of the guests left for a $5,000-per-person dinner in another private home. That cash goes to a fund to continue control of the House with Boehner as speaker.

Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy says fundraising is now year round.

"In the two-year cycle of the House of Representatives, there's no off-season any more. It's even gotten this way into local politics," Langworthy told WBFO News.

"It's the thing I hate the most about politics. It's a necessary component year-round. There's no time where you can sit and reflect. You have to plan and  continually plan for the next steps."

The area of Harder's home was switched from the district of Congressman Brian Higgins to Collins in the most recent re-apportionment, growing out of the 2010 Census.

Visitors to the Collins event ran a gantlet of protestors, perhaps 50 people from many different groups.

Richard Lipsitz, president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, says he has issues with Boehner.
           
"It's the entire milieu, the entire gridlock that's been imposed on our government, again by the right wing of the Republican Party, which is threatening the living standards and working conditions and job security and just quality of life of tens of millions of people in our country. It's already happening."

Credit Mike Desmond/wbfo news
One Boehner fundraiser was held at the Lakeview home of Paul Harder.

Neither Collins nor Boehner were available to answer questions.

The congressman left with his wife for the other dinner while Boehner left in a motorcade with State Police escort cars.
 

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.