MORNING STAR • OcT. 28 - NOv. 3, 2010
2010 General Election
PAGE 25
Issues and Answers
Candidates on the ballot were given an opportunity to respond to our survey. Their responses are reprinted here verbatim to help voters learn more about them and their ideas. We encourage readers to take time to learn all they can about the candidates for office and to vote on Tuesday, November 2. Editor’s note: Candidates from the two major parties were contacted with the questions. In cases where the candidates did not have an opponent (Daniel Short of Seaford and Biff Lee of Laurel) a survey was not sent. (The question of “Why should voters elect you over your opponent” would not work.) Half of the candidates responded to the first request to complete the survey. The others had to be contacted one or more additional times. Candidates of the minor parties were not contacted just because of lack of time.
US Senate Christopher Coons (D) The candidate did not respond to the survey despite repeated attempts to encourage his campaign staff to participate.
Christine O’Donnell (R) Why are you interested in holding this office? I’m running for U.S. Senate because I’m concerned about the direction of our country. Our constitutional founding principles of limited government, low taxation and free enterprise are no longer viewed as indispensable by our so-called leaders in Washington. It doesn’t take an expert to see our country is going broke. We can’t spend O’Donnell our way to recovery nor tax our way to prosperity, yet that’s what Washington continues to propose. We can begin the effort to turn the tide in our nation. I am optimistic. Yet, we must roll back the damage wrought by liberal big spending career politicians. My candidacy has been about putting the political process back in the hands of the people and restoring accountability. My campaign has been about fighting for the people and sending someone to Washington who will stand up to the special interests and break up the back room deals. In these trying times Delaware needs a senator who puts the needs of others before her own. We need to restore the sense that elected office means service to those whom you represent. We need leaders who
will sacrifice for the needs of others. To get our country back on track, those serving in Washington must be committed to a cause greater than themselves. For me, that cause is the people of Delaware. I am asking for your vote on Nov. 2, so that I can go to Washington and serve your interests, not political special interests. Why should voters elect you over your opponent? For our country to get back on track we must replace career politicians with citizen politicians. I want to go to Washington to represent the common interests of Delawareans not the special interests in Washington. My opponent has promised to be a rubber stamp for the Obama/Reid agenda. He will vote to increase taxes on job creators. He will vote for the national energy tax called Cap and Trade, which will cost every Delaware family at least $1,200 a year in higher utility costs and about $3,000 a year in higher consumer costs. And my opponent’s family could stand to make millions of dollars from the family business stake in Cap and Trade. My opponent’s answer for nearly every problem is the federal government. He believes in the overreaching arm of government, and I believe that reach must be reined in. My opponent recently told a candidate’s forum that voters should look at his performance as New Castle county executive to know how he will serve in the U.S. Senate. That’s exactly what voters should do, and when they do, they will see someone who raised property taxes by 54 percent, and who cut into the county’s surplus in order to attempt to balance the New Castle County budget. One bond rating service even said that if New Castle County stayed on the taxing and spending course that it’s now on, the county will be bankrupt in 2014, and will have a $17 million deficit by 2015. Imagine what my opponent would do if he’s sent to Washington and given the checkbook of the U.S. Treasury. During the upcoming lame duck session, I will vote to stop the Obama tax increases, to stop Cap and Trade and to keep the Death Tax from being reinstated on January 1. My plan is to cut taxes and keep money in the hands of the American people, giving certainty back to our job creators and encouraging them to invest back in their businesses and hire new workers.
What do you feel is the top issue facing the office you are seeking? How will you address this issue? All across this state I’ve heard from small business owners who are pleading for certainty from Washington so that they can get back to creating jobs. They want our federal government to stop the reckless spending that has added $2.7 trillion to our national debt over the past two years. They want a senator who will vote to stop the Obama tax increases, so that they can know that Washington will let them keep more of their own money to reinvest in their businesses. This also means stopping the reinstatement of the Death Tax. Studies have said that permanently repealing the Death Tax could generate 1.5 million jobs. And, I will introduce legislation to implement a two-year holiday on the capital gains tax. This too will allow our job creators to see real economic growth sustained by hard work and a good business model, not by tax dollars. The best thing government can do to help the economy is to get out of the way of the small business owner and the entrepreneur and allow them to create jobs rooted in the private sector. What is the second most pressing issue and what will you do to address this issue? We cannot afford to implement a devastating national energy tax such as the Obama administration’s Cap and Trade proposal. This job-killing proposal will affect Delawareans every time they flip on a light switch. Business owners will be hit with sharply higher utility costs and thousands of jobs will be lost as a consequence. My opponent’s family business could gain millions of dollars from the manufacture of equipment needed to meet Cap and Trade standards. However, he has said he would rubberstamp Cap and Trade. I will go to Washington during the lame duck session and vote to stop this national energy tax and the enormous burden it will place on Delaware families. I do believe that moving toward energy efficiency and getting off of our addiction to foreign oil is an important step we need to take, but we simply cannot afford to pass Cap and Trade legislation that will cripple businesses and create a massive bureaucracy in Washington.
US RePReSentatIVe John Carney (D) Why are you interested in holding this office? I’m running for Congress because now - more than ever - we need strong leaders to address the serious challenges we face as a nation. People are really struggling out there in the worst economy in our lifetime. In these difficult times, our representatives in Washington have let us down. John Carney We need new leaders who will put progress over politics and do what’s right for the country - not ideologues who are just interested in their narrow political agenda. As congressman, I’ll be an independent voice to create jobs and get the country back on the right track. Why should voters elect you over your opponent? Delawareans have a very clear choice in this election. If I’m elected to Congress, I will be a strong, independent voice working to create jobs, help small businesses grow, and strengthen our economy. I will work to cut taxes, reduce burdensome federal regulations and take advantage of new industries to create jobs for American workers. Glen Urquhart wants to take us back to the failed policies of the past. He opposes common sense Wall Street reforms to protect American families from risky lending practices, wants to abolish the Department of Education and proposes shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to the middle class. What do you feel is the top issue facing the office you are seeking? How will you address this issue? My top priority in Congress will be creating jobs and building a 21st century economy in Delaware. We need to revive U.S. manufacturing and make things in America again. I will work to do that by creating opportunities in new, green energy industries, like building the supply chain for offshore wind development. My opponent scoffs at these ideas. Small businesses are the engine of growth in our economy. I will work to help small businesses get access to credit through community banks, lower their tax