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to use words like nutcase. It reflects worse on me than on the other person.
Here's a bit of a Q&A with him from the Sun Newspapers back in June:
What is the most important issue in this race?*
Education. Specifically, the direction Washington's policies steer state and local education priorities. My incumbent opponent has demonstrated time and time again his disdain for the public education system in this country and his desire to dismantle and privatize it. Such a move would be disastrous for our nation's children.
*What makes you a better candidate than your opponent?*
Unlike my opponent, I will not forget nor ignore the people who will have sent me to the Senate. We may be one nation under God, but we are also a nation of thoughtful and reasonable people, and I take my charge from them. I answer to the higher authority in church.
What changes would you recommend in the way Social Security is
administered?*
Rumors of Social Security's demise are greatly exaggerated. It is not in the dire straits described by those wishing to
privatize it. Baby boomers will not bankrupt the system, and predictions of its demise are based on "doomsday" forecasts of the nation's economy continuing its downhill tumble. I have faith in our economy's resiliency, and I will vigorously resist any attempts to privatize Social Security, reduce benefits or increase the eligibility age. Moreover, I will work to phase in a removal of the earnings cap subject to Social Security tax, and make all income, not merely wages, subject to Social Security tax. It isn't fair that a worker bringing home $35,000 per year pays Social
Security taxes on his entire income, while an investor who earns $500,000 from dividends pays nothing beyond the first $87,900. I would also work to relieve the burden on lower income workers by eliminating the first few thousand dollars in income from taxation while still counting that income in calculations for benefits.
What changes in economic policy are needed?*
The Bush administration has marketed tax cuts like a snake oil salesman peddles patent medicine. It is not a cure-all for the economy, especially in an era when federal education mandates are either underfunded or not funded at all, when social services are cut and war spending is in the billions. Congress needs to have the collective sense to say no to wanton, irresponsible tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest income bracket as well as tax breaks to multinational corporations, especially when they outsource the jobs of our nation's work force. By the same token, Congress needs
to give targeted tax relief to the middle and lower classes. For the vast majority of Americans the burdens of increased health insurance coverage and other taxes can be somewhat offset by the recent tax cuts. But those cuts are far from the panacea touted by the Bush administration.
*What is your stance on the conflict in **Iraq**?*
The Bush administration has handled the Iraq war in a disastrous way. Not willing to let the facts get in the way of a
good fable, the administration either ignored or lied about intelligence to justify our invasion. My incumbent opponent was all too eager to promote such a disastrous move and to champion a corrupt and traitorous replacement for Saddam Hussein on Capitol Hill. His judgment, as well as the White House's, must be questioned and placed into doubt from the beginning. Moreover, our forces, our sons and daughters, were sent into harm's way with neither a clear plan for victory nor an exit strategy. In the ensuing power vacuum, Iraq's now-porous borders allowed al-Qaida terrorists to come in where previously they never were, allowing them to foment dissent and encourage uprisings. As a result, we could be mired in Iraq for years. We need to re-engage the international community, especially those of our traditional allies that we spurned, in a way the current administration is unwilling to do. Bringing those nations into the equation will finally lend an air of legitimacy to this heretofore misguided venture. A larger coalition will also place a smaller burden on our own forces, thereby allowing them either to come home or to be concentrated in genuine known hotbeds of terrorism, such as Afghanistan.
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