I have searched the sites of the three candidates running for the OH-07 seat (currently held by Rep. Dave Hobson) and have compiled a side-by-side issue matrix. I have contacted the campaigns of each candidate and requested additional information on the areas in which were not addressed on their campaign website. Should a campaign wish to send in information after the publication of this matrix, I would be pleased to issue an update.The editors of WMD will be issuing an endorsement statement for this race early next week.
The candidates are: Steve Austria, Dan Harkins, Ron Hood and John Mitchel.
Website
AUSTRIA: http://www.steveaustriaforcongress.com/
HARKINS: http://www.harkinsforcongress.com/
HOOD: http://ronhood.com
MITCHEL: http://www.reformcongress.com/
Jobs
AUSTRIA: Steve Austria has been a leader in making sure that the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Springfield Air National Guard and Rickenbacker military facilities remain a vital part of our national defense. In doing so, he helped secure funding and protection thousand of Ohio jobs.
In addition to the defense related jobs there were also wins other areas. Working with community leaders and the private sector, Senator Austria worked to bring new jobs to the region, including nearly 100 employees at TPI Composites (Springfield), QBase located both in Beavercreek and Springfield and Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers located in South Vienna.
HARKINS: The engine for job growth for the 7th Congressional District will remain with small business. Owners of local businesses live and invest in our communities. Small businesses, collectively, create more jobs than large corporations. A diverse local business community is more capable of withstanding market cycles.
Existing and new local businesses will be revitalized through the elimination of unreasonable taxes and burdensome government regulations. Small businesses would be more competitive if the government would withdraw its intrusive regulations. The government needs to enable local businesses to compete globally.
HOOD: The economy is suffering in Ohio more than it is nationally. We need tax, spending and regulatory cuts to jump-start the economy and encourage job creation, and Ron fought for all of these in the Statehouse. The same is needed at the Federal level. The anti-business climate in Ohio is causing our jobs to move elsewhere and real research and data from the Tax Foundation, the National Association of State Budget Officers and the Buckeye Institute prove that.
MITCHEL: NAFTA promised that "a rising tide lifts all boats," and that Mexico's middleclass would benefit. The truth is; the Mexican economy is a disaster as a result of NAFTA, which is why illegal immigration across our southern borders goes on unabated. I would work to repeal NAFTA which is not even close to "free trade." It is "centrally managed trade" by global non-government organizations (NGOs) with huge subsidies going to big corporations that are wiping out the middleclass in Mexico and the U.S. I would also co-sponsor HR 25, the FairTax. Both initiatives would offer strong incentives to bring lost manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
Taxes
AUSTRIA: Families -- Steve Austria is the only candidate who voted to reduce income taxes on families by 21%. He also supported legislation to eliminate the unfair estate tax, also know as the “death tax.”
Jobs – Steve Austria is the only candidate who voted to eliminate unfair business taxes, such as the tangible personal property tax and corporate franchise taxes.
Seniors – Steve Austria is the only candidate who co-sponsored legislation which reduced seniors’ and disabled individuals’ property taxes by exempting the first $25,000 from taxes.
Veterans – Steve Austria is the only candidate to co-sponsor and vote for legislation to exempt military retirement pay from state taxes and helped to keep retired military families in Ohio.
HARKINS: Supports Fair Tax.
The Federal Government continues to burden our economy with its growing financial deficits and complicated tax structure. Business decisions are being driven by tax reasons, rather than economic soundness. The increasing federal deficit has increased market interest rates and devalued the dollar against foreign currencies.
As an attorney who has had a significant concentration in tax matters, I have personally observed the adverse impact which the Internal Revenue Code has had on our business community. Small business needs to be encouraged, not overtaxed. The estate tax should be permanently abolished.
As a member of Congress, I will pursue legislation to permanently abolish the alter- native minimum tax, abolish the estate tax, and promote a simplification of the Internal Revenue Code by replacing the current tax structure with a more fair and equitable system that will promote economic development.
HOOD: The Bush tax cuts need to be made permanent and the death tax must be repealed.
That said, the entire tax system is a nightmare and should be simplified and overhauled.
If lower taxes are combined with significant cuts in government spending and the elimination of government waste, our economy would no longer be held hostage to the whims of foreign dictators or constantly fluctuate with every newscast.
MITCHEL: One of the reasons I opposed Senator George Voinovich in the 2004 Republican Primary was his advocacy for taxing and regulating the internet. I received over 195,000 votes (almost 25%), which may have sent a message, as a few months after the primary Senator Voinovich changed course and voted to extend the moratorium on taxing and regulating the internet. The Republican Contract with America in 1994 promised, but did not deliver meaningful tax reform. As Senator Sam Brownback observed before he dropped out of the race for President, "we need to take the current tax code out behind the barn, kill it with a dull axe and bury it," and start over with a fair, simple tax code that pays the bills. In my opinion, the FairTax qualifies, and unless someone comes forward with a better proposal for tax reform, if elected, I will join over 60 members in Congress who cosponsor HR 25, The FairTax Act of 2007.
Ohio ranks in the top five states as far as local, state and federal taxes. “Tax freedom day” for the average Ohioan is early May, or stated another way; we pay taxes until May 5th before we start paying ourselves. No individual, family, or corporation should have to pay up to 40 percent of their gross income on local, state and federal taxes. Some individuals pay even more of their gross income in taxes, the vast majority of which did not exist 100 years ago. We need a tax code that is fair, simple and pays the bills. The FairTax qualifies on all counts, but it doesn't address the out-of-control spending in Washington, therefore I support a Balanced Budget Amendment that would force Congress to live within its means, or should I say our means.
Life Issues
AUSTRIA: Steve Austria has a 100% pro-life voting record. He has consistently received the highest rating from Ohio Right to Life. We can count on his
steadfast leadership in Washington.
HARKINS: Pro-life: Supports legislation protecting the sanctity of human life except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered. Opposes use of federal funding of fetal-tissue, human embryo, human cloning and embryonic stem-cell research.
HOOD: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
I am proud to be 100% pro-life and always have been!
I whole heartedly agree with our Founding Fathers and what they wrote in the Declaration of Independence.
Any thoughtful reading of this truth would reveal a clear and necessary order…”life” must precede “liberty” and “happiness” or the latter two are immaterial
MITCHEL: I am firmly pro-life.
2nd Amendment
AUSTRIA: Steve Austria is a strong defender in protecting our Second Amendment rights and has a track record to prove it. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Steve managed the first conceal carry bill ever into law in Ohio. He also over-rode the governor’s veto in strengthening Ohio’s conceal carry
law.
HARKINS: Supports the recognition and protection of gun owner rights. Opposes federal registration of firearms and licensing of gun owners.
HOOD: As the Constitution states, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
As your Congressman, I guarantee I will not support any law that will infringe upon the rights of legal, law-abiding Americans to own or use firearms to protect themselves, their families or their property.
MITCHEL: All law abiding citizens should have the right to protect themselves and their families from criminals who do not and will not respect the rights of others, let alone gun control laws. We have made progress in Ohio in returning rights to firearm owners, but we must remain vigilant as there are those who are as strongly committed to taking gun rights as we are to preserving them.
Government Reform
AUSTRIA: Waste, fraud and abuse have cost our families millions in misspent tax dollars. That’s why Steve Austria has been on the front lines of the fight to reform Ohio’s government.
Recent scandals have shaken the trust Ohio families have in their government. Senator Austria has remained far from those involved in those scandals. In fact, it was Steve Austria who helped pass historic ethics reforms that hold elected officials and public servants accountable for their activities on behalf of the people.
HARKINS: The United States House of Representatives should be a forum which promotes honest debate about pressing national issues. Only thoughtful and balanced legislation that respects all taxpayers should be considered. The legislative process should be transparent. Conflicts of interest should be disclosed.
The House of Representatives has become distracted and lethargic. Pressing issues, such as a ballooning federal deficit, have been neglected. Legislation has been enacted without adequate public disclosure. Congress has failed during the past two years to pass appropriations legislation on time. Deficit spending continues without sufficient restraint. Congress has enacted bills that are not read and/or understood by its members. Should you elect me to represent you in Congress, I would propose and pursue the following reforms:
1. The President should be provided a line item veto over all appropriation bills. The President should also be given discretion not to spend all amounts which are appropriated by Congress. (Current law prevents the President from balancing the budget, because the President is required to spend all amounts which Congress appropriates).
2. Federal term limits should be adopted. Service in the United States Congress should be limited to twelve (12) years in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate. If I am elected to Congress, I would commit myself to this limitation irrespective of my success in securing passage of the requisite Constitutional Amendment.
3. The apportionment of Districts should be based on the census U.S. Citizens. Currently, illegal migrants are counted when the number of Congressional Districts is allocated among the several States. The counting of illegal migrants skews the political representation in the House of Representatives in favor of States which have large populations of illegal migrants.
4. Members of Congress should be required to read the bills before they vote on the legislation. Representatives should be held accountable for their votes.
5. Legislation should be printed and distributed at least one (1) week prior to its adoption. All interested parties should have access to read and analyze legislation, and be able to petition Congress, before the House votes on any legislation.
6. Legislation should be limited to one topic. Currently, legislation consists of many different (and sometimes conflicting) issues. Current information technology should be used to cause members of Congress to vote on specific issues, so that they are more accountable to their constituents about the actual effect of their voting record.
7. The federal government should adopt a biennium budget. The current annual budget cycle has failed. A biennium budget (one which covers two years) should enable Congress to avoid the quagmire of the never-ending annual appropriations process.
HOOD: It is unfortunate that so much money is necessary for a successful campaign.
This is reality in the world we live in, and I don’t see any viable alternative.
Additionally, having the right to financially support the candidate of your choice is ultimately a free speech issue, and I certainly support our Constitutional rights.
What is important is that individuals, organizations and businesses not be allowed to “buy” politicians.
The best way to ensure this is to support candidates who have strength of character and have proven they are not owned by special interests or political leaders.
I believe my record is one of integrity. I have kept my promises and stood my ground on issues that are important to me and my constituents in spite of threats and pressure.
As your Congressman, I promise to continue to be an independent voice for the best interests of the 7th District, Ohio and our nation.
MITCHEL: I'm sure many Congressmen go to Washington with good intentions, but over time they usually get caught up in the money and power politics that are necessary to get elected and reelected. I've always wondered why men of relatively modest means spend 20 or 30 years or more in state and federal government, send their children through college, save for retirement and incur the enormous expenses necessary to raise a family, and then emerge from public service as multi-millionaires. My book, America at the Abyss, goes a long way to explain why this happens, but for now it's important for you to understand that I support limiting the terms of U.S. Representatives to six years. Term limits is one of the ten promises made by Republicans in the 1993 Contract With America, but unfortunately term limits has completely disappeared from the radar screen. If elected, I will not wait for Congress to pass term-limiting legislation, but will lead by example and limit myself to a maximum of six years in the House of Representatives. We need citizen legislators in Washington, not career politicians.
Spending
AUSTRIA: In the last two budgets, Steve is the only candidate who voted to cut government spending for the first time in 40 years.
HARKINS: Earmarks which favor private commercial investors should be avoided. A reduction in government spending is necessary to reduce the federal deficit, strengthen the Dollar overseas, and provide sustained tax reductions. A free dynamic market local economy, rather than a government lead economy, is necessary to improve our communities.
Congressional appropriations should be authorized based on public benefit that is expected to be realized. Objective criteria should be adopted and followed to evaluate funding requests. The funding requests should be judged on a cost benefit analysis which considers the current and future needs of each community and which reflects the government’s limited financial resources. Earmarks which provide no public benefit should be prohibited. Publication of proposed earmarks prior to their approval should be provided so that adequate public scrutiny can occur.
HOOD: At the Federal level, earmarks should be abolished. Earmark schemes have led to corruption in congress. If we continue to grow the national debt – our economy will certainly be sent into a tailspin. Government expenditures must be publicly vetted.
The president needs to have the line item veto.
The size and scope of government needs to be cutback. Government must be downsized so it costs less. There are many areas, like education, that do not need Federal oversight. The States are perfectly capable of handling education and other responsibilities without the Federal government’s “help”.
MITCHEL: A FairTax would address the revenue side of the tax equation; however it would not rein in irresponsible spending. Therefore we need to hold our elected officials' feet to the fire with a Balanced Budget Amendment. The national debt continues to spiral past $9 Trillion. (Debt to the Penny) The interest alone on the debt is about $1.25 billion PER DAY! That means that each day every man, woman and child wakes up in the morning, he or she is responsible for more than $4 to cover ONLY THE INTEREST on the national debt, which does not provide the money to train and equip even one soldier, sailor, airman or marine. We need people in Congress that have the courage to balance the budget as well as put us on a glide path to pay down the debt.
Immigration
AUSTRIA: Job #1 is to secure our borders including our ports. Illegal immigrants do not pay taxes and have become a burden on some our largest cities and even some rural areas.
HARKINS: The strength of our country is based upon our respect for, and compliance with, the law. While legal immigrants have always been welcomed, more than twelve million illegal migrants are challenging the integrity of our borders and undermining our legal principles.
Illegal migrants do not pay taxes and it is estimated that each household of illegal migrants annually costs taxpayers $2,700.00. Migrants who refuse to comply with our laws should be returned to their home countries.
Members of our armed services have made tremendous sacrifices since our country was founded. Their sacrifices should be respected by preserving the integrity of our borders.
English must remain the primary language of American commerce and government. A common language has allowed our country to remain stable, avoid division, and develop an efficient economy.
As a member of Congress, I will pursue legislation that will mandate the use of English as the language of our commerce and government, improve border security, and promote compliance with existing immigration laws.
HOOD: What’s best for America is freedom, safety and a growing economy. We need to know who is here and prohibit criminals from entering this country.
We also need to do a better job ensuring so-called students and temporary workers do not overstay their visas.
I support tighter monitoring of the borders and protecting our citizens, without forfeiting our freedoms.
MITCHEL: For decades we ignored immigration law enforcement which is why we're in the fix we're in. For example, back in the mid-90's one of Congressman Dave Hobson's millionaire campaign donors from Springfield, Ohio copped a plea for aiding and abetting the illegal entry into the US for more than a dozen teenage boys from Fiji. Although the maximum penalty for his crime is a $250,000 fine and five years in prison, this individual was fined $1500 with no probation. If all along we had been holding corporations, business owners and boards of directors accountable for breaking the law, we wouldn't have the crisis we have today. And if we started enforcing those laws, we may want to reconsider building the fence as that would forestall the exodus of illegal immigrants who will leave of their own free will when they can't find legal employment.
National Security
AUSTRIA: We must have a strong military to protect this country's greatest assets; its people. I have worked tirelessly as a State Senator to make sure Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Springfield National Guard base have the tools and equipment necessary to fulfill its mission. I also sponsored legislation that is now law, which exempts military retirement pay from Ohio taxes. We should reward those that have given a lifetime of service to their country. I also voted for legislation that would provide benefits to the spouse and children of those soldiers that have been killed in action. One of my opponents voted no on that issue.
HARKINS: Supports an increase in border patrol construction of a fence or other effective means of control along the U.S.- Mexican border to reduce illegal immigration. Opposes granting amnesty to illegal immigrants in the United States. Supports mandatory inspection of cargo entering the United States via commercial vessel or motor vehicle.
HOOD: A strong military and secure border[s] are essential to the security of our nation in times of peace and times of war.
Our military men and women need the most modern equipment and skills to fight this new kind of war against an enemy that hides behind women and innocent children.
We need to listen to the experts, the men and women on the ground that have experience protecting this country, to understand what is truly needed to win this war.
I will not play politics with the lives of our fighting men and women, but pledge to provide them what they need and the American people the safety we deserve.
Our national security is one of the few roles the Federal Government has been delegated by the Constitution.
In Iraq, clear and convincing evidence thus far indicates the surge is working – despite what you may see on CNN or NBC.
The alternative is allowing all the Middle Eastern oil to end up in the hands of Osama Bin Laden, the terrorists and the Iranians.
MITCHEL: We must maintain a strong economy to sustain a strong national defense. We must rethink policies that send hard currency, jobs (especially manufacturing jobs), and sensitive military technology offshore to potential adversaries like communist China, which along with terrorism, pose the only significant threat to US and global security. The United Nations and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rob us of our resources and our sovereignty, and do not serve our national interests. Before Congress sends foreign aid to any country, the people should demand they answer these two questions: 1. "Is there room in the budget?", and 2. "Does this economic aid advance our national interests?" If the answer to either of these questions is "no", those dollars should remain in the United States for the benefit of US citizens.
So called “free trade” deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites. The ICC wants to try our soldiers as war criminals. Both the WTO and CAFTA could force Americans to get a doctor’s prescription to take herbs and vitamins. Alternative treatments could be banned. The WTO has forced Congress to change our laws, yet we still face trade wars. Today, France is threatening to have U.S. goods taxed throughout Europe. If anything, the WTO makes trade relations worse by giving foreign competitors a new way to attack U.S. jobs. NAFTA’s superhighway is just one part of a plan to erase the borders between the U.S. and Mexico, called the North American Union. This spawn of powerful special interests, would create a single nation out of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with a new unelected bureaucracy and money system. Forget about controlling immigration under this scheme. And a free America, with limited, constitutional government, would be gone forever. Let’s not forget the UN which wants to impose a direct tax on us. We must withdraw from any organizations and trade deals that infringe upon the freedom and independence of the United States of America.
Healthcare
AUSTRIA: We should permit small businesses to pool their employees with other small businesses to reduce the costs of health care insurance. This way we can provide more health care access to those that work. I was the Judiciary Committee chairman when that General Assembly passed tort reform. This law has dramatically reduced the costs of malpractice insurance to doctors, because the number of frivolous lawsuits have dropped dramatically. I also supported providing more dollars to home health care. Home health care for seniors is less expensive and provides for better care because senior can stay in their homes. Better health care, better results, less cost. Two of my opponents are opposed to home health care. Both have personal interests in nursing homes.
HARKINS: The health care system is overwhelmed by government regulations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has evolved from a source of government benefits to a market regulator.
Some estimates suggest that 40% of health care costs are attributable to the cost of complying with CMS regulations. The CMS regulations have been criticized for failing to improve accessibility to, and quality of, health care. Federal government and State mandates have limited consumer choice and have increased the cost of health care.
A revitalized health care market (free of government meddling) would lower costs and make health care more accessible.
HOOD: The United States of America has the best healthcare system in the world.
Why else would Europeans and Canadians, who have socialized medicine at home, come here for treatment?
Socialized anything is not the answer to problems that plague a free society – an unencumbered free market with free access is always the answer.
A good start in helping stabilize the costs of our current healthcare system would be to work on the legal end of the problem – end lawsuit abuse.
It’s too costly for many doctors to practice because of the rampant abuse of our legal system.
Adding the English Rule, which requires the loser to pay the legal fees of the winner in civil suits, would also help lower costs.
I firmly believe that government is not the answer, but the American people are.
MITCHEL: 1. Reign in HMOs, healthcare providers, drug companies and insurance companies who shift costs to the taxpayers and the uninsured.
2. Strictly enforce laws that should protect patients from breach of contract and fraud by insurance companies, HMOs, healthcare providers and drug companies.
3. Give doctors and patients more say in healthcare decisions and how healthcare dollars are spent.
4. Keep our promises to seniors, but expand and simplify Medical Savings Accounts for younger generations.
5. Allow individuals and small business owners the same medical expense deductions as corporations.
Education
AUSTRIA: First and foremost, parents know what's best for their children, not the Federal Government. We should promote school choice and should also provide flexibility to parents who want to homeschool their children.
HARKINS: Supports expanding IRA-type Education Savings Accounts, federal tuition tax credits for parents that home school or send their children to private schools
HOOD: Ronald Reagan had it right, “Our leaders must remember that education doesn’t begin with some isolated bureaucrat in Washington. It doesn’t even begin with state or local officials. Education begins in the home, where it is a parental right and responsibility.”
Education is and should remain a state and local issue.
The Federal Government is too involved and needs to let states and local communities use the methods that have been proven to work for centuries, while letting parents be the decision makers for what is best for each of their children.
Encouraging school choice should be our goal.
And neither Federal nor State government should place any organization’s needs or wants ahead of the needs of our children and our future.
MITCHEL: If family values are the key to renewal in America, education is the engine to make it so. However, other than for broad policy guidance, the federal government has no place in public education. For each dollar in taxes we send to the US Department of Education, only 25 cents gets back to the classroom. In our school district, the federal government provides about 7 percent of public education funding, but federal mandates account for more than 25 percent of the district's budget. The more control caring, responsible parents have in determining how and where their education dollars are spent, the better.
Energy
AUSTRIA: I am the only candidate in this race that voted against raising your gasoline taxes. I just couldn't understand how we should be raising taxes when gasoline prices were reaching new high everyday. I support the concept of making our country as close to energy independence as possible. We must have a balanced approach to energy. We need to use coal, nuclear, wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy. Ohio is rich with reserves of coal. New technologies today are making coal a cleaner form of fuel. We should also permit use carbon credits which can be purchased and sold by individual companies.
HARKINS: Supports legislation designed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil through use of tax credits to encourage the research, development and expansion of domestic and alternative fuel sources.
HOOD: America needs to be independent of foreign oil.
We cannot continue to prosper while we are required to build refineries in other countries and not allowed access to the oil in our own country because of extreme EPA regulations.
While we sit here with our hands tied, other nations, like China, are drilling right off our own coast!
But in addition to being free to build more refineries and drill for more oil, we need to find legitimate alternative sources of energy that are economically viable.
Americans have long been the most innovative and inventive people in the world and with proper incentives to encourage experimentation, I believe we’ll find and perfect existing options for alternative fuels and energy.
MITCHEL: Some of you may remember the "Blackout of August 2005," which occurred about five years after utility deregulation in Ohio. More than 50 million people lost power in the upper Midwest and Northeastern parts of the U.S. It's widely accepted that First Energy and American Electric Power grids were affected most by the blackout. Both company's PACs and employees donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians, including Dave Hobson in Ohio's 7th Congressional District. This is public knowledge, but most folks would be outraged if they followed the money and learned the rest of the story. Not only was American Electric Power allowed to write off their capital investment in a joint venture with China, but they were subsidized by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). In effect, US taxpayers were nicked twice to finance a 250 megawatt coal fired power plant in China's Hainan Province. While our power grid here in the US deteriorates, the US Congress sends our tax dollars to China to modernize their electrical power infrastructure.
As we struggle with base closings here in the US, our tax dollars are being used to build 14 permanent bases in Iraq. While our infrastructure is crumbling, our tax dollars are buying bombs that destroy Iraq's infrastructure, and then we pay multinational construction companies to rebuild that infrastructure, often with no-bid, noncompetitive contracts. We have sacrificed enough lives and national treasure. It's time to bring the troops home, reconstitute a near-broken military and upgrade the deteriorating infrastructure here in the US. Imagine for a moment how that would jumpstart economic growth.
