Recently I submitted a short questionnaire to the GOP congressional candidates in the 11th district, Pat Herrity and Keith Fimian. I was planning on highlighting the major differences between them in a run up to the primary. Unfortunately, I was only able to get responses from Supervisor Herrity so I’m posting his responses below, unedited.
I’ve broken the responses into two parts with this first section relating to policy positions concerning spending and the economy and health care, two hot button issues of the campaign. Tomorrow I will post his responses to questions relating to some of his personal beliefs, goals if elected, and what he considers as his biggest difference between him and his opponent.
Special thanks to Supervisor Herrity and his team for getting back to me:
Spending and the economy
Is there any part of the economic stimulus plan legislation that you support? If so, what was it and why?
“The economic stimulus plan created more government jobs than private sector jobs and, even then, more than 3 million jobs have been lost from the time it was signed into law. It increased the federal debt, increased the federal government bureaucracy, and failed to stimulate true job creation. The spending was not efficient and include numerous pork barrel spending projects. I did not and do not support it.”
What is your position on earmarks? Should they be banned or the process reformed?
“I oppose pork barrel spending and earmarks”
Would you have voted for the HIRE Act, why or why not?
“I would not have. Businesses do not create jobs to receive tax credits. The limited job-creating incentives in the bill will not spur large-scale job creation. It will, however, take funds away from the already strapped Social Security fund and further increase the federal deficit. What we need to do is encourage investment, free up capital, reward success and innovation with tax cuts, and reduce the regulations on our businesses so that we can stimulate real job creation.”
Health care
Is there any part of the recent health care legislation that you support? If so, what was it and why?
“I support cutting health care costs and allowing more choices for American consumers. Free-market solutions, such as health savings accounts and pooling by small businesses and cooperatives to allow all Americans access to affordable, private healthcare, is essential to lowering premiums, as is tort reform. The healthcare bill passed by Congress and signed into law will cost taxpayers $1 trillion in higher taxes and higher premiums, grow the federal government and remove the ability for citizens to make care decisions. Please see my website for my full plan. http://patherrity.com/issues/health-care-plan/”
Check back tomorrow for the conclusion of the interview. In the mean time you can learn more about Supervisor Herrity at patherrity.com.
