Government_Meeting

Matt Neidert On March 9th, 2010 I attended The Congressional Republican Candidates for the 16th District Debate. The debate took place a Glen Oak High School 1801 Schneider Street NE Canton, Ohio. The event was hosted by Tea Part and 912 Groups in the 16th District. The debate was well attended, with nearly all the seats in the auditorium filled up with people eager to hear what each candidate had to say. Doyle Smith focused on the equivalency of taxes and tariffs on domestic and foreign products. I was not entirely clear on what he was speaking of, however, I believe he was talking about foreign businesses have less import taxes than overall taxes of American businesses and the need for making them equivalent. I agree that American products and businesses should be taxed less to bring jobs back home. Mr. Smith believes too many jobs are going overseas and is one of the main contributions to America’s weak economy. Mr. Miller claimed that Americans expect too much from the Government which hurts our deficit. He proposed to keep promises of Social Security to those who have retired or are about to retire, but for those who are just starting their working career to help them plan a personal retirement fund. The advantage to a personal retirement fund is it cannot be lost. He also said we must clean up fraud in Medicare/ Medicaid in order to help the deficit. Mr. Miller’s proposal seemed to be well thought out and I agree with most of it. Mr. Rennaci believes that it is necessary to freeze spending in order to control the deficit. He referred back to when he was the mayor of Wadsworth and how he managed to freeze spending in order to control the deficit. While freezing spending as an effective way to control the deficit, I believe there are better ways to control it such as freezing or eliminating unnecessary expenditures. The final issue I will elaborate on is “What is your position on climate change'”. Mr. Schiffer was the first candidate to speak on this issueand held very strong opinions. He made claims that global warming is a fraud and that Americans are being fooled. He also drew comparisons between communism and Cap and Trade. While I do not believe in global warming and I’m against Cap and Trade, I do feel that these comparisons to communism are a bit of a stretch. Mr. Miller’s stance on climate change is similar to Mr. Schiffer’s because he believes we are all being fooled. He said that man is so arrogant to believe we can affect the temperature. He believes we are spending too much time on something that we cannot fix. I completely agree with Mr. Miller’s stance on climate change. I believe that respecting the environment is important, but trying to fix climate change is ridiculous. Mr. Renacci made the point that the Government is too concerned with climate change. This concern translates into more regulations and makes it harder on businesses. When businesses begin to struggle to meet regulation, it affects consumers and the economy. During times of a weak economy, I believe it is necessary to loosen up on environmental regulations to help businesses increase capital to hire more workers. Mr. Smith agreed with the other candidates stance’s on climate change but pointed out that there is nothing wrong with being environmentally friendly. I feel exactly the same way when it comes to the environment. Instead of tracking my carbon footprint, I simply make sure I recycle what I can, reuse things, and don’t litter. I can handle being responsible without the government trying to shove it down my throat. The Congressional Republican Candidates for the 16th District Debate was a unique experience. It did not seem like a debate to me because all of the candidates agreed on almost all of the issues. I would have liked more clarification when it came to proposals, but due to time constraints I realize it wouldn’t have been feasible. Overall, my favorite candidate was either Miller or Schiffer. I would prefer if Mr. Schiffer would be less extreme with some of his proposals and comparisons, but I do feel like he has a good grip on how to handle the daily issues in Washington.