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| TERM: | Two years. |
| SALARY: | $169,300 |
| DUTIES | |
We asked candidates for the House of Representatives two questions:
1. What should the federal government do to ensure that every American has health-insurance coverage?
2. In light of the current economic downturn, what can the federal government do to safeguard both the commonwealth’s and citizens’ assets?
Robert A. Brady
Philadelphia
Health care: We must provide subsidies for low-income Americans to help them afford coverage, create a health plan, based on Medicare, for the uninsured and small businesses, expand the successful SCHIP program to cover all kids, and regulate insurance companies to protect patients.
Economy: We need immediate investment in our infrastructure to create and grow jobs, and to help states close revenue gaps. We also need targeted tax and spending initiatives for individuals and small business.
Republican
Mike Muhammad
Philadelphia
Health care: End corruption in the health-care field and imprison violators with severe punishments. This will make billions available for the uninsured. Additionally, each person that is uninsured can apply for federally subsidized health care and businesses are given tax credits proportionally to their coverage of employees. The federal government must be able to negotiate for lower cost of prescription medication.
Economy: Increase regulations to make them more adequate for current financial markets and increase number of regulators, and imprison violators with mandatory sentencing. Require increased standards of and for professionals in the financial-markets field.
Chaka Fattah
Philadelphia
Health care: I have been a proponent of universal health care throughout my career as a legislator. Not only have I strongly advocated on behalf of the Children’s Health Insurance Program as a legislator in the Pennsylvania State House and Senate, I am now working hard to spread the word about Senator Obama’s plan. I believe that his plan on health care, which has been reviewed and supported by many leading experts throughout our nation, can finally begin to fix this problem.
Economy: As members of Congress, we must recognize that our nation is in need. Therefore, we should immediately return to Washington after Election Day and pass a second economic-stimulus plan to extend unemployment benefits, demand a 90-day moratorium on mortgage foreclosures, and provide additional support to small business growth and development, as our greatest economic growth potential as a nation depends on their strength. I have called for a moratorium on foreclosures .
Adam Lang
Philadelphia
Health care: We first need to control the increasing costs of health coverage. There is no adequate solution to making sure everyone has health care if the price increases 30 percent every year. Any system implemented will break under such strains. The first two stages should be exhaustive public studies of the system to pinpoint troubles and then also help to make alternative practices easier, nurse practitioners and midwives as examples.
Economy: The federal government should not be in the job of safeguarding the Commonwealth’s assets. That needs to be handled by the Pennsylvania legislature and Governor. For citizens, the federal government should do what it can to insure retirements and savings are protected while rebuilding an economic environment that will allow businesses to prosper and families to thrive.
Patrick Murphy
Bristol
Health care: At a time when costs are soaring, Pennsylvania families are struggling to keep their families healthy. I am proud that I have fought to expand children’s health care for 10 million American children. I also fought to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for our seniors. I strongly believe that every American deserves quality, affordable health care and we must put partisanship aside to make that a reality.
Economy: The first thing we need to do is increase oversight in the financial markets to prevent this type of economic crisis from ever happening again. But we can also help struggling families by passing another stimulus package. Going forward, we must protect middle-class tax cuts such as the marriage penalty tax relief, the tuition tax deduction, and child tax credits. We must also create good paying jobs here in America through tax cuts for small businesses and investment in green energy jobs.
Tom Manion
Doylestown
Health care: Tom believes everyone in America should have access to quality, affordable health care. A government-run health-care system will give us miles of red tape and long waiting lines for treatment. Tom believes the best way to reform our health-care system is to give patients more control, not less. Making health insurance portable so it can move from job to job will allow patients to have an ongoing relationship with their doctors, not one dependent
Economy: Our economy can be encouraged in this downturn by supporting the businesses that create jobs. Reducing the business tax will provide our businesses more opportunities in the global economy. Federal, state, county and local government officials should also work together to encourage businesses to begin or expand here in our district. To ensure that we are not faced with another crisis like the one that resulted in the recent bailout bill, we should regulate the insurance products involved
Tom Lingenfelter
Doylestown
Society, Inc.
Health care: It’s not the federal government’s Constitutional duty to perform this role. The individual states regulate insurance coverage, it’s a state responsibility.
Economy: Get out of the way and allow market forces to make corrections. The Congress, at the direction of special interests, created the problem. The Congress will not solve the problem, they will only make it worse while covering up their wrongdoing.
Allyson Schwartz
Rydal
Health care: For more than three decades, I’ve worked to expand health coverage in a forward-thinking and fiscally responsible way. One of my proudest moments was leading the drive to create the Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which today provides more than 175,000 Pennsylvania kids with health coverage. As the greatest nation in the world, it is our responsibility to find a uniquely American solution to ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, quality health coverage.
Economy: As a member of the Ways and Means and Budget committees, I believe Congress must encourage personal savings, expand consumer protections and partner effectively with the commonwealth. Consumers deserve greater protection, and I continue to support vigorous oversight and reform of the financial services industry to make sure that Pennsylvanians are treated fairly, and that their hard-earned savings are not gambled away by companies that take unnecessary risks. Pennsylvanian families are struggling to save for retirement.
Marina Kats
Abington Township
entrepreneur.
Health care: Government-sponsored universal health care cannot be achieved at a reasonable price or with quality we can accept. My solution is to open up the health-care market to more competition and developing new health-care savings mechanisms, which will lower costs and expand coverage. This, in turn, drives prices down to levels where health care is more affordable for all Americans. But health care cannot improve without a renewed commitment to preventative medicine and to reasonable tort reform.
Economy: The Democratic-led Congress should have anticipated this economic disaster that impacted all Americans. The federal government must do three things: modify the “mark to market” rule, reassure the public that their hard-earned savings are safe in FDIC-insured banks and create a new environment which protects inter-bank transactions, which will unfreeze the credit markets for small business. State pension funds should be required to reduce their overall portfolio risk to highly speculative investments.
John P. McDermott
Philadelphia
onsultant
Health care: This is not the job of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Economy: Close the Federal Reserve Bank, which of course, is not part of the Federal Government.