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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Election 2012
October 30, 2012
POLK COUNTY -- Removing government red tape for small businesses, sustainable timber harvesting and environmental protections -- those are all talking points for candidates vying for the U.S. House of Representatives, 5th Congressional District.
Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Canby, is seeking his third consecutive term. He'll square off against Republican Fred Thompson of Salem; Christina Jean Lugo, a Green Party candidate from Oregon City; and Raymond Baldwin of Canby, who represents the Constitution Party.
The district spans seven counties, including Polk and Marion, and covers most of the mid-Willamette Valley, the Central Oregon Coast and southeastern suburbs of Portland to Mount Hood.
Meet the candidates:
Name: Christina Jean Lugo.
Age: 42.
Hometown: Oregon City.
Party affiliation: Pacific Green.
Employment: Owner and operator of lawn and landscaping business; artist.
Education: Macalester College; University of Minnesota.
What is the biggest challenge to Oregon's financial recovery and how would you resolve it?
"I would support increased federal stimulation and reorient it more toward 'green jobs.' Funds could be used to train workers in Oregon to be prepared for a 'green economy' ... for wind farms, solar energy and home and heating preservation. I would cut the military budget ... every dollar we spend in the military is a dollar we can't spend in Oregon. I don't feel like the $700 billion we're spending on the military is giving us a lot of value right now."
What is the most important concern in the 5th Congressional District -- particularly Polk County?
"Polk County is primarily an agricultural county, so anything that supports farmers in the district as a whole, I support. I think a lot of the candidates will say we need to do the LNG pipeline (a proposed natural gas production and pipeline in Northwestern Oregon); it's a potential environmental disaster and a liability that isn't going to bring us a lot of jobs. I think perusing paths of environmental restoration in the long run will benefit us."
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Name: Kurt Schrader.
Age: 61.
Hometown: Canby.
Party affiliation: Democrat.
Employment: U.S. Representative, 5th Congressional District (2009-present); veterinarian; farmer.
Education: Cornell University; University of Illinois.
What is the biggest challenge to Oregon's financial recovery and how would you resolve it?
"The government can take action to reduce red tape for small business and take steps to increase access to capital. We should instill economic and tax certainty by reforming our entitlements and eliminating the multitude of tax preferences and lowering tax rates to create revenue for essential services like education, national defense, health care, economic development and natural resources."
What is the most important concern in the 5th Congressional District -- particularly Polk County?
"Getting people back to work in rural communities because of gridlock in our federal forests. That's why I sponsored a bipartisan bill with Reps. Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden, The O & C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act. This plan confronts the crisis of lost county payments for O & C timberlands, creating an estimated 12,000 new jobs throughout Oregon, allowing sustainable timber harvesting primarily on lands that have been previously harvested which provides counties in western Oregon with a predictable level of revenues for the lost payments."
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Name: Fred Thompson.
Age: 63.
Hometown: Salem.
Party affiliation: Republican.
Employment: Insurance agent; former owner of business consulting firm; past president of manufacturing company.
Education: Linfield College; Pepperdine University.
What is the biggest challenge to Oregon's financial recovery and how would you resolve it?
"Owning or controlling our assets -- timberland, farmland, fish, mining, and the greenhouse, dairy and wine industries. I believe that the future of Oregon rests right under our feet. The God-given resources of renewable timber, rich farmlands, minerals and fisheries should be utilized to provide us with all we need to live decent lives and (leave) a legacy for our children."
What is the most important concern in the 5th Congressional District -- particularly Polk County?
"Jobs and the economy. Overwhelming taxes and regulation has caused an alarming flight of jobs and income out of our state. I will restore confidence in government so business will return to Oregon and provide a solid economic base for our citizens. I will strive diligently to return the management and care of our valuable and leading renewable resource -- timberlands -- to those who know best: Oregonians. I will fight to restore the principles of individual freedom and limited government, which means I will vote to reduce federal spending and seek to return to a balanced budget."
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Name: Raymond Baldwin.
Age: 63.
Hometown: Canby.
Party affiliation: Constitution.
Employment: General contractor; union carpenter.
Education: Portland Community College; Portland State University.
What is the biggest challenge to Oregon's financial recovery and how would you resolve it?
"Oregon should revise the lottery policy for the state; the $1 million in revenue for a small business to qualify is too high. We need to reduce interest rates on student loans from 7 percent to 2 percent to slow the process of indebtedness on young Oregonians. We need to promote buying goods from Oregon and the United States. We need to audit the Federal Reserve system and find out where the $6 trillion went. As far as raising revenue, we need to put a 1 to 2 percent processing fee on all Wall Street transactions -- this will generate somewhere between $2 trillion to $3 trillion; it's already being done in Singapore and Hong Kong."
What is the most important concern in the 5th Congressional District -- particularly Polk County?
"The most important concern is the well being and prosperity of every citizen in the district ... those looking to prosper their future. I'm concerned for their safety and constitutional rights that the state and federal governments are violating every day. If elected I will work hard so every Oregonian has an opportunity to prosper."
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