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News
Health care among issues at candidate forum : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisHealth care among issues at candidate forum
| Kendall County Farm Bureau hosts Yorkville event
| by Matt Schury
| 1/28/2010
|
Those voters still making up their minds about whom to cast their ballots for in next week's primary election on Feb. 2 got a chance to hear the Democratic and Republican candidates Tuesday night at the Kendall County Farm Bureau's Meet the Candidates forum.
The candidates shared their opinions on everything from gun control to health care reform. Questions were asked by a panel of reporters as well as some provided by the audience.
14th Congressional
GOP primary candidates
The Republican primary for the 14th Congressional seat pits Ethan Hastert against Randall Hultgren. The winner will take on incumbent Democrat Bill Foster of Geneva in the general election in November.
Neither Foster nor Green Party candidate Daniel Kairis attended forum.
Hastert, 31, of Elburn is the youngest son of former Republican U.S. Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert who lives in Plano. He is a practicing attorney in Chicago who was raised in Yorkville.
Hultgren, 43, a Republican state senator in the Illinois General Assembly lives in Winfield,Ill. Prior to winning his state senate seat in 2007 he served as a state representative in the 95th State House Ditrict for eight years. Before serving in the general assembly, he was a DuPage County Board member for five years.
"The reason I am running is that I want to beat Bill Foster," Hultgren said in opening statements.
Hastert said he was running to fight big government and reckless spending.
"Somebody needs to go to Washington and put an end to the reckless spending," Hastert said. "Somebody needs to put an end to Bill Foster and Nancy Pelosi's tax borrow and spend agenda."
When asked about the government's economic stimulus plan, Hultgren said he would have voted against it.
"I think the right thing is to keep money in our pockets," he said.
He added that he also opposed the bank bailouts.
"I do support free market, allowing business to grow and making sure we have money in our pockets and not in the big bureaucratic pay raises that came out of the stimulus plan."
Hastert explained he is concerned about the deficit spending in Washington.
"I would support taking any unused stimulus funds and any TARP funds that have not been paid out or have been paid back, to pay down the public debt," he said. "I simply do not agree with the Democratic Congress's notion that any company is too big to fail."
On the issue of moving terror suspects to a supermax correctional facility in Thomson, Ill. and closing Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba, Hastert said that President Obama had the issue wrong.
"Folks, we have spent millions and millions of dollars to provide a world class security resource in Guantanamo Bay to house the worst of the worst of the terrorists," he said. "It's wrong to bring them to this country and provide them with constitutional protections they do not deserve."
Hultgren also insisted that the federal government was wrong to use Thomson Correctional facility to house terror suspect and thought Guantanamo was a better place.
"I think we need a place to house the worst of the worst terrorists and have foreign tribunals to be able to handle these issue," he said "I don't want to see that in our backyard."
Health Care reform
When asked what specific things he would propose in response to the Democrat's health bill, Hultgren acknowledged that something had to be done about the cost of health care.
"The reality is that most people like the health care they receive," he said. "And that's my concern with the (Democrat's) health care bill is that it really damages the quality of care the rest of us enjoy."
He added that Congress needs to target the problem by looking at those that are uninsurable.
"A big part of that problem are those people that don't have jobs so as our economy turns back around here many of those people would have health care coverage," he said. "For those people who are uninsurable, we can create openess, transparency in health care costs and fight for real malpractice reform."
Hastert responded that he has heard from people in the district that there is a problem with health care because it is too expensive.
"We do need to do something to address the cost of health insurance and the cost of health care delivery in this country and quite frankly the House and Republican senators have offered many competing bills against the Democrat's proposals."
However, according to Hastert the current bill had been "jammed through" without any input from Republicans. He added that his plan involves a free market approach that gives people a choice and creates competition.
"For instance, opening up the purchase of health care across state lines, association health plans to allow individuals to have greater bargaining power when it comes to finding health insurance," he said.
Hastert also mentioned that tort reform needed to be implemented in the bill as well.
Apologized for mailer
Hultgren was asked about recent campaign mailer he sent out accusing a law firm Hastert worked for of representing a foreign mining company with deplorable working conditions that he called "human trafficking".
"I have apologized and I apologize again," Hultgren said. "I don't want any personal attacks in this (race). I want to talk about experience of the candidates."
Hastert acknowledged that he expected to be attacked by Bill Foster but not in the Republican primary.
"We have to deal with that and move on," Hastert said. "Those attacks are untrue, they are baseless and when it comes to issues like human trafficking they are so outrageous that I don't even know that you can begin to defend them."
Hastert said that he was on leave from Mayer Brown, the law firm in question, and pointed out that Hultgren should make sure to set the record straight that the accusations are baseless.
GOP candidates debate
for 25th district nod
Also on hand at the forum, were 25th district State Senatorial candidates-- incumbent Chris Lauzen and Sean Michels- running for the Republican nomination. Democrat Leslie Juby, of Geneva, was given time to make a statement.
Lauzen, 57, has been a state senator for almost 20 years and lives in Aurora. He has a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Michels, 46, has been village president of Sugar Grove since 199. He lives in the village and works with his cousin, Bill McCue, building custom homes in Yorkville, Oswego and North Aurora.
On the issue of bringing Metra service to Kendall County, Michels said that it would have to join the RTA to be in that system and pay the tax that goes along with it.
"I do agree that the Metra line should be extended," he said. "It's a great amenity and I think it should be brought to the Sandwich, Plano Yorkville area."
Lauzen said that he supports the Metra extension as well and insisted that paying for it required stopping the diversion of the state's gas tax.
"It is hard to comprehend that as we fill up our tanks with gas and pay a gas tax that $650 million of that does not go to roads bridges and transit but ends up in the general revenue fund," he said.
On funding the capital bill, Lauzen said he was opposed to video gambling likening it to the "crack cocaine" of gambling. Instead Lauzen said he was in favor of increasing certain fees but didn't mention which fees.
"Better proposals were the cost of living increases on certain fees that have not been increased in the last 15 years," he said.
He added that he supports taxing retail items purchased on the Internet to drum up funds for the state.
"I believe that if you buy a shirt over the Internet that you ought to pay sale tax." he said. "This is not a sales tax on the Internet or on access or emails."
Michels also maintained that the state needs to make sure that gas taxes go toward roads. He said that he didn't think that using video poker fund the capital bill was "the best way."
Supporting the winner
When asked if would support Lauzen in the general election if he won the nomination, Michels said he would help him in an area he thought Lauzen was lacking in.
"I don't believe that Mr. Lauzen has been very good at meeting with local leaders so I would be his liaison to local leaders and tell him what the issues we are facing at the local level," Michels said.
Michels added that he thought Lauzen has some great ideas on pension reform and would help him out.
Lauzen responded to the question by saying he is cautious about giving support to candidates.
"That question assumes support for the candidate," he said. "When any of us give our support to a candidate, we have to believe what that person stands for. I believe that it would be premature to commit to that type of support before we know how everything pays out."
Lauzen then said that Michels may have misappropriated millions of tax dollars to his father's engineering firm.
"There is a developing scandal that could lead to an investigation of authorizing $8.7 million of taxpayer money to his own father's engineering firm," Lauzen said.
He added that a citizens' action group was looking into the matter and had filed Freedom of Information Act requests.
"I'm worried that both the Republican and Democrat parties have enough problems with conflicts of interest when it comes to jobs, contract and land speculations," he said. "It is important that those kinds of questions be answered before people commit support."
On the issue of reforming the way homes are assessed, Lauzen pointed out that he supports a cap on home assessments.
"We have a tax cap but what has happened is that the assessments have gone out of sight," he said. "I have current legislation that would roll back by two years the property tax assessment and then freeze it at its current level."
Michels responded that he thought the state needed to resolve its budget issues and take some of the pressure off local authorities to have to pay for state pensions.
When asked about bringing transparency to government, Michels said the state legislature has to impose FOIA laws on themselves.
"I think the media is a good way to vent any wrong doing and unfortunately Mr. Lauzen keeps throwing out these allegations that there is something corrupt in Sugar Grove," Michels said. "Well, it's been out in the media for 10 years that he has accepted political contributions to his campaign from my father."
"What about the clout list-getting someone into U of I, Chris? What about Rose Bowl tickets, Chris?" Michels asked.
Lauzen said that he provides answers to all citizens with regard to the way tax money is spent.
"Our family has not been enriched outside of the statutory compensation that a state senator receives," he said.
In closing remarks, Lauzen said that getting people back to work and fixing the budget were high on his list of things to accomplish.
"I will tell you the truth consistently and then you decide what the Republican Party is going to stand for," he said.
Michels said that he felt voters should ask themselves one question about Lauzen.
"What have we received the last 18 years under his leadership?," Michels said. "We've received no funds and Route 47 is still in bad shape."
'Not a career politician'
The Democratic candidate Leslie Juby, of Geneva, was allowed a two minute statement during which she said that she got involved in public office when she joined the Geneva School Board in 2007.
"It didn't take me long to realize the important role that the legislature has in our economic programs nor did it take long for me to realize that many of the issues that face our local school districts are symptomatic of those problems that we have in Springfield," she said.
Juby criticized Lauzen on the way he voted on the capital bill funding.
"We have senators who voted for the capital bill so they could say they were for job creation but then they didn't vote to pay for it," she said.
Building on successful programs and cutting wasteful ones, Juby said, are also initiatives she would follow up on if elected. She also mentioned she was in favor of bringing green technology to Illinois to create jobs.
"I'm not a career politician," she said. "I'm running because I believe you can be accountable and effective at the same time."
50th district GOP
candidates weight in
Republican candidates for the 50th District State Representative seat, include Kay Hatcher, Keith Wheeler and Bob McQuillan.
Hatcher, 64, is a long-time Oswego resident and is running for re-election after serving one year of her first term.
Hatcher's political experience includes most recently two stints on the Kendall County Board, one six year term from 2002 to 2008 and another five-year term in the 90's. During the later stint, Hatcher served as president of the Kendall County Forest Preserve. Prior to the County Board, Hatcher sat on the Oswego School Board from 1985 to 1991.
Wheeler, 42, lives in Oswego and is the former chairman of the Kendall County Republican Support Committee and former chairman of the Kendall County Republican Central Committee. He is currently a Republican precinct committeeman.
He holds a degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and owns Responsive Network Services, a computer consulting business that he started in 1991.
McQuillan, 53, grew up in Levittown, Penn., a suburb 20 miles north of Philadelphia. He has a degree in food marketing and an MBA from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He moved to the Fox Valley area in 1997 and is currently an independent real estate agent living in Batavia.
The winner will take on Democrat Linda Healy, who was not at the forum.
The first question asked dealt with the candidates' positions on the second amendment.
"The second amendment is as important to me as our freedom of speech," Wheeler said. "I am for concealed carry as well."
"I spent most of my time on my family farm and often what my dad shot that afternoon we ate that evening for dinner," Hatcher said. "For me a gun has always been a tool."
She added that she supported gun use for personal protection.
McQuillan said that he agreed with the founding fathers that citizens need the right to bear arms.
"Studies have proven that banning guns is not going to stop the criminal," he said. "I also support concealed carry."
On the issue of balancing the budget without raising income taxes, Hatcher said that there are number of initiatives in Springfield to look at how money is spent, how pensions are defined and how Medicaid is paid for.
"Anyvtime you raise taxes, in the end it lowers the income that comes in because people don't have the money to invest in their own families," she said.
McQuillan said that action needs to be taken.
"We are in the current state of affairs because of the current legislators-they got us into this problem but unfortunately we let them because we were asleep at the wheel," McQuillan said. "I'm angry but I'm angry at myself because I didn't get involved before today."
He mentioned that he would cut the budget as much as he can with a forensic audit and not support a tax increase for at least the next two years as a last resort.
Wheeler said that Illinois cannot afford a tax increase.
"Every time a tax increase comes up, we have to say no because Illinois businesses just can't afford anymore," Wheeler said.
Higher taxes, he added, would cause businesses to flee Illinois.
Compromise important
When asked how he would compromise in Springfield to get things accomplished, McQuillan responded that compromise had to be dealt out sparingly.
"Too much compromise loses the value in your ethics," he said. "But you can't tell me that every Republican in the Congress is against health care reform and every Democrat is for it."
He said that legislators need to knock down partisan walls and work together.
Wheeler insisted that compromise can only work if the idea being discussed is based on a real principle.
"You can't compromise on an entire bill for one small piece when you agree with 99 percent of it," he said.
One of his initiatives if elected would be to build a small business caucus with members of both political parties.
Hatcher explained that Republicans are the minority party and that in order to find successful legislation it is important to find core values, stick with that base and then find what people agree on.
"That requires flexibility," she said.
Wheeler was asked how he would support the winning candidate of the Republican primary in the general election.
He pointed out that he recently served as the chairman of the Kendall County Republican Central Committee.
"Effectively, the official Kendall County Republican party," he said.
He said that he has a proven track record of supporting the Republican candidates.
Hatcher recalled the big tent theory of the Republican party in her answer.
"Once the vote is taken, we are Republicans and I will support whomever wins the election," she said.
McQuillan asserted that he was the first candidate to say that he would support the nominee of the party.
"But I deal in reality and the reality is that I'm the best candidate so I expect to win on Tuesday," he said.
On the topic of road improvements in the county Hatcher said, "Those roadways are the lifelines to everything we do in our personal lives and our business...There is no question that our roadways need to be repaired."
Hatcher said that she supports the Prairie Parkway but that the funding for the road is not yet available.
McQuillan advocated doing the road work the state can afford.
"We don't need everything new and expensive," he said. "You have a great road in Route 47 ... so fix it and do what you need to get it right."
Wheeler insisted that all local existing roads should be fixed and improved before new road construction like the Prairie Parkway takes place.
"From our point of view, the Parkway does not replace a single existing road," he said. "Route 47 needs to be widened.
Some favor pension reform
When asked about pension reform at the state level to help fix the state's budget crisis, McQuillan said that state employees are not solely to blame but reform needs to happen.
"Let's make sure that that person has some ownership in that pension and knows what is the best thing for them in the future and makes their own decisions," he said.
Wheeler acknowledged that he is in favor of reforming the state employee pension system that mirrors the private sector that relies on a defined contribution program.
Hatcher pointed out that some employees have been paying into their pensions for 30 years and the state had not been putting in its portion. She added that it is only fair that the state keep contributing to those employees while looking at reforming pensions for others.
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