"Wayne Powell: 7th District candidate details campaign"
Today, Wayne Powell made the case for his candidacy for the U.S. House seat for Virginia's 7th Congressional District on the Op-Ed page of the Richmond Times Dispatch:
I'm running against Eric Cantor for the 7th District congressional seat, and here is a simple description of who I am and what I will do:
I'm an expanded Jacksonian Democrat. That means I believe in the guiding principles of social justice, economic fairness and individual liberty for all people. Because of my consistent beliefs in "individual liberty," I am both pro-Second Amendment and pro-choice.
My "economic fairness" platform includes breaking up, not bailing out, the big banks while focusing on a return of capital to local economies and small businesses, stopping the petty regulation of those small businesses, and starting regulation of multinational corporations.
As a fiscal conservative, I will wholeheartedly support and sign on as a sponsor of a balanced budget amendment. I will vote for no budget that increases the deficit. The last budget Cantor voted for (March 29 of this year) not only increased the deficit but added $3 trillion to the national debt while taking 28 years to balance the budget. It is lunacy to think America can sustain 28 more years of added debt — and while I may have to vote against a budget, I refuse to play a part in the insanity and ensuing economic collapse of our country.
My jobs program begins with making things in our country. We must level the playing field for American manufacturers and workers by not allowing the dysfunctional Congress to give our country away to multinational corporations that take our jobs to places like China, where (since Cantor got to Congress) we've sent 2.7 million American jobs, including 4,800 from here in the 7th District. And that only counts the jobs outsourced to China. With the massive exodus of American jobs and associated revenues, we also lose a huge portion of our consumer base, which further drives down revenues.
Cantor knows American manufacturers and workers can't compete against slave labor, theft of American intellectual properties and currency manipulation but has sat idly as millions have poured into his campaign coffers from the multinationals. If it eventually takes tariffs to balance the $300 billion trade deficit with China, I'll vote for them. Cantor will say I'm trying to start a trade war, but I say the trade war has been going on for years, and the majority leader has chosen to fight for the wrong side: the multinational corporations.
I believe in seeking tax reform where everybody pays their fair share, not just the middle class. I will consider a flat tax, a transactional tax or any other reform that fixes our broken system of taxation. While looking at tax reform options, I will immediately put in a bill to force the Internal Revenue Service to simplify its filing system. In fact, the IRS needs a complete overhaul.
I will introduce legislation that ensures full disclosure and transparency from Congress. It's no secret that the personal financial disclosure filed by members of Congress is nothing but a bad joke. Cantor talks about transparency, but the problem is his spouse is free to move in the darkness. Here is just one example (and there are many): New York Private Bank and Trust received $267 million in TARP funds. As Cantor was a driving force of the bailout, shouldn't law require disclosing the amount of Mrs. Cantor's paycheck from New York Private Bank and Trust, where she was employed the year of the bailout? As of this writing, NYPBT has not repaid the American people a dime in interest, much less any principal. Considering that Cantor has received around $2.5 million in "reported contributions" from the big banks, investment houses and hedge funds, I believe that it is only right that 7th District voters know what his spouse's take was from the bailout.
As the influence of huge sums of special-interest money increases with the member's time served, I support term limits for Congress. If elected, I will serve no more than five terms, or 10 years.
As a vet with a son in Afghanistan, I will take care of our veterans. Cantor has voted for two unfunded wars to send our troops into harm's way but has a D grade from the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Association. And … that grade was given to him before he voted in the spring to cut veterans' benefits another $11 billion.
I have been told by many I can't go up against Cantor's millions and win. I disagree. The 7th District has watched as the most dysfunctional Congress in American history has put our nation on a path toward total economic collapse. Eric Cantor is the leader of that Congress. I believe that when given a choice of "red versus blue" or "red, white, and blue," the 7th District will choose "red, white, and blue." That's why I can win.
