Congressional candidate Carol Gay, who is running against Republican incumbent Chris Smith to represent New Jersey's 4th District, is the first to complete the City Belt candidate questionnaire. Read on to learn about Gay’s views on universal healthcare, her lowest paying job, leaving Iraq and who she wishes would endorse her candidacy.
City Belt: There are more than one million New Jerseyans without health insurance. What will you do to advocate for the uninsured? Do you believe health insurance is a fundamental human right? Would you support HR 676, John Conyers' plan for a transition to a national single-payer universal
health care system?
Gay: I believe health insurance is a fundamental human right and universal, affordable, accessible health care or Medicare for All is one of my highest priorities. Yes, I support HR 676, John Conyer’s plan for a national single-payer healthcare system. I also strongly support embryonic stem cell research and will work to make New Jersey a center for stem cell research.
CB: Do you believe that the federal minimum wage is high enough? If so, explain. If not, what will you do to increase the minimum wage and to what amount? What is the lowest hourly wage you have worked for and what was the job?
Gay: It is absolutely shameful that the minimum wage has not been increased in almost 10 years while Congress has given itself more than $32,000 in raises over that same period. I support increasing the minimum wage to $10.00 an hour, but will accept a phase-in over a three-year period. An automatic cost of living increase should be built into the legislation also. I worked for 50 cents an hour as a sales clerk.
CB: What is your position on net neutrality?
Gay: In the interest of fairness and democracy, internet neutrality must be protected.
CB: Forty-five New Jersey military personnel and at least 40,795 Iraqi civilians have died so far in the Iraq War. Do you agree with the initial decision to invade Iraq? If so, why? If not, why not?
Gay: NO, I did not agree with the initial decision to invade Iraq because there was no eminent threat and no provocation on the part of the Iraqi government. The events of 9/11 had nothing to do with Iraq. I worked very hard as chair of NJ Labor Against the War to first prevent the invasion and then to end this unnecessary, costly war. The Bush Administration and those in Congress who continue to support its lies have made us all less safe, and US presence in Iraq has become a destabilizing force in the entire region.
CB: Do you think Iraq is better off or worse off today than when we invaded over three years ago?
Gay: Iraq is far worse off than when we invaded. The country is in chaos, it is on the brink of civil war, its infrastructure has been destroyed, and many Iraqis still have no clean water or electricity, even though no-bid contractors hired by the US have raked in billions of dollars to provide those services. The Iraqi trade union movement , one of the strongest forces for democratization, is being suppressed and systematically dismantled. The US occupation serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists, and is making Iraq less safe for Iraqis and for Americans here at home.
CB: What is your position as to when and how our troops should leave Iraq?
Gay: We should bring the troops home now and fully fund veterans’ benefits which have been cut. As an occupying force, US troops are being placed in harms’s way unnecessarily and no more of our service men and women should be sacrificed for George Bush’s quest for empire. A UN peacekeeping force should be brought in and Iraq should be turned over to the Iraqis. The Arab League should be encouraged to use its influence to help stabilize the region.
CB: Would you co-sponsor Rep. McGovern's (D-Mass.) legislation to end all funding for the war, except to remove our troops?
Gay: YES
CB: What is your position on immigration?
Gay: I believe that immigrants are hard working human beings who are trying to feed their families. No human being is illegal. We should ensure that families are not separated and provide a pathway to citizenship to immigrants who are contributing to our economy. We must also work to change our trade policies to provide for fair trade so that workers in other countries will be able to sustain themselves in their own countries.
CB: How do you think we can best protect ourselves from any real threat, yet not sacrifice our constitutional rights and civil liberties?
Gay: The Department of Homeland Security must be fully and fairly funded, which means putting money where it is needed most, and where the threat is the greatest. We need cargo container inspectors at the ports and the airports. We need to secure our railways, nuclear plants, and chemical plants.
I am opposed to any measures that dilute our civil liberties such as illegal wiretapping and warrantless searches.
CB: Would you vote to make the Bush tax cuts permanent? If so, why? If not, what would you propose instead?
Gay: NO, the Bush tax cuts only further the inequality gap, and benefit the privileged few at the expense of the rest of us. We need fair progressive taxation, not a transfer of wealth to the top one-to-two percent of the population.
CB: Would you characterize the devastation of Hurricane Katrina as a natural disaster or a failure of government?
Gay: I would characterize it as a failure of government. Sufficient funding and oversight of the levee construction could very well have prevented the levee failure. The rescue, evacuation, and cleanup operations have also been a failure due to racism and the lack of desire to make the rebuilding of New Orleans a priority. Incompetence and greed have been the hallmark of the Bush Administration, and New Orleans certainly is no exception.
CB: What, if anything, is your energy plan?
Gay: We need a new energy plan that will decrease our dependence on foreign oil, protect the environment and provide for economic growth. Drilling for oil in ANWR or off the Jersey coast is not the answer to our consumption problem. Instead of tax breaks and subsidies for the oil industry, I would provide subsidies and incentives for development of clean renewable energy alternatives such as wind and solar power. I would promote energy efficiency including requiring higher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, increased funding for mass transit, and smart growth and development, not more sprawl.
CB: Are you in favor of women's reproductive rights (abortion rights, making Plan B over-the-counter for women of any age)?
Gay: Yes, I support women’s reproductive rights and will defend a woman’s right to choose. I oppose any form of “gag” rule limiting the provision of full and complete information. I support over-the-counter emergency contraception(Plan B) and RU486, comprehensive sex education, and oppose the “Child Custody Protection Act”.
CB: Do you believe in the death penalty?
Gay: NO, I think the death penalty is barbaric. It is also extremely costly to taxpayers and should be abolished.
CB: Would you sign on to articles of impeachment for George W. Bush?
Gay: Yes
CB: What song best fits your campaign?
Gay: Imagine
CB: If you could have the endorsement of any person -- living or dead -- who would it be?
Gay: Martin Luther King
On the Web: Carol Gay for Congress
Want to know how candidates in your district would answer these questions?
Then contact their campaign offices and politely ask them to fill out the City Belt questionnaire.
And if you’re not registered to vote in New Jersey, you still have time. Click here for more info.
US Senate
Robert Menendez (D) – E-mail the campaign
Tom Kean Jr. (R) – E-mail Jill
US Congress
District 7
Linda Stender (D) – E-mail Mike
Mike Ferguson (R) -- E-mail Amanda
District 5
Paul Aronsohn (D) – E-mail Parisa
E. Scott Garrett (R) – E-mail Matthew
District 4
Christopher Smith (R) – E-mail the campaign
District 3
Rich Sexton (D) - E-mail the campaign
Jim Saxton (R) - E-mail the campaign
Her other opponent is Richard Edgar, the libertarian (thats me!). My site is http://redgar.com
Posted by: Richard Edgar | 10/13/2006 at 01:11 PM
I don't consider myself a "progressive", rather I am a classical liberal (like John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and Milton Friedman).
- I believe that socialized medicine would be a big mistake. Often those who support it have no understanding of capitalism. The US has almost always had the best doctors and the best hospitals because of the competitive nature of capitalism. See http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4618 .
- minimum wage laws hurt poor people the most. What employer would hire someone at a loss? Minimum wage laws were first supported by all white unions in the late 50's to quell competition for jobs from blacks.
- the war in Iraq is a big mistake. Our presence there is not helping matters. We need to get out.
- I completely agree with Carol on immigration. However our definitions of "Fair Trade" probably differ. The only fair trade is free trade. We need to end corporate/farm subsidies and protective tariffs. The third world needs to be able to compete with us freely.
See my website for more.
Posted by: Richard Edgar | 10/13/2006 at 01:32 PM