[The black text below is copied and pasted from the "Issues" tab on Representative DeMarco's campaign website. The text in red is my commentary on Representative DeMarco's positions on the issues in question.]
End ObamaCare
Obamacare threatens families in Alabama and across the country. It must end. I will work to find a free-market approach to healthcare needs that does not take away individual’s rights and run up the costs to families. We must have a common sense approach that focuses on the well-being of the patient.
In addition to repealing ObamaCare, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and tort reform (at a state level) are obvious starting points for improving the system. Our health care system itself is over-regulated and government intervention continues to drive up the cost of insurance premiums. [Of all the world's health care systems, the U.S. system, with its multiple programs (private insurance, charities, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) and Federal/state divisions of responsibility, is the most fractured and complex, and it has many, many inefficiencies. Advances in medicine and medical technology, and cost factors, have led to seeking new and better ways of organizing and delivering healthcare. (The complexity of health care in the Untied States is indicated by UAB having a Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, which has more than 20 professors.) The great structural complexities of the U.S. healthcare system, the changing modes of health care delivery, and the deep reach of the health care system in the economy and in people's personal lives, have made the politics of health care and health care reform the most difficult and complicated in the United States political universe. These politics came out in gale force when the Clinton healthcare reform plan went through the legislative process in the 1990's, and again in connection with the enactment of The Affordable Care Act in 2010. The misery of dealing with the U.S. healthcare system and its politics is going to be with the country for years to come. (Those politics now have new difficulties by reason of The Affordable Care Act. For example, persons at 100% of the poverty level who get subsidies covering almost all of their premiums will oppose any cutback of that.) The next Representative from the 6th Congressional district is not likely to make a whit of difference in Congress about healthcare, or any whit of difference he achieves may make things worse by reason of there being some countervailing or offsetting other provision that gets into the law. I believe the Affordable Care Act is a monstrosity, but I don't see that beating the "repeal and replace Obamacare" drum will have much positive result. I have a plan that seeks to alter greatly the political landscape in Washington, which I think would aid in producing a better healthcare law. None of the other candidates have any ideas for altering the Washington political landscape.]
Jobs
According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses account for 64 percent of new private sector hires in America and 49 percent of total private-sector employment. I’ve always been close to the small business community. While I’ll continue to focus on economic development issues which help small and large businesses alike, I’m also committing to continue to support our local small business owners – who serve as the backbone of our entire economic system. [All the candidates are in favor of job creation. No one can foresee much about how the phenomenon of globalization is going to affect job creation in the United States and Alabama during the next ten or twenty years. Economists and other experts are in much disagreement about how the Federal government can best promote job creation. The politics of what the Federal government should do to promote job creation are extremely partisan and yield varied legislative and governmental actions, with little or certainty about what works and to what extent. No candidate in the 6th Congressional district is going to make a whit of difference in Washington relative to what is done to promote job creation, except for getting money to go from Washington to the 6th Congressional district, which will pay wages to workers in the district.]
Deficit Reduction and Balanced Budget
Our country is currently over $17,000,000,000,000 in debt and this is absolutely inexcusable. That’s almost $55,000 for every citizen in the US, and if you are a taxpayer, your share is almost triple that. To anyone who has balanced a checkbook before, what we need to do is obvious: we must cut spending until it is less than we are bringing in.
We must balance the budget each and every year by cutting wasteful and unnecessary spending. We can tighten our belts a bit, and it won’t require new taxes to restore some fiscal sanity.
Obviously, I also support a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.
My legislative record supports fiscal responsibility. I will take those same principles to Washington. We can not compromise those principles when it comes to the future of this country. [All the candidates are in favor of deficit reduction and a balanced budget, but there is no basis for thinking that any of the candidates will make any difference in achieving the goal of deficit reduction and balancing the budget. I have a plan that seeks to alter greatly the political landscape in Washington, which I think would aid in achieving deficit reduction. None of the other candidates have any ideas for altering the Washington political landscape.]
Economic Development
We have a proud and able workforce in Alabama’s Sixth District. I plan to support those hardworking families with common sense leadership that creates opportunities to grow business and create jobs while doing away with out-of-control government regulations that slow growth. [All the candidates are in favor of economic development, No one can foresee much how the phenomenon of globalization is going to affect the United States and Alabama economies over the next ten or twenty years. Economists are in much disagreement about how the Federal government can best promote economic development. There is no basis for thinking that any of the candidates will, if elected, contribute any more or any less than any other candidate to achieving the goal of economic development. I think I would be able to perform intelligently in considering, developing, and voting on legislation seeking to promote economic development.]
Fiscal Responsibility
I have a strong record as a fiscal conservative that I will take to Washington. I have always fought the establishment when it comes to tax increases and will continue that fight. We must cut the deficit, balance the budget and identify ways to support the hardworking families of Alabama’s Sixth District.
I was also one of only four legislators in the Alabama State House to vote against the state budget because it did not cut spending enough. [All the candidates are in favor of more fiscal responsibility. There is no basis for thinking that any of the candidates will contribute any more or any less than any other candidate to achieving the goal of greater fiscal responsibility. I have a plan that seeks to alter greatly the political landscape in Washington, which I think would aid in achieving greater fiscal responsibility. None of the other candidates have any ideas for altering the Washington political landscape.]
Protect the Second Amendment
I am a longtime, proud member of the NRA. I will work to protect the rights of law abiding gun owners and will fight the liberal agenda that threatens our constitutional rights. [I have made the centerpiece of my campaign my position that the political class in Washington DC is the common enemy of peon Republicans, peon Democrats, and peon independents, and that all of the peons need to unite to force reform on the political class in Washington DC, in order to reduce its tyranny and stranglehold over the rest of the country. I don't see an important role for the Second Amendment in the battle of the peons against the political class in Washington DC.]
Restore Trust
I will take Alabama common sense values to Washington to restore trust in Congress. I voted against a legislative pay raise in Montgomery and refused to take it when Democrats passed one. I will neither support nor accept a pay raise in Washington. In addition, I have a proven record of finding ways for government to work for the people and not get in the way. I will always believe our best ideas come from back home in the Sixth District and not from places like Montgomery and Washington.
I am strongly pro-life. My commitment to this principle was recognized by the Concerned Women PAC in their recent endorsement of me. [The only way trust in Congress is going to be restored is if the political class in Washington DC is taken down a couple of notches. I have a plan for doing that. The other candidates don't have any ideas for doing that. The political class in Washington DC is too much at work promoting its own personal interests and is insufficiently working for the people. My aforesaid plan will counter that. I don't know what concrete ideas Representative DeMarco has for getting the Federal government to work better for the people. My plan comes from me in the 6th district, but Representative DeMarco won't even discuss my plan. I wish there was a way for right to life issues not to so infect the political landscape and so impair the working of the political processes. I wish for that, but I see no end to right to life issues infecting so much the political landscape. If my plan to change the political landscape in Washington was successful, it might lessen the infection of the political landscape by right to life issues.
Strong National Defense
I will always support the brave men and women who serve in our nation’s military. We must do what it takes to keep America strong and safe. I also vow to be a watchdog, protecting individual rights from an overreaching federal government. [I believe all the candidates are in favor of supporting those who serve or have served in the military. It is difficult to evaluate how well a country does or has done in making sacrifices to give support and in spending taxpayer monies to do it. I would largely depend on the expertise of others in determining what it takes to keep the United States strong and safe. I think I could participate intelligently on an oversight committee. I don't have any military experience to draw on. I am not sufficiently informed to know where lines should be drawn in protecting privacy and other rights and in doing things needed for national security purposes or combating cyber crime and other kinds of crime. I think I could participate intelligently in oversight over how those lines are drawn.
Support Our Veterans
Our veterans sacrificed for our freedom. I think they deserve the best care and support. I will make veterans and their families a priority. I want our VA hospital system to be the best and will work to improve quality of care. [For now, I would leave to other lawmakers and advocates the providing care and support to veterans and their families, and do not have a plan at this time to make that a priority of mine if I was elected. That could change as I learned more about my constituency.]
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