Election Coverage: Meet the Congressional Candidates
As part of its continuing election coverage, the GRC blog is
providing profiles of all the candidates on the ballot this November in
Pittsburgh. This week, we will look at
our current congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives and the contender
for that position.
Representative Mike Doyle, D-PA 14th District:
Michael Doyle is a native of Pittsburgh and a current resident of
the suburb of Forest Hills. He comes
from a family of steelworkers and worked briefly in the industry while
attending Penn State University, where he received a B.S. in Community
Development in 1975. He was a small
business owner, insurance agent, a member of a borough council, and a staffer
for state Sen. Frank Pecora from 1978-1994.
He was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 and has served there since.
On the current issue of the economy, Doyle favors a system of
combined stimulus and tax reform, reducing taxes on the middle and lower class
while increasing them for the upper class.
He voted in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in
2009. He voted against a deficit
reduction plan in 2011 which he claimed would hurt payroll growth while leaving
tax breaks for companies and the upper class untouched. He has advocated strongly for alternative
fuel source research, citing the nation’s current dependence on oil. He has also voted against granting permanent
normal trade status to China.
On social and domestic issues, Doyle plays a variety of roles. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce
Committee and on two subcommittees on Energy and Power and on Communications
and Technology. He is co-founder and
chair of various caucuses to promote a fuel-efficient model of decentralized
power generation, promote development in the field of robotics, promote
research and education on autism, and various other caucuses on steel, human
rights, and the Internet. He voted in
favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to
as Obamacare. He is in favor of
legalizing same-sex marriage by repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and
granting full legal protection to same-sex couples. He voted in favor of requiring gun show
dealers to conduct criminal background checks and in favor of banning
partial-birth abortions.
U.S. House profile: http://doyle.house.gov/
Campaign website: http://mikedoyleforcongress.com/
Washington Times profile: http://www.washingtontimes.com/campaign-2012/candidates/michael-mike-f-doyle-255/
Dr. Hans Lessman, Republican challenger for PA 14th
District
Dr. Hans Lessman is a native of Braddock, a suburb of Pittsburgh to
the southeast of Swissvale. He is a
current resident of Forest Hills. He is
a graduate of Perdue University and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry,
where he received his doctorate. He is a
practicing optometrist, president of the Society for the Education of
Physicians and Patients, and the 2003 Pennsylvania Optometrist of the
Year. He also has a passion for rowing,
history, and the outdoors.
The staple issue of Lessman’s campaign is that of health care, on
which he draws on his years of experience as a medical professional. He opposes Obamacare on the grounds that it
will dramatically increase the number of people getting health care, but won’t
create new job positions for physicians to provide that care. He states that he would prefer to eliminate
job-benefit healthcare and instead give out tax breaks so people could create
their own plan. He also would prefer a
voucher system for health care that allowed for low-income citizens to more
directly control their health care plan.
He would like to end the current tiered system of income taxation
and replace it with a flat income tax or even create a national sales tax in
its place, which he claims would be more efficient and reduce the size of the IRS. Other staples of his platform are job
creation and energy, though it is unclear exactly how he would advance this.
Lessman’s campaign website: http://lessmannforcongress.org/issues
Wall Street Journal Profile: http://projects.wsj.com/campaign2012/candidates/view/hans-lessmann--PA-H
Washington Times Profile: http://www.washingtontimes.com/campaign-2012/candidates/hans-f-lessmann-61623/
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on campaign: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/politics-local/grass-roots-newcomer-hans-lessmann-takes-on-us-rep-mike-doyle-656528/
No comments:
Post a Comment