Toomey attacks liberal agenda
Running on a campaign promise of more jobs and less government, U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey said an ever-increasing liberal agenda is ruining the greatest nation to have ever existed. Toomey, the Republican candidate, stopped in Uniontown on Monday to talk with a roomful of voters at the Holiday Inn, expressing dismay over the current state of the nation’s economy and the liberal approach politicians in Washington, D.C., are wrongfully taking.
Noting that extreme liberalism is turning the United States into a “European-style welfare state,” Toomey urged people to show their concern and dismay at the polls when they vote in November.
Toomey said government bailouts, increased taxes, inflated spending and an unfunded health care bill are weakening the country.
“This is not what made our country the greatest and powerful nation we’ve been,” he said.
Toomey, who is running in the upcoming election against Democratic candidate Joe Sestak for the seat currently held by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, said the country’s deficit is greater than ever and that there are no signs of recovery.
Historically, recessions are followed by a time of growth and recovery. But Toomey said those in the private industry, especially small business owners, are afraid to expand and hire more workers because of the regulations being put upon them by the current administration.
“We’re on an unsustainable path of ever-growing government,” Toomey said, noting that his opponent has whole-heartedly supported the liberal agenda set forth by the current administration.
Toomey said Sestak supported cap and trade legislation, which Toomey said will have a detrimental effect on the country and particularly coal-friendly Pennsylvania. Sestak, according to Toomey, also supported the health care bill and the stimulus bill that further indebted the country.
Toomey said he finds it appalling that $30 million in the stimulus bill went to build a spring training facility for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks baseball teams.
A self-proclaimed baseball fan, Toomey said he loves the idea of a first-class training facility but doesn’t think it should come at the expense of taxpayers.
“Here’s my idea, let the owners pay for it, not the taxpayers,” he said.
Also included in the stimulus bill, according to Toomey, was $11 million to build a bridge spanning a street that will connect two buildings owned by Microsoft to give employees an easy way to move between both facilities.
“That’s outrageous, and the list goes on and on,” he said, noting that Sestak’s only criticism of the stimulus bill has been that the legislation didn’t hand out enough taxpayer money.
If the stimulus money was to be spent, the money, Toomey said, should have to be spent on infrastructure projects such as improving roads, bridges and airports because such projects would have continued to feed the economy and enable growth.
Toomey said there is no reason the United States can’t recover from the recession and be stronger than before, saying that the county’s factories, farms and schools are still operating.
However, Toomey said cap and trade legislation will keep a strong recovery from occurring because companies will relocate to rapidly developing countries such as China and India that refuse to adopt such legislation and provide affordable labor.
“It’s terrible policy, and could very well be the biggest job outsourcing bill in our life,” Toomey said.
As for health care, Toomey said he agrees that the system needed to be reformed but disagrees with the way it was done. Instead, reform needs to focus on giving individuals who purchase their own insurance a tax credit, allowing for competition between the states and limiting medical malpractice liability.
Toomey, who served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he advocated limited government and personal freedom during his time in office.
He has received top scores from national fiscal watchdog groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste, Americans for Tax Reform, the National Taxpayers Union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for his efforts to expand tax cuts and reduce wasteful spending.
Toomey said his record stands on its own merit and he challenges anyone to question it.
“I think anyone looking at my record will say, ‘This is a guy who does what he says he’s going to do,'” he said, adding that he hasn’t always been a Republican Party favorite and that he has butted heads with fellow lawmakers when he felt an injustice was being done to taxpayers.
“I hope the people will hold me accountable. I want to be held accountable,” he said.
Toomey, one of six children raised by a father who was a union worker and a mother who was a part-time secretary at the family’s parish church, graduated from Harvard University and spent six years working in the international capital markers where he helped businesses expand and create new jobs by lowering borrowing costs and managing exposure to changing interest and currency exchange rates.
He left the financial sector in 1990 to begin, with his brothers, a family-owned restaurant business with several Pennsylvania locations, and he was elected to the 15th Congressional District in 1997.
Toomey said that up until now, every generation has been able to leave a stronger and better America for their children, but he cautioned that he doesn’t see that happening if the country continues down the road it’s on.
The next generation could very well be saddled with overwhelming debt and an out-of-control government.
“I don’t want to be the first generation not to leave things better for our children than they were for us,” he said.