Wendy Long, GOP Senate candidate, sees America 'slipping away'

Syracuse -- U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long pointed out in Syracuse today that her background and that of her opponent, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, are remarkably similar.

Both went to Dartmouth College and then law school. Both were law clerks in the Second District Court of Appeals. Both practiced in New York law firms and became partners. Both have two children.

But the political philosophies of the two women could hardly be more different.

Long, a Republican, told The Post-Standard editorial board that the escalating national debt and what she sees as the nation?s declining stature worldwide are fundamentally changing the country.

?I have had the growing sense over the last few years that the America I love and that I?ve loved since I was a little girl is slipping away from us,? she said.

Long wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying it hamstrings the economy by strangling businesses and allowing medical costs to continue to skyrocket. Calling herself a ?Reagan conservative,? she said she would boost the economy and create jobs by cutting taxes and regulations to let businesses grow.

She said she supports reforming the tax code, cutting rates and eliminating loopholes, in much the way presidential candidate Mitt Romney has proposed.

She has signed Grover Norquist?s pledge not to raise taxes and says she would cut spending ?in every department,? including Defense. She singled out the Education Department, saying federal directives like those in the No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top programs have failed.

Long said she doesn?t see the need for any major action to combat climate change at this time, saying the issue has been ?politicized and distorted.?

?Because of some abstract, unknown future fear that isn?t well documented, we don?t want to undercut an economy and energy and jobs,? she said.

She said it is time for New York to get moving on harvesting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, and said Gillibrand ?wants to throw the brakes on the whole process.?

?I firmly believe that that opportunity is like sitting on a gold mine here,? she said.

Long?s experience includes clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and serving on the staffs of former Republican Sens. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire and Bill Armstrong of Colorado. But she said her best qualification is that she has never held elective office.

?I don?t think professional politicians are doing a very good job right now,? she said. ?I think we would do a lot better in Washington if we had citizen legislators.?

Long pledged that if elected she would limit her stay in Washington to one or two six-year terms. She favors legislating a two-term limit for all senators.

Long trails well behind Gillibrand in both fund-raising and the polls. She has raised $619,000 for the campaign so far, compared with Gillibrand?s $15.2 million. An August poll by the Siena Research Institute found Gillibrand at 65 percent to Long?s 22 percent.

Gillibrand will visit Syracuse ? and The Post-Standard editorial board ? on Wednesday.
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Contact Paul Riede at priede@syracuse.com or 470-3260.

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/wendy_long_gop_senate_candidat.html

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