Schedule:
10.31.2012 =: US Senate Overview
11.01.2012 1: US House Overview 1 (Northeast, New England, Midwest)
11.01.2012 2: US House Overview 2 (West, Southwest, Texas, South, Florida)
11.02.2012 1: IN-Sen (Donnelly v. Mourdock)
11.02.2012 2: WI-01 (Zerban v. Ryan)
11.02.2012 3: WI-Sen (Baldwin v. Thompson)
11.03.2012 1: MO-Gov (Nixon v. Spence), MO-Lt. Gov, Mo-SoS, MO-AG, MO-Treasurer
11.03.2012 2: MO-Sen (McCaskill v. Akin)
11.04.2012 1: IL-10 (Schneider v. Dold)
11.04.2012 2: IL-08 (Duckworth v. Walsh)
11.04.2012 3: IL-11 (Foster v. Biggert)
11.05.2012 1: IL-17 (Bustos v. Schilling)
11.05.2012 2: IL-13 (Gill v. Davis v. Hartman)
11.05.2012 3: IL-12 (My home district, Enyart v. Gill)
11.06.2012 1 : POTUS/VPOTUS (Obama/Biden v. Romney/Ryan v. Stein/Honkala v. Johnson v. Gray), GOTV/Election Day diary
1 = Morning
2 = Afternoon/Early Evening
3 = Evening/Overnight
The Illinois' 13th Congressional District, which got relocated from the Southwest Chicagoland exurbs and Naperville to Central/South Central Illinois (including the towns of Edwardsville, most of Collinsville, Litchfield, Carlinville, most Springfield, half of BloNo, Decatur, and Chambana). The hotly contested race has David Gill (D), the 3-time loser to now-retired quasi-moderate Timothy Johnson (R) in the more-GOP friendly IL-15, running against GOP hand-picked replacement Rodney Davis (R) and left-leaning independent John Hartman (I). This election will be about base turnout tomorrow.
Issues:
John Hartman::
Abortion:
My position on abortion is that the government should be as small as possible, and we should have confidence in the people to use their conscience to do what is best. I support Roe v. Wade. I am not yet decided on whether or not to support the so-called Hyde Amendment.
PPACA:
Given today's gridlock, if we repeal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), we will probably end up with nothing, and that would be a setback to the estimated 32 million people who will gain coverage under it. Not surprisingly, the facts tell us that Americans without health insurance are sicker and die younger than those of us with health insurance. So I would not vote for its outright appeal, but would seek to improve its flaws.
It is irresponsible not to provide the most efficient method. We could improve ACA by reinvigorating the Independent Payment Advisory Board to help us adopt best practices.
We need to be open to change, and should not capriciously dismiss other countries' programs as "socialized medicine." To many Americans, socialism is two-thirds of the way to the communism of Joseph Stalin, but does the record bear out that Canada has moved two-thirds of the way to a darkened world of barbed wire and guard towers, even after decades of "socialized medicine?" Is Australia beaten down in a Cultural Revolution as the result of going down the path of providing insurance for all its citizens? Let's be careful and look at the evidence. We will see that the facts don't fit the simplistic "socialized" dismissal of these more efficient systems.
Medicare/Social Security:
We should be able to call a spade a spade and recognize the fact that we are now healthier around age 65 than we were back when Medicare was started.
Social Security faces the same demographics, but does not have to contend so directly with health care inflation as Medicare. The solution is similar to Medicare; we would strengthen Social Security by removing the ceiling of the employer payroll match and gradually increasing the age in which we attain full benefits.
Marriage Equality/LGBTQ Rights:
We do not need a constitutional amendment to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Economy:
We have inherited the ingredients that underlie a healthy economy: a broad acceptance of the rule of law grounded in our Constitution, a society with a record of embracing change, and an innovation infrastructure that leads the world in the arts and sciences. One consequence has been the development of the internet with its ability to spread the power of information and the great wealth of knowledge to so many of us.
In the 1990’s, national political leaders of both parties showed us the way to achieve balanced budgets. We had fiscally responsible legislation in 1990, 1993, and 1997 which established a balance of tax increases and spending caps on discretionary spending, followed by a pay-as-you-go system whereby new initiatives could not add to the deficit.
While the Simpson- Bowles plan may have provisions that prove unworkable or end up with certain results that are unfair, we need to realize that no deficit reduction plan is going to please all parties, as a whole it is better than the status quo, and may have a better chance of actually getting the votes needed for passage than any other plan.
If a compromise on the budget deficit can be reached, it should be followed up with a Pay-as-you-go process whereby any new expenditure, including spending on war, must have legal provisions for payment either by raising new taxes, cutting other spending, or some combination of the two.
Nearly everyone agrees a safety net ought to be established in a civilized society. At the same time, until someone comes up with an improved alternative, we need to face the fact that the free market will continue to be the ultimate source of revenue, public and private.
Education:
We need to reduce our spending trajectory in all categories, including education. Education is critically important for society, and I have taught in public school and volunteered in inner-city public schools, but education funding is dominated by state and local spending.
Immigration:
We need to give an objective group of economists the task of determining the employment needs of our economy, from the high tech employees integral to our software giants to the agricultural employees helping to provide our fruits and vegetables. We should then base the number of immigrants on our economic needs along with a due respect for our nation's identity and heritage of welcoming others.
Once our immigration targets are set, we need to enforce the rule of law on both employers and employees. It behooves us all to be a nation that respects the law, and we have had inexcusably lax enforcement of our existing immigration laws
David Gill:
Abortion:
Extremists are trying to limit access to birth control, even for married women. As an ER doctor, David Gill knows we must protect critical health services for all American women.
Guns:
David Gill strongly supports the second amendment rights of all Americans and will vote to defend gun rights in Congress.
PPACA:
Dr. Gill wants to rein in the profiteering in health care and provide better care for millions more Americans. He won’t take a cent from health insurance corporations or pharmaceutical companies.
Medicare/Social Security:
The Congressional Republicans are trying to gut funding for Medicare and Social Security while they give billions in tax breaks to big oil companies. David Gill will fight to stop them.
Marriage Equality/LGBTQ Rights:
David Gill has spoken out for years for the freedom to marry for all Americans, including gay and lesbian couples.
Economy:
David Gill will demand an end to subsidies for oil giants and will work to crack down on the Wall Street oil speculators who drive up gas prices.
David Gill proudly supports the democratic rights of American workers to join or form a union and to collectively bargain.
Education:
Without a well-educated, well-prepared workforce, our nation can’t hope to compete and our children won’t enjoy the opportunities their parents or grandparents did.
Immigration
I've said for a long time that we need a comprehensive immigration reform. The opposition has been very intransigent in stating that they won't do anything other than securing our borders. That's a necessary part of it but it's also important to state that we will deal effectively with the businesses that hire the undocumented workers and I think that realistically we can't deport 12 million people. I think you have to acknowledge that and develop some process where they get to the back of the line and pay whatever fine. I'm not talking about criminals, people who have committed a crime while here. Those people should be deported but I think there should be some pathway to citizenship, particularly for the young people. I like what President Obama did in terms of not having his Justice Department take action against minors who got brought here by their parents and who otherwise have been good residents of this country.
Rodney Davis:
Abortion:
I am pro-life but recognize the exceptions of rape, incest and life of the mother. I do not believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to finance abortions, outside of rape, incest or life of the mother.
Guns:
He is solidly pro-gun rights/RKBA and is ISRA-preferred and NRA endorsed. He likely is GOoA endorsed as well.
PPACA:
Rodney knows that a one-size-fits-all, government-mandated health care system is not the answer for addressing the needs of both people with health insurance and the uninsured. They fought through the cancer, but it gave Rodney first-hand knowledge of dealing with serious medical conditions under our health insurance model.
In Congress, Rodney will fight to repeal and replace the flawed Obamacare.
Medicare/Social Security:
Medicare will be insolvent in 12 years, which means today's first-graders will be seniors in high school when Medicare runs into the red. Social Security will be insolvent in 2033, when Gen Xers will be hitting retirement age. These programs are vital today and they must continue to be vital for our future seniors.
Marriage Equality/LGBTQ Rights:
I would support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.
Economy:
It is unacceptable that unemployment has been above 8 percent for 43 out of the last 44 months.
For over three years, this Administration has enacted federal regulations and tax increases that have strangled our job creators, leading to layoffs, hiring freezes, and uncertainty.
Rodney believes we must lower taxes for everyone, including small business owners, reduce red tape and regulations, and repeal and replace Obamacare. Government doesn’t create jobs which means Congress should get out of the way of business owners and let them do their jobs.
Immigration:
We must first continue to do to more to secure our borders to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. Increased border patrols, finishing border fences and continuing our vigilance through enforcement are keys to controlling the number of illegal immigrants coming to the United States. We must ensure employers are capable of quickly and accurately verifying the eligibility of those who they are hiring. We also must ensure that government benefits do not serve as an enticement for immigrants to illegally enter the United States.
Race Rating: Tossup/Tilt D