November 01, 2012
- Senator John McCain, who I am working with on major legislation to bar human rights violators from the U.S.;
- Senator Roger Wicker, who I work with on the U.S. Helsinki Commission and with whom I partnered on the Hotels for Heroes bill;
- Senator Lamar Alexander, my partner in trying to end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining;
- Senator Kelly Ayotte, with whom I introduced a bill to force Congress to pass an annual budget;
- Senator Susan Collins, my partner on foreign policy issues including a Senate resolution on the Middle East;
- Senators Pat Roberts and Olympia Snowe, who I work with on tax/retirement issues; and
- Senator Lindsay Graham, my partner on creating a National Blue Alert System;
- Congressman (now Senator) Rob Portman on savings and retirement issues.
I am working with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to build support for a Simpson-Bowles type of bipartisan, balanced plan to bring our budget into better balance. A similar effort needs to be made to enact an energy policy for America that provides for energy security, a better economy, and a friendly impact on our environment.
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Daniel John Bongino, Republican
- City of residence: Severna Park
- Occupation: Candidate, U.S. Senate
- Family: Married, two daughters
- Experience: Decorated Secret Service Agent for three presidential administrations; served as a lead government security official for the United States; as a member of the Baltimore Field Office, instrumental in breaking up one of the largest fraud rings in Maryland's history; small business entrepreneur.
- Education: B.A.,Queens College, 1997; M.A.,City University of New York, 2001; M.B.A., Penn State University, 2010.
- Have you ever been convicted of a crime (not including minor traffic violations)? No
// As you know, the Bush-era income tax cuts will expire at the end of this year. Do you support extending the cuts for all income levels, only on individual income under $200,000 (under $250,000 for families), or not at all? If you support an extension of some kind, should it be paid for? //
We need outsiders to the Washington political process who will commit to pro-growth, common sense tax reforms and stop playing political games with the money of hard working American families. Current income tax rates should be extended across the board and we should look for common sense spending cuts to balance our budget. We can no longer tolerate the negative impact on job growth being caused by the current economic uncertainty.
// Is there any circumstance in which you would support extending a pay freeze on federal employees and/or requiring current federal employees to contribute more to their retirement plans? Please explain. //
I am honored to have been a former federal employee with the United States Secret Service. Our federal work force is both dedicated and hard working. We should do everything possible to honor their current contracts and fulfill the promises that were made to them. Preserving jobs is preferred but efficiencies must be sought or our federal employees will be endangered by the coming fiscal crisis.
// The Congressional Budget Office projects spending on Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs will more than double as a share of the nation's economy by 2037. What specific changes would you propose to reduce Medicare costs? //
I do not support mandatory changes to Social Security or Medicare for persons 55 years or older. The full faith and credit of our government must mean something to our seniors. We must look at proven, bi-partisan solutions such as block granting Medicaid funding to the states and making available to our seniors, via premium support, the same insurance plans our members of Congress have access to. There is wide, bi-partisan agreement on common sense Social Security reforms to preserve the system such as means testing of benefits and longevity indexing.
// Would you support increased federal spending on highways and other infrastructure as a way to boost the construction industry? If so, how would you pay for it? //
We must re-prioritize the spending of scarce tax dollars and eliminate projects that are nothing more than just wasteful political earmarks. In doing so, we can then properly fund projects where federal funding is required.
// Would you support U.S. military involvement in Iran if there were evidence that it was close to developing a nuclear weapon? //
