Union Leader: House Candidates Strike Common Cord

House candidates strike common chord

By DAN O'BRIEN
Union Leader Correspondent

BARNSTEAD – While all five Republican candidates hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter offered similar views about key issues in a forum last night, some indicated they were straying from the pack.

When asked by Moderator Scott Spradling, former WMUR-TV anchor, to raise their hands if they'd repeal the recently passed federal health care bill, all but Peter Bearse of Danville did so.

"Look, it's a bad bill," Bearse said in response. "It's (a repeal) not going to work when you have President Obama there to veto the legislation."

Bearse said it was good that the new health care bill allowed young adults to stay on their parents' plans until age 26, but that was met with grumbling from the crowd of about 75 at the J.J. Goodwin Restaurant on Route 28.

Bearse instead went on to cite the benefits of the new plan, but suggested de-funding parts of the plan due to the tax impact.

"It's a good feature that you have . . . insurance companies adhering to a standard that you cannot deny for pre-existing conditions," he said. "There are bad features because it's an overall big tax increase itself."

By contrast, former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta got loud applause when he said, "Let's not kid ourselves. What this bill represents is a move toward a socialistic, European nation, and we don't support it."

Guinta suggested specific reforms, including "two things that can help New Hampshire immediately" -- people being able to buy private health insurance across state lines and allowing small businesses to pool together to reduce costs.

The remaining candidates, Rich Ashooh of Bedford, Bob Bestani of Newmarket and Sean Mahoney of Portsmouth reiterated similar points.

"Small-business owners like me, we can't afford it," Mahoney said.

Mahoney, who asks supporters to sign a petition to repeal the health care law on his website, recently dropped out of the National Republican Committee, contending national leaders had become too out of touch.

"I did it because I was tired of reckless spending, irresponsible spending and the arrogant culture that's filled Washington," Mahoney said. "It wasn't just the Democrats that put us in this mess so far."

On the war on terror, most candidates spoke of maintaining a troop presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Bestani said, "The best thing we can do is get out of there."

Bearse said the United States should never have entered Iraq, but he supported having troops stay in Afghanistan.

"We need to work things through with Afghanistan the same as way we did with Iraq," Bearse said.

Ashooh said he does not support timetables for withdrawing troops.

"Setting hard withdrawals sends the wrong message abroad," he said.

Guinta criticized treating terrorists as domestic criminals instead of as enemy combatants.

"No terrorists should ever hear the words, 'You have the right to remain silent,'" he said.

Maloney said he had concerns the Patriot Act infringed on individual liberties, but said the war on terrorism needs to be fought.

Referring to the attempted Times Square bombing two weeks ago, Mahoney said, "We're still at war."

All the candidates criticized President Obama's appointment this week of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, noting that she's never been a judge and that the court is too left-leaning.

Last night's event was sponsored by the Barnstead-Alton Republican Committee.