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News: Primary Election 2008 Preview
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Primary 2008Return to the list of candidates. Marshall AdameAge: 56 Residence: Jacksonville Occupation: Former Marine Corps aviation logistician, industry consultant Q: How can Congress help make health care for all Americans more affordable? A: In America today we pay about twice that of other western and Western European countries for health care with any appreciable higher quality overall. We have almost 50 million people in America with no health insurance at all. We need to reduce the amount of influence over Congress now enjoyed by the medical and pharmaceutical industries. We need to initiate the federal negotiations with the entire medical industry, particularly the pharmaceuticals who, through Congressional influence, have prevented Medicare and Medicaid recipients from benefiting from the same lower drug prices as the rest of the civilized and industrial world. We need to ensure every American is covered by personal, supplemented or single payer Government Medical Insurance. Q: Will there be immigration reform and if so, how will it balance compassion with rule of law with business interests? A: Until our borders are reasonably controlled by means of technological and human resources, we cannot seriously address the issue of those undocumented persons now living within our borders. Once the borders are under reasonable control, we can then determine how, after 75 years of almost open borders with Mexico, we can effectivly administer those people who have been living and working in America, some, for decades. Although now politically popular, the notion that we can send all those millions of people packing is not only unrealistic, un-American and wrought with complications, it is an impossible task. In this case, both practically and in deference to the millions of U.S. citizens who would be adversely affected, we must find an accommodation, a middle ground, in the effort to resolve this issue. Building a 700-mile fence is actually a ridiculas notion which, if done, would violate thousands of American's property rights, would totally disregard serious enviormental laws and effect the water rights of tens of thousands Americans. Q: What is your suggestion for dealing with Iraq? A: There is chaos in Iraq today, there will be chaos in Iraq for a time after we leave, but until we leave, the beginning of the end of chaos in Iraq cannot commence. I was in Iraq for over three years as an airport director and as a U.S. State Department official. The opportunity we had in Iraq to win its people’s hearts and minds was squandered by inept leadership from the White House. We need to remove all combat forces from Iraq as soon as logistically possible. I would gauge that to be about 16 months from the time the order to re-deploy our troops is issued by our new president. Q: How can alternative energy/renewable energy be encouraged without competing with our food sources? A: In our current path to alternative energy, we are risking enormous competition worldwide for food. We must continue briskly to develop alternative energy sources, but we must develop biofuels with organic materials compatible with our food requirements, not in competition with it them. Farmers should not be terminating one type of crop growth in favor of corn, or other crops to serve the biofuel industry demands. Our energy needs must not be pitted against, or compete with our food requirements and markets. Q: What role should Congress and the federal government be playing in helping stabilize the economy and in particularly, the housing market? A: The brunt of the costs for what has turned into a housing market catastrophe should be felt by those who enabled it, encouraged it and executed the programs which led to it. Our government is complicit indeed through failure to properly regulate, under the failed premise that the financial industry would police itself. Homeowners who were subject and victim to predatory lending, or misleading contractual lending must be able to remain in their homes through re-negotiation with the original financial institutions who provided the suspect loans. This must be mandated through government and enforced by government. Q: What message can you take to Washington D.C. about the needs of rural areas like Eastern North Carolina? A: Eastern N.C. has, and continues to experience significant population growth through northern migration and natural growth. Consequently service and tourism industries have grown and prospered, but not to the extent to satisfy the need for sustainable and viable job growth. Eastern North Carolina needs clean and sustainable industry migration, particularly in the county areas including, but not limited to Currituck, Dare, Pamlico, Beaufort, Jones, Hyde, Duplin, Pitt, Wayne, Nash, Lenoir, Onslow and Craven where skilled labor is plentiful, but industry opportunity is not. Bringing significant attention to this issue and doing everything I can to find solutions will be a priority. |
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