Politics & Government

Candidates Contend for First Congressional Seat

Know candidate stances on key issues before casting your vote in Tuesday's primary election.

Polls open Tuesday for primary elections, and many locals will be heading out to polling places to pick their favored candidates to go up against the opposing party in November.

In Three Village, the First Congressional seat is under contention. U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, has held the seat since 2003 and faces three potential Republican challengers this November: Christopher Cox, Randy Altschuler and George Demos.

All four candidates have outlined their beliefs and plans on key issues like the economy, healthcare, education, the environment and veteran's affairs. Before heading to the polls tomorrow, take a look at the candidates stances and beliefs.

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Three Village polling locations and other voting information can be found at: voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us.

Jobs/Economy

Altschuler:

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  • Self-defined fiscal conservative committed to free market principles.
  • Top priority is to promote pro-growth and low tax policies, a renewed focus on revitalizing small business.
  • Signed Americans for Tax Reform's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," opposing any effort to raise taxes. Also wants to cut the corporate tax rate which he believes has "strangled the competitiveness of American companies abroad."

Bishop:

  • Believes in securing federal funding to help fund local infrastructure improvement projects, provide much-needed relief to areas ravaged by severe winter storms and save the jobs of teachers, police and firefighters.
  • Hopes to continue to help local institutions like the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where stimulus dollars will accelerate the cleanup of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor and will create about 175 jobs for Long Islanders.

Cox:

  • Supports lowering taxes on savings and investments and reducing the tax on business by reducing the payroll taxes they pay.
  • Advocates trade policies that grow more jobs here on Long Island rather than overseas.

Demos:

  • Hopes to be a small business advocate in Washington and plans to fuel small business job creation.
  • Priority is stopping policies that favor the outsourcing of American jobs to low-wage nations such as China, Brazil, and India.
Healthcare

Altschuler:

  • Plans to improve Medicaid and Medicare by rewarding quality care, promoting competition, eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse and giving doctors and patients control over treatment options.
  • Supports efforts to repeal Obamacare and plans to fight to repeal the Medicare Advantage cuts.

Bishop:

  • Plans to cut costs and to crack down on insurance company abuses.
  • Believes that insurance companies must cover routine check-ups and preventative care, such as mammograms, because early detection saves lives and keeps health-care costs down.

Cox:

  • Plans to fight inefficient payment practices, where patients are charged for individual tests and treatments and proposes individuals pay for the quality of overall outcomes of care.
  • Wants to rid entitlement programs like Medicaid and Medicare of waste and duplication and supports preventive health care and fitness programs that will reduce costs.

Demos:

  • Wants to make health insurance more affordable and more available without a massive government takeover. Believes massive government takeover will  increase costs, reduce quality and stifle medical research.
  • Plans to protect Medicare and retirees, fight to control costs and expand access for all Americans by supporting tax incentives, promoting competition among insurers and stopping junk lawsuits that drive up costs.
Education

Altschuler:

  • Supports charter schools and tax credits for attending faith-based or other non-public schools and the option of home schooling.

Bishop:

  • Plans on expanding the Child Tax Credit and the 10% income tax bracket and working to increase the $157 million in aid for Long Island schools he helped secure.

Cox:

  • Believes in experimentation, merit pay, competition and holding teachers and school administrators accountable for the success or failure of their students. Wants to encourage good teachers with higher compensation and make it harder for teachers and school administrators who consistently fail to remain in the profession.
Environment

Altschuler:

  • Supports a package of steps to overhaul current energy policy which includes environmentally-responsible domestic oil drilling, greater use of safe nuclear power, investment in alternative energy sources, like solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower, the production of clean coal to power cars and planes and the extraction of additional natural gas.

Bishop:

  • Supports legislation that will reduce American dependence on foreign oil while creating the next generation of jobs in alternative energy industries. Believes in a three-pronged approach of improving national security, strengthening the economy and protecting the environment.

Cox:

  • Believes imposing taxes will destroy jobs so he opposes cap and trade legislation and a carbon tax and supports positive incentives to promote conservation, alternative energies and green technologies.

Demos:

  • Supports environment initiatives but not through a regulatory agenda that will eliminate thousands of Long Island jobs and will crush small business.
Veterans

Altschuler:

  • Advocates for robust support for veterans from the federal government, especially in the areas of health care, education and employment assistance for both veterans and their families.

Bishop:

  • Voted for the largest funding increase in U.S. history for veterans' health care that will help cover treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic brain injuries and also introduced a bill to alleviate the cost-of-living disparity that disproportionately reduces benefits for Long Island veterans.

Cox:

  • His veteran priorities are faster and more accurate treatment of veterans' claims, supporting investigative research of all potential treatments for TBI with the goal of rapidly improving the diagnosis of TBI and the care of veterans who suffer from it and helping veteran homelessness and unemployment.

Demos:

  • Advocates that America needs to honor its obligations to veterans by providing them with the first-class health care and benefits.

Information compiled from randyaltschuler.com, bishopforcongress.com. chriscoxforcongress.com and georgedemosforcongress.com.


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