On The Right

I would like to thank Republican challenger  Matthew Berry for answering some questions about his views and how he feels about current incumbent Jim Moran in the 8th Congressional District in Virginia. Mr. Berry was very quick in returning the answers to my list of questions, and I believe would be a great fit in Congress. Mr. Berry has set up an exploratory committee and will hopefully win the Republican nomination is the 8th District, and then defeat Jim Moran in 2010. Jim Moran has been a congressman marred in corruption, anti-Semitic comments and other serious ethical and personal issues, and has no business representing any district, much less any district in the great Commonwealth of Virginia. You can visit Mr. Berry’s campaign website here.

1. Give me a bio, and tell me what made you decide to run against Jim Moran.

I moved to Northern Virginia after graduating law school to pursue a career in public service. I have had the privilege of clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, two outstanding jurists. I worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, primarily on counterterrorism policy. And I most recently served as the General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission. As the FCC’s chief legal officer, I was responsible for managing an office of approximately eighty employees, providing legal advice to the Commission, and defending the Commission’s orders in court.

I decided to run against Jim Moran for two main reasons. First, I am deeply concerned about the direction in which the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress are taking the nation. We have a record budget deficit of $1.4 trillion this year, and we are projected to run up at least another $9 trillion in debt over the next ten years. Our present course is not sustainable and imperils our long-term economic future. We must bring spending under control and address our long-term deficit problem in a serious manner. Yet, all Congress seems to be doing is passing new spending program after new spending program.

I am also running because I believe that Virginia’s 8th District can do far better than Jim Moran. Throughout his tenure in Congress, Jim Moran has failed to live up to the standards to which we should hold our elected representatives. For example, I don’t think that it is acceptable to take almost a million dollars in campaign contributions from the PMA Group, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm, and its clients and then channel over ten million dollars in earmarks to those clients. Nor do I think that it is acceptable to make offensive comments about Jewish Americans, such as blaming them for the Iraq War.

2. What attributes, work experience, and life experience do you have, that you feel would make you a better representative than Jim Moran?

Because of my work at the Department of Justice on national security issues, I believe that I have an understanding of what we must do to fight and win the war on terror that Jim Moran unfortunately lacks. Whether he is calling for President Obama to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan or supporting the misguided decision to try the 9/11 conspirators in civilian court, Jim Moran has advocated policies that I believe would make the United States less secure.

I also believe that I would make a better representative than Jim Moran because I am committed to treating all residents of the 8th District with respect, even when I disagree with some of them on a particular issue. Just in the last month, Jim Moran has compared Republicans in Virginia to the Taliban and labeled as “un-American” those of us who support trying the 9/11 conspirators in military commissions rather than civilian courts.

Comments such as these are ugly, divisive, and beneath the standards to which we should hold our elected representatives. I believe that it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable, and if elected, I will seek to engage the 8th District’s residents in a serious and informative dialogue about the issues of the day, rather than hurling invective and insults at them as Jim Moran has done.

3. What 3 issues are the most important, why, and how would you go about fixing them?

The most important problem right now is the economy. With unemployment over ten percent and the federal budget deficit over $1.4 trillion, we have a Congress that is saddling Americans with too much debt and too much spending while producing too few jobs. To put ourselves back on the right track, we must realize that we cannot borrow and spend our way to prosperity. Rather, we must create incentives for the private sector to grow and create jobs, such as by cutting our corporate tax rate, which is currently the second highest in the developed world, from 35 percent to 20 percent. We also must address our long-term deficit problem by seriously tackling entitlement reform.

The other two issues that I would identify are national security and energy. It is imperative that we remain vigilant against the threat posed to our country posed by Islamic extremists. These terrorists are plotting to cause catastrophic damage to our nation, and we must remain on the offense against them. We must work to deny them safe haven anywhere in the world, and we must ensure that our intelligence agents and prosecutors continue to have the tools they need to disrupt terrorist plots and prevent terrorist attacks.

With respect to energy, we must work to make the United States energy independent. Each year, we send hundreds of billions of dollars overseas to buy energy, and much of that money goes to Venezuela and counties in the Middle East that are hostile to American interests and values. That’s bad for our economy and harmful to our national security interests. Therefore, we should concentrate on reducing our dependence on foreign oil and removing regulatory obstacles to the development of clean energy sources that exist right here in the United States. In particular, I support an ambitious program to construct more nuclear power plants. Nuclear power does not produce any carbon emissions, and building more nuclear plants with private investment will create hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in this country.

4. How would you describe your political ideology? Conservative, libertarian, moderate, liberal, Regan conservative or other?

I describe myself as a conservative. However, I think that the principles for which you stand are more important than the label you give yourself because labels can mean different things to different people. I believe in restraining out-of-control government spending, keeping taxes low, and restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington. I believe in empowering individuals rather than government. I believe in a strong national defense and an aggressive prosecution of the war on terror. And I believe that the United States is an exceptional nation with a special role to play in the world on behalf of liberty and democracy.

5. Who is your favorite Virginia politician and why?

The Republican Party of Virginia currently has many outstanding leaders. If forced to choose just one, however, I would have to say that my favorite Virginia politician right now is Eric Cantor. I think that Congressman Cantor has done an outstanding job in Washington this year leading the opposition to runaway federal spending, the proposed government takeover of the health care system, and the job-killing cap-and-trade bill. Also, as a Jewish Republican myself, I am proud that a Jewish Republican from Virginia is the second-highest-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives.

6. Who is your favorite president and why?

Of the Presidents who have served during my lifetime, my favorite is Ronald Reagan. President Reagan rescued the United States from the malaise of the 1970s. By unleashing the entrepreneurial talents of the American people, he turned our economy around. By rebuilding our national defenses and standing up for freedom around the globe, he was largely responsible for winning the Cold War. And by offering the American people an optimistic vision of our country and its future, he helped to restore our national spirit.

Looking back in history, I have great admiration for many Presidents, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman (for standing strong against Communism through the Truman Doctrine in the early days of the Cold War), and Dwight Eisenhower. Also, I have always liked Calvin Coolidge and think that he is an underrated President.

7. Do you think Jim Moran is out of touch with the voters of the 8th District and if so, why?

Rather than being in touch with average 8th District voters, I believe that Jim Moran is now in touch with the lobbyists and earmark beneficiaries who provide him with campaign contributions. His involvement in the PMA Group scandal is a perfect illustration of this. Over the years, lobbyists at the PMA Group and their clients gave Jim Moran almost a million dollars, and he, in turn, delivered over $10 million in earmarks for the PMA Group’s clients. Does anyone really believe that this is just a coincidence and that there was no connection at all between the campaign contributions and the earmarks?

8. What are the biggest issues facing Virginia’s 8th District and how could they be remedied?

I think that the biggest issue specific to the 8th District is transportation. The current gridlock on Northern Virginia’s roads hurts 8th District residents’ quality of life and is a significant obstacle to economic growth. Unfortunately, the problem can’t be solved overnight. It took decades to create the mess, and it will take us many years to get out of it.

There are, however, several steps that can be taken to improve the situation. Among other things, I favor:

(1) Establishing a new funding stream for Virginia transportation projects by using royalties from oil and natural gas exploration off of Virginia’s coast;

(2) Widening westbound I-66 at strategic points within the existing right-of-way;

(3) Expanding the Beltway with HOT (high-occupancy-toll) lanes;

(4) Constructing a parkway from Reston to Rockville to relieve unnecessary congestion on the Beltway; and

(5) Restructuring the governance of the Metro system and shifting Metro’s focus away from expansion and towards improving its declining quality of service.

9. How do you feel the United States health care should be reformed? Do you agree with the Democrats’ big government takeover, if not why?

I am strongly opposed to the health care bill that passed the House of Representatives as well as the health care bill that is currently being considered by the Senate. At a time when the federal budget deficit is more than $1.4 trillion and the federal government is projected to run up more than $9 trillion in debt over the next ten years, it is completely irresponsible to create another large entitlement program, particularly since entitlement programs almost always end up costing far more than is projected at the time of their creation. Moreover, at a time when the unemployment rate is over ten percent, it would be a terrible mistake to impose the new taxes and mandates on businesses that are contained in the Democrats’ health care bills. Finally, I do not believe that these bills will restrain the growth of health care costs. Indeed, the new taxes on health insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and medical device manufacturers contained in the Senate health care bill will just be passed on to consumers and end up increasing health care costs.

On the health care page of my website,

www.berry2010.com/issues/health-care, I set forth a number of specific ideas for improving our health care system. Most importantly, to increase choice and competition, I believe that individuals should be allowed to buy health insurance across state lines. To reduce health care costs for small businesses, we should allow small businesses to join together to form Small Business Health Plans. And to reduce costs throughout the health care system, we should enact meaningful medical liability reform.

10. With you previous experience and background in law, do you feel the current Democrat health care bill or the proposed cap-and-trade legislation is Constitutional?

I have serious constitutional concerns with the individual mandate contained in the health care bill. While the Constitution provides Congress with the power to regulate interstate commerce, I am skeptical that the power to regulate interstate commerce includes the power to require people to buy health insurance. I am unaware of any other instance where Congress has required individuals to buy a specific good or service, and I am worried that if such a mandate were held to be constitutional, it would set a bad precedent for the future. For example, if it is constitutional to require everyone to buy health insurance, could Congress require everyone to buy a new car if that were deemed necessary to helping the auto companies?

11. Tell the 8th District why you would be a better representative than Jim Moran and why the residents of the 8th District should vote for you?

I would be a better representative than Jim Moran because I will fight to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington and to end the culture of corruption created by the practice of earmarking. In addition, unlike Jim Moran, I will treat all residents of the 8th District with respect rather than demonizing and insulting those who disagree with me on a particular issue.

Filed under: News