On The Right

I would like to thank Mr. Berry for again taking the time to answer some questions. It appears he is setting the tone for the Republican nomination in the 8th District, hopefully this will be the year Jim Moran, gets his walking papers, Good Luck to Mr. Berry. You can visit his campaign website here, his facebook page here, and his twitter page here.

1. Do you believe that we should increase defense spending and concentrate more of it on 21st century weapons systems and on irregular warfare capabilities, so that we can be more prepared to counter terrorist threats?

MB: I believe that we need to structure the defense budget in a manner that reflects the threats facing the United States in the 21st century. When it comes to defense spending, members of Congress must focus on what is needed to protect our national security, rather than viewing the defense budget as a source of pork.

2. Do you support going to war with a country that harbors terrorist that attack the United States or harbor terrorist groups that threaten American interest? Do you support pre-emptive wars against these group?

MB: I believe we need to remain vigilant against countries that harbor terrorists, but it is impossible to answer this question in the abstract because the answer will depend on the particular circumstances of each case

3. How would you punish countries that harbor terrorist groups that attack the U.S. or U.S. interests overseas?

MB: Again, it would depend on the particular circumstances of each case. In some cases, such as Afghanistan following the attacks of 9/11, the use of force is certainly appropriate. In other cases, sanctions may be a more realistic course of action.

4. How do you feel the detainees at GITMO should be handled and are they entitled to Constitutional rights?

MB: The status of enemy combatants should be evaluated by Combatant Status Review Tribunals administered by the Department of Defense rather than civilian courts. I also strongly oppose moving detainees to Northern Virginia.

5. What ways would you support in deterring Iran from obtaining nuclear arms?

MB: Right now, it is time for the United States to impose stringent sanctions on Iran and encourage others in the international community to do the same. In particular, I support the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, and the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act.

6. Since the U.S. spends 4.6% of its GDP on education, this equates to over $10,000 per student per year, but test scores have been flat since the 1970′s. Would you support legislation that gives parents a choice in schools, such as tax credits for private school tuition, charter school programs, public school choice, or virtual learning programs?

MB: I am a strong supporter of charter schools, which provide parents with additional choices and offer a wide range of innovative programs. I also favor creating a pilot K-12 federal opportunity scholarship program that would provide low-income parents with scholarships that they could use to send their children to the schools of their choice. Too many low-income children are currently stuck in failing schools, and we must provide their parents with alternatives.

7. Since nuclear energy provides clean energy, would you support legislation that would streamline the permitting process for new nuclear power plants or new reactors at current nuclear facilities?

MB: Yes, nuclear energy does not produce carbon emissions and should be an important part of America’s energy future.

8. Bob McDonnell championed offshore drilling off the Virginia coast, as well as nuclear power and other types of energy exploration in Virginia, will you support this from a federal standpoint and will you support legislation that makes all sources of energy in the U.S. accessible?

MB: Yes, I support Governor McDonnell’s proposal to drill off the Virginia coast and use the revenue that would be generated for transportation projects. I also support an “all of the above” energy strategy that would include encouraging more nuclear power and streamlining the permitting process for wind power.

9. The U.S. is more and more becoming a welfare state, since the 1930′s there have been over 70 different types of “means tested” welfare programs created, how can people on these programs be empowered out of them?

MB: I believe that the welfare reform undertaken in the 1990s was largely successful and shows that incentives matter. Programs should be structured to provide incentives for able-bodied recipients to work or receive the training that they need to find a job.

10. In the last year the federal government has wasted $13 billion on earmarks, $25 billion on unused federal property, $60 billion in cooperate welfare, and $55 billion in annual program over-payments, how do you propose to end these forms of waste of the taxpayers’ money?

MB: I would start by taking two steps. First, I would eliminate earmarks. They not only often waste taxpayers’ money, but they also create a culture of corruption in Congress where earmarks are traded for campaign contributions. Indeed, Jim Moran routinely sponsors earmarks that benefit his campaign contributors. Second, I would crack down on the agricultural subsidies currently received by corporate agribusiness. Specifically, as an initial measure, I would end the payment of farm subsidies to corporate farms with annual sales over $500,000 and cap subsidies at $250,000 per farm.

11. Do you feel terrorism should be treated as a criminal matter, where terrorist are indicted by a grand jury, captured, then tried and sentenced in American courts or as a military matter where they are found and eliminated or tried by military tribunals?

MB: I believe that al Qaeda operatives, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, should be tried by military tribunals rather than civilian courts.

12. At least 26 terror plots have been broken up since 9/11, some due to the use of “enhanced interrogation”, what is your stance on “enhanced interrogation” of terror detainees?

MB: When it comes to interrogation methods, we need to ask two questions: (1) is the method effective?; and (2) is it legal? If the answer to both questions is yes, then it should be on the table. I also believe that it is a mistake to preview for the enemy with any degree of specificity those methods that we do employ and those methods that we don’t.

13. NAFTA and other free trade agreements have increased competition and job creation and spurred economic growth or recovery; do you support more free trade agreements?

MB: Yes, I believe that opening up foreign markets to American goods and services creates American jobs and therefore strongly support approval of the pending free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama, and South Korea.

14. The U.S. pays $5 billion to the United Nations a year, while the U.N. goes against the U.S.’s interest in the world at times and is controlled by corrupt nations; how could this relationship, where we are the single-largest contributor to the U.N., be reformed?

MB: One initial step towards making the UN more accountable would be to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council. That body has consistently failed to address the world’s worst human rights abuses and has a strong anti-American and anti-Israeli bias.

15. Employee health benefits are not taxed, but those who buy insurance not through an employer have to use after-tax wages, how do you feel this issue can be fixed and do you think employee health benefits should be taxed?

MB: I believe that we should work to equalize the tax treatment of health insurance purchased by individuals and health insurance purchased by employers; the current system is unfair to those who buy insurance in the individual market. The first step that I would take in this regard would be to make tax-deductible the cost of the catastrophic insurance policy that an individual purchases along with a health savings account

16. What ways could be used to reduce American’s tax burden? Do you support abolishment of the death tax? Do you support cutting taxes on international businesses who locate in the U.S.?

 MB: First and foremost, we should reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. Right now, the United States has the second highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, and this puts us at a substantial competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting investment and jobs. I also do not believe that death should be a taxable event.

17. Do you support Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s proposal to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and why or why not?

MB: Right now, many analysts believe that regulation of the financial system is too balkanized and that we have too many, rather than too few, agencies involved. Creating another agency would therefore be a step in the wrong direction

18. With groups such as ACORN and other groups being involved in voter fraud and voter registration fraud, do you support a law requiring all voters in federal elections to provide a state, federal, or local government ID in order to vote?

MB: Yes.

19. In Virginia, there have been issues with voter registrars not sending absentee ballots out to military personnel until a week or two before an election; would you support a federal measure that requires absentee ballots to be sent out 45 days or more before an election, so that they can be returned in time?

MB: We must do everything that we can to ensure that those who are on the front lines defending our freedom have the ability to exercise their right to vote, and I therefore support the recently-enacted Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which includes the 45-day window for military absentee ballots.

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