Brevard County Young Democrats

Name: Clint Curtis
Occupation: Computer Programmer
Residence: Titusville, FL
Seat you are running for: U.S. House of Representatives, Florida District 24 (currently held by Tom Feeney - Republican)
Website: http://www.clintcurtis.com

• Hundreds of thousands of young people will be returning from foreign wars. What is your solution for insuring long term care for these veterans?
  

  The VA system is inadequate for the care of our returning veterans. It is not a system that provides convenient care to those it is intended to serve but rather forces the veteran to travel long distances to receive specialized care. I have a proposal which will provide full health care for all Americans and remove the costs from both the citizen and the employer. We will talk about this more in the next question but in regards to veteran medical needs, the answer is to move them into the normal health care system so that they have full access to medical care on a local level using the doctors of their choice.

• 47 Million Americans are currently uninsured, many of them young people. What would be your solution for affordable health care coverage?
  

  This country has been arguing health care for almost twenty years. There are those who want socialized medicine like Canada and the opposite side that believes the best medical system can only exist in a capitalistic arena. It is time for fresh ideas.

  We are the only industrialized nation that does not have a national health care plan. We also have the best health care, but only for those who can afford it.

  I propose that we do not attempt a remake of our system. Right now, we have the ability to provide health care for all of our citizens and remove the cost to every individual and business. . At this time health care is treated like an ordinary expense which means that a business must absorb part of the cost. It also forces each individual to pay an ever increasing portion of their salary for health care benefits. By utilizing tariffs from imported goods and outsourced jobs, we can completely fund a universal health care system and remove the costs from our citizens. Outsourcing and loss of production have cost this country 25% of its tax base. That means that over 2.5 trillion dollars that used to be taxable is lost to non-taxed foreign jobs and tax sheltered foreign corporations. The result has been an increased in tax cost to American citizens and a drain on the revenues that could be used to finance such public benefits as a universal health care system. Restoring this tax base would allow us to fully find healthcare without personal or business costs and reduce the tax burden on America’s citizens.

  It is paramount that we rebuild America’s economic independence. The huge trade deficit,coupled with trade agreements like Bush’s CAFTA or Clinton’s NAFTA have robbed this country of its strength. The growth in the trade deficit, which now exceeds $300 billion, has destroyed millions of high-wage, high-skilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and has pushed workers into other sectors, such as restaurants and health service industries, where wages are lower. Just as important is the constant push to outsource both the office worker job and professional technical jobs.
  Trade deficits have a direct impact on wages. The average real wage for U.S. production workers peaked in 1978, and his been declining since (an exception being the upswing in Clinton’s second term). The steady growth in our trade deficits over the past two decades has eliminated millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs. At the present rate it will not be long before America makes nothing.
  If we return this country to the tariff policies of the 50’s, we can restore America to it’s past greatness. By applying tariffs on imported goods and outsourced jobs that do not match American standards, we can level the playing field. We can bring their standards up to us rather than forcing our standards down to them.
  America needs to be a leader of the world and not in a race to become another third world country. At present our dollars spent on outsourced jobs and untaxed goods exceed 25% of our national tax base. This practice has resulted in moving the tax burden from foreign corporations, where it belongs, to the backs of working Americans. Today 25% of Americas tax base has dissappared through outsourced foreign jobs and tax sheltered foreign corporations. The loss of those additional dollars has made Americans pay more of the burden while getting less services for their money. By practicing fair trade we can greatly increase revenues while simultaneously lower taxes on our citizens.

• What is your opinion of the new Project Constellation program? Do you think there should be a gap between the Space Shuttle program and the Project Constellation? And, what priority do you place on the U.S. Space Program?
  

  There should not be a gap between the programs and the Constellation program should be accelerated in order to provide us with an advantage over the emerging Chinese space program.

  NASA has been all but ignored over the period that Tom Feeney has been this district’s representative. Even as troubling contracts and high security clearances are awarded to companies with questionable loyalties, NASA has lost or pushed out thousands of quality employees as well as attempted to reduce their benefits and compensation.

  One such company, a Feeney supporter and one-time employer, is owned by a person whose brother was deported for spying. In 2004, Feeney was employment with the company that also employed the service of an illegal alien with military technology experience. As I was the head programmer at the same company, I personally witnessed huge amounts of classified data from NASA’s computers being provided to this individual. I reported this to the Leon County Terrorist Task Force. The spy was quickly arrested and convicted for sending prohibited military technology to Communist China. Despite the seriousness of this crime and his admission to sending missile chips to Communist China 20 times that year, he some how received a reduced sentence of improperly filling out export paper-work. This is inconsistent considering that there is no correct way nor legal way of sending secret US military missile technology to a communist country. Even after the spy’s conviction, Feeney’s connected company still retains top-level security clearance and regularly donates to Feeney’s campaign and his legal defense fund. Does this sound like a person concerned with the safety and security of Americans?

  NASA’s employees have been treated as expendable functionaries instead of one of America’s best scientific assets. Cuts of over 15% of NASA’s workforce are already underway and thousands will lose their jobs. Pensions are being slashed and healthcare benefits reduced. All this, while the only remaining communist superpower benefits from our technology and modernizes their facilities on our money. Make no mistake - NASA provides much more than exploratory research. The very nature of the advances gained in exploring new horizons makes it the leader in both military and civilian technology. That was true when the space race was begun with the Soviet Union in the early sixties and is even truer today. As our technology advantage slips away so does our military superiority.

  Within two years, China may achieve heavy payload capacity. Mr. Feeney has already acknowledged that in a worst case scenario, it would allow China the ability to launch satellite killers. In short, China would be able to eliminate our global positioning satellites. In case of military attack, we would be unable to target our response.

  Our attention has been directed at a small group with rifles and suicide bombers armed only with the capacity of a single grenade. At the same time, we have allowed a Communist country with the world largest military and the only demonstrable nuclear threat to march steadily into a position where they can easily destroy us. China is not a compassionate country. In 1989, thousands of Chinese citizens asking for Democracy in Tiananmen Square were slaughtered on international television. Some estimates say that as many as a million pro-democracy individuals were jailed, tortured, or killed following that protest. China has already threatened nuclear attack against the US if we do not acquiesce to their subjugation of the free citizens of Taiwan.
  Mr. Feeney takes trips to China (who knows who actually paid for his trips) and touts how advanced they are. He promotes that we should share our technology with them in the spirit of cooperation. It sounds very much like a prelude to outsourcing more American jobs and more outsourcing of America’s security.

  I propose the exact opposite. NASA is an American asset that needs to be protected and advanced. Contracts to NASA and any military base should be limited to individuals with no connections to foreign governments. While wars with countries that do not share our democratic philosophy are not inevitable, such wars are definitely possible.

  I propose we renew the spirit of the space race. In 1962, President Kennedy stated that “We have a long way to go in the space race. We started late. The space race is the new ocean and I believe the United States must sail on it and be in a position second to none.” Those words related to a smaller Communist giant, the Soviet Union, but they are even more critical today. What Russia lacked in manpower and economic might, the Chinese already possess. While Mr. Feeney is bragging on how impressive the facilities are in China and suggests that we should cooperate in the development of their space program, our own space program has been under-funded for the entire duration of his time as this district’s representative. We have been doing no more than treading water and, as such, are losing ground to both Russia and China.

  Salaries and benefits need to be adjusted in order to retain and acquire the best quality people in this country. Our facilities need to be funded to a level that provides this country with the tools that give us a competitive edge against any other country.

  In 1962, space was the new ocean. It could just as easily become the new battleground and it is not a battleground where we can afford to lag behind.

• The War in Iraq has killed almost 4,000 Americans and has cost us close to $500 billion to date. What is your solution to resolve this conflict and bring American troops home?
  

  We can be out of Iraq within three (3) to six (6) months and leave the country with a true chance of becoming stabilized. It will allow America to begin the long journey of taking the high road. Iraq can be stabilized in the same way that Serbia and Bosnia have been given the opportunity to come back together on their own terms.

  Iraq was originally three distinct unfriendly territories that were artificially placed together by the British after WWI. This was done as punishment for their backing the Germans and as a way to control the population since they would hate each other more than the occupying British. The same tactic was used by the Russians after WWII to control their newly acquired regions of Bosnia and Serbia. When the Russians withdrew, the warring territories of Bosnia and Serbia began an active civil war. The same has occurred in Iraq with the fall of Iraq’s dictator.

  If we force the country into separate regions, each defended by their own militias, and let them come back together at their own pace and on their own terms, Iraq can once again become a unified country and we can leave.. Iraq can come back together as a country but not as long as we occupy the country. By providing Iraq the opportunity to come back together on its own terms, America can be the moralistic country it once was and not longer perpetuate the ability to be the object of hate.

  If we force the country into separate regions, each defended by their own militias, and let them come back together at their own pace and on their own terms, Iraq can once again become a unified country and we can leave the country. America can be the moralistic country it once was and no longer perpetuate the ability to be the object of hate. Bosnia and Serbia are at this time starting to come back together as a country. Iraq can do likewise but not as long as we occupy the country.

  We have been in Iraq for over four years. Reuters and other news sources have estimated the cost of the war will exceed 3 trillion dollars. We have lost almost four thousand lives and suffered over 48000 casualties (many who will be disabled and disfigured for life). Even now we are told that the existing government is still unable to control a non-organized band of rebels. Unless we set a definite date of withdrawal and force them to take responsibility for themselves, they never will.

  This country was forced into war based on a lie. We were told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and they were intent on using them against us. When that turned out to be a lie, the reason was switched to Iraq involvement in 911. When that turned out to be a lie, we were told that the Iraqis would greet us as liberators. As our casualties mount, I don’t need to tell anyone how that turned out. Now we are told we are there to spread democracy through the region.

  The region did not want us when the invasion began and they don’t want us now. Resistance has not decreased but has spread across the country. By continuing to stay we are doing nothing more than throwing fuel on the fire and giving the rebels increasing justification to attack us both at home and abroad.
  It makes no difference if we stay in Iraq for two years or 25 years, a war that is not justified in the minds of the local people will never result in a stable government. Any government that we, as occupiers, assist in maintaining power will be seen as a US puppet. Even if they are completely independent they will never be viewed as such. You only need to look at Vietnam or Iran to see how long our chosen rulers held power once they were not supported by US power. Even if Iraq were successful in forming a truly independent government, the people will not perceive it to be so and it stands no chance of survival. Until we leave them to determine their own destiny, they never will.

  We have been told that the training of the Iraqis will be of an indeterminate time; yet the US trains its soldiers in just a few months. We have been training the Iraqis for almost as long as a full term of service for a US soldier. If they are really that un-trainable or un-motivated (remember they are only fighting an unorganized resistance not a full-fledged army) do we really want to waste American blood babysitting them? To put everything in proportion, we have been fighting in Iraq longer than our troops fought in World War I, World War II, or the Korean War.

  I propose a redeployment of troops from Iraq to our own borders. Even after all these years since 911 we still have porous borders that anyone who wanted to can cross. Over 6 million illegal aliens pour across our southern border every year. On our West Coast we have a single ranger patrolling hundreds of miles of coastline. Our East Coast is no better and our northern border is the worst. Not that we have a huge exodus from Canada into our country, but someone who wanted to enter could do so fairly easily.
  A redeployment of troops can actually solve our security issues and can spur the economy since it would require more bases and sub stations in states with national borders. It would also provide troops to help rebuild damaged areas such as New Orleans as well as provide additional resources to perform security related functions.

  Cut the funding for the contractors immediately, begin partitioning, and bring home our troops.
  The time has come to safely end this failed occupation in Iraq.

• Why are you running for office? What makes you qualified for the job more than other candidates?
  

  I am running for office to return honesty, integrity, and a true voice to the people. We have been under the grip of party puppets and as such have accomplished nothing. While we all know how bad the Republicans have been with their cronyism and contributor payoffs, the present Democratic controlled congress has been a major disappointment. After running against the Iraq war and the intrusion on our rights and freedoms, the war still rages on and they passed bills that increased those intrusions. We have to elect individuals who will stand up against these controlled elitists and actually do what they say they will do.

  If we can not provide better results than they did, then we will not make the changes that we need to restore our country to prosperity.

  I am more qualified than the other candidates because I deliver results. Last campaign, I sat out to restore democracy to this country by making sure that when you vote, you can verify that the vote was actually counted. With the help of lawsuit and hundreds of volunteers, Florida will have paper ballots. While the system still does not promote full accounting, this campaign will take the post-election effort to make sure that your vote is counted. We will stop stolen elections in Florida. In the last campaign, we sat out to show the illegal activity of the present congressman. This was something that while gaining attention world-wide was not reported in this area. That goal was also accomplished along with exposing other Republican indiscretions. While this country suffered under Bush, the other candidates did nothing. The latest statement by one of my challengers was she “looked around” and thought it was time to make a change. Eight years to notice the problem is a little slow.

  In the last campaign, Mr. Feeney was forced to go into hiding. He would not debate and would skip any events that I attended unless they were heavily Republican friendly. He did so because the integrity issue is not something he could win. I believe that we can only run a candidate of impeccable character if we hope to utilize the Abramhoff factor. Mr. Feeney went on a $20,000 vacation with Mr. Abramhoff and performed favors for the invitation. This is not surprising since Mr. Feeney has been openly for sale since he entered public office.

  Ms. Kosmas has identical problems with integrity. Mark Matthews of the Orlando Sentinel recently reported that Ms. Kosmas was part of a two-member board that suggested using government funds (more than twice the allocated budget) to purchase a sculpture. It was discovered that the recipient was to be a personal friend and large donar to her campaign. Ms Kosmas stated “It was not a conflict of interest in my mind,”. How can we find Feeney’s behavior reprehensible if we accept it from our own. If we act like hypocrites, we can not win District 24.

  For the last several years, we have been talking with the people of the district. We have attended the meetings and worked to build the party so that it can compete all across the district. We have worked with the other candidates to share our limited democratic resources. We don’t just show up when we want something from you, we actively participate in the community. If I am elected you will have a voice in Congress. You will have someone you can speak with directly regardless of whether you contributed to the campaign. You determine the agenda If we have puppets representing us in Congress, regardless of the party, we lose.

• Do you support a woman’s right to choose abortion? If yes, what would you do to protect that right? If no, what is it you would do to change it?
  

  As with all freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, I fully support a woman’s right to reproductive choice as set forth by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Reproductive freedom, like any other medical decision, is the fundamental right of every individual to decide — freely, responsibly, and without coercion. Reasonable people everywhere agree that a woman’s body belongs solely to herself.

  I will work for common-sense approaches to ensure that all individuals are provided with every opportunity for prevention of unintended pregnancy, access to effective birth control and emergency contraception, and to reproductive health services and education for all women. I will also seek to fully subsidize our orphanages and foster care programs, which have been burdened with reduced funding while trying to care for children that have not been adopted.

  No one is “for” abortion. “Pro-choice” and “pro-life” are not mutually exclusive; being “pro-choice” means the right to choose is protected, and solely between a woman and her doctor. In America, no person has the right to force their values on another, and the government has no right to interfere or control a woman’s body any more than it has the right to intrude on our other personal freedoms. To pick and choose which freedoms we are willing to give up to the government puts all of our freedoms at risk.

  I believe we best help our citizens by allowing them the freedom to make informed, voluntary, responsible choices that are consistent with their personal values.

• Do you support gay marriage or civil unions? Why or why not?
  

  Yes. As guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, I will support and defend the civil rights of every American, and stand firmly against all forms of discrimination, including that based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and age.

  The Constitution establishes limits to the power of government in order to protect the rights of the individual. I will not support any amendment to the Constitution that would remove rights from any citizen. Our Constitution is designed to limit the government’s ability to interfere in our private lives. It was never intended to limit the freedoms of our citizens or to be used for divisive political purposes. America stands for granting freedom, not in limiting it. The government should respectfully stay out of the personal lives of Americans, whether it be wire-tapping without a warrant, restrictions on Second Amendment rights or interference in personal or family medical decisions, as in the case of Terri Schiavo.

  I am against laws that seek to limit the rights of individuals that are protected by the 1st and 2nd Amendments, plus the perennial election-year political pandering to ban flag-burning and gay marriage. These proposed amendments are divisive, politically motivated and a waste of legislative time and taxpayer money that is better spent addressing the immediate and serious problems facing our country today.

• How do you feel about the affordability of college education and how do you feel it should be adjusted?
  

  Education is vitally important to moving our country forward and it is in the interest of this country to promote it at all levels. I am in favor of increasing the grant levels at both the college and graduate level. We also need to allow for increased funding availability for students that enter advanced degrees at later stages in life.

• Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to cure the diseases that millions of Americans suffer from. Do you support embryonic stem cell research? Why or why not?
  

  Yes I support stem research. It is in the best interest of this country to stay globally competitive in all phases of research and development.

• How do you plan on managing the need for growth, the limited water supply, and the health of the Indian River lagoon?
  

  Managing growth is primarily a local issue – whether in an unincorporated area or a municipality. Both must have a Comprehensive Plan for designated development and to which requests for permission to build must follow the criteria of the Plan. Both have Referenda, Agencies (Planning & Zoning, Code Enforcement, Permitting, Natural Resources Management) and Ordinances in place that mandate that certain requirements be met prior to approval to clear land and start the building project. Hearings are held by Planning and Zoning (for either city or county jurisdiction) with input from the other involved Agencies. Citizens are allowed to speak for or against the request. Some builders/developers are asking not only for approval of their project, but for a change in the zoning criteria in order to either add more units for housing development, less parking space or non-specific use of a designated wet lands area or home to a threatened species now on their property. Many projects have not been approved due current planning laws and ordinances and the ability of the public to prevail. I support the ability of local governments and citizens to continue to control growth via the methods in place.

  The limited water supply is an issue in every state in the United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife surveyed and summarized a report on wetlands in the United States that was modified in 1999. This report estimates that then there were slightly more than 100 million acres of wetlands remaining in the conterminous United States. Wetlands are a continued source of water in every state. In 1998 The Florida Department of Environmental Protection Office (DEP) of Water Policy worked with each Water Management District to prepare water supply assessments to determine the existing and future water needs and evaluate the adequacy of existing and potential sources to meet the reasonable-beneficial needs for the next 20 years. Each year the districts are required to prepare a Five-Year Water Resource Development Work Program that describes implementation strategies for the water resource development component of regional water supply plans.

  I refer you to http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/waterpolicy/docs/RWSP_ASR_2006.pdf to read their Annual Status Report on Regional Water Supply Planning completed in March 2007. On behalf of the citizens of Florida, I support the actions of the Florida DEP and their continuing efforts to look to the future for potable water.

  Section 979 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 signed into law by President Bush in August 2005, established an energy and water supplies program and recommended that Congress fund it with $30 million annually until 2009. The program authorizes Department Of Energy’s (DOE) 12 national laboratories to research, develop, demonstrate, and commercialize programs to address interdependent energy and water problems. One of the concerns was having enough water to generate electricity – using water that is sorely needed in exceptionally dry areas in this country. I would sponsor and/or support legislation to order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose responsibility is to ensure that Americans have sufficient and safe water, to establish a close working relationship with DOE in order to monitor water usage and oversee water quality from run-offs from technical experiments initiated to produce alternative energy sources.

  The health of the Indian River Lagoon water quality became a concern, especially following the passage of the Clean Water Act by Congress in 1970. In 1987 the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Act designated the Lagoon as a priority water body in need of restoration and special protection. In 1991, the lagoon became a part of the National Estuary Program (NEP).
  The Lagoon is an Estuary. Estuaries are places where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are critical to the health of coastal environments and to our enjoyment of them. EPA’s National Estuary Program was established by Congress in 1987 to improve the quality of estuaries of national importance. The Clean Water Act Section 320 directs EPA to develop plans for attaining or maintaining water quality in an estuary. This includes protection of public water supplies and the protection and propagation of a balanced, indigenous population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife, and allows recreational activities, in and on water and requires that sources of pollution be controlled. Such planning is delegated to state water management districts.
  Each state water district program establishes a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan to meet the goals of Section 320. The St. Johns River Water Management District is leading the effort to protect and restore this local natural treasure by administering the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, one of 28 national estuary programs funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)to provide ongoing efforts to improve water quality and natural habitats in the lagoon. Visit this link: Indian River Lagoon Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) Update 2007 Rev. 10 10/16/2007.
  I support the efforts of the EPA, the National Estuary Program and the Clean Water Act (CWA). However, I would sponsor and/or support new legislation targeted at the Clean Water Act, which is now 35 years old, to bring it up to current standards as to the needs of the country and strengthen it’s original intent. This in turn would require that programs emanating from the CWA be upgraded and the EPA be charged with working with state water management districts to update their CCMP.