Eyes on Washington: Booker, Bell Seek US Senate Seat

RIO GRANDE – Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, 45, and Republican candidate Jeff Bell, 70, have differing views on what they would do given the next six years in the U.S. Senate representing New Jersey. They are in a race with seven contenders for that seat.
The Herald presented the same questions to Booker and Bell. Bell traveled to Rio Grande, Booker responded via email. The following are their responses.
What is the most pressing issue in the nation, and what can a senator do about it?
Bell: It’s stagnation in the economy. It has to be addressed at the national level. The Federal Reserve is the major cause. It’s paralyzing the lending situation for most Americans. It’s paralyzing the savings situation. For those people who prefer to leave money in a savings account or CD (certificate of deposit), they are being crushed. The biggest economic impact in terms of jobs is on small businesses. When small businesses expand it does so with lines of credit provided by commercial and local banks. These are comparatively inactive. They are crushing small business, and they are the net creator of jobs in the country.
Bell backs monetary reform returning to gold-backed dollar for the first time in 43 years. Asked by a Cape Issues member how much traction he thought could be gained in the Senate for such a move, he replied, “With me losing, nothing. With me winning, a lot more than exists…Having a senator elected making this his priority changes the equation. It doesn’t make it inevitable. It doesn’t change everything all at once…I have a specific plan to change economy Cory Booker and Barack Obama do not. They favor the zero interest rate policy. They say the gold standard is bizarre, it’s out of bounds, it worked long ago, and it’s too old. They say they have no choice but to continue the present policy of low interest rates, disappearing interest rates, deficit spending and we take credit for the bull market on Wall Street.”
Booker: The economy has not fully recovered and too many families are struggling to make ends meet. Washington has not been able to come together on taxes, a long-term budget, on even a transportation bill to provide the private sector with some certainty to invest in our country with confidence and create more jobs. In less than a year, I’ve found ways to work across the aisle with Republicans to boost worker skills training, to reform our criminal justice system, make college more affordable, fund transportation and infrastructure projects, and support our veterans. As Senator, I can build bridges and restore some faith in Congress. I don’t believe government has all the answers, and I don’t believe the free market on its own has all the answers, but I’m interested in working with anyone from any party to solve problems.
If elected (re-elected) what items would top your agenda in January to benefit the state?
Booker: I want to see Congress come together on a long-term transportation bill, which would put New Jerseyans to work and improve our roads, bridges, and ports. New Jersey moves a lot of goods and commerce throughout the region, so not investing in infrastructure costs us efficiency and jobs. I also think Congress can come together on reforming our criminal justice system, building on the work I’ve done with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
Bell: We have to address monetary policy. Repeal of Obamacare, I would vote for that. We have to cut spending. Foreign policy in this country is non-existent, and we have to have one or else the world is going to continue to fall apart with Barack Obama as nothing more than a spectator. I agree with all those issues. I think I have a mission to talk about the issue that others are not. I’m the only candidate in the country, so far as I know, that’s actively campaigning on returning to a gold-backed dollar and campaigning against the zero-interest rate policy. You don’t get Republican candidates even wanting to discuss this issue much less offer a major change. It’s my role to work on the one issue where I’m different from the other candidates.
Do you believe the gridlock in Congress benefits the nation? What would you do to main or break the situation (or can you?)
Bell: I have a pretty good record in that regard even though I’ve never been in political office. I believe the president is causing the gridlock because he will not negotiate with Republicans in Congress. He says he’s willing to negotiate. When it gets down to the details he’s always asking for 95 percent and Republicans walk from the table. That is no way to have bipartisanship. I think he and Sen Booker and other legislators march in lockstep, but with his approach. They are the cause of the problem, because John Boehner and other Republicans in Congress have tried to negotiate with the administration and they wind up changing the terms at the last minute, like on the budget deal three years ago. And so there is no mood to negotiate with the administration. That’s even true of the Democratic Senate. They don’t get active in cutting a deal anymore because they know Obama is not going to accept a product that comes out of Congress. And so, no, the gridlock doesn’t benefit, other than it keeps bad bills from passing as well as good bills.
Bell told how he advocated a tax cut and worked with Sen. Bill Bradley, who defeated him in 1978. Bradley worked a tax cut. In May 1986 by a 97-3 Senate vote, the maximum tax rate went from 70 percent to 28 percent. “That is a revolution…When that vote happened; Bradley poured me a glass of champagne and had one himself. I know how to do this.”
Booker: When I talk to New Jerseyans, I hear distrust in Congress coming together on the big issues. When I was a mayor, there was no Democrat or Republican way to pick up the trash. You got it done. I bring a pragmatic, problem-solving approach to Washington and in less than a year, I’ve teamed up with Republicans to get people back to work, to reform our criminal justice system, and to extend critical veterans’ programs.
Do you believe the nation is headed in the correct direction? What would you do to help redirect it?
Booker: I’m the product of a mom and dad who worked hard, played by the rules, and gave me an opportunity to succeed. I do believe my generation can continue that tradition, but like you, I’m concerned by partisanship and spending too much time scoring political points instead of tackling the big problems that put the American Dream in doubt. Too many people I talk to feel like the deck is stacked against them, and the political system is broken. I share their distrust, but think it can be rebuilt with common sense problem solving.
Bell: No. I believe a majority of the voters in New Jersey, as interested and optimistic as they were at one time about Obama as president, they’re no longer in that mode. They don’t think anything is going to come of this. They have given up on this administration becoming a successful administration and they think we are headed in the wrong direction. One of the pollsters showed me getting virtually all Republican votes in the general election… I think they don’t want to do anything to imply the country is on the right track. There is an advantage to a candidate who has a specific plan to change direction. I feel the same way about foreign policy and other issues.
How should we address the international terrorism (ISIS and Russia)?
Bell: We have to destroy ISIS, they mean us no good. They have said openly they are going to attack the U.S. as soon as they have the wherewithal. They have obtained a lot of equipment we manufactured from the Iraqis. They are going to attack us. We have to bomb them very heavily. We have to try to destroy their hegemony. They are killing people and prohibiting any religion not along their narrow line. No good is going to come of this. There is no point in containing an evil organization. We have to kill the killers. I think we can do a lot of it from the air. But we also have to aid the Iraqi army, and also aid non-ISIS forces in the Syrian rebellion. I don’t think it’s too late. We should have done this years ago. If we don’t help them Iran is going to dominate Iraq and the central government and we can’t allow that to happen. The issue of Russia is very similar. Putin is moving ahead (in Ukraine), yet the president has not made a bullet or weapon available to the Ukrainian government, no boots on the ground. We have to aid them militarily. How can the Ukrainian government avoid conquest by Russia? How can we deny military aid? Putin is moving ahead because he’s not getting opposition from the West, Europe is at fault, too. Ronald Reagan had the least military engagement. It wasn’t because he didn’t care; our adversaries never knew what he might do. We need allies, but the allies are not going to pull together without American leadership.
Booker: In the case of ISIS, it is recruiting foreign fighters, including Americans to engage in brutal acts of terror. It is a real risk that these recruits come back to the homeland and engage in terrorist activities here. That’s why I believe we do need to take action to curb this threat. But I don’t believe that we should take on this threat alone and the international coalition that the Administration has assembled is a significant piece of the strategy to counter the threat posed by ISIS. In the case of Russia too, the U.S. together with our NATO allies levied sanctions on Russia’s defense, energy, and financial sectors for their aggression in eastern Ukraine. These sanctions have taken effect – Russia’s currency has hit its lowest level ever against the U.S. dollar and Russia’s economy is well below earlier projections of economic growth.
Since the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center is an integral economic factor in Cape May County, what can or will you do to help continue its existence?
Booker: During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Coast Guard performed many vital missions including supporting special operations, identifying suicide attack boats, and provided security at various ports in the Arabian Gulf and Mediterranean. The agility of the Coast Guard to conduct such a broad scale of operations, from domestic to international, clearly shows that the Coast Guard needs the resources, including training to carry out the various missions they are called upon to do. The men and women of the Coast Guard deserve to receive the appropriate training to meet the increased complexity of the issues they face and I will be a strong advocate for them on these issues.
Bell: It’s an economic factor; it’s also a security factor. There are so many potential threats from the ocean and even the Gulf of Mexico in terms of electro-magnetic pulse attacks. Iran has a war game in the Caspian Sea they put a nuclear weapon, once they have one, into the air. It explodes over the territory. It isn’t intended to bust up cities it’s intended to completely destroy the electronic infrastructure of the country it’s aimed at. Any Iranian tanker could come to the coast of the Atlantic and do this. I think Iran probably has most of the missile technology, I think they’re close to getting a nuclear weapon, if they don’t have the ability to finish manufacturing one, they have North Korea that could give them one. It’s an imminent, potential threat. This is the last time we should be talking about cutting the Coast Guard presence. There is also the possibility of terrorists landing by sea. There are a lot of options terrorists have.
Along that same line of thinking, commercial fishing is primary economic drivers in Cape May County, what can a U.S. Senator do to ease the burdens of the industry?
Bell: The fishing industry has major problems, major issues in terms of regulatory and environmental policy. Of course fishermen have to respect the environment, but not in a way that the regulations automatically put them out of business and diminish the industry so thoroughly that they stop being an economic factor. I don’t know what federal regulations are hampering the fishing industry, but I would want to find out and see if some of those things are subject to deregulation.
Booker: During the 2015 appropriations cycle, I advocated for more funding for NOAA’s Fisheries Habitat Restoration program to help restore the health of fisheries habitats which will strengthen our commercial fisheries. Moving forward, I will continue to advocate for increased funding for NOAA fisheries programs to ensure that New Jersey’s managed commercial fisheries are at healthy stock levels to support commercial fishermen.
The state’s and this county’s beaches, represent an enormous attraction for tourism, and to bring in new residents, what will you do to help fund their maintenance and repair?
Booker: I will continue to advocate for the Army Corps of Engineers to have sufficient resources needed to restore and care for New Jersey’s beaches. Protecting New Jersey’s coastline from future natural disasters and improving water quality at beaches are investments in New Jersey’s tourism and coastal recreation economy.
Bell: Beaches, the coastline is a federal resource we have to have federal pgms that help localities preserve the beaches and attractions of the shore. I would be especially after something like the hurricane. Not for every scheme to restore beaches. There is a role for setting up barriers, periodic buildups of the sand. Good case for that, a lot can be done in that area.
As a senator, do you believe the Common Core Curriculum should be maintained in schools or should it be abolished?
Bell: It should be abolished. It is an attempt, without saying so, the federal government, to set a national non-curriculum. It’s a dilution of standards. It underemphasizes literature books. It underemphasizes history, serious history, and it’s a disaster. If a state accepts Race to the Top money’s it’s making a big mistake. That was the Obama Administration’s term to pay states to give up their own standards. Massachusetts had higher standards than most other states and they had a program that was working and yet the governor and Legislature of Massachusetts gave up their own standards and reduced their standards to get the Race to the Top money and implement Common Core. I’ve been aware of this issue since 2010 the group I was previously with was one of the first to get on top of this issue. The Common Core is a disaster, and by the way, I appeared before the NJEA last month that was my only applause line. In that one area I said Common Core is a disaster, it puts teachers in a strait jacket and makes it impossible for them to have any kind of spontaneity and creativity. That was applauded. These are people who endorsed Booker. It wasn’t a close call for them; that’s one area where liberals and conservatives can unite against the education establishment more like a blob. It invades everything else. It wrecks every other element of education. The entire idea of universal education developed in the country at the state and local level. When people say Sweden has common curriculum, Sweden is a country that has a population less than the population of New Jersey. Of course an entity that size might want to have its own standards. But this country got to where it is by being a big country where there’s a lot of experimentation allowed at the state and local levels.
Booker: I’m concerned about over-testing of our teachers. The culture around testing has become too punitive and puts too much pressure on kids. Make no mistake – I believe we need to measure growth, and we need accountability. Students and parents deserve that, and I also want to see that teachers receive credit when a student grows under his or her instruction.
I was pleased to see Secretary Duncan announce last month a delay in the use of test results in teacher-performance ratings. He’s right that testing is “sucking the oxygen:” out of the classroom. I think this reprieve should allow a period for reevaluation.