Three Republicans, three Democrats lined up for a chance at Congress
Politics-watchers could be forgiven for thinking Marlin Stutzman has the 2014 campaign in the bag already. He's rolling through his second term in office. At the end of March, he had $430,000 available to stage a race. Better yet for the incumbent, he has a strongly Republican district as a venue in which to stage that re-election race.
Not everyone's convinced. Stutzman faces two Republicans who oppose him in the primary, and three Democrats are competing for the chance to face off against the Republican winner in November.
Several of those in the congressional primary who aren't the incumbent say Congress is a stagnant flop, incapable of governing, but Stutzman says he's still enthusiastic. Republicans who hold the majority in the House of Representatives have accomplished more than they're routinely credited with.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is a prime example. Noting the scores of times the House has voted to repeal the law without seeing it repealed is a standard measure of the prevailing haplessness in Congress. But Stutzman points out that through Congressional pressure (as well as many acts of litigation) the law has been sharply constrained.
By his count earlier this year, the Congress had forced 15 changes in Obamacare, the Supreme Court decision in 2013 brought two major changes and President Obama's administration itself has changed deadlines, rules and requirements 20 times.
Simply put, it's death by a thousand cuts, he said.
More broadly, Stutzman sees three looming priorities that Congress and the nation need to tackle:
*The nation's debt. Although the annual deficit has recently dropped because of the spending cuts imposed by the sequestration deal and the tax cuts that lapsed, people shouldn't assume that improvement will continue. If interest rates go up at all, it's going to blow, he said.
*Tax policy. The nation's economy is ready to grow, Stutzman said, but that growth is going to be hobbled if taxes aren't reduced.
*Medicare. The biggest part of constraining future budget growth is restraining the growth of Medicare spending as more Baby Boomers age into eligibility for the federal insurance program.
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Three Republicans, three Democrats lined up for a chance at Congress