Maske on the Case for Ousting Tom Latham:
- My whole purpose for running is based on my devotion to public service and I want to bring honor to the people of the fourth congressional district and to Iowa. My opponent has failed to serve the best interests of hard working men and women and their families in the fourth district.
- He votes no on job creating legislation and the extension of unemployment benefits to hard working people, to people in need based on his concern for the deficit but he benefits himself from receiving nearly a half million dollars in federal farm subsidies over a seven year period.
- He voted no on healthcare reform which would extend healthcare benefits to millions of Americans while he himself benefits from a taxpayer paid program.
- He votes no on Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which is equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
- He voted no on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Then he comes back to Iowa to the fourth district and takes credit for all of the things that happen as a result of that act.
Latham’s Response to the Above Charges:
- I'm very proud.
On the Handling of the Egg Recall:
- Latham: There should have been inspectors there, they should have been doing their job and unfortunately they haven't been. As far as regulations are already in place that would have caught this if in fact the USDA had told FDA about what was going on. FDA has dropped the ball but the regulations are there, it's a matter of enforcement, of holding people accountable.
- Maske: People are upset that things aren't being done to protect consumers and protect the American people and so that plays right into the egg situation because it was a matter of not having enough regulations, enough oversight, and not having the government employees in place, that was needed to ensure those regulations were enforced.
On Extending the Bush Tax Cuts:
- Latham: This is exactly the wrong policy to have especially when we're trying to create jobs to get the economy going is to raise taxes on people who would do exactly what we want them to.
- Maske: The tax cuts need to stay in place for lower and middle class folks, but for the upper two percent, wealthiest two percent those tax cuts need to end. It will bring more money into the government; it will help us drive down the debt. Trickle Down economics does not work.
Are People Who Earn $250,000 Wealthy?
- Latham: Non-committal to make a statement. (Tom Latham, himself, is the wealthiest Iowan in the House of Representatives and the 56th wealthiest member of the House of Representatives.)
- Maske: You're darn right they are.
On Subsidizing Ethanol and Bio-Fuels:
- Latham: Well, certainly and it is one of the outrages today is the fact that the people in control in Congress last year for January 1st did not extend the biofuels, the biomass tax credit so we have plants sitting in Iowa closed today, thousands of jobs that are left vacant because they cannot get that tax credit that they need to keep those plants going.
- Maske: At the moment, yes. However, Tom Latham has voted several times against legislation that moves renewable energy forward.
How Effective is Latham?
- Latham: I've been after the leadership forever and Miss Pelosi won't listen . . . Well, I think that's why there is a big change needed in Washington today to have people that actually do listen.
- Maske: I think Tom Latham is right, there needs to be a big change in Washington and he's one of them that need to be changed.
On Health Care:
- Latham: I think we need to repeal it but if we can't do that and with the President in the White House for the next two years that is simply probably not going to happen because he'll veto any kind of repeal.
- Maske: I'm a pragmatist so I would have voted eventually yes for that healthcare bill because also I'm a history instructor and I understand social change takes time and sometimes it begins here and then it evolves over time to where it needs to be and so ... I believe we will evolve into and need a public option and that public option will eventually evolve into a universal single payer plan. I believe that will happen.
Federal Farm Subsidies:
- Latham: Well, I think it's very interesting that the Iowa Farm Bureau has come out with that position which I think is long overdue because we get a great amount of criticism because of the payments that go direct like they are and actually they were set up to reward people to set up conservation plans so there was a reason for it initially. But yeah, we've got to have policies I think in the next farm bill and I talk to Colin Peterson, the Democratic Chairman from Minnesota, every day about these issues and we worked together on the last farm bill but to have a way of either revenue assurance to make sure that we have policies that actually work so that when people do have a bad crop, if they have low prices they get some help but not just to shovel out money.
- Maske: Farm subsidies, the whole thing needs to be rewritten. It was meant to be a safety net and provide farmers with a basis from which to have a good price on their crops so it would promote them to continue to grow crops and it is not meant to be a bonus program and in today's environment we need to rewrite that.
Afghanistan:
- Latham: (Never did address this issue.)
- Maske: We need to withdraw from Afghanistan. Kay, chasing terrorists in Afghanistan is a lot like, what one might say, pushing Jell-O. We enter into Afghanistan and they go into Yemen, they go into Somalia, they go into Pakistan. What are we going to do? Are we going to chase them into all these other countries?