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McCracken: Current issues transcend 5th District |
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Written by Tom Chapin
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Friday, 26 September 2008 |
PUNXSUTAWNEY — First, the main issue in the race for the Fifth Congressional District was the proposed tolling of Interstate 80. But then, federal regulators rejected the state's proposal Sept. 11.
So what's left on the table as the main issue faced by Fifth District candidates Mark McCracken and Glenn Thompson?
Plenty, said McCracken in an interview Thursday.
"This race has changed dynamically in the last week with the bailout," he said. "It transcended the individual counties and the district."
Wednesday night, President Bush told Americans in a televised address that passage of a $700 billion bailout package his administration has proposed is urgently needed to calm the markets and restore confidence in the reeling financial system.
McCracken — a Clearfield County commissioner seeking the Congressional seat of the retiring U.S. Rep. John Peterson — said the problem hasn't developed overnight; it's been brewing for months.
He said in Congress, he will stress fiscal responsibility, citing the United States' $10 trillion debt.
The bailout will tighten markets and make it difficult for young couples to get a first mortgage for a home or establish a true credit history, among other examples.
"That's how it's going to hit home in the Fifth District," McCracken said. "The bailout is just the start."
From 1993 to 2003, McCracken — a Democrat — served on the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors, and has also served as a Clearfield County commissioner since 2004.
He pointed out that it's been 12 years since a Congressman has served from this end of the district, and that the relationships he has built as a commissioner with other commissioners will help him keep in touch with issues and concerns in the district.
McCracken said as of June 30, of the 17 counties in the Fifth District, 15 of them have unemployment rates of five percent or higher. Also, according to the Census, the median family income in Pennsylvania is $12,000 lower on average than those across the United States.
"This is a clear reason why young people are leaving. The opportunities aren't here," he said, adding that's what leads to drugs and crime in rural areas. "The opportunities aren't here to keep the best and the brightest."
To save the economy, McCracken said government needs to keep existing businesses here, help them expand, and then seek new businesses.
In addition to infrastructure issues such as roads and water/sewer, McCracken said communications services — such as cell phone towers — should be expanded.
He said Pennsylvania touts itself as a tourist destination, but when guests do come to Pennsylvania and flip open a cell phone to use it, there may or may not be a signal.
As a school director in Clearfield, McCracken said he saw the need for technology for both students and teachers. And as the United States seeks to be independent of foreign energy, its leaders should look to agricultural education to ensure the existence of crops needed for new energy resources.
Citing Clearfield County as an example, where one ethanol plant operates and another is about to break ground, McCracken said the technology exists to use wood chips, switch-grass, sugar cane and other materials to create energy.
"This is taking the lead role, supporting and working to promote alternative fuels that we can make in the United States," he said.
Also, creating new forms or energy creates jobs, he said.
On other issues, McCracken said he thinks the United States should get troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, and he doesn't believe that continuing the Bush tax cuts will help cut the deficit.
As far as the bailout, McCracken said that borrowing money to fund the proposal is "irresponsible," and that he would proposed some kind of stock transfer tax or small mortgage fees to fund the bailout.
McCracken — who faces Republican challenger Glenn Thompson in the fall — said when he decided to run for the seat, he didn't realize how large the district was.
"I got into this race, and I did not know everything about the Fifth," he said. "But I've learned a lot."
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 27 September 2008 )
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