Political newcomer challenges in 3rd C.D.

By Scott Brinton
      Democrat Graham Long, a 25-year-old politico from Locust Valley, is challenging eight-term U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Seaford, in the 3rd Congressional District.
      King, a fiscal conservative and staunch supporter of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, did not return calls requesting an interview.
      Long is a former White House intern who now works as an urban planner for Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. Long decided to run for Congress, he said, because he believes he has a shot at winning in a year when Democrats stand to pick up seats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
      "To me," Long said, "this is the year of big change. In Congress, we need some representatives to change."
      King voted for the federal government's recent $700 billion bailout of the banking industry, as did his four Democratic congressional colleagues from Long Island. The lawmakers issued a joint statement after Congress voted on the bailout package. "Supporting this legislation was not an easy decision," the statement read. "The impact of the economic crisis is being felt by more and more families, and Long Island's economy is perilously close to reaching a tipping point."
      Long chastised their decision. "The bailout," he said, "is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken bone." He said that, if elected, he would work to restore regulations that kept banks smaller and more local. The trouble began, he said, when banks became conglomerates, with vast holdings that were imperiled by corporate greed.
      As a backbone of his economic plan, Long said he would work to make America energy-independent by increasing the nation's use of alternative energy, such as wind and solar. He believes the country needs an infrastructure improvement plan, with the government paying much of the bill, as it did under President Franklin Roosevelt's administration. The government's infrastructure spending back then, he said, helped bring the country out of the Great Depression. In particular, Long said, the highways and rail systems currently need upgrading.
      "Our government needs to step up and set some goals where we want to be," he said.
      The challenger said that the trouble with the Bush administration's Iraq policy is that it does not spell out precisely what "victory" means. He said he favors the 16-month withdrawal plan proposed by Sen. Barack Obama.
      Long earned a degree in American studies, with a focus on urban planning, from The Washington University. In high school he served as an intern for U.S Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from Roslyn Heights. Immediately after college, he worked briefly in his family's catering business. Long has attended both Republican and Democratic presidential conventions, and volunteered for a number of political campaigns. He registered as a Democrat in 2006.
      King is the ranking member of the House's Homeland Security Committee and a member of the Financial Services Committee. Before he was elected to Congress, he served three terms as the Nassau County comptroller and on the Hempstead Town Council. He graduated from St. Francis College in Brooklyn and the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.

McCarthy-Martins battle for the 4th

Congressional candidates face off at debate

By Alex Costello and Mary Malloy

      Both candidates running for New York's 4th District congressional seat -- incumbent Carolyn McCarthy and her challenger, Mineola Mayor Jack Martins -- faced off at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library on Oct. 6 in a candidates' forum. The event was sponsored by the Southwest Nassau League of Women Voters.
      The debate's moderator, Harris Dinkoff, first asked the candidates what Congress should be doing to help avoid another financial crisis in the future. "To be honest," McCarthy responded, "there's going to be regulation. You cannot run these kind of industries without having some sort of regulation." McCarthy added that the financial bailout that she had just voted for contained safeguards to prevent future crises.
      McCarthy, the first congresswoman from Long Island, is finishing her sixth term. She is the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities, and serves on two other committees, Education and Labor, and Financial Services. She is a lifelong resident of Mineola and has more than 30 years' experience as a nurse. She has a son, Kevin, a daughter-in-law, Leslie, and two grandchildren.
      Martins said that what was needed in the first place was a stimulus package that "... allowed more liquidity in our credit markets." Giving business loans so they can create jobs, he said, would get the country out of the financial crisis.
      "But we also have to look at what went wrong," Martins said, "and why it is that those institutions that we did have in place, whether it's the House Financial Services Committee and the Oversight Subcommittee -- which, by the way, Mrs. McCarthy does sit on -- why is it that ... the House Financial Services Committee, and specifically the Oversight Subcommittee, did not start their review until everything hit rock bottom?"
      Martins has served as Mineola's mayor since 2003, where he implemented the village's first Comprehensive Master Plan project in 60 years. The project, he said, created a blueprint for Mineola's future growth and stability while preserving its suburban character. In his second year as mayor, he began televising all village board meetings, and he launched the village's first Web site. He is also a lifelong resident of Mineola, where he lives with his wife, Paula, and their four daughters.
      McCarthy responded that her opponent was "misinformed," and that Congress had started to curb predatory lending back in 2005, providing regulations on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
      "So, saying that we, we Democrats, in two years were able to create this mess that we had Republicans in charge of for 10 years ... and the White House for eight years, is a fallacy," McCarthy responded. "They didn't want to have any oversight whatsoever, and because of that, we're in the mess we're in today,"
      Martins was also quick to respond, saying that he never mentioned party affiliations. "Those people need to explain to us how it is that if you sit on a committee, either under a Democrat-controlled Congress or a Republican-controlled Congress, going back over six years, why is it that this was allowed to happen without anyone warning, anyone bringing it to our attention, or anyone letting us know that this was imminent?"
      The candidates were asked what the government's role should be in righting the economy and creating employment opportunities. "I think the government has a wonderful opportunity to reinvest in infrastructure in this country, especially here on Long Island," Martins said. "We're privileged to live in one of the oldest suburban communities anywhere in the United States. But unfortunately, that also means that a lot of our infrastructure ... [is] falling into disrepair." He said that if the government reinvested in the infrastructure of the country, much like with FDR's New Deal, it would create jobs.
      McCarthy said that the energy bill recently passed in the House would create a lot of "green" jobs, "so that people that are losing their jobs ... they would have new jobs here in this country," she said.

Energy
      The moderator asked the candidates whether they believed there was an energy crisis, and if so, what their views were as to what the country should be doing about it. McCarthy said that Congress has come up with a plan in the new energy bill that will help develop clean technologies so the U.S. can be "... independent of foreign oil within 10 years."
      Martins did not share her enthusiasm about the bill. He said he was in favor of increased drilling in the U.S. "The limitations, whether it's in terms of years, you keep hearing it's going to be 10 years," he said. "Well, you know what? It isn't going to be 10 years because we ourselves, our government, places the regulations and restrictions on people actually being able to start drilling." Martins said that opening up drilling in the U.S. would create 700,000 new jobs.
      McCarthy disagreed, saying that, while drilling was necessary, drilling without regulations was reckless. "Yes, we need to do everything," she said, "but you also need to have regulations so the environment stays clean and our children will have a healthy and better place to live in down in time."
      Martins countered by saying that the U.S. already has the most environmentally friendly drilling regulations in the world. He also said that putting all of the country's rigs in one place, like the Gulf of Mexico, which is prone to hurricanes, was dangerous.
      "I'm all for clean energy," he said. "Lets develop clean energy, but we have to transition to that. We can't just flip a switch and expect that we're going to go from an oil-based, coal-based society, to wind, solar. It's not going to happen overnight."

Health care
      Another topic was health care. Martins's view was that people should be given tax credits to pay for their health care. He proposed $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.
      "I do not believe in the government running health care here in this country," he said. "I believe that by getting and giving people tax credits, it allows them to make choices." Martins offered a caveat, however, saying that the financial crisis, and the $700 billion bailout, would "limit our ability to address this issue," and that the government would have to be "more economical in the way we handle it"
      McCarthy said she was a supporter of universal health care. "There shouldn't be one child in this nation that can't get good health care or good dental care," she said, "and yet we have a lot of them."
      She also made the point that tax credits would not be enough, with the average family paying $12,000 for health insurance.
      Both candidates also agreed on the issue of gun control, saying that it is up to the federal and state governments to control who can purchase a gun, and that there should be a "cool-down" period so people can't purchase a gun and walk out of the store with it in the same day.

Comments about this story? MMalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.