Carney, Marino vie for congressional seat

By TOM KANE

WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES, PA — Now that Republican Tom Marino has achieved the nomination of his party for the 10th Congressional District occupied by Democrat Chris Carney, the candidates will be facing off during the months between now and Election Day on November 2.

Marino served as district attorney for Lycoming County and was selected to serve as a regional U.S. Attorney in 2002.

Carney, who is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight, is a commander in the Navy Reserve and a former senior terrorist and intelligence adviser at the Pentagon. He is seeking his third term as a Congressman, having roundly defeated his Republican opponent in 2008.

Marino is critical of Carney’s stand on health care. He said, “Unfortunately, Mr. Carney felt party loyalty was more important in the health care vote than doing what is right for his constituents. Equally troubling, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Democrats’ health care bill will cost $940 billion over the next 10 years. The government-run health care plan will undoubtedly lead to a massive middle class tax hike and we know it will inflict serious damage to Medicare.”

Carney counters, “Forty six million Americans are completely without health insurance, including over one million people in Pennsylvania. As the most powerful nation on earth, I believe we have a moral obligation to ensure that all Americans have access to quality and affordable health care.”

On the subject of the economy, Marino said, “Pelosi, Carney and other Washington DC politicians promised us economic recovery and all we have received are longer lines at the unemployment office. While our neighbors are struggling, Washington continues to pile up record levels of debt, while providing no solutions to economic growth.”

Carney countered, “As a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs Coalition, I am firmly committed to reining in government spending and reducing the deficit. Unfortunately, the previous administration squandered a record budget surplus of $5.6 trillion over 10 years and left our nation with record deficits. While the government needs to act to jumpstart our economy, we cannot in good conscience vote to burden our hardworking taxpayers with hundreds of billions of dollars in new debt to finance a massive Wall Street bailout.”

On energy, Marino said, “We must increase our energy independence by supporting development of the Marcellus Shale—a clean-burning, natural gas resource. I also believe we need a balanced energy policy that includes nuclear power, clean coal, responsible off-shore drilling and renewable energy. Doing these things will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and is good for the environment.

Carney said, “We need a comprehensive energy solution that includes both traditional sources of energy such as nuclear and coal and new sources such as natural gas, wind and solar energy. I voted against cap and trade in part because it did not include incentives for natural gas production. Natural gas presents a tremendous economic opportunity to our region that also requires us to be diligent about protecting the environment.”