The Pennsylvania senate race

Posted 8/21/12

Pat Toomey, the Republican Wall Street banker who landed in the U.S. Senate in the 2010 Tea Party wave, is facing a tough battle to keep his seat. According to polls, he is in a neck-and-neck race …

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The Pennsylvania senate race

Posted

Pat Toomey, the Republican Wall Street banker who landed in the U.S. Senate in the 2010 Tea Party wave, is facing a tough battle to keep his seat. According to polls, he is in a neck-and-neck race with Katie McGinty, the former chief of staff for Gov. Tom Wolf.

They clearly have different views on a number of issues. On her website, McGinty says she would not allow Social Security to be privatized. She writes, “The promise of Social Security after a lifetime of hard work is a solemn pact with our senior citizens that we must honor. As your Senator, I will oppose any effort to privatize Social Security and work to ensure that earned benefits keep pace with inflation. I will also fight to protect Medicare from those who want to turn this program into a voucher system that would force seniors to pay thousands of dollars more out of pocket for their health care.”

Toomey, in the past, has supported a partial privatization of Social Security, with a system that would allow people to invest part of their Social Security tax into personal accounts that could then be invested in stocks and bonds. This would create a whole new stream of revenue for Wall Street firms, but the suggestion was not met with wide popular support, and possibly for that reason Toomey doesn’t address the issues of Social Security or Medicare on his current campaign website, making it hard to know his current position.

On healthcare and energy, the two candidates take stances along predictable party lines.

McGinty writes, “As Senator, I will defend and build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by working to promote access to affordable medical coverage and rein in skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs. I will fight to lower co-pays and deductibles and reduce the cost of prescription drugs for our families and seniors.

“I believe that mental and behavioral healthcare is critically important to the well-being of our nation. I support full parity for these services with coverage for physical ailments. In the Senate, I will fight for families dealing with the devastating effects of addiction, including opioid addiction.”

Toomey has consistently supported the repeal of the ACA, which would end healthcare coverage for 20 million Americans. His website says, “Senator Toomey believes the best way to lower health-care costs is to empower patients and increase transparency within the health-care system. One way to do that is to create greater equity among purchasers of health insurance. We can start by giving individuals who buy their own health insurance the same tax benefits that employers enjoy when they buy health insurance for their employees. This will make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans who buy their own coverage.”

On climate change, McGinty writes that it “presents a serious global threat to our health, economic well-being and national security. In the Senate, I will lead the way to a healthier and safer environment by working to pass commonsense climate protections with investments in energy efficiency and clean energy.

“It is time to start moving towards a clean-energy economy. We need to harness our renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, to create good jobs and cut electricity bills for taxpayers. In Washington, I will support innovations in clean energy technologies and tax incentives that will level the playing field to move our country towards a clean energy future.”

Toomey’s website says, “Mindful of environmental concerns, Senator Toomey is committed to sensibly unlocking our nation’s energy resources and reforming regulations so the American people can have access to safe, affordable energy. Over the past decade, domestic energy production—including natural gas from the Marcellus Shale—has proven to be a bright spot in America’s economic recovery. Cheaper energy prices not only help Americans fuel their cars and heat their homes, but also help make American manufacturers more competitive in the global marketplace and create good-paying jobs.”

Spending in this race has been historically high, with the candidates and 20 outside groups pouring in more than $70 million so far. McGinty says, “Decisions like Citizens United have allowed the wealthy and the well connected to have an outsize impact on our political process, effectively drowning out the voices of middle-class and working Americans. It is absolutely critical that we overturn Citizens United and other decisions that have allowed the influence of unaccountable dark money to grow, pass a constitutional amendment to ensure that money never again is able to undermine our democratic process, and put in place firm limits and transparency requirements to ensure that every American has an equal say in our future.”

Toomey does not address the issue of campaign financing on his website.

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