Seven Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress in the Sixth District in Michigan appeared at a forum Tuesday evening at Wayland Middle School.

George Franklin, Paul Clements, David Benac, Dr. Matt Longjohn, Eponine Garrod, Aida Gray and Rich Eicholtz were on hand to meet and greet with local citizens and then discuss issues of importance in the district, which takes in Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties.

The winner of the Aug. 7 primary election will have the daunting task of taking on Republican Fred Upton, who has served 16 two-year terms after first winning in the 1986 election.

There was an estimated 175 to 200 people who attended the forum, sponsored by the Allegan County Democratic Party and Wayland Democrats

Clements, who is running for the seat for the third time, is a professor of political science at Western Michigan University. Benac is a professor of history at WMU.

The other four also are well-educated. Longjohn is a physician. Franklin is lobbyist for the Kellogg Company, Garrod is a chemist employed by Pfizer and Eicholtz is a biologist. Gray, who is the newest in the candidates’ field, is a veteran and a tax preparer.

Just like Republican party primary candidates forums, the candidates had remarkably similar views on the issues. The questions were about health care, gun safety, the environment, public education, cyber security, tax reform, the upcoming Earth Day celebration Sunday, April 22, and summation.

Introduction:

Benac was up front about the issues he’s most passionate about — fighting for a single payer health care system, progressive reforms, restoring family farms, getting money out of political campaigns and called himself an unabashed Justice Democrat.

Eicholtz promised “to restore fact-based thinking” in Congress.

Longjohn said he wants “to improve health care and the quality of life” and insisted “We must provide a sharp contrast with Mr. Upton.”

Gray, a proud veteran, Mexican, wife and mother, said she decided to run after noticing President Donald Trump referred to her people as “murderes and rapists.”
Franklin said, “We need to flip 23 seats in the House to provide a check and balance system. He also characterized himself as progressive.

Clements said, “This election needs to be about taking our country in anew direction.” He added a concern for young people saddled with crushing debt and the scourge of homelessness.

Garrod referred to herself as a Democratic socialist in the Bernie Sanders school of politics with a lit of enthusiasm and energy.

The environment

Eicholtz, noting the recent deal between the Michigan DEQ and Nestle, said, “Water is a vital natural resource and we can’t just give it away.”

Longjohn asserted, “We now have a crumbling national infrastructure, and it’s not just roads.”
Gray said Congress must strengthen the Envoronmental Protection Agency and said, “Regulations are what give us clean air and water.”

Franklin flatly stated, “The first thing we need to do is fire (EPA Director) Scott Pruitt.”

Clement said he has been appalled about the stories about lead in the water in Flint and maintained, “If Flint was a white, middle class community, we wouldn’t have this problem.” He added that Congress must deal with the most important issue of this time — climate change.

Garrod said she’s been part of a petition effort to increase use of renewable energy by 30% by the year 2030 and added water is an issue not just in Flint, but also in Rockford and Otsego.

Benac insisted more focus needs to be on leaky pipes causing fresh water to seep into the ground and polluting the Great Lakes. He said he wants to ban fracking, end addition to fossil fuels and terminate contracts for Nestle to take water out of Michigan streams.

Health care

Longjohn, a physician, said he advocates a patient-centered system, focusing more on prevention to save money and lives.

Gray, who at one time did not have health care coverage, said she wants to make it a right, not just a privilege.

Franklin said, “I believe universal health care is a fundamental right and everyone should have the public option.”
Clements said people in Canada pay about $5,000 for health care while in the United States it’s close to $10,000 without better outcomes. He noted one of Upton’s largest supporters is Big Pharma.

Garrod said, “Health care should not be a political issue. Let’s take insurance lobbyists out of the system and go to single payer.”
Benac didn’t mince words, saying, “Health care is a human right. The Affordable Health Care Act (“Obamacare”) is a market-based solution that just kicks back money to insurance companies and the health care industry. There is no option unless it’s single payer (Medicare for all).”

Eicholtz said he has had a lot of experience with the issue during his career and the biggest differences between the United States and other developed countries are cost and availability. The U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world. He added, “We need to decouple health care from employment.”

Public education

Gray said she attended private and public schools in her youth, but believes private, religious schools and charter schools are siphoning money from public education.

Franklin flatly stated again, “The first thing I would do is replace (Education Secretary) Betsy DeVos… Public education is the bedrock of this society, but it’s underfunded. Let’s give the teachers and the institutions the respect they deserve.”

Clement held, “We’ve got to improve our public education system up and down the line,” pointing to improving the earliest grades. “Education gets only 10% of the military budget… We need to get more data on what works.”

Garrod noted her mother is a charter school teacher, but insists on the separation of church and state.

Benac said, “Not one penny more of public money should go to private schools. We need to make a stronger commitment, to protect unions.”

Eicholtz added, “The vilification of unions has been disastrous to education and to our economy.’

Longjohn said, “I’ve seen the benefits of collective bargaining. Public schools bring people together in their communities.”

Cyber security

Franklin again flatly stated the U.S. government needs to “get a National Security Agency that’s responsive and attentive (to issues). I think this is being ignored deliberately by this administration for obvious reasons. It’s the job of Congress to oversee this and close the loopholes.”

Clements said, “Government must keep up with the advances in technology, but we have an administration that’s looking backward,” using “clean coal” as an example.

Garrod said, “The Internet is always going to move faster forward than our government, but we can do better holding these on-line companies accountable.”
Benac said, “There’s no way to stay in front of this, but the weakest link is the human user. We are our own worst enemy when it comes to cyber security.” He added that he’d like to see all elections go back to using paper ballots.

Eicholtz said he’d like to find a way to “county every vote electronically and manually.”
Longjohn said he would like to establish penalties and incentives for taking advantage of the system. He hoted that HIPPA has done a good job protecting privacy in the health care system.

Gray disclosed she does not use Facebook and reminded everyone that the company regards the user as the product.

Gun control and safety

Clements said the problem that be boiled down to three letters — NRA. “A majority of the people supports gun reforms while maintaining gun rights.” He said 60 percent of gun deaths are by suicide, a fact that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Garrod pointed out that the Supreme Court just last week ruled that a ban on assault weapons is constitutional. She added, “The Second Amendment is an amendment, so why can’t it be amended?” She is opposed, however, to raising the minimum age for purchasing guns.

Benac said he is supported by Moms Demand Action, which has a focus on gun violence prevention. “We’re not talking about taking people’s guns away, we’re talking about the safety of our communities.”
Eicholtz said he believes all Americans have a right to guns for self defense and hunting, but, “We don’t need weapons of war.”

Longjohn said, “There is a culture of gun ownership in this district, but this is a public health issue.” He added he owns a gun himself.

Gray said she shot an AR-15 while in the military, but noted 70% of Americans do not own guns.

Franklin said he advocates banning assault weapons and closing the loophole on domestic violence.

Tax reform plan

Garrod said she saw a very small increase in her paycheck after the GOP tax plan was passed late last year. “We need a government that works for working people. We need to tell them (politicians) they work for us, not corporations.”

Benac echoed, “This (tax reform) scam takes away from those who need it most and gives to those who need it least… And we need to remove the cap on Social Security.”
Eicholtz said the tax plan shifts money from wages to profits. He said Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Trump have implemented the trickle-down economic policy over the last 40 years and all it’s done is create the greatest income gap in the country’s history.

Longjohn said, “It’s a setup for a one-two punch to make the tax cuts permanent and then come after our Social Security and Medicare. It’s policy dictated by corporations.”

Gray said it was rare this year to see a happy client as a result of the new tax policy. She said the average worker’s pay has risen 2.3% while corporate officials’ salaries have increased by 435% over the last 40 years.

Franklin said, “The whole conversation in Washington has turned Orwellian. They’ve ballooned the debt and not taken care of our infrastructure.”

Clements added that America’s drug and crime wars also have have had major negative impact on where public dollars are being spent.

When the candidates closed the evening with their summations, they all noted they agree on most of the issues and perhaps the only differences are in degree. Some want to strengthen the public option in the Affordable Health Care Act while others insist on a single payer plan.

Clements made the strongest statements about climate change. While some said they want to reach across the aisle to Republicans, Benac questioned whether the GOP is willing to bargain in good faith. He noted the Democratic National Committee doesn’t like him.

Eicholtz maintained Upton cannot be defeated in November without attracting moderate Republicans and independents.

Upton has never gotten less than 55% of the vote in any general election over the last 32 years.