2nd Congressional District

2nd Congressional District
https://www.goskagit.com/news/elections/candidate-questionnaire-congressional-district/article_13b3455a-200b-51ff-8fa5-b99255e8aa02.html

Rick Larsen, D, incumbent
https://larsen.house.gov/
Senior member, House Armed Services Committee
https://www.ricklarsen.org/

We all pretty much know Rick from the years he’s been in office. And we’ve had some knock down/drag outs with him over his support of the military over the people of Island County, and his support for climate killing fossil fuel trans-shipment facilities in the name of jobs. We all know that he doesn’t get it on a lot of issues important to us.

And then the coup of 2016 happened and suddenly Rick is a new man. He voted against the Trump budget, against many of the insane and egregious proposals coming out of the fascist right. And he now believes in dealing with climate change, including cap & trade as one means to limit CO2. One has the distinct impression that the farther right the fascists push, the farther left Rick leans.

On the environment
~ He now touts his voting record of trying to eliminate subsidies for the oil industry.
~ He wrote that exiting the Paris agreement is/was a big mistake.
~ He fought to keep transit/light rail funds in the federal budget.
~ He supports salmon habitat restoration, protecting critical habitat areas, and conserving open space. ~ He worked to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has now expired.
~ He signed a joint letter to NOAA fisheries and Army Corps asking them to deal with the Atlantic salmon fish farm disaster by not permitting any new or refurbishment of existing pens.
~ He voted to prevent logging of the Tongass Roadless Area in Alaska.
~ He supports keeping our public lands (Bears’ Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante) public.

On economic development
~ He claims to have secured impact aid for schools with children of active military.
~ He’s against the Trump tariffs, as they hurt US workers and businesses.

On people issues
~ He supports Medicare and Obamacare, and is fighting to prevent the destruction of both.
~ He cosponsored the DREAM act.
~ He objected vehemently to the Trump policy of breaking up families and imprisoning children and participated in Keep Families Together rallies in Mt Vernon & Bellingham.
~ He co-signed a petition to his fellow congress members to fund rebuilding of Puerto Rico

Now here’s an interesting one. He issued a press release demanding that the Navy explain why it is insisting on putting all its Growlers in the Whidbey basket and expressing his concerns for Whidbey communities. Aw shucks and golly gee. We didn’t know you cared. There is some question about how this translates to his support for NAS Whidbey.



Brian Luke, Libertarian
https://www.luke4congress.com/

personal info:
Has worked in the grocery business for 20+ years, grocery dept manager. MA in International studies, with Middle East focus, BAs in history, classics, comparative religions, paralegal certificate. Worked on nuclear non-proliferation issues, especially US policy toward Iran’s nuclear program.

issues:
Primary issue: the national debt, which he proposes to reduce by cutting domestic and military spending.

U.S. Foreign Policy - The United States should not waste precious blood and treasure abroad. Foolish foreign engagements disrespect the soldier and add more debt, which now stands at over $18 trillion. The peoples of other countries must choose and be responsible for their own governments. The United States must seek diplomacy with all nations but be cautious of being a patron to governments or peoples.

Taxes and Spending - We must collect sufficient revenue to pay for the federal government and not overspend. We do neither, which is why we have huge deficits. The policy seems to be to lower taxes without getting significant domestic spending cuts and then on top of that cranking up military spending. We must be willing to cut domestic, foreign policy and military spending. In other words, there can be no sacred cows. Moreover, we must be careful how much we lower taxes. Even though the federal government does too much, we must pay for things.
I would love for Americans to keep more of what they earn, but if government does too much with regards to domestic and foreign policy, it is difficult to lower taxes.

Marijuana - I believe that it is time to repeal the federal prohibition of marijuana. I do not believe the U.S. Constitution gives authority to Congress to regulate the commerce of marijuana within a state. And I do not believe that the sick should be criminalized for using marijuana.
Native Tribes - I believe that Congress should move towards giving Native Tribes more sovereignty over their affairs. Furthermore, I would like to work with Native Tribes to help facilitate more cooperation from the federal government in matters that affect their communities.

The Military - Roughly 15% of federal expenditures is for national defense (excludes veterans services and benefits). This percentage is definitely high enough to consider significant spending cuts. Although we should try to reform military spending to maximize savings, we should not neglect asking how much the U.S. military should be doing abroad and how many new weapons are actually needed to keep America safe. We should not be buying every weapon that has new bells and whistles. However, we should make sure veterans are getting the mental and physical care that they need.

Womens’ rights - He favors women’s right to make decisions about their own bodies, equal pay for equal work, and stronger economic opportunity. Has authored or cosponsored every women’s rights bill. 

http://www.sanjuanjournal.com/news/libertarian-brian-luke-runs-for-2nd-congressional-district-seat/
Just to avoid confusion, Brian’s brother Mike Luke ran in the primary for the U.S. Senate in Washington State as a Libertarian.
Luke joined the Libertarian Party of Washington in March of this year. Previously, he was involved in the GOP for more than eight years, even serving a term as Vice-Chair of the Snohomish County Republican Party.
As for why Luke left the GOP, he states that, “I realized that there was little room for libertarian ideas in the Republican Party. But I felt that the GOP was fiscally irresponsible at the national level, embraced an expensive and dangerous foreign policy, and had very little youth appeal for a number of reasons.”

Luke states that his campaign “is partly a revolt against the national GOP fiscal and foreign policy. Sometimes Republicans blame everything on the Democrats for the mounting national debt and foreign policy woes, but far too often refuse to look at their own party.”



Rick Larsen is by no means my favorite politician. One observer claims that he is just a contrarian, and the more his constituents push in one direction, the more he pushes the opposite. That bothers me greatly because he is supposed to work FOR, not AGAINST his constituents.

Much of what Brian Luke has to say sounds good. It’s the missing parts that don’t sound so good. I would want to hear a whole lot more about that “cut the domestic budget” part. Just what would he cut? My experience with Libertarians is that they are really good at looking at one side of the budget spreadsheet and figuring out what government should not be doing for us. They’re just not at all good about the other side of that spreadsheet – the damage done by the loss of those “savings.”  Back when Eyman’s $30.00 car tab initiative went into effect, Island Transit was hit hard by the loss of revenue. It had to cut back on services. At the time, my dad was using paratransit to take him to Senior Services twice a week. I calculated what it would cost me to have to substitute for that public service compared to what I was saving with the $30.00 tabs, and it would have cut two days out of my work week. I would gladly have paid the larger tab fees. The small increase in sales tax to keep that paratransit was very well worth it. I am not seeing Mr Luke or his fellow Libertarians making any of those calculations.

I am by no means thrilled with Rick Larsen, but I do see him moving more into a (dare I say?) progressive stance than in years past. I used to hold my nose when voting for him as the lesser evil. I think this time I may be voting for him because he is improving.

I will be voting for Rick Larsen.