2nd District Race: Terry vs Esch

I'm going to start here in the Omaha district and head west over the rest of the week, examining candidates positions and my take on them. As far as this race is concerned, I don't know much about Esch other than every bus stop in town has a bench with his name on it. It's a little hard to find info on the Democratic candidate's positions other than his website, and what is there is pretty much a small blurb. No real substantive views other than on a couple of topics.


Abortion - again, not a big issue for me, philosophically opposed to it myself, and both candidates here agree. Terry has a 0% NARAL rating, which indicates a pretty conservative rating. Esch is consistently pro-life, anti-euthanasia and anti-death penalty, but seems to quibble a bit on stem cell research.
Nothing here for me to base a decison on.

Immigration - fairly big gap here between the candidates. Terry supports stronger border enforcement (no mention of a fence) and a guest worker program, but no path to citizenship. Eisch mentions Employer enforcement, guest workers, AND a path to legalization to "long-term undocumented workers". I'm not sure I agree with either candidates positions on this subject. I support more LEGAL immigration, a fence and stronger border enforcement, think guest worker programs are hooey and believe that while it's unfortunate, we have to be pragmatic and give a path to eventual citizenship. But the road should be long, hard, and they should go to the back of the line for being here illegally. Nothing here really either.

Iraq - Terry supports the current course of assisting the Iraqi government stablize the nation and then withdraw over an undefined period based on success on the ground. Esch demands a "definition of victory" (not clear what he means)and a more immediate withdrawal, although he isn't terribly clear here either. Strong advantage Terry on this one; casualties, while horrible, happen in war, and are low by historical standards. Cutting and runnning isn't an option with the lives of 25 million Iraqis at stake.

Healthcare - Terry supports Health Savings Accounts, business group insurance and on using Federal court rules on malpractice suits, but not limiting the awards (this raises the bar for getting into court vs. state courts, but not the amount a litigant can be awarded.) Esch wants to nationalize healthcare. Ouch. What a stupid idea. Strong advantage Terry here, although I'm not with him 100%.

Spending/Taxes - Terry is pro-earmark reform (although he never did answer my questions about earmarks I asked a couple months ago), and to his credit, has voted against the "throw everything against the wall" omnibus bills that get passed at the end of sessions. Esch really shows his ignorance here - He's for a balanced budget (nice idea, but do you do if there's a recession?), also for earmark reform, and has some ideas about modernizing and streamlining government, but doesn't say how that would be accomplished. Tie more or less as far as I'm concerned here, maybe advantage Terry for voting to cut taxes. Esch doesn't mention taxes ANYWHERE on his site.

Social Security - Terry is for reforming the system to include private accounts. Esch is against them, but for "saving social security" - by raising the limit on social security taxes to $140k and some other indeterminate things. Definite advantage Terry here.

Energy - Terry is on the House Energy Committee, and has pushed hard on hydrogen, ethanol, as well as domestic drilling and refining. Esch mostly has a wish list of renewables and conservation and is calling for an Apollo-style program on them. I find Terry's approach of drilling while you do research on alternatives a lot more realistic.

Education - alot of feel-good rhetoric from both candidates here, nothing really to distinguish the two. More $$ for teachers, higher ed., etc.

Environment - not much here from either candidate again, Esch seems to believe Al Gore about warming, Terry wants to drill (safely) in the AWR. Slight advantage Terry here in at least being realistic.

Trade/Foreign Policy - Terry is definitely a free trader, having voted for a number of such bi-lateral agreements. Nothing on Esch at all on either on foreign policy except some stuff on talking to N. Korea, which we're already doing with our allies in the region along with China and Russia. Definite advantage Terry for being a grown-up and not ignoring the issues.

Guns/2nd Amendment - both candidate support 2nd Amendment rights, so nothing here to really distinguish the two.

Military - Esch point out his father is Vietnam vet and lost a leg and we should support our vets. Nothing of substance here for him. In contrast Terry has voted to increase vet funding, as well as military pay and family benefits for active and reserve forces. Terry has a definite advantage here for me as well.

To conclude, I think Esch has some nice ideas, but is young, a little naive, and probably unprepared to be a US Congressman. Terry is the incumbent, with all the advantages that confers, and seems to have a far better grasp of the issues than Esch does today. Terry reflects my view on most issues far more than Esch, although I also have disagreements with Terry on specific subjects. OnTheIssues defines Terry as a Libertarian-leaning Conservative. Make up your own mind.