Over the next few weeks West Virginia Watchdog will be posting interviews with the Congressional candidates in West Virginia’s 1st and 3rd districts.

The entrance of Republican Sarah Minear into the 1st District Congressional race makes the second former state legislator to take on Democrat incumbent Alan Mollohan.

A former member of the West Virginia State Senate for 12 years, Minear shares legislative experience with fellow Republican candidate David McKinley.

Minear believes that health care reform is needed, but would work to repeal the current legislation.

“I signed a pledge to repeal the health care bill,” said Minear. “At the same time I believe we need to replace the bill with one that won’t destroy the finest health care in the world. The bill is also riddled with taxes to a total of $1.3 trillion, so it’s a huge tax increase on people.”

“We need to make health care accessible and affordable, and we can do that with tort reform and some insurance reform, such as pre-existing conditions,” explained Minear. “(Pre-existing conditions) should not keep people from getting insurance so they can have access to medical care. Also they should not be able to cancel insurance when they need it the most. These two things alone will go a long way to making health care accessible and affordable for the people without raising taxes and destroying a great health care system.”

The national debt continues to balloon, and Congress continues to spend. If elected, Minear plans to hold the line against tax increases.

“Washington is broke, we have record job losses, a spiraling deficit, and an unprecedented debt, and we can’t sustain it at the rate it is right now,” said Minear. “I can’t imagine what we’ll do if it continues, and it it will continue. First of all, I have never voted for a tax increase in Charleston and I never will in Washington. I also signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and I’m the only candidate with legislative experience to back it up. History has demonstrated that taxes never fix the problem.”

Minear calls for a return to balanced budgeting, and payment plans to pay down the debt.

“I would support an amendment that the federal government has to have a balanced budget,” said Miner. “I was in the Senate for 12 years…I know it can be done and I understand budget process very well. You only have so much revenue and you have to stay within that budget. My suggestion would be we set up a payment plan to pay off that deficit and pay it off the top. We will have to cut government and we all know government has gotten too big.”

With economic recovery continuing at a snail’s pace, Minear say tax cuts and incentives for businesses are vital. She also calls for reviews of current regulations on the books to see if they need loosening.

“The first thing we need to do is lower taxes and/or cut them,” said Minear. “Some of our business are absolutely being regulated right out of business. They’re put in a bind where they can’t expand, can’t grow so they can create jobs. We need to cut taxes, we need to scale back regulations put on our
industries so they can grow and expand and provide jobs that we need.”

Some of the regulations that need a second look, says Minear, are those pertaining to the coal industry. She also has concerns about cap and trade legislation.

“If that cap and trade bill passes, which I do not support, it will drive a stake into the heart of the coal industry and into the heart of the State of West Virginia,” said Minear. “We will lose 61,000 direct and indirect jobs in West Virginia if this bill passes. The state will lose billions in revenue. That’s how bad that bill is. I think we need to bury that one and start over with a more sensible plan for energy.”

“Congress needs to pass a bill immediately taking away for the EPA to promulgate rules without oversight of Congress,” added Minear. “Without any information on how this will impact a business and the economy. Every rule they make like that should have a financial statement on how much it’s going to cost. That’s something that can be done legislatively to stop the EPA from doing whatever they want. Whenever they promulgate rules they’re, in a sense, making law. That’s not their role.”

Lastly, Minear would like to work with environmentalists to address their concerns about coal, but stresses they need to come up with solutions that protect the state’s jobs.

“We all have to remember that air and water today is cleaner than it has ever been,” said Minear. “The coal companies and the power companies have spent millions – probably billions – of dollars cleaning up their own businesses. I don’t know what more they can do. If they do have an accident or something they clean it up like they’re required to do. How far do you go? The problem is environmentalist groups never come forth with solutions. If we shut down the coal industry, how do they plan to replace those jobs? They have no plan and can’t give you answers to those questions. I would love to see us work together, nut it’s either their way or no way.”

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