Dan Lewis (Courtesy photo)
As many Republicans in the U.S. House push for a cuts-only approach to addressing the nation’s deficit problem, 1st Congressional District candidate Dan Lewis says they must reject any tax increases or other revenue raisers.
“Our economy is in serious trouble. We have a spending problem,” the Republican Lewis said in a recent interview with NMPolitics.net.
It’s time to make choices “that are going to get us back on track,” he said, because the United States’ borrowing “is not a one-time problem related to unforeseeable circumstances in our country.”
“This is a result of years and years of mismanagement,” he said.
With the Aug. 2 deadline approaching, Lewis said he would only favor raising the debt ceiling if such a deal includes “serious reductions in our spending, including a balanced budget amendment and including forcible caps on spending.”
Lewis, an Albuquerque city councilor, is joined by former State Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones in the GOP primary for the Albuquerque-area congressional seat. Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2010, is considering joining the race.
Two Democrats – former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and State Sen. Eric Griego – have entered the race. Terry Brunner, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s former state director who now heads USDA Rural Development in New Mexico, has publicly said he’s considering running.
A more hardline stance on economic issues
The congressional district has more registered Democrats than Republicans, and its seat in Congress is usually one of the more hotly contested in the nation. Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, a Republican, built a moderate voting record over the years she held the seat.
Lewis’ words may indicate a more hardline stance, at least on economic issues. But he said staying true to his principles should help him win the seat. He represents the largest city council district in Albuquerque and says the council has “brought fiscal sanity back to city hall” with a 6 percent cut in spending.
Lewis is quick to point out that Republicans have held the congressional seat for most of its history, and that the mayor and most city councilors in Albuquerque are Republicans for the first time in 30 years. And he said redistricting might make the congressional district more Republican by moving a few right-leaning precincts in Bernalillo County and parts of Rio Rancho from the 3rd Congressional District into this district.
Beyond that, Lewis said Republicans, Democrats and independents have voted for him to represent them on the city council.
“I know the people of this district,” he said. “I believe that they love this nation, and they want to preserve it, and I believe that they’ll make the right choice.”
Lewis said the United States can get back to being a nation of prosperity and innovation. He said he feels “a great responsibility to lead,” and he wouldn’t be running unless he felt he could do a good job.
Preserving the nation
Preserving the nation is what’s at stake, Lewis said. Out-of-control spending threatens America’s future.
“We have a spending addiction,” he said. “We’re on a path that’s not sustainable.”
Lewis isn’t opposed to debt. He says there’s a purpose behind it – for example, the United States went into debt during the Civil War. But it paid that debt off afterward.
“The problem now is we got into this debt because we couldn’t control our spending,” he said.
When asked, Lewis didn’t name specific programs he would cut, with the exception of repealing the health-care reform legislation he calls “Obamacare.” He said there are hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud, waste and duplication in the federal budget, “and we have to start there.”
Lewis said he respects U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan “for at least having the initiative and leadership to take a stand and try to solve the problem as he sees it,” though he said he “may not necessarily agree with (Ryan) on all his points.”
The role of the national laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base must be protected, Lewis said. Budget cuts should not break promises to those who have already paid in to Social Security and Medicare.
Lewis pastors a Christian church in Albuquerque, and he said there’s a “human side” to budget discussions. He said he believes in individual responsibility, but people, churches and other groups have a responsibility to help their neighbors. Government’s role, he said, should be to “work together to make sure people have the resources and churches have the resources and the freedom to be able to do that.”
‘A sunset on major regulations’
Lewis owns an upholstery supply company, and he said he said he has personally experienced Washington’s overregulation, which is “putting a chokehold on the people and businesses that are the engine of our economy.”
He cited new regulations since Barack Obama became president on banks and lending and many put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“That’s an example of Congress abdicating its duty, giving decision making away to bureaucrats,” he said. “The solution to that is we need to put a sunset on major regulations… and make Congress vote up or down on any major new regulation.”
“The bottom line is we need to increase domestic production, increase productivity and our jobs here in America. There do need to be reasonable regulations,” he said. “We need to preserve endangered species, but remember that the No. 1 endangered species right now is small businesses, and if we allow small businesses to die, then we put America out of business.”