Our views: We recommend
Suzanne Kosmas would best represent Space Coast residents in Congress
It's a high-profile race with huge stakes for the future of the Space Coast:
Democrat Suzanne Kosmas is taking on three-term Republican Tom Feeney for the District 24 Congressional seat, which covers a large part of North Brevard, including NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
We highly recommend Kosmas to help ease the bitter partisan divide on Capitol Hill that's caused gridlock and worsened the plight of American families.
Kosmas, who has owned a real estate business in New Smyrna Beach for almost 30 years, served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, from 1996 to 2004, before reaching her term limit.
There, she championed education, children's and elder issues, including protections for Florida's seniors in nursing homes.
She promises to work diligently for Brevard residents in Washington, and nowhere is that more clear than in her strong support for NASA's moon exploration program and willingness to fight for the funding required to build a new fleet of post-shuttle spacecraft.
We're also impressed with her strategic vision to leverage the Space Coast not just as the nation's hub for manned and commercial spaceflight but also as a nucleus for alternative energy and technological research to help end America's dependence on foreign oil.
That's a goal we support as KSC heads toward the shuttle fleet's retirement in 2010 and an estimated 3,500 lost jobs.
Kosmas also is committed to solving the nation's health care crisis that has left one in five Floridians lacking insurance.
Specifically, she advocates expanding S-CHIP, the federal-state health insurance program, to help millions more children from working families have access to affordable medical care.
And she correctly says Medicare can be used as a cost-effective model for getting more adults insured through private companies.
She opposes the wild gamble of privatizing Social Security that would further shred the precarious retirement safety net for hardworking Americans.
A moderate, she fought higher taxes while in the Florida Legislature, wants tax relief for the middle class and small business owners, and favors keeping the capital gains tax at its current 15 percent, not higher.
She backs a fiscally conservative "pay-as-you-go" approach in Congress to balancing the budget and tackling the nation's huge deficits.
Kosmas opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and now wants to responsibly withdraw American forces, with firm benchmarks to force the Iraqis to take over their own security and protection, a view a majority of Americans support.
Her common-sense approach to issues means she'll be able to work across the aisle with other lawmakers to reach compromises on tough problems in the worst economic times since the Great Depression.
In contrast, Feeney is one of the most rigidly ideological lawmakers on Capitol Hill, practicing the kind of harsh partisanship that has pushed Congress' approval levels into the tank.
No one disparages Feeney's record as an advocate for NASA since his election in 2002. He's also worked alongside other Florida lawmakers to bring a Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital to Orlando.
But Space Coast residents don't need his shortsighted stands on other major issues this crucial election year.
That includes repeatedly voting against giving more lower-income children access to health care through S-CHIP, against alternative energy incentives to wean the nation off foreign oil, and against the interests of seniors as a big fan of privatizing Social Security.
He's also marched in lockstep with the anything-goes deregulation of Wall Street that has proven ruinous for the economy and the retirement savings of middle-class families and seniors.
In what will most likely be a House under stronger control by Democrats, his views will crop his ability to win consensus on space or anything else.
Feeney also remains under an ethical cloud for his role in the corruption scandal involving convicted felon Jack Abramoff after he took a 2003 luxury golf trip to Scotland paid for by the lobbyist, who used the junkets to gain illegal favors.
To date, one ex-congressman, two White House officials and several congressional aides have been convicted for their Abramoff dealings, and Feeney is still under investigation by the FBI for his actions.
He has refused to publicly answer detailed questions about the probe since it began in 2007. Instead, he ran a recent TV ad apologizing for his actions and calling the trip a "rookie mistake."
That's ridiculous. Feeney served as Speaker of the House in the Florida Legislature, ran for lieutenant governor on the ticket with Jeb Bush in 1994 and is an inside-the-Beltway player. He knows exactly how the influence-peddling game works.
The differences between the candidates couldn't be sharper. Kosmas' integrity, bipartisanship and forward-thinking positions earn her our endorsement.
Links:
[1] http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20081022/OPINION/81021032/1004&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL