Small government, big military, low taxes

Steve Wells, Cazenovia businessman with law degree, one of 3 seeking Republican nomination

ONEIDA >> While campaigning throughout the 22nd Congressional District, Republican candidate Steve Wells stopped by The Dispatch and met with the news staff for a wide-ranging discussion of current issues.

The Cazenovia businessman is facing Claudia Tenney, an assemblywoman from New Hartford and George Phillips, a Catholic school history teacher from Endicott in the June 28 primary election. The three are vying to re- place Republican incumbent Richard Hanna, who chose not to run. The winner will face the Democratic Party nominee David Gordon or Kim Myers.

The heavily-Republican district includes all of Chenango, Cortland, Madison, and Oneida counties, and parts of Broome, Herkimer, Oswego, and Tioga counties.

A key issue for Wells is preserving Second Amendment rights. He said New York’s gun control laws made sense before the SAFE Act was signed into law in 2013.

Wells, who holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University, spent time as an assistant district attorney in Fort Worth, Texas. During that time, he said, he was involved in many cases where the murderers used weapons implement other than a gun such as hatchets, cars or poison.

“I do not believe it is the firearm, it is the people,” Wells said, saying increased education and better mental health screening for potential gun owners would reduce gun violence.

Wells said he’s concerned about the status of the United

States military. Were he to win the 22nd Congressional District, one of his first tasks would be to make sure the “military is rebuilt.”

He says the current smal ler military and “weak” foreign policy are a recipe for disaster. If there is a “perception of weakness,” someone or something inevitably fills the breach. If America appears weak, “people are willing to test you,” Wells said, pointing to recent actions by China and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said that “Putin blatantly violated” long-standing treaties that required Ukraine give up their nuclear arsenal in return for sovereignty in 1994.

Putin would not have moved against Ukraine if he believed there was a chance the U.S. would act, Wells said. “If they think they’re stronger, you invite warfare. We need strong American armies to deter war.”

On the topic of health care, Wells said he is “open to listening to positives” of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, such as cross-state competition. As a businessman, Wells is an advocate of open markets; however, he believes there are many negative aspects to Obamacare that “we need to change.” Health care is the “only service where you go in and don’t know what the cost is up front,” he noted. “This is a problem,” he said. “If it is covered by insurance, and the doctor says to do it, you go do it.”

Wells was asked how the Oneida Indian Nation should fit in with the local communities and the country as a whole. “I have to listen and learn more about that,” he said.

When asked about the reports that the OIN is forming a super PAC to campaign against opponent Tenney, Wells said he knew nothing about it until he read the news reports. “I have never met (Oneida Nation Representative Ray) Halbritter. Whatever they do, they have their own reasons, but they certainly did not get them from me.”

While Wells said he does not agree with presidential candidate Donald Trump on every issue, he does like how Trump has tapped into America’s dissatisfaction.

“People are dissatisfied with the direction we’re going in. We’re going down the wrong road,” Wells said. “That is why I got involved.”

Noting Wells wants to increase spending on the military and at the same time reduce taxes, The Dispatch asked what he would cut to pay for it all. He said he would approach the matter as a businessman, pointing to his experience enduring the Great Recession at American Food and Vending Corporation, a company he co-founded with his brother and grew into an operation of 1,500 employees.

Wells said the federal government does not operate in accordance with free markets.

“Government has always gone up,” he said. “We have to make hard choices.”

When asked what should be cut, the Republican candidate said “everything has to be looked at. Don’t tell me every agency is operating at optimum efficiency. Every federal employee is expensive.”

He also spoke of the importance of differentiating between a want and a need when it comes to what the federal government should provide its citizens. Wells believes the primary reason the federal government exists is to provide “safety and security as a country.”

“Everything else is out the door if we don’t feel safe and secure,” he said.

Wells also questioned the role of federal agencies, wondering which ones, if any, have shrunk in Washington. He added that the federal government is out of control with over-regulation and reiterated the notion that the government fails to operate with free markets.

“I’m not against the federal government, but we have to make hard choices; we’re $19 trillion in debt,” Wells said.

The candidate said “everything is on the table” when considering what programs to cut to balance the increase in military strength, including Social Security for future retirees. However, he said it wouldn’t be fair to reduce Social Security for those who have already retired or are about to retire.

“I don’t think it’s fair to take away money from retirees,” he said.

Wells was also asked what he thought about Richard Hanna’s tenure in Congress.

“He is a friend of mine on a personal level, but I am independent from him. I make my own decisions,” Wells said.

Wells was asked if there is anything, in his opinion, Democrats have done right. “I am fundamentally at odds with the president,” he said. Obama’s decision to reopen the U. S. embassy in Cuba and cut down trade restrictions was a clear mistake. “Is it in our best interest to reward them?” he asked, and noted it is still a communist country. “It concerns me they’re oppressing free speech and free people.”

He said the country needs more people in Washington D.C. who have “real-world experience” such as business people, farmers, and those who work with their hands. This would increase the mutual respect between parties, according to Wells.

Politicians, regardless of party, should “hear everyone out and get along,” according to Wells, something he believes lawmakers in the area do well. “The rest of the county would be well suited to follow Upstate New York,” Wells said.

Wells