Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Delco man jumps in U.S. Senate race to oppose Casey
Dale Kerns of Swarthmore is running as a Libertarian
The campaign for one of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seats is starting to heat up and likely will be in the national spotlight during what undoubtedly will be an overheated 2018 mid-year election.
Pouring a little gas on the fire will be the Senate’s passage of a massive tax cut bill in the wee hours Saturday morning.
It is a package vehemently opposed by incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, who called the massive tax cut for business and some of the nation’s wealthiest citizens “shameful.” Casey already is being targeted by the GOP for his vote against the tax cut plan, saying he opposed “tax cuts for Pennsylvania’s middle class.:
The Senate race is currently looking like a three-way race between incumbent Democrat Casey, Republican U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11 of Hazleton, and Delaware County Libertarian Dale Kerns.
Three other Republicans have expressed an interest in seeking the party’s nomination to run against Casey. They include state Rep. Jim Christiana, R-15, of Beaver County, former energy executive Paul Addis and perennial candidate Joe Vodvarka.
Casey has served as in the Senate since 2007, when he won 59 percent of the vote against then-incumbent Republican Rick Santorum. At the time, his margin was the largest for a challenger against an incumbent senator in 26 years.
Now, he’s seeking another six-year term.
“Sen. Casey is running for re-election because he believes the idea that we are one American family where everyone deserves a fair shot and everyone deserves to be treated fairly is worth fighting for,” his campaign spokesman Max Steele said.
“At a time when congressional Republicans are pushing schemes that would take health care from millions and raise taxes on the middle class while slashing them for millionaires, Pennsylvania workers, families and seniors deserve a senator they can count on to fight for them,” he continued. “Sen. Casey is running for re-election to fight for affordable health care, good-paying jobs and strong investments in education and infrastructure.”
The spokesman identified the senator’s top priorities as growing wages, lowering the cost of health care and improving Pennsylvania’s education and infrastructure.
In addition, Steele said, “He believes it’s critical to stop efforts that raise taxes on the middle class in order to give large corporations and the wealthy few a massive tax cut.”
He outlined what Casey would do if re-elected.
“He will continue to be a voice for the most vulnerable among us, including fighting back policies that harm Pennsylvanians with disabilities or force seniors to pay more for their health care,” he said. “Sen. Casey will work to help create family sustaining jobs and foster financial security for Pennsylvania families in every community.”
The campaign spokesman said what’s so critical about this election.
“In 2018, there’s never been more at stake for the middle class,” Steele said. “Radical Congressional efforts to end protections for pre-existing conditions, force older Pennsylvanians to pay an age tax for care and raise taxes on middle income earners are all going on the ballot next November.
“The values that make this country great – that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and have a fair shot to get ahead – are being tested,” he continued. “No matter what Republicans may throw at him, Sen. Casey won’t stop fighting for those values and for the hardworking people of Pennsylvania.”
Barletta wants to be diametrically opposite to the incumbent.
“Sen. Casey’s been someone who’s just been obstructing everything this president has been doing and I don’t think that’s good for Pennsylvania,” he said. “It doesn’t help us to have someone who is opposing the administration on everything ... The American people want us to work together.”
Barletta has served as a U.S. Congressman for three terms. Prior to that, he was mayor of Hazleton since 1999.
In that capacity, he received national attention for his stance on immigration, which included advocating for penalties for landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and pushing for English to be Hazleton’s official language. He also was noted for his efforts against businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
He continues to hold immigration as one of his key issues and serves on the U.S. House Committee of Homeland Security.
“The first responsibility is to keep us safe, our national security,” he said, “so that our children and grandchildren could live in our country without fear of violence and terrorism.”
He said cities can’t be safe havens for terrorists or gang members.
In addition, he said the Affordable Care Act needs to be repealed and replaced and that tax reform must occur.
“There are many issues that will put our families first, our workers first,” Barletta said. “This can be accomplished by working together. What we have in the Senate right now is the Democrats voting no on everything.”
He’s also an advocate for term limits.
“Twelve years in the Senate is long enough,” Barletta said. “Twelve years is enough time. I put term limits on myself when I first ran for the House seat. I don’t think people should be there forever.”
He said the Republicans need to have enough votes to get work done, something he said America wants.
“I believe what is happening in the Senate is wrong,” Barletta said. “The American people want us to work together. I look at the Senate and I realize that one vote in the Senate can make a difference ... I believe that Pennsylvania could be a state that could make the different in the Senate.”
The congressman didn’t anticipate a repeat of what occurred in November with a wave of voters choosing Democratic candidates.
“The Senate race is different,” Barletta said. “It is going to be about the agenda of putting America first, putting American workers first, the ‘Making America Great Again’ agenda.”
Kerns is the Libertarian running for the Senate and he’s optimistic it will go well, considering his predecessor’s success with little effort.
“Ed Clifford brought in 235,000 votes without even being a candidate who was campaigning,” Kerns said of the 2016 Libertarian Senate candidate. “I expect us to get far great than that because we have a great plan in place, we have a great volunteer team and student organizations on campuses across Pennsylvania.”
With 12 town halls scheduled through April and two state tours completed, the Ridley Township resident and former Republican Eddystone councilman explained why he is running as a Libertarian.
“We don’t have a viable option when it comes to going to the polls,” he said. “Everybody feels that they have to vote Democrat or Republican, the lesser of two evils and I don’t want that to be the case. I have two daughters and I want them to grow up to have the freedoms that we’re all promised as individuals. I want them to know they can be anything in life, people aren’t going to have handouts for certain businesses. They can be anything they want, they don’t have to worry about government getting in the way.”
Individual freedom is the backbone of many of Kerns’ issues from the war on drugs to the war on terror to personal liberties and even education.
In a letter he sent to President Donald Trump last month, Kerns wrote that the U.S. has spent more than $1 trillion on the war on drugs as the federal prison population increased 800 percent and the country is the top in the world with illegal drug use.
He recommended taking an approach similar to Portugal and Switzerland by legalizing drugs and having addicts administered maintenance doses of heroin.
“It’s better than going on the path that we are with people dying every year,” Kerns said, adding that the free markets are the solution to this problem and would eliminate the underground trade and perils, similar to alcohol and Prohibition.
“The war on drugs is a big money maker,” he said. “It’s unethical as a human race to cage people like animals and pay someone to do it. Now, you’re putting an incentive on someone’s head to keep them in prison.”
With the war on terror, Kerns said the founders believed members of Congress were closer to the people.
“The Constitution says that Congress shall declare
war but recently over the last decade, even longer, our presidents declare war,” he said. “Our presidents send people off to war and we don’t even know that they’re there.”
In addition, Kerns said, “I’d like to allow people to be more free. Right now, we rely on government for so many things.”
That includes health care, taxing, FEMA, welfare and social security.
Education, he said, should be local.
“As a U.S. senator, as far as education goes, I don’t think that the federal government should have a say, so I would not dictate what they do,” Kerns said. “I would just give them the power back, which would allow them to be more free.”
That would also apply to struggling districts. Kerns
said they should handle themselves and then, if they had to, close down like any business would.”
Referring to the 2016 Libertarian presidential candidate, Kerns said, “Gary Johnson said Libertarians bring in the best of both worlds. You have fiscal conservatives and you have socially liberals and you bring them together, that’s a Libertarian
“People don’t have to take the lesser of two evils,” he continued. “There’s another option out there and that other option has people in mind, that other option wants to solve problems.”