Dennis Anderson

On the Record

Outside of jobs and the federal deficit, what are the one or two most important issues in the 14th Congressional District, and how do you plan to address them?

The three Illinois counties with the highest home foreclosure rates – Kane, Kendall and McHenry – are all in the 14th District. Obama Administration efforts to address fraudulent lending and foreclosure practices must be continued, as must loan modification programs. We also need to explore and expand such alternatives to foreclosure as deed-in-lieu agreements, under which the lender takes ownership while the homeowner maintains residence on a rental basis, thus helping families maintain some stability, lenders to recover the property, and neighborhoods to avoid the blight of vacant and frequently deteriorating properties. The Administration's Jobs Bill, with its funding for infrastructure repair and upgrade projects, will bring both social and economic benefits. For example, there are over 40 bridges in the District deemed "structurally deficient." Delays will result in significantly increased budgetary burdens in the future.

Should the federal government continue to give subsidies and/or tax breaks to the farming, oil and gas and other major industries? Why or why not?

Subsidies can provide critical support to business and industry, particularly in the development of new, promising and perhaps risky undertakings. They can provide support to businesses vital to the community that face acute uncertainty or risk. They can also distort the market, and can continue beyond their useful life. The need for subsidy must be addressed on a case-by-case basis. When an industry is profitable and would remain so even absent the subsidies – the oil industry being an example of such a case – it is difficult to justify what is a transfer of wealth from the taxpayer to the industry. In other cases, such as small farms, subsidies help to protect a particularly vital industry against an unpredictable production environment and to smooth an unpredictable market in a vital industry.

There have been a lot of ideas floating around Washington D.C. to save Social Security. Raising the eligibility age. Increasing the Social Security tax on employers and employees. Privatization. What do you think should be done to make Social Security solvent decades into the future? Or are you of the opinion that Social Security should be phased out?

Social Security is a wonderfully successful program. In the current economic downturn, which has forced so many Americans into poverty, the over 65 age cohort has not suffered a statistically significant decline in welfare. We all benefit when the retired and elderly have a secure source of income. Privatization is a horrible idea that would subject the retirement security offered by the system to the vagaries of the stock market, the skills of the individual investor and advisors, and the cost of private investment fees. Privatization would also reduce the projected life span of the current system by diverting funds into those private investments. The income cap on payments into the system should be raised as a partial solution to the long-term problem. Beyond that, we have time to carefully consider how best to ensure continuation, and need not rush into ill-conceived solutions. Current benefit levels can be maintained for the next 25 years without change.

Most everyone agrees that job growth, particularly in the private sector, is critical to turning the American economy around. What should Congress do to help spur job growth?

The Obama Administration's Jobs Bill offers a number of well-considered proposals for job creation, and ought to be passed. Congress should address problems faced by small business in obtaining financing so that those businesses can expand more readily. New energy technologies are not only vital to national security, but offer the added benefit of research and manufacturing expansion, and ought to be supported by incentive programs. If we fail to develop these technologies domestically, we will be buying them from others in relatively short order.

What are you committed to doing, if elected, to reduce the federal deficit, and force Congress to pass only balanced budgets each year?

I am committed to careful review of the federal budget and the efficiency of government programs, and to bipartisan discussion of possible budget savings. The federal budget obviously ought to be constructed so as to best meet projected needs. That said, requiring balanced federal budgets would restrict the Nation's ability to respond to unforeseen events. Many government expenditures are effectively beyond the government's control, as in the case of unpredictable rises in unemployment benefits and reduction in revenues that may result from an economic downturn, or from international or domestic crises that require a government response.

Why are you running for Congress?

I am running primarily because the current Congress is failing to address the needs of millions of Americans who are suffering from unemployment, and who are finding themselves slipping into poverty through no fault of their own. I am running because millions of Americans still have no meaningful access to needed health care. I am running because our educational system is not meeting the needs of our children, with the result that our Nation's leadership role in the international community is threatened. I am running because 22% of America's children should not be living in poverty. I am running because the conversation needs to be focused on these things, and that need is urgent.

What should the U.S. do about Iran and its nuclear program?

The U.S. should work with the international community to ensure that Iran does not pose a threat to its neighbors or the larger international community. We must be careful that we do not further destabilize a volatile region and especially that we do not do so unilaterally.

Americans are fed up with gridlock in Washington. Will you be willing to reach across the aisle and work on compromise with members of the opposite party to resolve this country's many issues? Explain.

Yes. I am of the view that the overwhelming majority of members of Congress wish to do what is best for the Nation. While there may be differing views on how best to achieve those ends, those differences cannot be used as an excuse for inaction or willful obstruction. I believe that reasoned discussion is critical for the Nation's well-being, and that the current climate of extreme partisanship and unwillingness to compromise is fundamentally undemocratic.