Atlanta Progressive News

(APN) ATLANTA — Democratic US Senate candidate Dale Cardwell has been raised onto a 320 foot tower, the Corey Tower in Downtown Atlanta, where he plans to stay for a few days until his message gets heard.

Cardwell had to make the publicity stunt to create awareness for his campaign because the campaign has not raised enough money to run commercials; meanwhile, the corporate media tends not to report on candidates’ platforms of issue positions.

Ironically, Cardwell spent 32 years working for the corporate media as an anchor for WSB-TV Channel 2. This is also how he says he learned about the excessive influence of corporate lobbying on US politicians.

Atlanta Progressive News interviewed Cardwell about his position on 10 issues. APN will ask the other Democratic candidates for US Senate about their positions in the coming weeks. The selection of questions was guided by APN’s editorial principles: to bring us “closer to universal health care, living wages, affordable housing, peace, a healthy environment, and voting systems we can trust.”

Also running against US Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) are Dekalb County Chairman Vernon Jones and Rand Knight.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Cardwell supports universal health care through a “public-private partnership,” but not single-payer.

“I think we have to find a way to create at least a baseline of care for every American. We can do it in a public-private partnership. Every American should be insured up to $10000 through workplace or government assistance. You can go to the doctor’s office, get your checkup, up to a level of $10000, which would cover the majority of Americans every year,” Cardwell explained.

“You would have to take advantage of the screenings and preventative care. After $10,000, private health insurance kicks in, which would be a lot more affordable if the $10,000 is paid for by everybody else. As opposed to something that’s completely single-provider government-mandated, or on the other hand the Romney plan [which favors private industry],” Cardwell said.

“If you’re employed, [the $10,000 account] would come through a contribution from the employer. If not, it would be like Medicaid. And we can pay for it for the savings through Medicaid which would come from preventative care,” Cardwell said.

TROOPS HOME NOW?

“It’s time to bring most of the troops home now. What I’ve advocated from beginning, the US should have created a very mobile, light strike force for 15,000 to 20,000 soldiers… in a place where we’re invited to be,” Cardwell said.

“We remove our soldiers from harm’s way, from where people hate us and don’t want us to be there. To eliminate cells of Al-Queda, instead of invading Iraq. No I’m not in agreement with the way Democrats have been playing keep the funds away. Congress should insist on the President keeping benchmarks for Iraq. Then we can start talking about reducing the funding,” Cardwell said.

“I do not,” think setting benchmarks has been done already, he said.

2002 RESOLUTION TO INVADE IRAQ

Cardwell says he would not have supported the 2002 Congressional resolution to invade Iraq.

“I would’ve voted no. If you look back, we did not give the UN and the body the full ability to set a deadline for Iraq. If we would’ve followed the UN’s direction and allowed a final trigger to be set, we would’ve had the world’s support. I believed from the beginning that Iraq was not the target, that Afghanistan was the target. I never felt there was a strong reason to invade Iraq,” Cardwell says.

“Here’s the mistake John Kerry made. At some point on a limited military engagement, at some point, Congress has to trust the Commander-in-Chief. The mistake, they trusted a man who did not have the judgment to make the decision,” Cardwell says.

IMPEACH BUSH?

If in the US Senate right now, Cardwell would not support impeaching Bush.

“I don’t think there’s clear and concise evidence that there was a conspiracy to [mislead the public and Congress over the need to invade Iraq]. I believe he in his heart believed he would collect the evidence that supported his desire. I believe his misrepresentation was not a fabrication,” Cardwell said.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE?

“I’m opposed to gay marriage but I support self-determination. I do believe marriage was created and always from the very beginning conceived to be union between a man and woman. That’s what marriage is. I believe in full and complete legal protections for every American,” Cardwell said.

DEMOLITION OF PUBLIC HOUSING

“I do support the demolition of public housing. As a reporter for 23 years I saw what impact it had on families and the long-range hopes for public to work their way out of [public] housing,” Cardwell said.

“Section 8 housing is successful. Look at the HUD office in Atlanta and you see a lot of success,” Cardwell insisted.

“I have been unemployed I understand what the work ethic does for people. I believe working for what you receive [is good]. I do not believe we heavily subsidize those on the lower socio-economic income strata to stay there. We need to create a way for them to join the economic model,” Cardwell said.

NUCLEAR POWER?

“Yes, absolutely. Nuclear power is part of the solution. I don’t believe it is the solution. Working together with a broad spectrum of opportunities,” Cardwell said.

“One of the best possibilities is to use pine, crush it, and make ethanol,” he added.

WILLING TO CUT SPENDING ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS? COMMON SENSE BUDGET ACT

Cardwell did not directly answer this question.

“We have a nine trillion deficit. I’m willing to stop spending more money than we earn every year,” Cardwell said.

DO YOU SUPPORT ELECTRONIC VOTING, OR PREFER PAPER BALLOTS?

“I support electronic voting, but I also support a paper trail,” Cardwell said.

About the author:

Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor for Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.

Revised syndication policy:

Our syndicaton policy was updated June 2007. For more information on how to syndicate Atlanta Progressive News content, please visit: http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/extras/syndicate.html