Democrat candidates John Bonitati and Brendan Mullen spoke Tuesday about why they are running and what changes they hope to see in Indiana.
Bonitati, who is challenging Rebecca Kubacki for Indiana House District 22, and Mullen, running against Jackie Walorski for Indiana’s second congressional district, spoke to a small crowd at the St. Regis club in Warsaw.
Mullen, an army veteran who served in South Korea and Iraq and later opened his own business, said he wants to bring to congress the same mentality of cooperation among squadmates and uneasy allies. He described his approach as “trying to thread a needle down the middle.”
“We can’t continue to elect people from the fringes – the Nancy Pelosi democrats and the Tea party republicans,” he said. “We will not succeed in moving the country forward with our hands at each other’s throats.”
He added that he expects this approach to disappoint democrat allies and republican friends, but that “I know I’m doing this for my buddies. We need people who will practice the art of sacrifice.”
Bonitati has worked in marketing in the orthopaedic medical device industry for 26 years and is currently involved in organizations like Warsaw Housing Authority and Special Olympics of Kosciusko County. He said he is running with three main issues in mind: education, the right to work law and social programs.
The candidates began addressing issues that affect northern Indiana and soon moved to questions on national concerns such as healthcare and the defense budget.
Both criticized the 2006 lease of the Indiana Toll Road to foreign companies, Mullen saying that most of the $3.8 billion Indiana received has already been spent – and none of it in the northern part of the state. Walorski cast one of the deciding votes in the sale, Mullen said.
Bonitati said he doesn’t know if the state got a good deal for the road and wondered what it would have taken in over the 75-year term of the lease. He also said he doesn’t believe in privatization, especially when it comes to education.
He said education needs to focus on the preschool level since some kids start out at a disadvantage. He pointed to Cardinal Services as an organization that helps educate parents but that suffers from budget cuts.
“Public education is how I got to know people in the community,” Bonitati said. “We will continue to have a divide in society if we continue breaking up our public schools.”
Questioned on the Affordable Care Act, Mullen said the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices would “strip away” $150 million per year from the Warsaw area and that insurance requirements would “hamstring” his friends with small businesses.
He advocated taking a laser focus to both the good and the bad in the act, and making affordability a prime concern.
Asked about states’ role in implementing the act or in forging their own health care programs, Mullen said he was concerned that “some states would show their political colors”; Bonitati similarly said he was worried that disparities would result.
Mullen was also asked about the possible 9.4 percent sequestration cuts to the defense budget. He suggested cutting down on aircraft carriers and golf courses on army bases rather than anything that would directly affect soldiers.
“As a man who served, I’m quite confident that the Pentagon won’t let the ripple effects touch the war fighter” in terms of training and equipment, he said.
