Oct 12, 2008

October 12, 2008

Our views: We recommend Bill Posey

Bill Posey’s record of public service earns him chance to serve in Congress

Space Coast voters will send a new representative to Congress on Nov. 4 to replace retiring GOP Rep. Dave Weldon at a time when the nation faces an economic crisis at home and remains mired in war overseas.

Four candidates are vying for the post, but only one has a long record of public service:

Republican State Sen. Bill Posey, who has earned the chance to serve the people of the 15th Congressional District that includes much of Brevard, Indian River and Osceola counties and part of Polk County.

Posey began his political career on the Rockledge City Council and served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives before his election to the Florida Senate in 2000. There, he wasn’t afraid to take on difficult issues.

He sponsored major reforms to Florida election laws after the 2000 presidential balloting debacle that became a model other states followed.

He also led the move as chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee to reform Florida’s insurance laws after the 2004 hurricanes drove rates through the roof.

The package brought in new companies that have increased competition, provided discounts for hurricane-hardened homes and lowered rates for some policyholders. Other results included a public counsel to fight for consumers and forcing insurance executives to testify under oath about proposed rate increases.

The reforms have not been a cure-all by any means, but Posey was dogged in tackling an issue few wanted to touch, taking stands that earned him anger from some members of his own party, and he deserves credit for it.

That kind of work has garnered him compliments from Democratic leaders who say they’ve turned to Posey on legislation because of his willingness to reach across the aisle.

In Congress, Posey would be a strong advocate for NASA and its moon plan as the agency heads into the post-shuttle world, and with it an estimated 3,500 lost jobs at Kennedy Space Center.

He knows the subject well, helping persuade state officials to view space as a Florida priority, get funds to grow new jobs at Cape Canaveral and start turning the Cape into a business-friendly commercial spaceport.

He wants to end secret earmarks, promotes an energy plan that makes alternative fuels such as solar power “the answer” to energy independence and supports a national catastrophe fund that could benefitFlorida.

All that said, we have fundamental differences with Posey on some major issues.

He doesn’t think all Americans deserve access to affordable health care; we do, considering it a basic human right. We also must note Posey and other Florida lawmakers get taxpayer-subsidized health care, as do members of Congress.

He backs the partial privatization of Social Security; we don’t, with today’s stock market collapse proving it would be a disaster.

He supports continuing President Bush’s tax cuts; we don’t, with Congressional Budget Office studies showing they would increase the already staggering $11.3 trillion national debt.

Posey should reconsider these views and understand that, if elected, they would not serve the best interests of many of his constituents. That’s especially true on health care with more than one in five Floridians lacking insurance.

Posey would need to be his own man in Washington, and not think he could represent the politically diverse district by parroting GOP talking points and allowing party bosses to lead him around by the nose.

Posey’s opponents are Democrat Steve Blythe, a Melbourne physician, and independents Frank Zilaitis, a Melbourne attorney, and Trevor Lowing, a Satellite Beach aerospace worker.

Blythe is an articulate advocate for issues including a national health care program, with which we agree. But his opposition to NASA’s manned moon program, saying it’s not worth the cost, is a huge mistake the Space Coast cannot afford.

Meanwhile, the extreme libertarian views of Zilaitis and Lowing’s weak ability to dissect the issues rule them out.

That makes Posey the choice.

Read the article on FLORIDATODAY.com.