Frank, Bielat, other candidates, offer different visions

Wicked Local staff photo by David Gordon

Candidates for the 4th Congressional District seat, including (from left to right) Barney
Frank (D), Sean Bielat (R), Susan Allen (I), and Donald Jordan (Tax Revolt Independent)
debate on Sunday night at Lassell College during a state wide candidates forum sponsored by
the League of Women Voters.

By Laura Paine
Wicked Local Newton
Posted Oct 17, 2010 @ 11:34 PM
Last update Oct 18, 2010 @ 06:35 PM
Newton — Democratic Congressman Barney Frank repeated his call to reduce U.S. troops
abroad while his Republican opponent, Sean Bielat, warned that the move would put the
nation in danger.
“We have to remain abroad so we can remain safe at home,” Bielat, a major in the Marine
Corps Reserves, said during a forum at Lasell College on Sunday. “It’s dangerous, wrong and
we can’t go in that direction.”
But Frank, a Newton resident who has served in Congress for nearly three decades,
maintained that in order to bring money back to the U.S. and to lower the deficit, it is time to
stop being the watchdog for other nations.
“We are now bailing out nations all over the world, subsidizing their budgets,” Frank said.
“I don’t want America to be a bucket of money for other countries.”
The pair were meeting for their fifth debate this month, but for the first time were joined by
the two other candidates on the ballot for the 4th Congressional seat, independent Susan
Allen and tax revolt independent Donald Jordan.
Jordan said he would try to cut back on the size of various branches of the air force and
close at least half of the 800 armed force bases the U.S. operates throughout the world.
Allen said the only reasons to go war are in the event of a domestic invasion or
insurrection.
“Iraq did not invade the U.S. and the Afghan government did not attack the U.S., either,”
Allen said. “We had a criminal attack on the World Trade Centers. We need to face who the
real enemy is, and it is an unsustainable monetary system, and we need to look this in the eye
and analyze exactly how our money is being backed and why.”
The four candidates all agreed that one of the main focuses of any candidate elected to
office should be the creation of jobs. Frank defended the work he has done with financial
reform as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, while Bielat has continued
to challenge Frank’s role in the housing crisis.
“The direction I favor is the government returning to its people, constraint in its use of
authority and empowers individuals to succeed on their own merit,” Bielat said,
Jordon said the platform and plans he has outline on his website will be the way he
conducts himself if he is elected to Congress.
“If elected, I have promised to sign that as a sworn affidavit with clear instructions for my
campaign staff should I deviate form that platform to file proceedings against me for
perjury,” said Jordan.
Frank said any constituent who needs an appointment with him gets one as soon as possible
and if they call him, they will get a call back from him personally.
“I am open as I can be, but there are people who tell me I am too open and diplomatic,”
Frank said. “Everything I say and do is out there. I am a great believer of democracy.”
Allen said if she were elected, she would hold legislators accountable for any wrongdoings
and would put “any member of Congress who gifts a foreign power … in prison because that
is grand larceny.”
The debate between the four Congressional candidates was part of a daylong forum
organized by the Newton League of Woman Voters.
State auditor
During another panel, the three candidates for State Auditor, Democrat Suzanne Bump,
Republican Mary Z. Connaughton and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Nathanael Alexander
Fortune discussed what they believed the role of the auditor really is in comparison to what it
isn’t.
“I think it is important we have a [Certified Public Accountant] as a state auditor,” said
Connaughton, a CPA. “I think the state auditor can let the people know [what is happening],
good or bad, because when we hear about the corruption on Beacon Hill, people assume it is
rampant, and the auditor can let them know exactly what is going on and help them restore
trust and honor in government.”
But Bump does not believe it is necessary to be a CPA.
“Our state auditor needs to be a leader, someone who can make government work better
hold agencies accountable,” Bump said. “Accountants are good at determining how money is
being spent, but the role of the state auditor is not to be the chief accountant. I intend to
retool the office to make sure it’s working as effectively and efficiently as it can. It is long
overdue for a peer review. We have to make sure the office is being managed in such as way
as to focus on what we are getting out of state government.”
Fortune said he would want the office to be more transparent, but that people need to know
what the auditor does.
“My party does not accept money from industry insiders or lobbyists,” Fortune said. “As a
result, I am only going to be answering to you. We can have a government that works for us,
listens to us and I wont be replacing your priorities with the industry insiders. All we have to
do to get what we want is vote for it.”
Treasurer candidates
Closing out the evening were the candidates for State Treasurer, Democrat Steve Grossman
and Republican Karyn Polito.
While Grossman proposed moving money from large banks to smaller Massachusetts banks
as a way to stimulate the economy, Polito agued that would be too risky. But Grossman
responded by saying that even Richard Tisei, the Republican candidate from Lieutenant
Governor, has said he thinks Grossman’s plan is a good one.
Grossman and Polito also had different positions on Question 3, the ballot question that
would roll back the state’s sales tax to 3 percent. Grossman is opposed. Polito said she
supports a 5 percent sales tax, but going to 3 percent is the only way to get there.
“Unfortunately, it’s the only way we can get the sales tax down to 5 percent, because when
they raised it last year, it was a money-grabber on Beacon Hill,” she said. “They weren’t
thinking about the people, they were thinking about their own pockets and budget.”
“We have a $2 billion deficit we are staring in the face,” Grossman said. “That balloons to
$4.5 bill if Question 3 passes. The reality is we can’t afford it. My opponent is the only
person running statewide who supports [Question 3].”
Grossman and Polito were also asked if they would have allowed the city of Newton to
build the new Newton North High School if they had been treasurer at the time the project
received approval for state funding.
Politio said she wouldn’t have allowed the project to move forward, while Grossman did not
address the question directly.
Other forums held earlier in the day included some of the candidates in the race for the
Secretary of the Commonwealth, as well as the candidates for the Representative of the 10th
Middlesex District, Democrat Peter Koutoujian and Republican James Dixon. Cancelled were
the forums for Sheriff of the Middlesex County and Attorney General.
Statewide elections will be held on Nov. 2.
Laura Paine can be reached at lpaine@cnc.com.
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