McKee says more to his platform than taxes

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
By STEVE DOYLE
Times Staff Writer steve.doyle@htimes.com
Lawyer says immigration is also key issue

Ray McKee has spent so much time talking about eliminating the federal income tax that he's been called a one-issue candidate.

But on Tuesday, McKee told Twickenham Republican Women's Club members that there is more to his candidacy for the suddenly vacant seat representing North Alabama in Congress.

McKee, a 63-year-old Republican, said he favors deporting illegal immigrants, term limits for Congress, more nuclear power plants to ease dependence on fossil fuels, and getting America out of the United Nations.

He also said the U.S. military needs to go hard after Iraqi terrorists and take them out in a "swift and decisive victory."

"Staying 50 years in Iraq is not acceptable to me," said McKee, a retired engineer who practices real estate law in Huntsville.

McKee, who has never before run for public office, announced last April that he would challenge U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville. Few people gave McKee a shot, but he is now the only candidate from either party who has qualified for the election after Cramer's announcement last week that he will not seek a 10th term in Washington.

During his talk at the downtown Holiday Inn, McKee joked that Cramer's decision to retire from politics had forced him to rework his stump speech about how to beat the powerful incumbent.

"Half of my speech is gone now," said McKee.

On illegal immigration, McKee said he would push for deportation of the country's 12 million-plus undocumented residents. Although he acknowledged that it might not be possible to round up that many people, he said it is preferable to giving them amnesty.

"You can believe I will not be voting amnesty," McKee said. "But I fear that is what we're probably going to get somewhere down the road."

McKee also said America should leave the United Nations and create an alternative coalition of democratic countries that would become the world's police force, helping to keep terrorist states in line. Such an organization could prevent wars, he said.

"This is the 21st century; we need to get rid of war," McKee said.

Replacing federal income taxes with a national sales tax remains the centerpiece of McKee's platform. A 23 percent sales tax on goods sounds like a lot, but McKee argues that many companies already charge up to 22 percent extra for their products to recoup the money they spend on income taxes, Medicare and Social Security.

He said America would be flooded with new industrial development if it eliminates federal income taxes, because businesses would be able to operate more cheaply here than in other countries.

"If we're first, all the companies that left here before because of tax consequences" would return, McKee said. "It's going to be like the difference between night and day."

A former engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, among other places, McKee said he read about the so-called "fair tax" plan in June 2006 and has been working ever since to raise awareness about it. He said he entered the race in part because Cramer has been unwilling to co-sponsor a fair tax bill.

"I never thought I'd be politically active in anything," McKee said before his speech, "but I got so caught up in that bill. My thought was that no matter what happened (in the election), I could get the fair tax some press."

More candidates for the Cramer seat are certain to emerge by April 4, the deadline to qualify for the party primaries in June. State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who had been mentioned as a possible candidate, said Tuesday that he will not enter the race.

"After much prayer and thoughtful consideration, I have determined that this is just not the right time for me to run for Congress," Orr said. "Public service ... may one day take me to Washington, D.C., but at this moment, I am honored to continue serving in Montgomery and working hard for my district."

© 2008 The Huntsville Times

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