Thread: Price, Konop take aim at immigration in debate

http://www.mdjonline.com/articles/2006/ ... 224357.txt

Price, Konop take aim at immigration in debate

Sunday, July 9, 2006 1:12 AM EDT

By Ashley Fuller

Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

CANTON - Immigration, jobs and taxes are the top issues for the two candidates seeking the Republican nomination to serve the U.S. Sixth Congressional District.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Roswell) faces a challenge in the July 18 primary from political newcomer John Konop of Canton. The primary's winner will face Democrat challenger Steve Sinton of Marietta in November's general election.

The district includes portions of east Cobb and south Cherokee County and north Fulton County. Under new boundaries that take effect Jan. 1, the district will include all of Cherokee County as well as portions of Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties.


Price, 51, said he is running for a second term in Congress because he wants to keep serving the district.

"It is an important job and it takes serious people to make changes," said Price, an orthopedic surgeon who served in the Georgia Senate for eight years before running for Congress. "It is not a two-year job. It will be as long as the people in the district want to send me."

Konop, 44, said he is running for office out of concern about the direction the country is headed.

"We are watching our jobs go overseas and we have to reverse that trend," the financial services specialist said.

Price said it is important to secure the nation's borders as part of the effort to fix the problem of illegal immigration.

"We must secure the border because we told the American people in 1986 that we would do it," he said, referring to a law passed in 1986 to reduce and ultimately stop illegal immigration. "At that time, we said we would control the borders and offer a path to citizenship. We did a good job offering a path to citizenship, but an awful job controlling the borders."

Konop said the best way to control illegal immigration is to go after companies that hire them.


"Just enforce the laws that we have now. We can fine companies up to $10,000 per violation," he said. "Once we start fining companies $20 million, how fast will they stop hiring illegal aliens?"

To create more jobs, Price said the federal government must permanently cut taxes.

"That will put more money back into the hands of the people to decide how to invest it and create jobs," he said.

Price said job growth already is strong, with 125,000 jobs created in the country last month and a national unemployment rate of 4.6, which is at its lowest rate in several years.

Konop said the government should stop giving incentives to large corporations and begin investing more in small business.

"Why does Wal-Mart need corporate welfare? Why give incentives to Exxon?" he said. "We should invest in small business, which really fuel our economy."

By investing in small businesses, the government would eventually be able to lower taxes, Konop said.

"If we invest in small businesses and entrepreneurs, they will create American businesses and American jobs, good paying jobs. More competition will drive wages up," he said. "If wages go up and people are making more money, we could lower taxes."

Konop also voiced some support for a national sales tax, known as the Fair Tax, which Price also said he supported.

"The current tax policy is fundamentally flawed at odds with what we say we want. We want ingenuity. We want entrepreneurship," Price said. "The retail sales tax will allow us to compete with any nation in the world and we will have an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen."

A debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club between Price and Konop will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

afuller@mdjonline.com

This all sounds great!!

I wish our country could be heading this way.
It obviously makes too much sense to impliment into action. (how sad)

I know BOOSH is still going to try and declare this type of thinking as "Anti-globalism" and what the White House calls "isolationism".

hmmmm.... more of those "ism" things again..