House hopeful vows to be a 'strong voice'

Democratic congressional candidate Patrick Hays said Friday that he won't accept perks that some congressman accept and he would be "a strong voice for fiscal sanity" in Congress.

"I am running for Congress to get things done, to shake things up, and to work each and every day for the people of Arkansas, and to put our fiscal house in order and to get the economy going again," the former North Little Rock mayor told several dozen people attending the Political Animals Club's noon luncheon in the Governor's Mansion.

Hays also criticized Republican congressional candidate French Hill several days days before the Little Rock banker vies against state Rep. Ann Clemmer of Benton and retired U.S. Army Col. Colonel Conrad Reynolds of Conway for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. Hays said that Hill will fit right in in Washington.

Hays said Hill told a television reporter in December that he didn't feel negatively about what was happening in the nation's capital, where he previously worked for the U.S. Senate and President George H.W. Bush, and he didn't feel negatively about the environment there.

"Let me tell you unequivocally, I do feel negative about the vibe in Washington and that's why I am going up there to change that vibe," Hays said. "I am not going to let us stay the same way that it has been going in the last 10 to 15 years with partisanship just strangling the country.

"I don't want to learn the Washington game. I want to change it, and I want to make it more like the city hall that I have had the chance to be part of for 24 years," he said.

Hill later replied: "I'm not negative, because unlike my opponent's big government allies in Washington, I know how to get things done for taxpayers.

"We have enough career politicians in Washington. It's time to send a businessman who will fight to stop out of control spending, job killing over regulation and Washington's insistence that every problem has a one size fits all federal solution," Hill said in a written statement.

Hays said congressmen shouldn't be paid a salary if they don't approve a federal budget, and he won't use taxpayer dollars to print and mail campaign-like flyers to constituents. He said he also won't use taxpayer dollars for overseas trips, except to military installations.

"I will not accept any special money to pay for my own health care," Hays said.

Hays' campaign manager, David Furr, later explained that Hays and his staff won't accept the federal government's employer contribution toward their health-insurance coverages.

Hays "would have to buy his own insurance through the [federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] and staff would have to buy it through [that federal law], and they should not have any special subsidy that no other American would receive," Furr said.

Hays said the federal government should get back to what worked under President Bill Clinton, and that's making investments in America and its people and "seriously managing the federal budget," Hays said.

The federal government's budget deficit can be eliminated "if we get serious," he said.

Congress should restore pay-as-you-go budget rules, limit discretionary spending, establish a bipartisan fiscal commission, and create a sunset commission to recommend which programs aren't cost-effective and are worthy of termination, Hays said.

The nation's roads, bridges and other infrastructure need to be modernized; college should be more affordable; and public schools should be improved, he said. Outsourcing by American companies needs to be reduced, more job training should be provided for workers to get higher-paying jobs, and investment in research and development needs to be expanded, he said. He said he would like to serve on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, if elected.

Metro on 05/17/2014

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