The Macon County News covered a visit by Democrat Cecil Bothwell, who is running for Heath Shuler’s seat. Bothwell indicated this was not the time to cut government spending. He justified this position by referring to FDR’s make-work programs and a historically low interest rate on US Treasury bonds. Bothwell would not privatize Social Security or Medicare. Instead, he would eliminate the $106,800 cap on annual personal contributions. Bothwell would also like to improve the current successes of Medicare by extending benefits to cover the middle class for the short-term and eventually converting to universal healthcare.
To pay for the expanded entitlement programs, Bothwell would cut military spending. If he was calling for activating the Constitutionally-allowed practice of issuing letters of marque and reprisal, I think I agree on this point. He also called for making the likes of Mitt Romney pay the same tax rate on capital gains taxes as wage earners pay on income taxes. In addition, Bothwell would like to impose a quarter-cent tax on financial transactions and commodity trades.
