On The Issues: Dean Vs. David, US Congress 4th District Of PA

With Election Day just weeks away, we're breaking down candidates and their policy positions in several key races, including the battle for Pennsylvania's 4th District in U.S. Congress. Following the redrawing of Pennsylvania's electoral maps, most of the area that was geographically in the old 13th District, represented by Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle, will move into the 4th District. Boyle is running for re-election in the 2nd, district, thus leaving the 4th wide open.

Two new candidates will compete for the seat: local state representative, professor, and Democrat Madeleine Dean, and businessman, whistleblower, and Republican Dan David.

DISTRICT

The newly redrawn 4th district covers most of Montgomery County, and a small slice of eastern Berks County.

AGE AND HOMETOWN

Dean: 59, Glenside

David: 40, Skippack

EDUCATION

Dean: BA, La Salle University, JD, Widener University

David: BA, Northern Michigan University, executive education program graduate at the University of Pennsylvania

EXPERIENCE

Dean: Dean is a former trial lawyer who transitioned to become a professor of English at La Salle University. She was elected as Abington Township commissioner and then as state representative in Pennsylvania's 153rd Distric.t

David: David has extensive experience as a businessman, co-founding GeoInvesting and serving as a whistleblower in cases of fraud involving US investors in Chinese companies. He currently is the CIO of F.G. Alpha Management, a Montgomery County-based hedge fund.

ON HEALTHCARE

Dean: "Every person deserves to be able to have access to affordable, quality, and comprehensive healthcare. The Affordable Care Act started this process. Madeleine wants to work in Congress to support universal healthcare that is economically balanced to fulfill the promise that our government made in 2010. Madeleine will not abandon Montgomery County's seniors. She will make sure that those who have dutifully paid into our security net have access to Social Security and Medicare in their retirement. She will work to protect and expand Social Security and Medicare, and defend against attacks to these programs in the name of more tax cuts for the wealthy. Madeleine stands unequivocally with women in their right to control their own bodies. She believes safe, accessible, quality reproductive health is a fundamental right and need of our communities...Madeleine has helped ensure that a woman’s right to choose is protected and will continue to protect any and all attacks to Roe V Wade as a member of Congress."

David: "As a small business owner and consumer of health care, I see the cost of providing and accessing quality health care skyrocketing. Patients are the ones bearing the brunt of these costs in the form of higher premiums, co-pays, and prescription drug prices. The average family now faces $8,000 in out of pocket expenses above and beyond their premiums. The health care problems facing our nation today are the result of decades of ineffective public policy, a failure to pass meaningful tort reform and bad business practices. Obamacare has not delivered on its basic promises and should be replaced."

ON FIREARMS

Dean: "After the shooting in Sandy Hook, Madeleine co-founded the gun safety group PA SAFE Caucus authoring legislation for universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, and a ban on “bump stocks.” In Congress, Madeleine will help pass common sense legislation to make sure weapons of war cannot be used to kill innocent people, and repeal federal laws that bar funding for research on gun violence as a public health issue. Enough is enough."

David: "We will uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms and support the protection of such individual rights recognized in recent Supreme Court decisions (Heller & McDonald). We believe that universal background checks and banning bump stocks do not infringe on our 2nd Amendment protections. Thorough background checks should help keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, but to be effective they require accurate information. Too often, authorities have missed obvious warning signs and dangerous individuals have obtained weapons. We must have better coordination between law enforcement and mental health professionals and a system of due process to remove guns from unfit owners."

ON THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

Dean: "The opioid epidemic has exploded over the past few years—killing 64,000 people last year in America--we are only beginning to see it for what it is: a disease that we must treat with robust funding for programs, research and education; punishment for the people and industries that profit from addiction; and compassion for those it afflicts."

David: "After decades of progress made against drug abuse, opioid addiction is now epidemic. Heroin use nearly doubled from 2003 to 2013 and overdose deaths from prescription painkillers and other opioids have quadrupled. Montgomery County alone had 253 overdose deaths in 2016. Philadelphia has some of the purest and cheapest supply of heroin in the nation. This has been an epic failure by local politicians and State Representatives, who all seem to claim opioids as a top issue. We will fight this problem by attacking the root of the opioid epidemic by supporting alternative treatments for pain management and by funding better education and rehabilitation efforts to reduce demand. We should be treating addiction like a disease and applying the appropriate remedies. We must reduce the amount of heroin entering our country by better securing our borders."

ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Dean: "Lawmakers have a responsibility to protect and preserve our environment, air, water, and land for ourselves and for the generations to come. This means putting conservation before exploitation of our natural resources, and robustly funding organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who oversee essential regulatory practices. The United States must be a global leader in environmental preservation. This starts with our country rejoining the Paris Environmental Agreement. Technological advancements have also made 100% renewable energies attainable within our lifetime. With governmental commitment, the rapidly growing green energy industry has the ability to stimulate our economy, create jobs, and help our environment."

David: "We believe our environmental policy must respect the objective findings of the scientific community, including that climate change is a concern for humankind. We need evolutionary—not revolutionary—change to combat global warming while preserving our quality of life, which depends on affordable energy. Too often, “green” energy spending has benefited a handful of politically connected companies and wealthy individuals. Regulations that result in sending high paying manufacturing jobs to less regulated countries are not helping our environment."

ON ISRAEL

Dean: "The United States and Israel have had a long and prosperous history together. As our most important ally in the Middle East, we must remain dedicated to preserving the sovereignty of the Jewish state’s rightful home. This includes aiding in her defense against both financial and physical threats, and working on diplomatic final status negotiations for a peaceful resolution to conflicts in the region."

David: "We will staunchly defend the State of Israel. The United States should support the Jewish State’s right to defend itself through military aid and by backing Israel in the UN. Israel is an important ally in the war on terrorism and the most democratic country in the Middle East. Israel and her neighbors will best achieve peace through direct negotiations. Historically, support for Israel has largely been bipartisan and it is our sincere hope that will return."

ON EDUCATION

Dean: "Ensuring quality includes making sure students and educators are well supported with adequate funding and safe learning environments for pre-K-12, special education, college, and technical training. And for students that choose to further their education -- they should not be burdened by life-long debt. If you can buy a car at 3% interest, then there is no reason that anyone should have to pay more for an education. If elected, Madeleine will work to cap interest rates for prospective students, and work to help students with debt to refinance at a fair rate. Students should be the ones that profit the most from their education -- not the lenders.

David: "The United States ranks 1st in the world in education spending yet we have fallen to 30th in math. Our children deserve better. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Common Core curriculum have not improved our global competitiveness in key STEM metrics. We will work to amend NCLB to allow more local input into curriculum decisions, while insuring students and teachers will be equipped to succeed in today’s global economy. Quality vocational education can provide students with marketable skills and excellent potential earnings. Progress in education must be measured by outcomes, not spending."

ON IMMIGRATION

Dean: "The Trump Administration terminated the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA), jeopardizing the future of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants. These immigrants are our neighbors, our co-workers, and our friends. We cannot allow these hateful policies to force out so many promising young members of our communities. We must urge Congress to protect the Dreamers and pass the Dream Act."

David: "Any national immigration policy should put the interests of our country and citizens first. We support securing borders and oppose any attempts to make either Montgomery or Berks a sanctuary county. While being a “sanctuary” sounds compassionate, we should realize this violates Federal law and comes at the cost of legal immigrants and American citizens paying more for less social services. We cannot pick and choose which laws we decide to follow – either we change the law or follow it. We should create a path to citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants that protects their legal status. Immigrants who enter our southern border illegally are often forced to deal with drug cartels or other dangerous criminal elements that are involved with human trafficking. The current system fails these people and the American worker. I am the son of an immigrant and also have ancestors who fought in the American Revolution. I know immigrants have made great contributions to our county and culture and have overcome many obstacles. We should be selecting the very best from around the world that, like us, wish to pursue the American dream."

Image via Madeleine Dean Campaign and Dan David Campaign