Allen: I'm running to restore U.S.' stature

George Allen says he is in the race for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat because he wants to create jobs and help America recapture its lost prominence.

The Republican candidate stopped by The News Virginian on Friday and touted his “Blueprint for America’s Comeback” and offered thoughts on President Barack Obama’s revisions to the No Child Left Behind law and on his principal opponent in the 2012 Senate race, Democrat Tim Kaine.

The Allen blueprint calls for reducing the U.S. tax on job-creating businesses to 20 percent, for an energy plan that will add as many as a million jobs and for balancing the federal budget with a constitutional amendment and line-item veto.

Of his tax cuts for businesses, Allen said, “The government does not create jobs; it makes sure the environment is right.”

The candidate is calling for a jobs and family impact analysis that would require congressional approval of any regulation with a financial impact of more than $100 million.

“The decision on regulations that impact jobs and the economy should be decided by the representatives of the democracy,” he said.

As for energy, Allen said that, if elected next year, he would approach the energy issue “like a dog on a bone.”

He said it is time to exploit America’s energy resources.

“We are number one in the world in energy resources with coal, natural gas and oil,” he said.

Allen said the economic ripple effect of coal is seen in a company in Roanoke that manufactures the rail cars for coal transport, and the jobs in Virginia ports tied to coal.

In line with this view on energy, the former governor and U.S. senator also supports offshore drilling.

“We ought to explore off the coast and share the royalties with Virginia,” he said.

And Allen spoke of America’s bond rating being recently downgraded.

He proposes rolling back federal spending to 2008 levels, passing the balanced budget amendment championed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Republican who represents this area, and banning federal earmarks until the budget is balanced.

Education reform was one of the milestones of Allen’s gubernatorial administration in Virginia with the advent of the Standards of Learning accountability program.

He was pleased to see Obama unveil a plan Friday to offer waivers from No Child provisions to states, and to have the states design student accountability models.

Allen calls No Child a “disappointment” and says the law is misleading. He says it is wrong that a school can be judged a failure simply because one of the demographic subgroups in its student population does not pass required No Child testing.

As for Kaine, Allen says his probable opponent in the 2012 race is supporting the Obama jobs program that he calls one of the largest tax increases in American history.

Allen said his blueprint would work better than a federal tax increase.

And he said his record as governor and Kaine’s reveals a contrast between the hopefuls.

While Allen used lower taxes to help create 300,000 private sector jobs, he said there were 100,000 fewer jobs during Kaine’s administration in Richmond.

However, Kaine press secretary Brandi Hoffine said Allen’s political past reflects spending increases.

“As Virginia’s governor, Allen increased spending by more than 45 percent,” she said. “As a senator, Allen voted for budgets that added more than $3 trillion to the national debt, voted repeatedly against rules that would have required Congress to pay for the legislation it passed and voted to shift Social Security funds to private accounts — all while voting to raise his own pay.”

On the other hand, Hoffine said Kaine enjoyed an admirable record while governor despite the bad economy.

“Governor Kaine cut state spending by more than $5 billion, the most of any governor in Virginia’s history,” she said. “During the worst economy since the Great Depression, he recruited new businesses to relocate to Virginia, earned Virginia the designation of ‘Best State for Business’ by Forbes Magazine all four years and kept unemployment nearly 3 percent below the national average. Only one candidate in this Senate race has a record of fiscal responsibility and sound economic management, and that’s Governor Kaine.”

The Democrat has expressed general support for the Obama jobs program, and he also wants tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest Americans to pay for a payroll tax cut for the middle class and small businesses.

James Madison University political scientist Bob Roberts points out that Allen and Kaine served as governors during radically different national economies.

“You can’t blame the governor [Kaine] for one of the worst meltdowns in history,” Roberts said.

The professor added that when Allen was elected in 1993, the Virginia and national economies were booming.

“It was during the dot-com bubble,” Roberts said.

He said Allen’s blueprint could be important in the Senate race.

“Symbolically, the plan is worthwhile,” Roberts said. “If it is challenged on the details, it could be much more difficult.”

And he said Kaine’s fortunes in the race are tied to how Obama fares in the Old Dominion.

“If Obama can win Virginia, Kaine will win,” Roberts said.