Utah State Representative Mike Kennedy is challenging Mitt Romney in the June 26th Primary Election. If he wins he will be the Republican US Senate nominee on the November ballot. The winner of that election would replace retiring US Senator, Orin Hatch who has represented Utah since 1977. Kennedy is a family practice physician and an attorney and has served in the Utah House since 2013. Carolyn Murray has this:
Dr. Mike Kennedy is a first generation immigrant who wants to address the problems of border security. He says the government has to make it easier to come to the US legally rather than illegally.
“My dad is an immigrant and I want to make sure those that want to come here and live here and contribute to our society and to our economy and that they can come here and work legally and if they want to work and then go home, they should be able to do that. Immigrants are the life blood of our society and I’ve been blessed to have family that came here and did it legally and we’ve been able to live the American Dream as a result of that so I want to make sure that our doors are open and our borders have to be secure. The federal government has a responsibility to make sure our borders are secure so if you elect me as your US Senator we make sure we have border security and that we’re going to move in the right direction and that we are safe and secure as a society.”
He's uncertain if a border wall will make the country more secure.
“In today’s world, it’s easy for people to think about a wall but in today’s world a wall is a physical symbol. I just talk about border security. The reality is a wall may be a component of that. I’ve not walked the whole border whether it be North or South. I don’t know what’s going to be explicitly useful at different areas…if it’s a wall, fine. You’re right, there are tunnels and there are aircraft that can go over walls. At some point we need to make sure our borders are secure and that our border security has the resources necessary to not only take care of the borders but to treat the people who are coming to our borders with compassion and dignity. AS you mentioned earlier, we’re not separating families at borders, have resources and make sure the children especially are safe and secure and that means staying with their parents.”
Many businesses in the Wasatch Back rely on foreign workers to staff their operations under work visas. Kennedy says he thinks the system should be fixed to accommodate this needed workforce.
He supports the federal tax cuts passed earlier this year and thinks reducing the deficit should come with cutting spending across the board.
“Yea, the deficit is a big issue and I’m in favor of money in your pocket and money in your listener’s pocket and less money in Washington DC’s pocket and then we need to develop programs and taking care of people and it should be community and state that are doing those things…not the federal government…so I’m in favor of tax cuts and cutting spending so we can move in the right direction financially. I work in Medicare and I’ve been a family doctor for 20 years and I see a lot of waste even in Medicare and we can keep our promises to people in Medicare and still make cuts and as a Doctor, I’ve got examples and it’s just one of those things that across the board everyone needs to take a piece….”
He highlights Senator Rand Paul’s program as a way to eliminate wasteful spending.
“It’s called the penny plan and everyone take 1 percent and gee I’d even take half a percent. The reality is there’s waste, I talk to people on the campaign trail and there’s waste in defense. They see waste in Social Security and the reality is we can work on these programs so we’re still maintaining and keeping our promises to these vulnerable citizens who re depending on these programs and at the same time cut waste.”
He says he hasn’t taken money from the NRA but does have an A rating from them. He’s worked with the school safety commission which focuses on mental health and he thinks that’s the way to prevent gun violence.
“So in my case I helped to organize the School Safety Commission which brought people together and recently they’ve promulgated their first generation concepts and a part of that is mental health outreach and making sure people in our communities have resources so that we know and are able to prevent these events before they ever happen.”
He believes that the federal government is overreaching in many areas like school lunches and that funding to support mental health initiatives should come from the State and local communities.
The Primary Election is June 26th.
