Opinion

CHRIS CARNEY, who has a background in counter-terrorism work, displays a command of many of the most important issues facing the nation.

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Chris Carney looks for common-sense solutions and seeks bipartisan cooperation.

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That knowledge, combined with Carney’s knack for voting independently rather than solely along party lines, makes him the better choice to serve the people of the 10th U.S. Congressional District, which encompasses much of Northeastern Pennsylvania including Wyoming County and Luzerne County’s Back Mountain area.

Carney, a first-term Democrat, recently resisted party pressure by voting against the $700 billion package aimed at bolstering Wall Street financial firms and U.S. banks. “We were encouraged (by party leadership) to vote in favor … and I voted no – twice,” he said.

Carney called the bailout bill “economic Prozac,” saying it was designed to instill confidence in the economy but lacked fixes to the underlying problems. Hearings should have been held prior to Congress’ hasty vote, he said.

The Susquehanna County resident, who formerly worked as an intelligence adviser at the Pentagon, was chosen as a freshman legislator to chair the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight.

He supports the hiring of 8,000 new border patrol agents and has identified spending (specifically in the procurement of security-related goods and services) that he believes is wasteful and should be eliminated. He opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Carney wants to help businesses grow by lowering corporate taxes and minimizing health care expenses. Government should play a role in “the preventative side” of health care, he said, such as pushing for regulations that would decrease hospital-acquired infections, which needlessly cost billions of dollars to treat.

A former associate professor of political science, Carney stressed he tries to bridge partisan politics. When hiring people to staff his congressional office, he said, “The one question I did not ask is ‘What is your party affiliation?’ ” The resulting mix was about half Republican, half Democrat, he said.

“Frankly,” said Carney, “that’s the way to govern.”

We agree.