Politics & Government

Meet the Candidates Running in the Second Congressional District

Taking a close look at U.S. Rep. Steve Israel and Republican challenger John Gomez.

The Situation

Steve Israel, John Gomez and Anthony Tolda face off  Tuesday to represent the Second Congressional District of  New York in the U.S. House of Representatives. It includes all of the Town of Huntingtonand parts of the towns of Babylon, Islip, and Smithtown in Suffolk County as well as part of the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County.

Fast Facts

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Israel, the Democratic Party candidate, is also running on the Independence and Working Families party lines. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2000, said he wants to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses and increase the income cutoff line from $250,000 to $380,000. He also supports the clean energy bill that he says will create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign countries for oil. He said he supports  freezing  Congressional pay and voting to end existing tax breaks for large corporations that hide their assets in offshore accounts. He also supports increasing benefits for veterans.

Gomez, the Republican Party candidate, is also running on the Conservative Party line. He said the "four corners" of his campaign are cutting taxes and spending, reducing bureaucracy and strengthening our national defense. He  wants to repeal "ObamaCare" and instead supports tort reform to control health-care costs, and extend the "Bush tax cuts" for everybody as well as implement a further cut on capital gains tax. And, he said, "despite all the warnings and all the attacks we are still not safe from foreign enemies who have resolved to harm us."  He also says that "the effect of releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere is a topic of debate centering on unsubstantiated claims."

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Tolda, the Constitution party candidate, graduated from Bethpage High School in 1999 and as a financial consultant said he is the best candidate for the office because of his experience with banking and financial planning. He believes in a 10-point plan, outlined on his Website, which would take the government out of the economic process, giving the private sector more control.

The Rundown

  • Candidate:                   Steve Israel      John Gomez    Anthony Tolda
  • Age:                                 52                         48                         28
  • Residence:                   Dix Hills           Bayport              Huntington
  • Political Party:        Democrat         Republican         Independent
  • Website:                       Israel                  Gomez                Tolda

Education:

Israel earned a B.A. from George Washington University in 1982.

Gomez earned a B.A. from Houston University in 1984 and a J.D. from Fordham University in 1992.

Tolda briefly attending Farmingdale University and then achieved his series 7 and 63 financial licenses through independent study, and has also studied the financial crisis extensively. 

Professional:

Israel was president and CEO for the Institute on Holocaust and Law and served as a Town of Huntington Board member from 1993 until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. He has served on the House Appropriations Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Gomez is CEO of a telecommunications consulting company called Eastern Field Service. He has also been a political analyst and commentator on television shows including "The Sean Hannity Show." He formerly hosted a radio show on WLIE.

Tolda is a financial planner.

Here is how each candidate stands on a few key issues, with answers for Israel and Gomez taken from the candidate's literature. Tolda was interviewed.

How would you create jobs in sluggish economy?

Anthony Tolda: I would create jobs by getting government out of the economy. Meddling by the government prevents jobs in the private sector and that's where jobs need to be made. I think we should reinstitute the Glass Steagall Act which would be incorporated as part of my 10-point place. The Act prevents commercial and investment banks from being involved in the same business and providing bonds for one another, something I think could have prevented the banking crisis.

Steve Israel: Supported a clean energy bill that he says will not only help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create the next generation jobs in alternative energy industries. Also during the 111th Congress, Reps. Israel and Jay Inslee of Washington launched the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, a House caucus to promote a green energy policy agenda. Israel says this plan spurs advanced energy by incentivizing new markets and new supplies, thereby creating the next generation of new jobs.

The plan offers investment and production tax credits to companies that are working on renewable energy technologies like wind, solar, hydrogen, and biofuels Israel also supported the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE), which was signed into law on March 18, 2010. This act included a new payroll tax exemption that provides businesses with an exemption from Social Security payroll taxes for every worker hired in 2010 who has been unemployed for at least 60 days. The longer a business has a new qualified worker on its payroll, the greater the tax benefit. The House of Representatives amendments incorporate an IRS fix to make sure that small businesses can take advantage of the payroll tax holiday.

Also, he supported the Small Business Expensing. Extends Recovery Act that doubles the amount small businesses can immediately write off their taxes for capital investments and purchases of new equipment made in 2010 from $125,000 to $250,000.

John Gomez: Said his first step would cut the capital gains tax. "It has been estimated that if the capital gains tax rose to 20%, 200,000 more jobs would be lost per year. Yet this is the Pelosi-Israel plan," he said.   "My plan is to cut capital gains tax from its current level of 15% to 10%.  The Wall Street Journal reported that with such a cut the U.S. economy would experience an annual increase of 400,000 jobs."

Second, he would cut the estate tax. "Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Cameron T. Smith found that repealing the death tax would increase small business capital by $1.6 trillion dollars and allow the creation of 1.5 million jobs. Last I checked, the Pelosi-Israel Stimulus Package cost taxpayer's $787 billion dollars and fell far short of these job creation numbers.  That's not a solution Long Islanders can afford," he said. 

He said he would also restore the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. "Restoring these tax cuts will not only give small businesses more control of their capital and expand their hiring power, but they will also put more of your hard-earned cash back in your pocket - where it belongs," he said.

A project touting affordable housing in Huntington Station was voted down in September. Are these developments needed or is there another solution?

Gomez: "The concept of 'affordable housing' on Long Island is so foreign that the words themselves now bring to mind some notion of government subsidized housing.  In fact, many communities are adopting various affordable housing programs, but these programs are unsuccessful because they fail to address the cause of the housing problem on Long Island," he said.

Simply put, housing is too expensive on Long Island because there are taxes, fees and costly regulations applicable to every aspect of building, buying, selling, financing and maintaining a house on Long Island, he said.  In the end, regulations and taxes so inflate the cost of a house on Long Island that it is beyond the reach of a young family.

Government taxes and regulations have priced homes on Long Island beyond the reach of the normal working family.  Government meddling and the inclination to tax every aspect of housing must be stopped and turned around so that housing prices on Long Island can come down.

Israel: Supports revitalization and redevelopment of foreclosed properties for affordable housing. He also voted yes on providing $70 million for Section 8 Housing vouchers, funding an additional 10,000 affordable housing vouchers.

Tolda: When someone asks me if I want the government involved in affordable housing plans, they are essentially asking if I want another banking crisis. The government should not get involved because when they do, they usually put Section 8 housing next to average housing. I spoke with many residents in the Millennium Hills development in Melville and they said they feel like prisoners in their own homes, because of the proximity of the Section 8 housing. The government interference in the housing and mortgage market was ultimately the catalyst for the mortgage crisis, so no I don't think the government should be involved in these. I think the fair tax system would be a better solution. 

The tax burden on Long Island is driving young adults away. How would you solve this?

Israel: Said he believes that it's unfair for families on Long Island to pay higher property taxes, energy and housing costs, and yet still get taxed at the same rate as families in other parts of the country whose cost of living is half as much as ours.

He is working to pass legislation that would take the regional cost of living into account when determining a family or individual's federal income tax. Under this plan, many Long Islanders would move into a lower tax bracket and get a tax cut.

Israel said he is against Gomez's plan to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction on income taxes.

Tolda: The fair tax system is a bi-partisan bill currently in the House of Representatives that abolishes all taxes, including property taxes, and might even help lower rent rates. Ultimately the whole world would be paying into the tax system.  This would help individuals rent until they can afford average homes. As Americans we have a unique ability to shape our government – if we're so broke, we can't do that. We're stuck with representatives shaping our world for us instead of doing what we ask. 

Gomez: "High taxes on Long Island are breaking up families, driving up costs and harming our society, he said. Our state income tax rate is as high as 6.85%, our sales tax rate is 8.625% and our property taxes are crippling. In addition, there are more "fees," "surcharges," "tolls" and other passive taxes on Long Island than there are in almost any other area of the country," Gomez said.  "We pay a 50-cent tax on every gallon of gas we buy. We pay additional taxes on alcohol and tobacco. We pay taxes to go to the beach, fees to own a dog, and there are surcharges on our phone, internet and utility bills.  We pay a mortgage tax to finance our homes and more fees to satisfy that mortgage when we finally pay it off.  There is a transfer tax if we sell our home and a "mansion" tax if we buy a really nice one."

"At every turn there is tax and usually a high one. Rather than cutting taxes and reducing the size and reach of government, our politicians spend their time looking for new items and actions to tax. Local taxes are too high and the services rendered in return are meager, often undesired and unfairly distributed. Simply stated, taxes on long Island must be drastically cut," he said.


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