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1st CD Candidates on Guns, Jobs: More Contrasts in Leadership

Friday, February 26, 2010

Courtesy of the "Leaving My Marc" blog, here are two more videos from the 1st CD Democratic candidate forum held last weekend in Stafford County. First, here are Krystal Ball and Scott Robinson on gun issues.



As "Leaving My Marc" points out, both candidates are supporters of the 2nd Amendment, but only Krystal Ball is absolutely clear where she stands on this issue:
...we need to focus on how do violent criminals get their weapons. By and large they do not get them from retail outlets, they are getting them on the black market, they are getting them from friends who bought them on the black market. And what we really need to focus on to cut down on violent crime, which is absolutely a plague of this nation, is anti-trafficking legislation..
For his part, Scott Robinson claims that this is "not really a federal issue; it’s really a state issue." Well, alrighty then (rolls eyes)...

Now, on to the issue of job creation. As "Leaving My Marc" notes, Krystal Ball "currently owns an educational software company" and has extensive "experience as a successful small business owner." This comes through loud and clear as you listen to her talk about "the sort of incentives that can help small business owners," including "access to credit [which] is absolutely critical." Krystal also "wants to invest in green technology and provide incentives for companies and entrepreneurs to locate their business within the district, especially in Economic Empowerment Zones." And, most impressively, she "wants to invest in smart grid technology, which would allow alternative energy sources to become viable and potentially lead to individual’s ability to become energy entrepreneurs through selling their excess energy through the grid." Great stuff.



In contrast, Scott Robinson's prescription for job creation in the 1st CD apparently comes down to one thing - broadband. Not that there's anything wrong with broadband, in fact it's a great thing, but obviously it takes a lot more to jumpstart economic growth than simply hooking more people up with broadband internet access. As "Leaving My Marc" points out, expanding broadband is a great idea, but "that can’t be the entire plan." Fortunately, Krystal Ball has a great deal more in her toolkit than yet another one of the technological "magic bullets" that Scott Robinson seems so enamored with.