Johnson-Wilson race will give 6th District voters clear choice

Barring political upsets of monu- mental proportions, the Republican and Democratic candidates in the 6th Congressional District election in November will be Bill Johnson, who is completing a first two-year term in the House of Representatives, and Charlie Wilson, who lost a re-election bid in 2010.

Johnson is a staunch conservative who believes the federal government, through over burdensome taxes and regulations, is undermining job-creation, especially by small businesses.

Wilson is a Blue Dog Democrat who describes his politics as middle of the road. As the owner of a small business, he does not view government as the enemy and does not agree with those who say that everything Washington does is bad for the country.

Voters in the 6th Congressional District, which includes a part of Mahoning County and Columbiana, Jefferson and Belmont counties, will have a clear choice in the November general election: An incumbent congressman who views the federal government as the problem, and a Democratic challenger who contends that government has a role to play in ensuring the well-being of the American people.

Both candidates have small business roots, but on the important issue of health care they part company. Johnson is adamant that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which Republicans refer to as Obamacare, must be repealed in its entirety.

“We must move towards the goal of making health care affordable and available for all Americans. This can be done, all while ensuring that patients and doctors — not bureaucrats — are making health care decisions,” he says. Instead of “controlling and providing health care,” the federal government should enact policies that will stimulate competition and innovation through the free enterprise system. Steps in this direction include: making insurance portable from job to job and state to state; providing tax incentives so Americans can create health savings accounts; and, pursuing tort reform to reduce the cost of insurance purchased by physicians

Wilson, who voted for the health care reform bill when he was in Congress, says he has always believed the law should be revisited so some of the more controversial provisions can be discussed and changed, if necessary.

However, the owner of Wilson Funeral Homes and Wilson Furniture Store insists that Americans with pre-existing medical conditions should not be denied health insurance, that 26-year-olds should be able to be on their parents’ insurance policies, that the Medicare donut hole should be closed and that breast cancer screening and colonoscopies should be covered.

No death panels

Wilson also is adamant that the Affordable Care Act does not contain so-called death panels, a claim made by the Republicans to demonize the health care reform act.

In the March 6 Republican primary, Johnson is challenged by Victor Smith, who did not respond to The Vindicator’s request for information. In the Democratic primary, Wilson is facing Cas Adulewics, who did not attend an endorsement interview with the newspaper.

The Vindicator endorses Johnson and Wilson in their respective primaries and looks forward to a general election that focuses on the issues.