GOP primary to pick from six eager to vie with Nye

The Republican who takes on U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye in what is expected to be a tough November election campaign believes that reviving the nation's economy depends on cutting taxes and government spending, while limiting regulations that stifle job creation.

Just who that Republican is will be determined June 8, when the GOP holds a primary for the 2nd Congressional District.

All six of the candidates say that among the best ways that government can help the economy is to get out of the way.

All dislike last year's multibillion-dollar economic stimulus legislation that was approved by Congress with the support of Nye, a Democrat in his first two-year term.

The Republican primary, open to all voters, takes place in a district that includes all of Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore and parts of Norfolk and Hampton. Norfolk's section is a crescent-shaped area that stretches from West Ghent and Larchmont north and east through Ocean View and south to Pleasant Point.

The field of one woman and five men includes several military veterans and independent business owners, who - with one exception - are making their first bids for elected office.

D elve deeper into their views on job creation, taxes and government spending, and differences emerge.

Scott Rigell, owner of Freedom Automotive, said the bane of entrepreneurs is the delay in starting a business caused by prolonged government reviews.

Establishing wind farms off Virginia's coast, for example, will take seven to nine years because of regulatory delays, Rigell said. In Great Britain, those projects get approved in two years, he said.

"I would challenge every single regulatory time limit on the federal books," he said. "I believe the government... is inhibiting job growth versus facilitating it."

Bert Mizusawa, a defense consultant and brigadier general in the Army Reserve, said he would boost the local economy by focusing on protecting and building up the district's military assets.

Mizusawa said the Defense Department can save money by consolidating its operations in those natural geographic locations - such as Hampton Roads - best suited for their needs, he said.

"We have some opportunities to save the U.S. taxpayers money and at the same time help the district," he said. "What's good for this district is good for America."

Scott Taylor, a former Navy SEAL who operates real estate and fitness businesses and ran unsuccessfully for Virginia Beach mayor in 2008, said he wants to find federal programs that could be run more cheaply by private industry.

Several candidates support the trickle-down economics theory championed by former President Ronald Reagan, which asserts that cutting taxes will stimulate the economy and, in turn, increase government revenues.

Ben Loyola, owner of Loyola Engineering, wants to freeze all federal hiring and give across-the-board tax cuts.

"You spur the economy with lower taxes," Loyola said. "I believe it and I've seen it. Less taxes produces less unemployment and less crime."

Jessica Sandlin, a freelance writer, would push for abolition of the corporate income tax.

"That sounds crazy, but they just did that in South Carolina, so we will have a metric to see if it works or not," she said.

Ed Maulbeck, a construction contractor, wants to cut taxes but also wants more parity in the tax system.

"I think there's a large amount of people who are overtaxed. I think there is a large amount of people who are paying little or no tax," he said.

Rigell supports deep cuts in the tax on capital gains and favors making permanent the Bush administration tax cuts on larger incomes, inheritances and businesses that expire at the end of this year.

All the candidates see some promise in abandoning the federal taxes on income, capital gains, inheritances and Social Security and Medicare payments in favor of a national consumption or retail sales tax that would be levied on goods and services.

Such a dramatic change, several said, has to be done slowly and requires more study.

Three candidates - Loyola, Mizusawa and Rigell - have signed the pledge developed by the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform to oppose any increase in the federal income tax.

The pledge doesn't stop them from approving a new tax to replace the income tax as long as there would be no overall increase.

Taylor did not sign the pledge but says on his website that he "will never support any tax increase."

All the candidates said they believe there is a significant amount of wasteful spending that can be cut.

Sandlin said she wants to do "some serious whacking" in the departments of energy and education. Loyola agrees, arguing that education should be handled solely by localities and states.

Mizusawa said there's duplicative defense spending that could be reduced. Rigell and Taylor say that Medicare and Medicaid are ripe with abuse that, if uncovered, could save billions of dollars.

Maulbeck is particularly incensed that the federal government is continuing to hire more people.

"Is the government out if its cotton-picking mind? We are doing federal job fairs when the entire economy is in the tank," he said.

"Who is going to pay for this? We can't afford it."

Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com