Which Way Will Ed Run?
The rarest of Washington creatures - a moderate - Democratic Congressman Ed Case ponders whether a run against Republican Gov. Linda Lingle might be in his future in 2006, or if he’ll wait for an opening in the U.S. Senate, where Hawaii is represented by two men who will turn 81 this year.
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The chattering ceases. “When everyone gets quiet, I guess it’s time for me to start talking,” says Case. He begins by describing a congressman’s roles: to make decisions on foreign and domestic policy, to see “that the federal government is working for us,” and “case work” — individual problems Second District residents may have with the federal government. Case mentions Social Security, veterans’ benefits and housing.
“The federal government,” he points out, “is big and often unresponsive.”
Case will take these talk story sessions to 200,000 of his constituents on Oahu and 450,000 more on the Neighbor Islands.
“I need to let you know what I’m doing,” he explains. “I need to bridge the gap between Washington and you. And I also need to listen. By political osmosis I need a sense of how you feel about the issues.”
Working from two-and-a-half legal pad pages of notes, Case himself speaks to three issues.
“I see the federal budget as our biggest problem,” he says. “How can we afford to do all these things? The federal budget is in the worst shape it’s been in a generation. We have the largest debt in the nation’s history, and it’s going up at the fastest rate in our history.”
Then he turns to foreign policy. Case mentions two young Hawaii servicemen recently killed in Iraq, one of whom graduated from Waianae High School.
“How do we finish in Iraq and leave?” Case asks. “I don’t want to debate whether we should have gone into Iraq or not. That debate’s worthwhile, but we have to deal with the problem we helped create.
“Iraq has to be stabilized. The Iraqis must have a government of their choosing. And the Iraqi people must provide their own security. It’s impossible to have a timetable for that. There’s no perfect choice in Iraq.”
Social Security also concerns Case:
“We’re polarized on the issue. President Bush says Social Security is in crisis. His critics say there’s no problem with Social Security at all. I don’t believe either President Bush or his critics.
“I have concerns. The president wants people to keep part of their Social Security tax money to invest. But Social Security was created to assure a risk-free basic safety net, not as an at-risk investment fund. And there’s the problem of the costs of privatizing. Estimates run between $1 trillion and $2 trillion.”
Case stops.
“I’ve probably talked too long,” he says. He entertains questions.
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