Click an issue below to jump to Randy’s position on it, or scroll to browse.
- Jobs, Taxes, Spending & Debt
- Social Security and Medicare
- Healthcare Reform
- Education Reform
- Environment and Energy
- Honoring Veterans
- National Defense & Homeland Security
- Immigration
- Israel
Jobs, Taxes, Spending & Debt
“We cannot tax, spend and borrow our way to prosperity. It’s time to pursue economic policies that reward entrepreneurial spirit and hard work. That’s what made us the great country we are, and that’s what will get us headed in the right direction again.” – Randy Altschuler
Randy believes that lower taxes, less spending and smaller government is the best way to improve our economy and create jobs. He knows we don’t have a revenue problem in Washington; we have a spending problem. The best way to stop it is to send the politicians in Washington less money, not more.
Randy’s supports:
- Extending tax cuts for all Americans, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), ending the double tax on Social Security for seniors, and preventing Washington politicians from engaging in divisive class-warfare politics that divides the country for cheap political gain.
- Implementing a pro-growth economic platform that lowers corporate business tax rate in the United States from 35% to 25%, making America’s business climate more competitive.
- A comprehensive review of federal regulatory policy that welcomes job creators by rolling out the red carpet, not the red tape. The goal is sensible regulations that protect workers and the environment without stifling job creation and strangling economic growth.
- Comprehensive budget reforms like a Presidential line item veto, a supermajority requirement to raise taxes and hard caps on federal spending.
Social Security and Medicare
“Social Security and Medicare are critical social safety nets that must be preserved and protected for future generations of senior citizens. To do that, we must have the political courage to reform both programs and make them solvent and sustainable.” – Randy Altschuler
Randy finds it remarkable that Democrats like Tim Bishop cut $500 billion from Medicare last year and now have the audacity to attack Republicans on the issue. It’s typical hypocrisy from a failed Washington politician.
Randy supports:
- Keeping the promises made to our seniors by ensuring both Medicare and Social Security remain solvent for future generations. Failure to act now will result in either an immediate 17% cut in benefits or a 24% tax increase in order to avoid Medicare going bankrupt in the next decade. That is an unacceptable outcome. Republicans have put forth a serious plan addressing Medicare and now it’s time for Democrats to do the same so we can have a substantive national debate on this important issue. Ultimately, there is no Republican or Democrat solution to the problem. Any real reform must have bipartisan support and, unlike Tim Bishop, Randy is willing to lead the way as a Member of Congress.
Healthcare Reform
“President Obama’s big-government takeover of healthcare – supported by Tim Bishop – is a disaster and must be repealed and replaced.” – Randy Altschuler
While America’s healthcare system is certainly flawed, our quality of care is still the world’s best. Randy believes we need to improve the system we have, not scrap it in favor of European-style socialized medicine.
Randy supports:
- Allowing insurance to be sold across state lines to increase competition and lower rates.
- Giving small businesses the ability to pool together and purchase healthcare for their employees as a group to lower rates.
- Putting medical decisions in the hands of doctors and patients, not insurance company executives or government bureaucrats.
Education Reform
“As someone who came from humble beginnings and worked to put myself through the best schools, I know how important a world-class education is for our children.” – Randy Altschuler
Randy believes in empowering parents, teachers and local school boards to guide educational policy in their own schools. The Washington bureaucratic one-size-fits-all approach has hurt public education in America.
Randy supports:
- Reforming tenure so that bad teachers are no longer rewarded solely for longevity. Classroom results are what count.
- Merit pay that rewards good teachers with higher pay for the educational success of their students.
- Giving parents the choice to remove their children from failing schools and enroll them in better public schools, charter schools or private schools that can unlock their child’s potential and better prepare them for the real world. Or supporting parents who choose to home-school their children.
- Ensuring that federal tax dollars spent on education improve the classroom and are not wasted on top-heavy administrations and glutted bureaucracy.
Environment and Energy
“We must pursue an all-inclusive national energy strategy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil and lowers energy prices for consumers, while ensuring that the air we breathe and water we drink is clean.” – Randy Altschuler
Randy believes that those who advocate for a long-term energy policy that is completely dependent upon renewable energy or completely dependent on oil are wrong, and that we need a comprehensive energy policy rather than political rhetoric.
Randy supports:
- Environmentally responsible expansion of domestic offshore drilling to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
- Promoting private investment in renewable energies such as wind, solar, water and bio-fuels that help conserve natural resources, protect the environment and create green energy jobs in the future.
- Ensuring that President Obama’s “cap-and-trade” plan – supported by Tim Bishop – never becomes law. We simply cannot afford a national energy tax that will cost homeowners and businesses thousands of dollars more in energy costs for the next 10 years.
Honoring Veterans
“America must forever honor the sacrifices made by our nation’s veterans, and their families to defend our freedoms at home and abroad.”
– Randy Altschuler
The men and woman of the United States Military have always represented the very best of American society and promoted freedom around the world. Randy believes it is our shared obligation to ensure they are always taken care of – not only abroad but when they return home.
Randy supports:
- Honoring, respecting and rewarding all veterans regardless of where and when they served our country.
- Improving the VA to cut bureaucratic red tape and ensure that veterans receive the very best medical care and timely, accurate delivery of their benefits.
- Ensuring that veterans returning home from service in Iraq or Afghanistan are provided with a GI Bill educational program that will enable them to receive a first-rate college education or comparable technical training and job placement.
National Defense & Homeland Security
“Nearly everyone who calls Suffolk County home lost friends during the attacks of 9-11. I will do everything in my power as a Member of Congress to make certain that we never again are attacked on our own soil.”
– Randy Altschuler
It is no accident that there have been no further attacks on our homeland since 9-11. We must continue to provide our brave military, intelligence community, counter-intelligence professionals and first responders with the tools they need to keep us safe.
Randy supports:
- Increasing funding for intelligence and counter-terrorism operations. There are plenty of places to cut government and reduce spending without weakening our ability to identify, expose and scuttle terrorist attacks before they occur.
- Providing our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world with the tools they need to fight and win the war on terror and then come home to us safe and well.
Immigration
“We are a nation of immigrants and proud of it, but we also must be a nation of laws.” – Randy Altschuler
As the grandchild of Polish immigrants, Randy strongly believes that generations of legal immigration has served as an unparalleled source of cultural enrichment and prosperity for America.
At the same time, Randy believes we must secure our borders and stop rewarding illegal immigration. We can’t continue to look the other way when companies hire illegal aliens at the expense of unemployed people living here legally and looking for work.
Randy supports:
- Increasing the number of Customs and Border Patrol agents, and providing them with the necessary tools and training to do their jobs.
- Giving states the flexibility and freedom to address out-of-control illegal immigration that adversely impacts crime rates and local economies.
- No bail for illegal immigrants who commit crimes in the United States.
- A prohibition on the granting of drivers licenses, welfare payments or in-state college tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.
Israel
“Like other friends of Israel, I was dismayed by President Obama’s May 2011 Middle East speech which referred to the 1967 borders as the general basis for any territorial solution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel and her friends correctly recall that a return to the 1967 borders will be indefensible for Israel and the President’s public support of a particular demarcation prior to any negotiations between the two sides was misguided and in error.” – Randy Altschuler
The establishment of Israel in 1948 was the culmination of a continuous Jewish presence in the area for over 3,000 years and has fulfilled both a historical and political imperative. It is vital that the United States continue to support our ally in her quest for security and peace.
Randy supports:
- A comprehensive and viable regional peace process that cannot be imposed, there must exist tangible and concrete confidence gaining steps between Israel and her neighbors.
- Jerusalem as the undivided and eternal capital of Israel.
- Israel’s right to security and self-defense. We must ensure and strengthen Israel’s qualitative military advantage over potential adversaries.
- Dissuading Iranian hegemonic ambitions through robust economic, diplomatic and political sanctions. Iran’s aggressive pursuit of nuclear capability, coupled with the recent advances in its medium- and long-range ballistic missile technology, constitutes an existential threat to the State of Israel and a grave and serious threat to the United States and our European and Arab allies.
- The further promotion and nurturing of economic cooperation, business interests and technological research and development between the United States and Israel.
