GoLocalProv Voter's Guide - Candidates for Congress: Mark Zaccaria
GoLocalProv Politics Team
GoLocalProv Voter's Guide - Candidates for Congress: Mark Zaccaria
Mark Zaccaria
Republican Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives (2nd Congressional District)
January 27, 1949 in Boston, MA
Education:
Colby College
Cadet in Colby ROTC
USAF Flight School, Laredo AFB, Texas
Career Highlights:
• Served active duty from 1970-1975 for the United States Air Force
• From 1975-1982 was a marine contractor operating in the Narragansett Bay and adjacent waters
• In 1980s was a corporate executive in the Tag and Label industry, specializing in Barcode technology for Automatic Identification and Data Collection
• Past Chair of North Kingstown Republican Town Committee
• Appointed and elected to the North Kingstown Town Council
• Spent 4 years on the North Kingstown Zoning Board of Review
• Operates a consulting practice in Business To Business Marketing, based in North Kingstown
Personal Information:
Zaccaria’s oldest daughter, Kate, is a full-time member of the RI Army Guard, and was deployed with the 126th AVN BTN to Iraq in 2004. He also has a daughter named April and an autistic son named Adam, both of whom live in Rhode Island.
Views on Key Issues:
Do you think RI is culturally too accepting of public corruption?
Yes. My hope is that's changing now as voters realize that corruption is a completely unnecessary overhead expense and we are in a time of critical finances. Public corruption is theft of public resources. Let's treat it as such.
Do you think RI effectively spends its education dollars?
No. I think the overhead costs for Labor as a component of the service rendered is way too high.
Do you favor a state law to allow gay marriage?
No. Marriage has traditionally been the jurisdiction of the several states. Nationally, our biggest problem today is the growth of the federal government. This is no time to accord it even more power.
Do you think RI should enact restrictive immigration legislation?
Yes. Given that state resources, in an age of scarcity, are offered to residents it is incumbent on government to insure that these resources are applied only to citizens. I am all in favor of offering assistance with naturalization, but taxpayer dollars should be spent on citizens first.
Do you think municipal government has done enough to cut spending?
Any spending level can be cut. The major problem faced by municipalities, though, is the number of budget line items forced on them by the state, without any kind of compensatory funding to pay for them. The immediate relief for cities and towns should be the elimination of unfunded mandates.
What is your strategy to address the federal budget deficit? Please be specific, i.e. what cuts or revenue enhancements you are proposing.
Congress should appropriate only a fraction of the anticipated tax revenue for purposes of spending on operations. Federal managers should then manage those lower operating budgets so spending levels don't require deficits. That's a painful plan, but not as painful as the collapse we get if we don't.
What specifically will you do to improve employment for Rhode Islanders?
Reduce federal regulatory impositions of unnecessary overhead on the private sector. Reduce federal taxes and borrowing to free capital for use in the private sector. Offer special assistance to small business for acquisition of capital equipment that needs more staff to be productive.
How would you deal with the cost of social security programs? Would you raise the eligibility age, decrease benefits, or increase taxes? Please elaborate.
I would immediately begin the transition to a Defined Contribution model for Social Security. Raising the age for eligibility is in keeping with the original concept of the program. No New Taxes to fund the present system! Decrease of benefits is a last resort.
Do you favor a specific time-table for withdrawal from Afghanistan?
No. I favor a defined mission. Once a clear vision of the military job at hand has been articulated I favor doing that job and then departing. Afghans have been fighting for 1,000 years. If you set any calendar date the Taliban will simply wait for it to arrive.
Do you favor a second stimulus program?
NO! The deficit spending we've done so far has hurt us, not helped us. Let's not make that mistake again. Government is not the answer. Liberating the Economy for private sector activity is the answer.