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Jewish World Review April 19, 2005 / 10 Nisan , 5765 Catching up with Pat Toomey... 10 minutes with president of the Club for Growth By Bill Steigerwald
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
When he was named president of the Club for Growth (clubforgrowth.org) last year, Pat Toomey didn't need anyone to tell him how important it was having the Republican lobbying group on his side in a tight political race.
When the former Lehigh Valley congressman almost unseated Arlen Specter in the Senate primary last spring, the club — which specializes in helping candidates who favor small government, free markets and low taxes — contributed nearly $1 million to his campaign.
I asked Toomey about his new job and his future political plans, when I called him at his offices in Washington:
Q: What's the mission of the Club for Growth?
A: It is ultimately to adopt pro-growth economic policy, particularly at the national level. We do that by advocating for limited government and lower taxes, less government spending, less regulation, all the hallmarks of a free-enterprise system. And we do it by encouraging our members, the 31,000 and growing membership that we have all across the country, to support candidates for the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate who agree with our Reaganesque vision of limited government as the condition that is necessary for economic prosperity.
Q: What was your record in 2004 in terms of who you supported and how they did?
A: I'd have to double-check to get the exact figures, but it was probably 15 and 7, something like that.
Q: What was your biggest success story last year?
A: The two biggest were the Senate race in South Carolina, where the Club for Growth played a big role in helping Jim DeMint win a tough, very competitive primary. He's a great conservative, a believer in limited government and all the things that are important to us. He went on to win a tough general election, also with our help. The second big one for us was Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, another very outspoken and passionate leader in the conservative movement.
Q: Besides Ron Paul, my favorite congressman, who's the perfect Republican congressman right now, according to the Club for Growth?
A: There's a good handful of good guys. Jeff Flake of Arizona comes to mind as one of the real stalwarts who's really deeply committed to personal freedom and economic freedom and consistently works to reduce the size and scope of government.
Q: If you researched the current Republican congressmen, how many would pass your test on taxes and growth?
A: I'm looking to bring on board somebody who can help us compile those kinds of statistics. Historically, the club has never really gone back and evaluated the voting records. My guess is that we would find somewhere between 50 and 70 House members who consistently vote for pro-growth policy, although only 20 or 25 really have sterling records in that regard. And maybe there's a dozen or so in the Senate.
Q: Would you back President Bush based on his record?
A: First of all, we only focus on economic issues, so that's a narrow segment. It's important, but it's only a part of how most people evaluate a president. When I look at President Bush's record, personally, I agree with the president on what he's done on social and cultural issues. I agree with his judicial nominees. I think the most important issue by far was his leadership in the war on Islamo-fascist terrorists. I think his leadership in providing the tax cuts that helped get this economy going again was tremendous. So on balance, I was happy to support the president's re-election, even though I disagreed with him about some of the spending measures — the Medicare bill, for instance. But I have to say that in the second Bush administration that's just begun, I love his domestic policy priorities as much as his foreign policy, where he's advocating Social Security reform, with personal retirement accounts as the indispensable centerpiece. He's advocating making the tax cuts permanent and profoundly reforming our tax code, which we badly need. And he's pushing for tort reform, which we also need.
Q: What's your explanation for someone like Sen. Lindsey Graham — who's a former tax-cutter of the Club-for-Growth kind — proposing to raise the income level that's subject to Social Security taxes?
A: You know, I'm really not sure what motivates him. Some people sometime get so wrapped up in getting a deal done that they lose sight of the merits of the deal. It's not worth doing Social Security reform if we don't do it right. And a massive tax increase, such as the one that Sen. Graham has proposed — which would more than wipe out the benefits of the Bush tax cuts for the people affected by it — would set our economy back terribly, and, in and of itself, would not solve the problems of Social Security. I think we're better off not doing anything than doing that.
Q: Even Rick Santorum seems to be suffering what you called "economic amnesia" when you were writing about Sen. Graham. He called for a hike in the minimum wage, for instance.
A: Well, I don't know. I think Sen. Santorum generally votes a pretty solidly conservative line. You'd have to ask him about the motivation for the vote on the minimum wage. On the minimum wage debate, I think it was pretty clear that neither proposal was going to pass. Beyond that, I'm not sure.
Q: Are you done with politics?
A: Not necessarily.
Q: We've had one letter from someone hoping you'd run against Ed Rendell.
A: I'm not going to be a candidate for governor in '06.
Q: Is there anything else you can tell us about your future?
A: I certainly haven't ruled out running for office again in the future. Another statewide run is a distinct possibility. ... I'm loving my job at the Club for Growth. I think we do some great things and it's great fun. ... (B)ut at some point down the road I might very well take a look at another political race
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JWR contributor Bill Steigerwald is an associate editor and columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Comment by clicking here. © 2005, Bill Steigerwald |
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