On Monday morning, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Nick Carter made a campaig stop in Torrington. After an interview at the Telegram, he went to the Senior Friendship Center and then did some door-to-door visits.

Carter, an attorney from Gillette, discussed his reasons for seeking one of the two U.S. senate seats from Wyoming. He said that after watching the political culture in Washington, he feels there is a stalemate of action due to party bickering and they “need a moderate voice from Wyoming.” He said when he was growing up his mother was a Democrat and his father was a Republican. He learned there were a lot of good ideas in both parties.

Carter said he has spent 18 years building up his law practice and is now in a position to direct his attention to public service. Although he has not held political office at the state or local level, he feels the people of Wyoming do not need another career politician.

“My lack of experience is not a detriment,” Carter said. “I have advocated for Wyoming interests for 20 years and know the impact of law on the individual and government policy.”

According to Carter, Sen. Barrasso was in an ideal position to represent the Wyoming people - he did not have to raise money to campaign and was not influenced by special interest groups but Barrasso squandered this opportunity.

“John Barrasso gets $7,000 per day seven days a week from special interests and votes a straight party ticket,” Carter said. “He takes his marching orders from the national party.”

Carter discussed his position on some key issues:

n He would vote to end American involvement in the war in Iraq. Carter said the problems in the region cannot be solved by military presence. He said the U.S. cannot influence a Middle Eastern government to make it stable. The military troops in Iraq accomplished what they were sent to do.

“They removed Saddam Hussein and gave Iraq a path to follow,” Carter said. “We have 150,000 troops in Iraq costing $300 million per week. We don’t need to lose another life in Iraq. We moved into Iraq quickly and we can move out of Iraq quickly.”

n The U.S. does not have a comprehensive energy plan, Carter said. America needs to set goals. All types of energy should be considered including solar, wind, coal, gas, oil, ethanol, nuclear and other sources. Everything should be “put on the table” and decisions should be made in the context of a national goal.

“In 15 years we should be independent of Middle East oil,” Carter said. “The U.S. needs to immediately plan for a nationwide high speed rail system. We are 50 years behind other countries.”

n According to Carter, health care expenses are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. He supports national health care insurance that would cover catastrophic claims for health care due to serious accidents or illness. As an employer, he would be willing to pay into a fund for his employees to be covered against catastrophic loss. The fund would not cover day-to-day health care requirements but would keep individuals from declaring bankruptcy due to major health problems.

n Social Security should not be a primary source of income but a safety net, Carter said. The Social Security trust fund should be off limits to Congress to borrow from or use for other purposes. There should be no yearly income ceiling for payment of Social Security - Social Security should be taken out of all the income of everyone. Carter said he is opposed to privatization of Social Security because investments in companies like Enron would be lost with nothing for the investors to fall back on.

n “With 6.3 billion people in the world, it is foolhardy to not have secure borders,” Carter said. “Lax law enforcement over 25 years has resulted in a number of illegal immigrants who have never gotten citizenship. I would support a plan with a path to citizenship, like the one advocated by President George W. Bush. Those who do not take this opportunity would be treated with zero tolerance.”

Illegal aliens would have to show they have employment and would be employed for the near future. According to Carter, illegal aliens should not be added to our welfare system because they are “not our burden.” Border security should be beefed up with more agents, fences where it makes sense and more money spent for port security.

n The economy will never be stable as long as the U.S. is relying on foreign oil, Carter said. There also needs to be a consistent policy of government investment. A case in point is the unregulated mortgage industry.

“We should not be bailing out companies, like Fannie Mae, that bought the shaky mortgages,” Carter said. “There should be help for mortgage payers to slow down foreclosures.”

n On the recent incident between Russia and Georgia, Carter said the inability of the U.S. to stop the Russian invasion of Georgia demonstrates our poor national position. He said we couldn’t get anything done due to our “loss of stature on the international stage.”

Carter said one of his greatest skills is listening.

“I have the ability to listen to anyone’s point of view and advocate for them,” Carter said. “As an elected representative in Washington, I will have my ears open to what the citizens of Wyoming want and not just follow the party line.”

Carter and Keith Goodenough, a former state senator, are running on the Democratic ticket, opposing Sen. John Barrasso (R) in the November election.



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