7th District Democratic primary candidates cite energy, taxes as issues
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A native of Waynesboro, Randy Morris said that, when he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served from 1971-75. After his discharge, he enrolled at Columbia State Community College, where he earned an Associates degree in pre-business. From there, he went to Tennessee Tech in Cookeville and got a bachelor's degree in accounting.
Moving up north for a couple of years to work, Morris met his wife and returned with her to Waynesboro. They have two daughters and three grandchildren."During my time in Waynesboro," he noted, "I've worked in health care quite a bit. I've had my own business there, and I've gotten a lot of experience working with the government."
When he holds his 5-month-old granddaughter and sees her smiling at him, Morris said, she is the reason he is a candidate for 7th District U.S. representative. He currently sees things in the nation that are not going in the right direction.
"We've got a lot of issues out there that we need to resolve," he noted. "And we just need to put a little common sense to solve a lot of these issues."
He called energy cost the most pressing issue.
"When people fill their cars up," he said, "they realize what our problems are with the gas prices like they are. And they're going to keep going that way. We are literally held over a barrel right now, because we have to import so much of our oil."
Morris said one of the biggest problems the nation has is the lack of a comprehensive energy program. Not only should one be developed, he said, but a goal should be set.
He recommended that the United States set a goal to be energy-independent within 25 years. He said it can be accomplished through a combination of programs.
"Of course, we know about solar, wind and water," he said, "and we use them now. But we need to develop them further."
Describing himself as a conservative Democrat, Jim Tomasik said he would rather represent the people of the district than an actual political party. If elected, he will advocate "total tax reform" and said he supports the national fair tax.
Originally from the 8th District, around the Brighton and Covington areas, Tomasik moved with his wife to Cordova about three years ago. He has three children who are all about college age.
"Now that they're getting old enough to where I can pay attention to other things," he said, "that's what's got me more involved in politics. I've never run for elective office before."
Noting that he supports the efforts toward federal deregulation of the sanctions against offshore oil drilling, Tomasik said too many people are losing their jobs, because they are having a hard time getting back and forth to work.
An employee in the Engineering Department of a steel-fabricating facility on President's Island in Memphis, Tomasik said the company has people of all different economic backgrounds. And some are actually being hurt badly by the oil problem.
Noting that he is big proponent of nitrogen, Tomasik said the country could have nitrogen infrastructure installed for 70 percent of the population for $25 billion. He said that is less than what it cost to construct the Alaskan oil pipeline, in today's money.
Tomasik said the "cultivation" of politicians is cultivating people to choose hard lines of one party or the other. He believes that is causing many of the problems, because people do not want to work together to get things accomplished.
"There are a lot of people who wasn't to go up there and make their party look better," he concluded. "That's not what we need. We need people who want to go up there and actually make things work."
