20 Questions with Mike Cacciopoli, Democrat for Congress in Arizona’s CD 1

Mike Cacciopoli is running for Congress. He’s one of five Democrats competing for the nomination to face off with Dick Renzi, the Republican incumbent in November. I interviewed Mike via a email with a series of key questions. There were no follow up questions. If you have follow-up or additional questions, please leave a comment or contact the campaign directly through Mike’s website. The following brief bio is from his website:

"Mike
has a background in talk radio, but has recently been
dedicating all his time and efforts to his run for
Congress.  Mike got his start in talk radio
on-the-air at age 19 at the prestigious WABC in New York
City.  His radio career also led him to Las Vegas,
Nevada, where he worked on several talk radio shows.

Mike
has also been politically active throughout his adult
life.  In 2004, Mike volunteered his efforts in
Casa Grande with the campaigns of John Kerry and Paul
Babbitt.  This experience got Mike thinking about
running for office so he could change the way the system
works and the way our country is run.

Mike,
35, currently resides in Flagstaff."

1) Why are you a Democrat?

I’m a Democrat because since I was a teenager I have believed in
true Democratic values such as Universal Health Care, higher taxes for
the richest among us, social programs that were created by
one of my heroes F.D.R. and the idea that we are all created equal.
True fiscal responsibility is another reason I’m a Democrat.

2) Are there Democratic policies or values you want to see changed?

 

I just want to see Democrats fight harder for what is right and
stop being spineless. The Republicans embrace their base and we need to
start embracing ours.

3) What committees would you prefer to serve on if (re)elected to Congress, and why?

Well, what I want and what I’ll get depends on what party is in
power but I would like to work on any committee that deals with
domestic policy and agenda because we need to take care of what is
happening here at home before we can worry about the rest of the
world.

4) Are you in favor of immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and why?

 

I am in favor of ending the occupation of Iraq now. We need to
follow John Murtha’s plan and if Democrats showed some backbone and
stood behind Murtha when he announced his plan 10 months ago we would
be out of there by now. We are simply creating more terrorists by being
there, we are seen as occupiers and we must remove our offensive forces
because in our current state we can no longer do any more good there.
We tore it down now we have to start rebuilding it.

5) Are you in favor of immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, and why?

Yes, once again we need to show the world that we are not going to
be occupiers. Our troops have done their job there and now we need to
give the current government control of the situation.

6) Would you support the unilateral use of force against Iran to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons?

 

That would be a big mistake because as we have seen in Iraq, force
is not the answer. As far as we are concerned we don’t have the money
nor the forces to take military action.

7) How do we deal with North Korea now that they have nuclear weapons
and are developing the means to strike United State’s territory?

 

First we must investigate and find the real facts about their
programs and what they can actually accomplish. Their latest attempt at
testing their firepower resulted in something that was far less
impressive than a fourth of July fireworks show. Once again force isn’t
the answer as right now their military may be stronger than ours. We
need to band together with our friends around the world  and come
up with a way to keep them in line if indeed they have the capability
that some believe they have.

8) How can we help end the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians, and Israel’s neighbors?

 

That’s a good question with no easy answer. I think our government
has been too one sided in this affair and must show that we have the
interests of both sides in mind and that there are no good guys and bad
guys. Changing our mindset about the middle east would be a start.

 

If Canada and Great Britain can afford to do it, so can we. In fact
we cannot afford NOT to do it. It is all about priorities. Instead of
spending billions in Iraq we can spend that towards health care. Instead of giving tax cuts to the rich we can use that towards health
care. The tax dollars we already pay can go towards health care as
well.

10) How can we fix the coming deficits in the Medicare program?

 

Once again we need to replace Medicare with a universal health
care plan. Medicare is full of flaws and while it was once a great
program it’s time for a change to something better.

11) How do we fix the coming deficits in the Social Security program?

 
If we re-invest in Social Security instead of talking about
privatizing it we can make sure it remains the valuable program that it
has been. Republicans have tried to privatize it and Americans have told
them they won’t stand for it.

We need to end the tax cuts for the richest among us, and we must
stop wasting billion in Iraq. We have to give businesses the incentive
to stay in this country instead of outsourcing. I think at this point I
would want the richest among us to pay their fair share before raising
taxes.

 

I’m not an expert in military spending programs and I would want
to see exactly where the money is going before making a decision on
this. Once I’m in Congress I will have access to this information.

14) How can the federal government help to improve our education system?

We need to pay teachers a fair salary and truly invest in our
education system. "No child left behind" has been a big joke. We also
need to give young adults the incentive to go to college. A plan which
gives someone four years of college at the state university of their
choice for two years of government service would help.

15) How can America redress our structural trade deficits with the rest of the world?

 

We must strengthen the American industrial structure to
begin with. There has been a pattern of neglect in this area by the
Federal government and we must begin to address it in the 110th
Congress.

We must begin to invest in alternative energy programs such as
bio diesel and solar/wind energy especially here in Arizona. We need
people in Congress who aren’t going to be in the back pockets of Big
Oil and Gas the way Rick Renzi is.

17) Do you support the Conyers Resolution to form a select committee to
investigate impeachable offenses by President Bush and his
Administration?

 

100%. If an independent investigation shows that
he willfully lied to the American public about our reasons for
going to war or that he broke any laws in regards to the NSA spying
program I will vote to impeach. Nobody is above the law especially
the President.

18) How should we combat terrorism in an age of globalization?

 

By reaching out to our allies around the world and coming up with
real solutions that would benefit all of us. We are less safe under the
current administrations policies as we are creating more terrorists on a
daily basis.

19) How can we get control of economic immigration from Mexico?

There is no simple answer to the immigration problem. It has
gotten worse under the last 12 years of Republican rule. First we must
hire more border patrol agents as a deterrent. We must also work with
Mexico to improve their economic situation. I think we need to talk
with the people who know the situation instead of listening to
politicians who are looking for a knee-jerk answer at election
time.

20) Do you support clean, publicly financed campaigns for federal offices along the lines of Arizona’s Clean Elections?

 

Absolutely. The current system is toxic as it allows the
lobbyists to control our government rather than the people. The
millionaire and the "average" person should play on the same level
playing field. Only then will elections become about the issues and not
the money and we will begin to elect the best person for the job not the
person with the most money. It will also ensure that our representatives
represent the people not the special interests.