Candidate Q&A: Daniel Winslow

1. Former Senator Scott Brown spoke often about his independence and not always voting with the Republican leadership. Which one or two issues do you most agree with Republican leadership? Which one or two issues do you most disagree with Republican leadership?  

I have a record in the State Legislature. I currently hold Scott Brown’s old seat in the house and I work well on both sides of the aisle to solve problems and get things done. I will take that same problem-solving approach to Washington.

I think I agree most with the Republicans on the need to adopt [job] creation by reducing tax and the regulatory burden on businesses and individuals and also on the need for immigration reform that does not punish people who have complied with the law to the advantage of people who have not.

On issues that I disagree with the Republicans: I disagree on the projection of social issues into the race. The national platform, for example, has a no abortion, no exception stance and I disagree with that. I believe in limited protective government and I believe that the decision on whether or not to have an abortion is an intensely personal one involving a woman’s conscience, her faith and her family into which I don’t think government has a place being.

That said, Roe vs. Wade already allows protections for the unborn in the last trimester of the last stage of pregnancy and I think it certainly shouldn’t be a partisan issue and the Republican party injected it into the race by putting it into the platform.

2. Our region benefits a lot from defense spending, including bases and the development of new weapons. There has been a lot of talk about cutting defense spending. How would you do that without hurting defense contractors and companies (and all their high-paying jobs) in your home state?

We need to spend smarter in defense as well as other areas of the federal government.

The way to do that is to cut unnecessary spending and to spend in a way that gets a return on investment. The smartest defense dollars are the dollars that benefit Massachusetts because we are a hub for research and development. We also have active bases that are a critical link in the protection of the northeast of the continental United States. So, I want to make sure that we have the right approach for reducing wasteful spending and spending that removes some of the pork in congress. And, at the same time we have spending targeted at the ways to get things done for the biggest bang for our buck.

3. MetroWest suffered a blow with the loss of New England Compounding Center and the associated fallout: will you be working to draw other medical companies to the MetroWest area and how will you do that

Yes. I have proposed to reduce the tax burden on medical device companies by creating an amendment to ObamaCare called "Excel and Exempt."

Any state that meets or exceeds a level of excellence for ObamaCare is automatically exempt from the requirements as well as the taxes of ObamaCare and that would include a medical device company in Massachusetts.

The other area is in RMD. I mentioned a moment ago that RMD research development spending makes sense in the military. It makes sense in science as well. We have one of the nation’s – if not the world’s – leaders in biotech research in Massachusetts. We have to make sure that that research and innovation stays in Massachusetts. The way to do that is to reduce barriers to entry and the cost.

4. There has been a call for more federal oversight of pharmaceutical compounding companies in the wake of the New England Compounding Center scandal. Is there a similar federal role in the state's drug lab scandal? Or do you believe the prosecution of Annie Dookhan and court reviews of the 34,000 affected cases is a sufficient response?

[Annie Dookhan] was a complete failure in the state government.

I believe in a limited, respected federal government – not an expansive federal government. If given a choice, I prefer to see government at the level closest to the citizens so that individual citizens have greater power and sway over government. So, local government is best, then state government, then federal government.

In that example, that was an area where state government appropriately had the role but completely dropped the ball. We don’t pick the ball up by giving it to the federal government.

5. Whenever federal transportation money is discussed, the talk focuses on highway construction and expanding public transit. Yet the MBTA's core service is in desperate need of repair and funding. What will you do at the federal level to improve the quality of T service for current riders? Or does expansion to Fall River and other economic areas in the state trump the needs of Bostonians trying to get to work in a safe, timely manner?

I think there’s an opportunity to do both. If it fits the budget, I support infrastructure improvement as well as expansion. But, the first dollars should be spent to fix it first. [We should] fix the infrastructure that we have before we start expanding the footprint statewide.

This is more appropriate for state government in my view because it’s all intrastate transportation. The state government would do a better job achieving cost savings where there currently are none. For example, we have one of the highest needs of operation costs of any transit system in the country in terms of annual operating budget – not the debt - but what it takes to run our transit system. We have some of the highest labor costs and highest operating costs in the country. We need to take a hard look at that before we start expanding our dollars into other areas of the state.

6. There's been increased use of drones internationally, as well as domestically, primarily as a law enforcement tool. Are you comfortable with the use of drones internationally and domestically? What sort of rules should be in place for the domestic use of drones?

I’m the only U.S.  Senate candidate of either party to issue a statement while Senator Rand Paul was standing on the floor of the senate indicating that I supported his filibuster and I would stand with Rand if I were a senator at that time.

I believe that the use of drones against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil is unacceptable and a violation of all of our constitutional rights.

I do believe that the use of drones in the international theatre of war is an appropriate tool in the arsenal available to the United States to defeat global terrorism.

7. Do you support the most recent catch limits on commercial fishing? Why or why not?

I do not. I issued a detailed policy statement on my website about the fisheries.

I believe it is possible to be both pro-environment and pro-fisheries. [NOAA] has ignored the federal law in respect that it has imposed unfunded enforcement mandates on fishermen that have no parallel in any other industry. The fishermen themselves have been imposed, without any economic benefit or transition for fishing families affected by it.

8. For many who live along the coast, the only option for home insurance is the FAIR plan. It's expensive, with many paying more for insurance than in real estate taxes, and it does not have a good reputation for paying out claims. Yet, it is the only game in town. If a storm like Sandy were to have hit the Mass. coast, it is unlikely the FAIR plan would be able to cover the loss. What would you do to encourage insurance companies that offer residential insurance to come back to coastal Mass.?

The insurance companies offer multiple lines - they don’t just offer homeowners. They offer car insurance and the like. We made progress, starting with the Romney Administration and then carried through by the Patrick Administration on reducing the cost to auto insurance. That’s why Gieco finally came to Massachusetts.

We need to make sure that insurance and insurance lines for both homeowners as well as liability and business are available and affordable in Massachusetts and that we’re not hostile to expansion of business in this area.

One thing that needs to be done is to make sure that there’s an actuarial basis for the premium charge that is grounded in reality rather than a [small] possibility. We need to insure the likelihood not the unlikelihood and charge homeowners accordingly.

9. Increasingly our police departments are dealing with the problems of drugs in our towns? What do you think the federal government can do to get more funding to fight drugs? How can the police get the funding and equipment they need to deal with the problem?

I think the war on drugs needs to be re-thought not re-fought.

We have put hundreds of billions of dollars into failed federal policy on drugs that has not yielded success and artificially increased the profit to criminals and has bankrupted the public budget.

If I am elected, I will urge a re-examination of the policy on the war on drugs with an eye towards focusing federal enforcement efforts on drugs that destroy like addictive drugs rather than contradicting state support for laws such as Massachusetts, which has decriminalized marijuana.

Right now, the Massachusetts medicinal marijuana vote is being opposed by the federal government. I think that is a foolish policy that the federal government takes.

10. What Senate committees and leadership posts will you seek if you become a senator and why?

I won’t seek any leadership post. I want to be a rank-and-file senator just as I am a rank-and-file legislator in the Massachusetts House. I want to advocate for the people of Massachusetts without regard to the party’s politics.

Any committee would be an honor. My expertise would be judiciary and commerce. But, beyond that, I understand that freshmen don’t get much of a say.