By: Taylor Herring, Staff Reporter
Steven Palazzo, Republican
Palazzo hails from Gulfport, Mississippi, where he attended Saint John’s High School. Following his high school years, he earned degrees at the University of Southern Mississippi, served in the United States Marine Corps, established his own accounting firm: Palazzo and Company, and served in the Mississippi State Senate.
Economy
Palazzo believes that politicians have lost control of fiscal responsibility and restraint. His promise is to decrease regulation, lower taxes, increase incentives to benefit small businesses, stop big government spending, and return to free market economic principles in an effort to stimulate economic prosperity.
Defense
Palazzo draws his views on defense policy from his time spent in the U.S. military. As he views the matter, Islamic militants cannot peacefully coexist with Americans, and as such, the U.S. must take proactive steps toward eradicating terrorist organizations around the globe in order to preserve American security. Palazzo also believes in restoring honor to military service by providing support to war veterans and service members.
Health Care Reform
Palazzo has a strong distaste for the latest reforms made to the healthcare industry under the blanket of ObamaCare. If elected, Palazzo promises to fight for the act’s repeal and the return of healthcare to the hands of private industry.
THE RUNDOWN
The Palazzo campaign has become a major challenge to 21 year incumbent Gene Taylor. By feeding off of the anti-incumbent sentiments of the second most conservative district in the country, Palazzo hopes to succeed in his ultimate goals: Firing Pelosi and returning Mississippi values to U.S. Congress.
Gene Taylor, Democrat
Taylor is a resident of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Prior to his election to U.S. Congress in 1989, he practiced law along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, worked as a member of the Bay St. Louis City Council and Mississippi State Senate, and served for 13 years in the United States Coast Guard. Taylor currently serves on two major committees in the U.S. House of Representatives: the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Economy
Taylor, a member of the fiscally-conservative Blue Dog Democrat coalition, does not support many taxpayer-funded initiatives like the latest government bailouts and stimulus packages. Taylor serves on the platform of job creation and industry regulation in South Mississippi. During his time in office, Taylor has championed insurance regulation, worked to earmark over $10 billion in government spending for infrastructure projects along the Gulf Coast, and negotiated defense-related contracts that have provided thousands of regional jobs.
Defense
Taylor, like Palazzo, supports a strong, expanding military and generous veterans’ benefits. He has given particular focus to supporting regional military posts of Keesler Air Force base, Ingalls Ship Yard, and Camp Shelby, in addition to fulfilling lifetime veterans’ promises.
Health Care Reform
Taylor also opposed the latest federal reforms made to the healthcare industry on the basis of costliness. In the future, Taylor hopes to revise provisions of ObamaCare, make improvements to existing government healthcare projects of Medicare and Medicaid, and bolster regulations of the health insurance industry.
THE RUNDOWN
For the first time in a long time, Taylor faces a reasonable opponent in the race for Mississippi’s 4th district. Taylor’s campaign has recognized that his best prospects lie in his experienced record in “representing South Mississippi.” Taylor hopes to navigate the rough seas of anti-establishment in this race for conservatism by November 2 and return to serve yet another term for the citizens of South Mississippi.
