HHR Blog had the opportunity to interview GOP candidate Cory Ruth who is running for Georgia’s 4th congressional district. He will face Liz Carter and Larry Gause in the July Republican primary. The Fourth Congressional District of the U.S. State of Georgia includes parts of Dekalb, Rockdale, and Gwinnett Counties in the metro Atlanta area. The district is currently represented in the 111th Congress by Democrat Hank Johnson.
- HHR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CORY RUTH -
HHR Blog: Tell our readers about yourself…where are you from…where were you born…where were you raised?
Cory Ruth: I am a native of Asbury Park, New Jersey - I grew up in a multi-family apartment on top of an Asian deli directly adjacent to Asbury Park Village - the projects - a public housing community. I remember having to step over hypodermic needles and prophylactics on the way to school. There were no buses so all the students walked to school - many of my classmates at Asbury Park Middle School were runners for the many drug dealers in the community. My father was a heroin addict, as was his twin brother and two of my cousins. But my life is more a testimony of good parenting then anything else. Beyond walking to school my siblings and I spent most of our time at home looking out of my bedroom window atop the Asian deli directly adjacent to Asbury Park Village. Most days I fell asleep on the pews of a church and woke up in bed. I still believe in good parenting and that it has the power to remediate more of our social challenges then government.
HHR Blog: What do you like most about the place you live in now?
Cory Ruth: I moved to the Atlanta metropolitan 15 years ago and immediately fell in love with the city. There is a swagger in this city unlike any other city in the world. There is a vibrancy here that is not unlike that of Harlem in the 20’s and 30’s – an entrepreneurial spirit that makes you feel like you can aspire to anything!
HHR Blog: What do you like least about the place you live in now?
Cory Ruth: This national crisis is so deep and so broad and affects so many of us in so many ways and I hate the ways in which it is impacting my community! I hurts me to see construction halted on significant projects, or businesses closing that added an element of culture and uniqueness to our way of life. This is why it is so important that we have pro-growth representation that will encourage corporate investment thereby stimulating the economy.
HHR Blog: How has your feelings about the City and the State you currently live in influenced you as a politician?
Cory Ruth: Well, our district has not been well represented for a good many years now. I felt it was time for a new voice, some new energy and a fresh perspective from someone who will bring a level of respect to the office. Cynthia McKinney and current Congressman Hank Johnson have not always contributed to a positive reputation for the district.
HHR Blog: What type of family were you raised in, and how has your upbringing shaped your political views?
Cory Ruth: I was raised in a working poor family. My mother and step-dad were excellent parents. My step-dad, a Navy veteran was working as a civilian for the U.S. Army and my mother was working as a nurses assistant while attending night school to become a registered nurse. There were ten of us: six boys, two girls and my parents. However, when I was middle school aged my step-dad’s two sons from a previous marriage moved with us. They were teens and from Jersey City. Our life as a family was so deeply influenced by the church and community service. Witnessing the hard work and vision of my parents, the deep conservatism of our Pentecostal church, and the legacy of service has certainly influenced my political views.
If you have traveled throughout the United States, please share with our readers what you were able to ascertain about the various cultures of The United States? We traveled a great deal while growing up. My mother and step-father both served our country in the Armed Forces. In my travels I can ascertain that Americans are generally passionate about their liberties. This is why it is imperative we elect people to Congress who are as passionate about our liberties as we are!
While in Germany I met and engaged an impressive young African immigrant who was painfully aware that his prospects for achieving the potential of his talent were limited in his place of birth, but also in Europe. The hopes and dreams of so many around the world are projected onto our country – there is some distance between our nation and the rest of the world. Ours is a land of hope, a land of opportunity, a land of vision and action, the last bastion of true freedom and the only nation whose people can aspire to anything. This nurtures a unique global fantasy about America that we are each day growing closer to fulfilling.
While in Germany I met and engaged an impressive young African immigrant who was painfully aware that his prospects for achieving the potential of his talent were limited in his place of birth, but also in Europe. The hopes and dreams of so many around the world are projected onto our country – there is some distance between our nation and the rest of the world. Ours is a land of hope, a land of opportunity, a land of vision and action, the last bastion of true freedom and the only nation whose people can aspire to anything. This nurtures a unique global fantasy about America that we are each day growing closer to fulfilling.
HHR Blog: What would you like to change the most about The United States and how would you accomplish this goal?
Cory Ruth: I am most committed to elevating the political dialog we have in our country; lessening the role of government in the lives of Americans and leveraging emerging technologies to make government more accountable. All of these efforts are aimed at increasing the individual liberties of the American people!
HHR Blog: What attracted you to your current political party?
Cory Ruth: Did some occurrence in your life influence you in your choice of your current party affiliation? There was no special occurrence or event that arrested my decision - I begin learning about politics and government in middle school and was immediately interested in it. By tenth grade I was solidly a conservative and have been ever since. It was principles of individual liberty; the concepts of seeking community solutions to community problems and personal control of ones wealth that most attracted me the the Republican Party. Unfortunately, the Party has not always served in ways that can be defined as conservative…during those times I was greatly disappointed.
HHR Blog: What does your political agenda for both your constituency as well as the Nation consist of?
Cory Ruth: I want to present ideas that are people first and future forward! That is to say, I want to campaign and legislate in a way that puts people first and promotes ideas and solutions that move us into the future. Ideas like introducing legislation that requires the Federal government to provide every tax paying citizen an annual receipt that includes a personalized comprehensive break down of every cent spent of that persons money on the federal level and introducing innovative legislation to bolster peer-to-peer lending and allow peer-to-peer risk coverage in the insurance market to create new regulated pools of capital and potential for wealth creation.
HHR Blog: What are your beliefs and policies regarding Healthcare?
Cory Ruth: What is lost in this debate is the stated awareness that this debate is not primarily about health care but rather the broader matter of the role of government in American life. The question is not whether we should cover the poor and vulnerable with healthcare, rather, whether the federal government is the most appropriate and most efficient means by which to do so. And the particular dilemma our country faces in seeking to ensure that all Americans have access to healthcare is to extend the benefit of healthcare to all Americans without losing the superior quality of the healthcare currently enjoyed by the larger portion of the population and to do so without interfering unduly in the lives of private citizens. While the federal government has the task of ensuring that all her citizens are insured with health care, she does not have the task of providing that health care. This is why I propose empowering States to seek the healthcare solution that best fits the needs of their citizens and allowing health insurance to be sold across State lines to decrease cost by increasing competition.
HHR Blog: What are your views about the economy and effective ways to pull the United States out of the current recession it is in?
Cory Ruth: I have been entrusted by some of the world’s most respected corporations to provide strategic business consultation and management of large, complex enterprise wide projects. I understand the economy, job creation and prosperity. Countries have to be tax competitive to attract and retain companies and industries. It is not a coincidence that Qatar, who has the fastest growing economy in the world, also is one of the two least-taxed sovereign countries in the world. To make our country globally competitive and provide for commercial advantage, I am a strong proponent of a free-market economic strategy that relies on the reduction of regulation and cost to stimulate corporate investment thereby reviving the economy.
I support the implementation of the FairTax or a simplified flat tax system.
My plan relies on cutting the lowest individual tax rates from 15 percent to 10 percent and from 10 percent to five percent, tax deductions for small businesses, and a ban on tax increases to pay for new spending which should be paid for by cutting spending in other areas. I would make unemployment benefits tax free, support home-buyer and condo tax credits and proposes a federal credit freeze until the deficit is brought under control. I would propose a Congressional commitment to reducing and then holding the federal business tax rate to the lowest ten percentile in the world for the next ten years to send the signal that America is the most attractive place to invest over the next decade. In addition, I would fight to increase the take home pay of working Americans by decreasing their federal tax burden which would provide significant stimulus to families but also buttress States ability to care for the unique challenges they face. Committing to the extension of the tax cuts created by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003; cutting or significantly reducing the capital gains tax, and revisiting those market rules that have slowed or halted lending and spending are all free market, alternatives to an active government presence in our marketplace. Far from imposing itself more into the market, stimulating the economy will require the Government to remove itself to a greater extent from the market.
HHR Blog: What do you think about the United States’ involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan?
Cory Ruth: How we manage these two wars to their respective end is very important to the future of our nation. We need a leader-driven set of priorities that sees a solution and that seeks to win not just end the conflicts. The distinction is important: anyone can merely withdraw troops - but it takes real leadership to nurture peace and stability in these regions without unduly encroaching on the liberties of their people.
HHR Blog: What are your policies concerning housing, financial assistance, and education for the low-income poor of the United States?
Cory Ruth: I have a legacy of seeking community solutions to community problems and empowering individuals to team up with others in their communities to tackle community challenges. I managed an emergency men’s shelter pro-bono as well as a food drive that fed hundreds each week. We have to stop the federal government from aggressively competing against States and local governments as well as charities and faith based organizations for revenue - this cripples their ability to care for those in their communities.
HHR Blog: What do you believe to be the future of education for our Nation’s children and our youth(18-22 yrs. Old)?
Cory Ruth: In the coming decades Americans will compete against talent from around the world for local jobs as internet job-posting and telecommuting increases; anything short of an education reform that empowers Americans to compete in a knowledge-based, internet-connected, globally-competitive world threatens the future of this country, more concretely, the economic viability of our community and more gravely, the future of our children! This requires we have the most modern and qualified schools in the world. Period. I support unlimited charter schools and unlimited charter systems, I support the ability of parents to pick the school that is best for their children and to the extent that we have traditional public schools I support local control; the application of the best practices and latest technology; integrating real-world professionals into the teaching staff; and partnering with corporate America to develop school curriculums designed to meet the needs of today’s fastest-growing industries.
HHR Blog: Where do you see yourself in your political career five years from now?
Cory Ruth: I don’t know if it makes sense to imagine my political career in the abstract. I am responding to the challenges of my times and as a public servant will direct my time in office based entirely on the needs of my community and the challenges of my times.
Cory Ruth: I don’t know if it makes sense to imagine my political career in the abstract. I am responding to the challenges of my times and as a public servant will direct my time in office based entirely on the needs of my community and the challenges of my times.
HHR Blog: Cory, thanks for sitting down with HHR Blog, we wish you much success in your campaign. It was a pleasure.
Cory Ruth: Thank you
1 comment:
This candidate hit so many important points, he must be elected! Don't fall for the nanny-state approach. Look at the economies of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIGS)! We are following their stupidity. Mr. Ruth suggests we can trun things around with tax cuts, school choice and spending cuts. he is absolutely correct.
Post a Comment