Elizabeth Colbert Busch hasn’t done a lot of national press interviews in her bid for the U.S. House down in South Carolina; one of her first was with Chuck Todd on the Daily Rundown:
Her answers on policy questions, transcribed:
On why she wants to be in Congress: “It’s time to have a common-sense approach to what’s happening, and to represent my district, and to stop this extreme behavior and dysfunctional behavior in Washington, D.C.”
Asked to elaborate: “Both sides are digging their heels in, and no one’s reaching across the aisle and speaking with each other. There’s no sense of compromise or collaboration or negotiation going on. And it’s time to stop. It’s time to stop that.”
On whether government is too big or too small: “I believe in the sequester issue, especially if I may speak for District One of South Carolina, there’s an incredible sense of frustration with what’s going on in Washington, D.C. We are having some economic growth in our district. We have some incredible unique opportunities in our district. And on the cusp of that, just as we’re recovering from one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, this is happening. And it’s not something that’s new. It’s not something we didn’t know about. It’s something that has been going on for 18 months. And in our district, the District One of the state South Carolina, the impacts to us are extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary. I’m sure that’s true for all districts around all the states around all the country, but I’m speaking for District One.”
On whether government spending needs to shrink, or taxes need to be raised: “I think what we need to do is we have to look at what’s going on in Washington relative to loopholes, relative to fraud and waste, and I think we need to begin with that. That’s the low-hanging fruit. That’s something that can be addressed immediately. And then, once we get through that, then we need to look at where we come to common ground.”
On the Simpson-Bowles plan’s proposals for entitlements: “I think with Social Security, Medicare first of all, we need to protect it for our seniors. It’s something they paid into. It’s something they deserve. And it’s something we need to protect. I don’t want to diminish it or have it taken away at all. That is something I will fight to protect, both Social Security and Medicare. But when we look at what the issues are, again, let’s go back to, where’s the waste? Let’s look at the waste. We need to address what we’re doing to control waste and control fraud. We have to begin there, so that we begin with a level playing field.”
Todd: Where do you think this fraud and waste is?
Colbert Busch: It could be in multiple areas. It could be in duplications. It could be in duplications of filings, it could be anything. But it’s something we have to look through, and we need to peel back the onion, and look at exactly where it is. And we have to look at these things through modern technology. We need to be able to ensure that we can move the ball forward and check waste and fraud through modern technology. And that’s s going to take continuous focus upon research.
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Notice that this word salad is all theme and tone, with few if any specific positions.
But at least she’s boldly staked out positions that fraud and waste are bad (and could be anything!), and that Social Security and Medicare shouldn’t be “taken away.”