Rich Iott

Rich Iott is a businessman, and Republican candidate opposing Marcy Kaptur in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, to whom he lost. He spent over $1.6 million and raised $220,000, considerably outspending his opponent. “That was an investment in the country," he said. "I invested that money in this country because I believe in the country. I've made a lot poorer investments in my life, I'll tell you that.”

Positioning

An activist in the Tea Party movement, he had originally planned to run as an independent, but later decided that Republican affiliation would be appropriate. Prior to the adverse reports mentioned below, the National Republican Congressional Committee had listed him, on their websites, as one of their "Young Guns", or particularly attractive candidates. His participation in historical reeenaction of a Schutzstaffel unit is being criticized as an example of extremism, although it also may reflect a lack of due diligence of Republican campaign staffs.

Issues

His website presents a variety of issue positions.

Health Care

He regards the Democratic health care legislation as "nothing short of a government takeover of our health care system. It was an unprecedented power grab by Washington, and it will destroy what is now – without a doubt – the best health care system in the world. Not only is this bill unconstitutional and a job killer, it will certainly result in less access to health care – or rationing; less innovation in health care; and less control over your own personal health care. Marcy Kaptur voted YES on this misguided bill. So what should we do? Simply put, this bill must be repealed, and I will do everything I can to see that that happens.

"What we need to do is take the politics out of health care and really fix what is wrong – by passing tort reform and allowing consumers to buy insurance across state lines." Tort reform and interstate insurance buying have been proposed by both Republicans and Democrats, although it offends Federalists who emphasize state-level primacy. It is, however, a market-based approach.

Energy

Strongly opposed to cap and trade, he said "it won’t help the environment...these resources rises to the top in terms of meeting the needs of Americans. Bailouts

Government spending

The government bailouts are a corruption of our free market system, and a waste of taxpayer money. There is no getting around this core fact – there is no Constitutional authority for Congress to bail out any industry. Whenever you allow the federal government to pick the winners and the losers in an industry, you have a corrupt system. Washington invented the idea of “Too Big to Fail,” and we’ve been picking up the tab since. In many ways, Washington created our housing, banking and automotive crises in the first place, and compounded their mistakes with the bailouts. The bailouts are a raid on our – empty – federal treasury that must stop.

He criticized earmarks, saying his opponent "has funneled tens of millions of your tax dollars to her supporters, who in turn have contributed tens of thousands to her re-election campaign. So, essentially, she is funding her campaign with your tax dollars, and she refuses to give that money back. It’s not just me saying this – it’s the New York Times and others. In fact, one government watchdog group recently named her the “Porker of the Month” – she was the Champion Porker of Washington. Meanwhile, I have signed a pledge not to request any earmarks when elected to Congress."

Social Security

He said social security needs attention, according to the rules:

1. The system should not be privatized – it is a public commitment and must remain so.

2. Benefits for recipients must be protected.

3. The retirement age should not be raised.

4. Taxes should not be raised. Congress has proven it cannot be trusted with any new money.

Jobs

He blamed the lack of jobs on uncertainty about the threat that Congress will "hit them with prohibitively expensive taxes and rules. A recent report showed there is $2 Trillion in private investment just sitting on the sidelines waiting for Washington to get out of the way. Washington is filled with career politicians, not business owners, and that needs to change."

Constitutional Authority – States Rights

"Our Founding Fathers wrote at length about the dangers of an overly powerful national government, but, unfortunately, today we are suffering from just that kind of government. When you look at Washington, it is clear Congress and the White House are out of control. They have completely ignored the restrictions on the federal government’s authority and are stepping all over the rights of individuals and states. In Arizona, the state passed a law to fight illegal immigration, and the feds sued the state. ...I will fight these moves by the federal government to crush the efforts of state and local governments to fix the pressing problems that they face.

National Debt – Spending

As a nation, we are quickly reaching a tipping point with our national debt from which we will not be able to recover. We must stop spending. The sad truth is that we can no longer simply “grow our way out” of this debt. If you don’t think this is serious, you are sadly mistaken. Just look at what has happened in Greece and elsewhere in Europe. We need a hard course correction in Washington, and fast – or our children and grandchildren will live far less prosperous lives than we enjoy today. Here is where I would start – by banning earmarks, which are wasteful spending projects that reward the political friends of sitting members of Congress. Marcy Kaptur has participated in this pork fest – it must stop.

Asian Carp

The federal government’s failure to deal with the invasion of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes could end up costing our local economy billions of dollars every year as the Carp destroys the native stocks of fish. The Asian Carp is voracious, and will consume the basis of our bass and walleye fisheries in short order. The thing is, we have known about this looming threat for 17 years, yet Washington has done nothing until just recently – after Carp DNA was already found in the Lakes. What is disturbing is that Marcy Kaptur just recently discovered this issue – she told a newspaper that she was “shocked” that the feds had done nothing to stop this existential threat to the Great Lakes, as if she hasn’t been a part of the federal government for the last 28 years. That’s like buying a car, driving it home, and then being “shocked” to find it parked in your driveway. It’s time for a change in Washington.

What should be done to combat the Asian Carp invasion of the Great Lakes? The key waterway connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River must be closed permanently.

Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

Thanks to the fortitude of President Bush, military leaders and the incredible bravery of our soldiers, we have completed the task in Iraq, and we have freed 25 million people from a brutal dictator. We are working toward the same goal in Afghanistan, and we will succeed if General Petreaus is able to change the rules of engagement to allow our soldiers to actually fight that war to win. I support that effort. It has become a slogan, but it is true – we live in a world where terrorists want to kill Americans. If we don’t fight and kill them over there, we will end up having to fight them on the streets of our own cities. We must remain vigilant in this effort.

Iran

We have failed to act decisively to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear program that no one doubts will end up with them possessing a nuclear bomb. This is a serious failure we will have to deal with now, and for decades. One thing is clear – we must, by treaty help defend Israel, and we must do all we can to preserve peace in the Middle East.

Trade

For the American economy to grow, we must have free trade with countries around the world. We have to be hard-nosed and realistic in the trade agreements we negotiate, and we have to be smart about enforcing those agreements. But by definition, every trade deal is – a deal, with give and take. It has been reported recently that our area farmers are a tremendous beneficiary of international trade, especially right now because of the terrible drought in Europe, and we must encourage more of that. It means thousands of jobs in our area right now. Our trade agreement with Canada has meant the free flow of cheap oil to America to fuel our economy. Americans are the best, most productive workers in the world, and the best thing Washington can do is get out of the way of our private sector and let it compete in the world marketplace. Every time that happens, we come out the winners.

Welfare

Whenever the American economy dips into a recession, the number of people needing public assistance increases, so the best and most important thing we need to do in Congress is to create an atmosphere where the private sector is growing and creating more jobs. The Obama administration, with Marcy Kaptur’s support, has created an atmosphere of such great uncertainty that private companies and employers are unwilling to risk their capital to expand. There is $2 trillion in private capital that should be in our economy creating jobs that is currently sitting on the sidelines – because of this uncertainty – and it will remain there until the private sector is convinced Washington isn’t going to tax and regulate them out of business.

Perceptions of activities

On 8 October, The Atlantic reported that Iott had participated in military history reenactments, in which he and his son roleplayed Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) troops. There are no suggestions as yet that he did anything reflecting Nazi ideology, or that he was any more committed to it than American Civil War reenactors support secession and slavery. Nevertheless, in the current intense media and Internet coverage, anything embarrassing is likely to come out.

Eric Cantor (R-Virginia), House Minority Whip, suggest it is something simply not done. Cantor is Jewish.

Iott announced

"Never, in any of my reenacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war. In fact, I have immense respect for veterans who served our country valiantly, and my respect of the military and our veterans is one of the reasons I have actively studied military history throughout my life." He added that he has participated in re-enactments as a Civil War Union infantryman, a World War I dough boy and World War II American infantryman and paratrooper.