Hoffman Critiquing Owens

WATERTOWN - Douglas L. Hoffman said Tuesday he'd fail Rep. William L. Owens if he were grading the job performance of his former adversary in the 23rd Congressional District.

The Lake Placid accountant, who is seeking the Republican nomination in a second bid for the seat, was angered by Mr. Owens' vote for the health care reform bill that narrow passed the House last November.

"We can't have a bill that's going to spend a trillion dollars over the next 10 years that we don't have," he said during a visit to the Black River Valley Club, 131 Washington St. "We can't be talking about a bill that doesn't truly address the cost-cutting measures of health care, which is tort reform and interstate competition. The present bill doesn't even start to address those issues."

Mr. Hoffman also broke with Mr. Owens in saying he would have supported Rep. Bart Stupak's amendment to prohibit federal funding of abortion coverage in any health care plan offered through the reform bill. That amendment passed the House without Mr. Owens' support.

While the former opponents may never agree on the best way to reform the health care industry, they do share a common position on other bills that have come before Congress in the last five months.

Mr. Hoffman said he would have voted against raising the federal debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion.

"Until we start limiting the amount of national debt, we're not going to have serious conversations about reducing spending," he said.

The Lake Placid accountant would have supported a measure that required spending increases to be paid for with cuts or tax increases, known as "pay as you go."

"That certainly is what we do on a home budget basis and I think that's what the government should start doing," he said.

Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, voted against raising the ceiling and for the "pay as you go" model. Both passed the House.

Mr. Hoffman, a former Army reservist who served at Fort Drum, said he would have supported the $636 billion defense appropriation bill because he supports a strong national defense.

"We have to keep that strong and we have to put the money where our mouth is and spend it," he said.

Mr. Hoffman made opposition to earmarks a pillar of his last campaign's mantra against government waste. The Republican said he was opposed to the $4.2 billion in earmarks attached to the defense bill, but said their inclusion would not have prompted him to vote against "important priorities" for defense.

Mr. Owens, a former Air Force captain, voted for the defense bill.

Mr. Hoffman won the conservative Club for Growth's endorsement last campaign, in part, because he signed a statement promising not to request earmarks, which the group defines as any spending requested by only one chamber of Congress or not requested by the White House.

The Republican said Tuesday that he supported Mr. Owens' $204 million request for local projects in the 2009 highway bill, although that request would meet the club's earmark definition. The requests included small projects, such as installing GPS devices on Oswego County vehicles, to $75 million proposals, such as the Northern Tier Expressway.

"We always need money in the highway budget for the North Country with the frost heaves and the severe weather that we have up here," said Mr. Hoffman. "If I get elected as congressman, I'm going to fight to get every dollar that we possibly can that's available in Washington for the 23rd district."

Mr. Hoffman said he also would have voted for a bill that temporarily extended four dozen tax credits, worth $31 billion, for one more year, even though the bill also created a permanent tax on investment managers' earnings. Mr. Owens voted for the bill.

In Mr. Hoffman's bid for the seat last year, he created a three-way election when, disappointed by his party's pick of Dierdre K. Scozzafava, he sought and was given the Conservative Party's ballot line. He later finished second.

Mr. Hoffman, who has been promised the Conservative Party line again this fall, could potentially create a second three-way race if he loses a GOP primary. Three potential GOP foes are state Assemblyman William A. Barclay, R-Pulaski; Watertown businessman Matthew A. Doheny and Franklin County Legislator Paul A. Maroun, Tupper Lake.

Mr. Hoffman wouldn't say Tuesday whether he'd continue his campaign as a Conservative candidate if he lost a Republican primary, calling the scenario "hypothetical."

When asked if he thought that he could prevail in a three-way race, Mr. Hoffman replied: "I think that's a hypothetical question again."

The candidate concluded: "I'm going to work very hard to reunite the Republican Party, the Conservative Party and the Independence Party in this campaign. I think that by successfully doing that, we're going to defeat Bill Owens."