2008 News Sentinel Survey 

Name:	William R Larsen
E-mail:	larsenforcongress@gmail.com
Web URL:	www.justsayno.50megs.com
Age:
Office:	United States Representative, District 3
Party:	Libertarian
Education:	Paul Harding High School - Graduated Purdue University - BS Degree
Work:	Mechanical Engineer
Years lived in NE Ind:	29
Issue #1:	ECONOMY: The last surplus was in 1956. Congress has added $9.3 trillion to the national debt with nearly $700 billion in 2008. This devalues the dollar, resulting in $145 barrel oil; ethanol has increased grain prices, resulting in higher beef, pork, poultry and dairy prices; social security/Medicare taxes were a maximum of $30 in 1937 and now are $7,803; 20 million have stopped looking for work; 6.1% are unemployed. There is no energy policy. U.S. savings rate is nearly zero, Americans are overtaxed and have nothing to save while the congress continues spending billions we do not have.
Issue #2:	SOCIAL SECURITY: There is no painless solution. Those born after 1985 can expect to receive 29 cents in benefits for each dollar paid plus interest. Raising taxes, retirement age or cutting benefits will not change this! Those born earlier don't fair much better. I propose the 10.6% old-age tax paid by employee/employer be directly deposited into a self-directed IRA-type account; use the current $2.02 trillion trust fund to pay a means-tested benefit based on assets of $1,214 per month to each senior in need. Taking care of those in need is not just a worker's responsibility, but everyone's.
Issue #3:	SECURITY: Those who serve our country need to be trained and be provided the equipment necessary to carry out the tasks assigned to them. We need to secure our borders. I support immigration, not illegal immigration. Those who are in this country illegally are breaking our laws and taking jobs from Americans. They need to be found, identified, processed and removed from our country. We need to secure our personal data by eliminating the use of the SSN by all nongovernment entities and put further restrictions on which agencies can use it.
Previous political experience:	I have no previous political experience. I am an engineer, not a politician.
Qualifications for this office:	I am a mechanical engineer who has solved numerous complex problems. I deal with details every day. I understand economics very well. I have been budgeting and tracking budgets since I was very young. I listen to what people say and use their input to find the root cause of problems. I am not a politician, but a husband and father of five children. I have a dream that my children will do better than I; the same dream my parents had for me and I am sure the same dream every parent has for their children. I am a U.S. Navy veteran and understand military life and duty. I am a disabled veteran who has experienced the VA medical system firsthand.
Hope to accomplish:	I want to restore the American Dream, where in a land of opportunity an individual can work hard and prosper. Every worker has within their grasp the ability for a secure retirement. A secure retirement leads to a secure economy that creates and supports jobs. To accomplish my goal, the worker must be given the opportunity and ability to save. We must face the fact social security has failed economically. We must reform the federal tax code and make it fair. We must face the fact that the U.S. is not the wealthiest country in the world and that politicians have squandered the wealth of generations. We must balance the budget not in five years, but now! We need to cut out every earmark, all pork and some programs. It isn’t painless, but the longer we delay, the more pain our children and grandchildren will have to endure because of our failure to act now.
Effect of property tax reform:	This is a state issue with some impact at the federal level. Local property-tax reduction will reduce the Schedule "A" itemized deduction, resulting potentially in a higher federal income tax liability. To balance the budget, we need to first cut spending to the bone and, if necessary, raise general revenue taxes to pay for those programs we want. I will not vote to increase social security or Medicare taxes -- period!
How to increase public's confidence:	Make government open and transparent by being honest with the taxpayers. Be honest about the size of the deficit and not mask its size using social security and/or Medicare, as is now done using the Unified Budget. Identify all bills on a Web site, their purpose and their cost so that the constituents of the 3rd District are kept abreast of what is happening. I know how to say no, unlike many others. I will be as frugal with your money as I am with my own.

 

 

Questionnaires submited to Media for 2006 Primary

The Goshen News

The News Sentinel

The Elkhart Truth

2002 Primary Results
	Allen	Noble	DeKalb	Steuben	Elkhart	Whitley	Kosciusko	Lagrange	total
Helmke	16,859	1,675	2,309	2,424	3,482	1,777	3,289	1,223	33,038
Larsen	926	194	237	167	674	270	464	147	3,079
Souder	23,848	3,349	3,889	2,801	7,325	2,990	6,708	2,276	53,186
total	41,633	5,218	6,435	5,392	11,481	5,037	10,461	3,646	89,303
Helmke	40%	32%	36%	45%	30%	35%	31%	34%	37%
Larsen	2%	4%	4%	3%	6%	5%	4%	4%	3%
Souder	57%	64%	60%	52%	64%	59%	64%	62%	60%
registered voters
2002	211,230	27,018	26,579	20,896	86,185	20,577	43,961	14,222	450,668
2003	216,077	29,078	27,383	22,222	91,384	21,703	47,541	14,217	469,605
primary turn out	19%	18%	23%	24%	13%	23%	22%	26%	19%

2004 Primary Results for Indiana's Third District
County	Larsen	Souder	Total	Percent of votes for Larsen
Allen	4,939	17,657	22,596	22%
Noble	939	3,121	4,060	23%
DeKalb	678	2,708	3,386	20%
Steuben	983	3,205	4,188	23%
Elkhart	1,754	8,056	9,810	18%
Whitley	850	2,508	3,358	25%
Kosciusko	1,424	6,645	8,069	18%
Lagrange	636	2,668	3,304	19%
Totals	12,203	46,568	58,771	21%

2006 primary results (Preliminary)
County	Kevin Boyd	Thomas Hayhurst	Thomas Allen Schrader	Edward W. Smith	William Larsen	Mark Edward Souder	Total Democrats		Total Republicans	Larsen Support
	(Democratic)	(Democratic)	(Democratic)	(Democratic)	(Republican)	(Republican)
Allen	924	8,424	120	897	6,565	15,570		10,365	22,135	30%
DeKalb	179	722	120	103	1,334	2,945		1,124	4,279	31%
Elkhart	609	709	395	274	1,983	5,484		1,987	7,467	27%
Kosciusko	198	407	229	158	1,808	6,242		992	8,050	22%
LaGrange	134	278	82	49	1,051	2,369		543	3,420	31%
Noble	182	793	162	171	913	2,319		1,308	3,232	28%
Steuben	137	388	102	95	1,092	2,267		722	3,359	33%
Whitley	131	824	304	132	1,085	2,220		1,391	3,305	33%
	2,494	12,545	1,514	1,879	15,831	39,416		18,432	55,247	29%

Support for Larsen Grew in 2006
County	2006	2004	Larsen support change
Allen	30%	16%	85%
DeKalb	31%	18%	73%
Elkhart	27%	22%	21%
Kosciusko	22%	21%	7%
LaGrange	31%	28%	10%
Noble	28%	24%	18%
Steuben	33%	23%	41%
Whitley	33%	19%	73%