Senator Cardin’s GOP Potential Opponents Debate Economy, Taxes, Policy

By Megan Poinski, Megan@MarylandReporter.com

Six Republicans vying to challenge U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin in November sparred over foreign policy, Supreme Court nominees and Obamacare at a debate sponsored by the state GOP and the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee.

Almost all of the candidates on the Republican primary ballot were at Thursday’s night debate at Anne Arundel Community College, days away from Tuesday’s primary. Dan Bongino, Robert Broadus, Rich Douglas, Rick Hoover, David Jones and Corrogan Vaughn all participated in the forum.

While the candidates had varying views on issues, they all agreed on one thing: It’s time for established incumbent Democrat Cardin to go home.

“The only reason I’m here is to beat Ben Cardin,” said Douglas in his opening statement, invoking Cardin’s name more than any other candidate.

Democrats out of control

Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who has been on the campaign trail since last summer, said that Cardin and the Democrats are overusing their power. That’s why he’s running for office, he said. The Democrats, who Bongino said are trying to turn everything into a government-run program, are getting out of control. Beating them back, he said, is “the fight of our generation.”

“These people know no limits,” he said. “They will never give you a number on fair share because their fair share is everything. If you believe you and your family should have a say over your lives, they will follow you everywhere. Cede no more ground.”

Bongino said that he believes the “fair share” is a 16% corporate tax, and instituting a “fair tax,” which eliminates income taxes and payroll taxes, replacing them with a higher sales tax.

But taxes, which were a major component of the debate, are something that Broadus does not believe in. He shared his philosophy with the crowd: Get the federal government to stop taxing the people. Broadus, who called himself a former independent who used to vote Democratic – until he saw “that the Democratic Party was betraying me” – said that taxes are only permitted in the U.S. Constitution under the 16th Amendment.

He said that Congress should

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