Mo Brooks outlines his business-friendly agenda

What separates congressional candidates Mo Brooks, a Republican, and Steve Raby, a Democrat? According to Brooks, just about everything.

Books, of Huntsville, spoke to a group of business owners, candidates and educators Tuesday morning at the Shoals Chamber of Commerce. He defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith in June’s Republican primary, while Raby, also of Huntsville, claimed an easy win in the Democratic Primary.

Griffith served only one term after switching to the Republican Party mid-term.

The 5th Congressional District has been solidly Democratic since the end of Reconstruction, but Brooks is counting on voter dissatisfaction with the lingering recession and Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House to change history.

Asked to describe the fundamental differences between himself and Raby, Brooks said that’s an easy answer. “He’s a liberal. I’m a conservative.”

Brooks outlined a business-friendly agenda that includes limited government, reduced regulation and taxes and reduced federal spending — all of which he said would strengthen the economy and lower deficits.

“The intervention of the federal government into our economy is a danger to our economy,” he said of the bailouts of large financial institutions and industries, which were begun at the end of the Bush Administration. “If we want to continue to have a national defense that remains strong, it requires a strong economy.”

Brooks made frequent mention of Congress’ Democratic leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, usually in the same breath with what he described as the Democratic Party’s drift toward socialism.

In his mind, the economic troubles began when Democrats took control of Congress near the end of the Bush Administration with the uncertainty sown by legislation and the threat of legislation that would restore greater regulatory oversight in the business realm and increase taxation on the 2 percent of highest earners.

“The propaganda that this is a Bush economy is just political hooey,” he said.

Brooks said he supports a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. His website states he supports either a flat tax or a “fair” tax that would significantly downsize the Internal Revenue Service.

Brooks has served in the state Legislature, as Madison County district attorney, and currently is a member of the Madison County Commission. He is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Alabama Law School.

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