Meet Peters, Raczkowski This Sunday At Adat Shalom hat You Need to Know at the Ballot Box is the focus of an electoral forum 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, at Adat Shalom Synagogue, 29901 Middlebelt, Farmington Hills. Channel 4 reporter Mara McDonald will moderate the forum, which will inform voters about candidates for the 9th Congressional District seat as well as the proposal for a Michigan constitutional convention and the election of state Supreme Court justices. The forum is sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council in partnership with B'nai B'rith International, Ameinu Detroit, National Council of Jewish Women/Greater Detroit Section, Zionist Organization of W lies will be irreversible. I strongly object to the way in which the president and his Democrat Congress have expanded federal spending and increased our national debt by passing a failed $800 billion stimulus package and a trillion dol- lar Obamacare bill. The debt burden and crushing taxa- tion that these irresponsible bills place on our children and grandchildren will kill our economy and way of life. We were promised unemployment no higher than 8 percent, but we are well above 10 percent in many parts of Michigan as November approaches. President Obama has failed to restore the health of our economy. This calls for wholesale replacement of members of Congress who aided and abetted him in prolonging and exacerbating the crisis now facing the country. Peters: Economists from across the politi- cal spectrum agree that the Recovery Act and actions taken by the president halted the economic nosedive and saved the American auto industry. However, eco- nomic recovery and job creation have not come quickly enough for families here in Oakland County. Small businesses, which create two out of every three new jobs, need support. I was the driving force behind legislation to increase lending to small businesses and was pleased to have the president's sup- port. However, this legislation should have been a priority sooner. I also think the president needs to act more aggressively in addressing the nation's deficit. I have formed a working group to iden- tify specific areas where we can cut spend- ing and am looking forward to analyzing the report from the Deficit Commission due out in December. IN: How can the federal government best encourage economic growth and job creation for Michigan and particu- larly for Oakland County and Detroit? Peters: The best way that the federal gov- ernment can help encourage economic growth and job creation is to help small businesses do what they do best — create jobs. I authored a section of the recently passed small business legislation that will leverage $870 million in private invest- ment in Michigan small businesses and manufacturers. This capital is especially critical because declining property and equipment values across all of Southeast Michigan have made it difficult for firms to get the loans they need to diversify, grow and hire more workers. Even when companies have orders in hand, banks are refusing to provide them the loans they need. My provision will give the state a small America, American Jewish Committee, Workmen's Circle and the Detroit Jewish News. Ninth District candidates Gary Peters and Rocky Raczkowski will par- ticipate; candidates Douglas Campbell, Adam Goodman, Bob Gray and Matthew Kuofie have been invited. Justin Long, a professor at Wayne State University, will make a presen- tation on the constitutional convention issue. Robert Sedler, a law profes- sor at WSU, will discuss the importance of the state Supreme Court races. The forum is free and open to all. For information, call the Jewish Community Relations Council at (248) 642-5393. ❑ pool of funding with which they can enhance the credit of prospective borrow- ers, catalyzing the loan. I am also fighting for greater support for research and devel- opment into advanced vehicle and renew- able energy technology. Oakland County and Metro Detroit have the research and engineering talent necessary to help Michigan and America be a world leader in these industries that will create the jobs of the future. Raczkowski: Businesses have to deal with unprecedented uncertainty due to Washington's inability to set a clear road- map of future policy changes. A large part of this uncertainty is about potential tax increases and increased regulations. Inside The 9th District Voters in Michigan's 9th Congressional District will decide whether incum- bent Democrat Gary Peters or chief challenger Republican Rocky Raczkowski will represent them in the 112th Congress. The district includes Farmington, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, Orchard Lake, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Berkley, Troy, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Pontiac, Clawson, Lake Angelus, Oakland and Orion Townships and parts of Waterford and Royal Oak. Jewish Population Centers The 9th District has the largest Jewish population of any congressional dis- trict in Michigan. At the same time, it is the home of a diverse population of which the Jewish community is a small, but active, minority. The 9th District has been historically Republican with Peters upsetting Rep. Joe Knollenberg in 2008 as part the Democratic wave that had Barack Obama handily winning Michigan on his way to becoming president. And Peters has shown himself as a man to be reckoned with in his own right, challenging some of the new president's policies and building close ties with the Jewish community. Rocky Raczkowski is no stranger to area voters as he comes from Farmington Hills and previously served as majority leader in the Michigan House. He has also worked to build strong ties with the Jewish community, particularly around Israel and the War on Terror. Other Candidates On The Ballot • Douglas Campbell, Green Party: www.gp.org . • Adam Goodman, Libertarian Party: www.lpwm.org/AdamGoodman. • Bob Gray, no party affiliation: www.bobgrayforcongress.com . • Matthew Kuofie, no party affiliation: www.matthewkuofie.com . Businesses are reluctant to hire when they could be facing additional labor, regulatory and tax costs due to govern- ment policies. This, at a particularly vul- nerable time due to the credit crunch and financial crisis, spells a death sentence for many small businesses and stunts the growth of others. Uncertainty is one of the key reasons the American economy can't emerge from the recession. Because of this insecurity, businesses will simply remain on the sidelines, wait- ing to expand their companies and hire new workers. High productivity from the critical workers who have not lost their jobs means that businesses can delay hir- ing with little consequences. With the unemployment rate at about 10 percent nationally and more than 13 percent in Michigan, government must act quickly to end the uncertainty and create an economic environment that provides the security employers need to create new jobs. JN: What should the United States do to promote and support a peace agree- ment between Israel and the Palestinian Authority? If negotiations fail should the U.S. and Quartet impose an agree- ment? Raczkowski: In an effort to achieve a real and durable peace that has eluded Israel despite unprecedented sacrifice, the par- ties to the conflict themselves must nego- tiate, without the imposition of undue external pressures, artificial timelines or demands that compromise Israel's secu- rity and national identity. The predicate to peace and a sustainable two-state solution must be Arab accep- tance of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. The Palestinian people, and for that matter, the entire citizenry of the Mideast, must support leaders who reject ter- ror and dismantle its infrastructure, embrace the principles and institutions of democracy and honor the rule of law. In the event such negotiations were to fail, Congress on page 16 October 21 • 2010 15