Below The Beltway

I haven’t lived in Congressman Frank Wolf’s district since the district lines were redrawn after the 1990 census, but it’s good to see that there’s a limited government Republican challenging him this year:

WINCHESTER — U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, has served in Congress since 1980, coming into office along with President Reagan, the man who generally set the mood and tenure for the GOP that decade and beyond.

Wolf’s tenure as Virginia’s longest-serving member of the House of Representatives would seem to unite fellow Republicans, who generally look to him as a strong favorite in each election. After all, Wolf defeated Democrat Judy Feder by 16 percentage points in the November 2006 election to earn his 14th two-year term in office.

His political successes, however, are not universally applauded.

Considering Wolf to have strayed from the Reagan mantra of small government, 44-year-old Vern McKinley of Ashburn has decided to square off against Wolf for the Republican Party’s nomination.

Accordingly to McKinley, Wolf has strayed far from the limited government fiscal conservatism that used to make the GOP:

With limited and smaller government as a guiding principle, McKinley believes he can offer voters in Virginia’s 10th District a legitimate choice among Republicans.

Taxes, spending, and regulatory issues seem to provide the best ways to differentiate McKinley from Wolf. He said Wolf’s own votes show him working closely with Democrats on appropriations bills, changing the overall budget picture to be directly opposite to Reagan-inspired methods.

No Child Left Behind, McKinley said, tries to make the federal government responsible for education. He said that is a challenge, especially when the country has a poor foreign policy agenda.

“I travel a lot in my work, and the closest ally the U.S. ever made in foreign policy doesn’t want to help us,” he said.

McKinley is not a big fan of current U.S. foreign policy, and he said Wolf has not fully thought out the process to improve it.

He said Wolf, like some other members of Congress, does not fully think out issues, forcing him to react to actions rather than come up with a real policy.

The U.S. economy, McKinley said, also serves as a key example of how Wolf and others in Congress react to troubles.

“I think that politicians in Washington want to be seen as doing something about the troubled economy,” he said, adding that the recently approved economic stimulus package does little in offering real help.

McKinley said the economic stimulus package that would offer monetary rebates to most Americans just moves money around, meaning an answer to the country’s tough times still needs to be found.

He added that Wolf voted in favor of the package.

“There are a few good provisions in the package, but the idea that giving out rebates in this manner will give a significant boost to the economy is silly,” McKinley said. “Any stimulus of this size would not stop a recession if one is already ‘baked in the cake.’

Unseating a long-term incumbent in a primary is no an easy thing, but it would be nice if the voters of the 10th District sent Congressman Wolf a message that he’s become part of what’s wrong with Washington.