Paul Bass photos
DeLauro (left) at CitySeed; Massey at WNHH FM.
On issues ranging from the federal Department of Education’s existence to companies’ use of algorithm-based “targeted pricing,” New Haven voters have heard a clear choice this week from candidates for Congress.
Republican candidate Michael Massey and 17-term Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro offered those different takes on the role of government in separate public appearances.
At a “listening session” on food policy Monday at Fair Haven’s CitySeed headquarters, DeLauro vowed to seek to stop companies from using algorithms to vary what prices they charge different customers at different times of day based on personal data collection: Upping a lunch price on a customer’s known lunch hour, for instance. Or charging a family with a nut-allergic kid a higher price for nut-free granola bars.
In a conversation Tuesday on WNHH FM, Massey opposed the idea.
“We should let the market take care of the market,” he argued. “People can go to another company. There’s always where else people can eat.”
The two agree that the federal government shouldn’t impose new restrictions requiring food stamp benefits recipients to eat only healthful food. They also both agree that the federal government shouldn’t cut back on food stamps. They offered divergent takes on what to do beyond that.
A health care advocate told DeLauro at Monday’s event that people too often buy junk food with SNAP benefits (as food stamps are called in Connecticut), increasing the risk of diabetes and obesity. She asked DeLauro whether the government should prevent recipients from buying junk food (such as candy, cookies, and soda).
DeLauro responded that she opposes new restrictions because she doesn’t want to limit people’s choices. She said she’d rather that the government find ways to bring down the cost of healthful food.
Asked about the matter on Tuesday, Massey said it would be tough for government to accomplish that. He said he’d rather remove all restrictions on SNAP use.
He based his view partly on his experience running a recently closed Edgewood grocery called Black Corner Store. People couldn’t use food stamps to buy fried chicken he cooked on premises because they had to purchase only packaged meats, he said. (Connecticut is not among the six that allow restaurant meal purchases with food stamps.) They would “get in trouble” if they spent the money on soap or toilet paper rather than food.
“People should have autonomy,” Massey argued, because they know better than the government what they need.
“We have homeless people that get [SNAP] — where do you expect these people to cook their food? They shouldn’t have to spend their money on cold cuts the rest of their lives.”
He was asked whether removing restrictions would make it easier for some food stamp recipients to buy drugs. He argued that most people don’t spend food stamps that way — and that those who do will find a way whatever restrictions are in place.
In Congress, DeLauro opposed a Republican bill to place new limits on approved food stamp purchases. She also opposes allowing them to be used for non-food items.
Another difference: Massey predicted that if Donald Trump becomes president he will abolish the federal Department of Education, an idea he supports. Like many Democrats, DeLauro opposes the idea, arguing it would throw hundreds of thousands of teachers out of work and drain classroom resources.
“Schools are failing,” said Massey, whose candidacy has been cross-endorsed by the Independent Party. The Department of Education “is failing our children. I don’t think we should keep sending them money.”
Instead, he called for creating a new program using the department’s current budget to create $200 “bonuses” for parents of students who make honor roll. He‘d add bonuses of up to $4,000 for parents whose children play sports or perform community service.
“These students on honor roll aren’t stealing your cars,” Massey argued. As for those students who are stealing cars, their parents would crack down on them to straighten up in order to qualify for the bonuses.
If such a program were in place when he was growing up, Massey said, he would have gotten in less trouble. (Click here to read a previous story about his campaign detailing his personal journey from incarceration to business and politics.)
“We have to change the culture in these neighborhoods” and “make the kids on honor roll the cool kids,” Massey argued.
He also called for ramping up driver’s ed so more teens can get their licenses: “People with driver’s licenses don’t steal cars.”
Republicans can win back cities if they run on ideas like these rather than ceding urban voters to Democrats, Massey argued. “Democrats have failed cities.”
He said he’s looking forward to advancing those new ideas as a Congressman, which he called “one of the easiest jobs ever.”
“The hard part,” he added, “is winning.”
Click on the video below to watch the full conversation with GOP Congressional candidate Michael Massey on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of Dateline New Haven.