134th House Race: Reynard Comes Out Swinging
John Reynard, Democratic candidate for the 134th House seat, blasted GOP opponent Rep. Ryan Mackenzie before he detailed his platform at a CEPTA-sponsored forum.
Democrat John Reynard came out swinging at Tuesday night’s CEPTA-sponsored Candidates Night, although his Republican opponent in the race for the 134th District State House seat, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, wasn’t even there.
“What is the difference between me and Ryan?” he asked the approximately 20 people who came out in the rain for the program at Fire Co. #1 in Emmaus. “Ryan has done two things in his life -- gone to Harvard and worked in politics. He’s never owned a home, never paid property taxes, and as far as I know, he’s never had a girlfriend.
“He’s never loved anything other than money and his own self-advancement,” Reyard said.
From there, Reynard, a self-described businessman, went on to discuss his own business background and how he would use his real-world experience to the benefit of the Pennsylvania taxpayer.
Here are some of the specific issues he said he would address if elected:
* Stop the brain-drain
Reynard proposed a two-prong attack. First, he advocates state-funded grants for the top 10 percent of Pennsylvania’s graduating high school students who decide to attend a college or university in the state.
Dovetailing with that, Reynard also spoke of a program that would enable the top 2 percent of those graduating from Pennsylvania’s colleges to compete for some sort of entrepreneurial grant through the Small Business Development Centers in the state. Too many top students are leaving Pennsylvania for jobs in big cities like New York, Boston and Washington, D.C, he said, because the jobs they are looking for can’t be found in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
* Lower the State Sales Tax
Reynard said he would drop the state sales tax to 4.2 percent because lowering the sales tax is the best way to kick-start the economy.
Reynard said he would focus on lowering the sales tax rather than lowering the income tax because “cutting income tax doesn’t cause growth since income tax has nothing to do with the cycle of commerce; it has to do with the cycle of investment.”
Reynard termed the boost to the economy triggered by a drop in sales tax a “self-feeding cycle,” describing the chain of events that would happen with the 1.8 percent of sales tax not going to Harrisburg. Consumers would spend more money on goods, he said, and the stores would make more money as a result. As stores reap the rewards of increased spending, they would hire more people, who would in turn spend more money in the state.
Reynard said he came up with the 4.2 percent sales tax rate through studies he had done while an economics professor at Lehigh University.
* Make Legislative Pay Merit-Based
Reynard said the first measure he would sponsor if elected would be a “Legislative Accountability Bill” in which legislative pay would be lowered by 25 percent. Then, based on performance in five categories, such as improving the state educational system or implementing tax reductions, those legislators could earn that 25 percent back in 5 percent increments.
Pennsylvania has the second-largest and second-highest-paid legislature in the country, trailing California in both categories, Reynard said.
“I will take a 25 percent pay cut, and send a check to the state of Pennsylvania [in that amount] every year that I am in office until my bill is enacted into law,” he said. “Unless we can get regular citizens like yourself angry enough at them so they will have to do it, it’s not going to happen.”
for real
9:44 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
I love that Ryan Mackenzie refuses to attend CEPTA debates. Proves he is a Republican with some common sense.
Giovanni Landi
12:34 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
From John Donches
Judge Douglas Reichley, the former representative for the 134th district, attended all the CEPTA “Candidates Night” debates. He is a republican and I believe most people, regardless of political registration, would not consider him to be someone without common sense. This is the person whom both of these candidates is trying to replace and it will be difficult for either of them to do.
The video of this event will be posted to (epcat.us) within a few days. If you would like to see already posted videos of local interest like; Emmaus borough committees, school board and public safety just type epcat.us into your search engine of choice and peruse the many choices.
Interested Observer
9:44 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
This guy has said nothing about himself since day one. Now, he's stooped to personal attacks - not on issues, not on substance, just personal. How, exactly, would Mr. Reynard know what Mr. Mackenzie cares about? And what does it matter if Mr. Mackenzie has had no girlfriends or 30 girlfriends? This guy is a joke and deserves to go down in flames on election day.
Rob Hamill
12:34 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
CEPTA is the only organization other than the League to host debates. Where would we be without CEPTA? Meetings are the third Tues of each month at 7:30 at The Emmaus Fire Co #1, with varied local speakers on varied subjects. Some of the members put out The Lehigh Valley Commentator, a quarterly paper, that allows submittors to write about various subjects of interest to all.
An interested bystander
1:24 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Rob this isn't true, the chamber of commerce has hosted many debates over the past several years, and has Mackenzie and Reynard on the schedule for Thursday October 11.
Nic
1:00 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Wow. Did John Reynard finally wake up and realize there was an election? Last week he was still moaning about Mackenzie "kicking his a**" and calling it "early" in the election. Good to know that at least he's aware he's running for office.
So Mr. Reynard seems to like a candidate from the private sector who has experience in business and knows what it takes to start and sustain one. I didn't realize he was such a big fan of Mitt Romney. (Except Romney went to Harvard, which apparently is a strong enough negative that Mr. Reynard keeps bringing it up. Does Barack Obama know this about Harvard? Someone might want to tell him.) I'm still waiting to hear one criticism of Mackenzie's record other than this "he's-too-smart" and girlfriend/no girlfriend business.
Bernard
2:31 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
This mr. Reynard is a joke, you should be ashamed of your immature behavior, you were the one accusing mr. Mackenzie of being "immature" but who's the one going on the record questioning Ryan's sexuality and whether or not he has had a girlfriend. You are creating a double standard when Ryan goes after you on legitimate questions on whether you are unemployed or working illegally, those are legitimate questions to ask. Seeing that you are running for office don't we have a right to know your work history and current work. You have made things personal as they say when you have nothing to run on make things personal. Who is te immature one now mr. Reynard? Clearly its you, get a life and stay out of Ryan's personal life, your baked into a corner and know you've been caught red handed but to go as far as to question whether Ryan is gay is an embarrassment to not only yourself but everythig you're trying to represent which I'm not sure by the way what that is. Get a life!
Nic
5:19 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
I just saw this on PoliticsPA. Apparently, while John Reynard was blasting Ryan for never owning a home and paying property taxes, Reynard himself was committing tax fraud. Mr. Reynard has a homestead tax exemption on a home in Northampton County which is not his primary residence. Homestead tax exemptions are only available for primary residents. (http://www.politicspa.com/918-morning-buzz/41254/)
Mr. Reynard responds by saying that he notified the post office, the Commonwealth of PA, and the tax collection company than he moved. So he evidently knew to notify the proper agencies but chose not to notify Northampton County regarding his residency. He's been in Emmaus for three years and continues to collect tax benefits (paid for by hard-working taxpayers) from Northampton County. (http://www.politicspa.com/919-morning-buzz-2/41318/)
What a fight to pick, Mr. Reynard. Complaining about Mr. Mackenzie's property taxes while you are cheating the county and illegally collecting a tax benefit paid for by hard-working Pennsylvanians. This is becoming a circus. Unbelievable.
Interested Observer
5:51 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Wow, I can't believe that the Patch decided to report on the personal attacks by Reynard and keep this hidden. I am sure they had the same info if politicspa did! What a travesty...and, again, what a joke Mr. Reynard is.
Unum e Pluribus
7:24 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
I now know why the Democrats picked Reynard. They had to find a dupe to run against Mackenzie. Patch should make the headline, "Reynard comes out swinging... hits himself in the face and knocks himself out".
If Reynard was serious about stopping the PA brain drain, he could support Right to Work, and vow to eliminate all the regulations, permits and other BS companies have to do to start a business in this Commonwealth. Lowering corporate income tax and all the other nuisance business taxes at every level would lower the cost of doing business and make PA more business friendly.
careless fills
8:25 am on Friday, September 21, 2012
I wonder if the Democratic Party regrets selecting a homophobic, Harvard hating candidate who wants to cut the sales tax?
Emily
11:35 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012
John Reynard's attacks on Ryan Mackenzie have been:
1) He's 28 years old.
2) He lives with his parents.
3) He doesn't have a girlfriend.
4) He was hand-selected for this position by Harrisburg.
5) He went to Harvard.
Even if these were legitimate attacks, the first four our flat out wrong. (Number 4 is the funniest: complaining that Ryan is a hand-picked campaign hack--even though he was elected by both primary AND a special election voters--while Reynard himself was hand-picked by the Democratic Party to replace the man who actually won the primary. Democracy at its finest.)
So this leaves grievance #5: Ryan went to Harvard. Clearly this disqualifies him...along with Obama, Romney, and even JFK.
Reynard may have finally realized he's running for office, but he clearly hasn't figured out who he's running against.