News-Press: Goss eyes reforms

Republican candidate for Congress Chauncey Goss, a Sanibel businessman, has worked with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan on budget matters, and may know better than many about the issues surrounding federal spending.

His concerns about the country’s financial future are the key reasons behind his candidacy, he told Lee Republican Women Federated this week.

Current federal spending is unsustainable, Goss said, so changes are needed, including changing entitlement programs.

“They’re good programs, but they’re designed for a different demographic,” Goss said. “We need to make changes so they fit the current demographics.”

There’s also far too much redundancy in federal programs, he said, citing 80-odd teacher training programs, 40 employment programs, and 60 to develop financial literacy. Those numbers can surely be reduced while continuing to offer the same services, he said.

The tax code, meanwhile, “is a nightmare,” with too many loopholes and too much corporate welfare. And about 48 percent of the people do not pay any personal income taxes. All those matters are ripe for change, Goss said, and he’s got the ability to hit the ground running and make things happen.

Goss, 45, grew up on Sanibel, worked for years after college on Boca Grande, and has always had family in Lee County, including his father, former U.S. Rep. Porter Goss. Asked about what role his father might have in the race — he has been almost invisible so far — Goss said: “It wasn’t his idea that I run. But he’s always been supportive, and he helped pave a path for me in seeing how to provide public service with integrity.”

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