Congressional Candidate from Larchmont Talks Taxes, Health Care

Larchmont resident Mark Rosen is running for Congress.

But the Army reservist and corporate executive won't make his bid official until April 15, the day procrastinators and people with tax problems fear most.

The significance of the date, he said, comprises "the centerpiece of his campaign." New York's tax burden is too high, forcing businesses, and jobs, out of the state. And the unwise expenditures of those tax dollars create mountains of debt for future generations.

"If you ask people around the [18th Congressional] district, they tell you that taxes are too high, spending is out of control, and government is out of control, whether they're Democrats, Republicans, or independents," Rosen said in an interview with Patch.

Rosen is a Connecticut native and West Point graduate. He made the move from Manhattan to Larchmont six years ago, when he and his wife had their second child. They now have five kids.

"Larchmont is a lovely place, and we like it because it's a walking town, and it has great restaurants," he said, adding that he's a big fan of Chat 19.

Motivated by his frustrations, Rosen will be seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Nita Lowey (D), who has held the seat since 1988.   

But he faces no small task. Lowey has captured at least 60 percent of the vote – and as much as 92 percent – during elections over the last 14 years. There are almost twice as many registered Democrats than Republicans in the district, which covers most of Westchester and parts of Rockland County. And, according to documents filed with the state Board of Elections, her campaign has almost $1 million in its coffers.

This is Rosen's first foray into politics. The 48-year-old is a senior vice president at Adecco, the largest staffing firm in the world, and is a lieutenant colonel in the Military Police, a part of the Army Reserves. He cited his outsider status as an advantage.

"Many of these career politicians don't have real-world experience in managing complex government or business operations, and I've done both," Rosen said. "I understand what government can and can't do, and I understand what drives business, which is reducing costs."

He said he helped close a billion dollar budget gap at Adecco, which included taking a five percent pay cut.

"I haven't seen anyone in government take a pay cut," he added.

Rosen's platform is close to the party line for moderate Republicans. He wants "smarter, but not more" government regulation of the financial industry, supports the troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, and called the health care bill recently signed by President Obama "a travesty" that will load future generations with debt.

"We need health care reform, but when you try to mandate pricing all you do is increase the costs," he said. "If you have an imperfect market, you need to get the health care and medical industries to compete for business in such a way that you achieve the best results and get the best costs."

He also derided the "parliamentary chicanery" that pushed the bill through Congress.

The Obama Administration and Congressional leaders "are trying to reengineer one-fifth of the American economy in a back room behind closed doors, which shows quite a bit of arrogance and cynicism."

He said that Lowey "is representative of the classic tax-and-spend incumbents, who simply rubber stamp these policies and drive jobs and businesses out of New York and out of the country."

Lowey's office wouldn't comment on Rosen because he hasn't officially announced his bid, but Lowey spokesman Matt Dennis said the Harrison resident will tout her record of "creating jobs, boosting our economy, and reducing taxes" in this year's campaign.

Rosen, a former vice president at JP Morgan Chase, also said that government regulation of the financial industry should take the form of "market-based incentives" that reward banks who minimize risk, instead of allowing companies to make money by betting against clients.

"If mortgages are being given to people who can't afford them, if banks are allowed to offload risk while capturing gains off the transactions, then the incentive structure is clearly wrong," he said.

"The proper role of government is to make sure the risks, costs, and benefits are aligned, to enable the proper functioning of markets."

Rosen will likely be the GOP's choice to run against Lowey, though some reports say that Hawthorne resident Jim Russell, a computer programmer who lost to Lowey two years ago, is mulling another run.