EDITORIAL: Newsday's endorsement in the 4th Congressional District

The ideological battle raging across the country is mirrored in the race to represent this district in the heart of Nassau County. Seven-term Democratic incumbent Carolyn McCarthy, 66, of Mineola, voted for the recent health care reform bill. Republican Fran Becker, 57, of Lynbrook, would vote to rewrite it. He thinks Washington regulates too much. She looks at the recent debacle on Wall Street and sees the need for vigilant oversight.

Becker would extend the tax cuts of the last decade for all taxpayers. McCarthy would extend them only for the 98 percent of "middle class" families making less than $250,000 a year. Becker talks recklessly about a pre-emptive military strike against Iran. McCarthy prefers negotiation.

Becker, a financial planner, knows the district well and, as a 14-year Nassau County legislator, is an experienced public servant. But he would be a reliable vote for a replay of policies that unleashed destructive greed on Wall Street, plunged the nation into a punishing recession and saddled the federal government with crushing deficits and debt. The nation's problems are too critical, and too complex, for that brand of jingoistic, just-say-no governance.

McCarthy has served the district with energy and grace. She continues to be a nationally recognized voice of reason on gun control at a time when commonsense regulation is badly in need of congressional champions.

She is a strong advocate for childhood nutrition and expanded nursing education, and as the chair of a House subcommittee on Healthy Familes and Communities, has the platform to advance that agenda. If returned to Washington, she should use her position on the House Committee on Education and Labor to aggressively push Long Island's interests in the national debate on education reform.

Newsday endorses McCarthy.