CANDIDATE TONY HECKEMEYER DISCUSSES ISSUES

Democratic congressional candidate Tony Heckemeyer stresses his Southeast Missouri roots in his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson.

The former circuit judge from Sikeston also talks a lot about his farming and business background.

Heckemeyer has harsh words for the nation's farm policy. He blames Republicans for scrapping the government safety net for farmers that had been in place since the Great Depression.

He said the nation needs to reinstate the farm loan program and develop a new crop insurance program to help farmers get a good price for their product.

Congress also should take steps to preserve Social Security and Medicare, he said. He favors setting up a separate trust fund so politicians can't dip into the money set aside to pay Social Security benefits.

Heckemeyer discusses those and other issues in an interview on Page 9A of today's Southeast Missourian. The newspaper asked the same questions of all three candidates for the 8th District congressional seat. An interview with Libertarian candidate John Hendricks was published Tuesday and an interview with Emerson on Wednesday.

Heckemeyer, 59, served eight years as a state representative. He later was elected judge and served 17 years on the bench before resigning in February to run for Congress.

Heckemeyer said too much money is spent in political campaigns. He said steps need to be taken to reform campaign finances.