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Andrew Roraback on the Death Penalty, Health Care and Rowland

Chion Wolf

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Tucker/Where%20We%20Live%2005-16-2012.mp3

Republican State Senator Andrew Roraback is leaving the legislature to run for the 5th Congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy.

On WNPR's Where We Live, Roraback voiced off on his vote against the repeal of the death penalty, which he was previously in favor of. His opposition to this year's legislation was because he felt it was "disingenuous and unclean." 

He does not think the state "should be in the business of extinguishing life." Roraback did not agree with this legislation though, which said the repeal did not apply to those already on death row. "The state should not be in the position of misrepresenting things to the public and to victims of crime," said Roraback.

In 2009, Roraback voted for the repeal of the death penalty, which was vetoed by former Governor Jodi Rell. Just like the legislation he voted against this year, the 2009 repeal he voted in favor of was not retroactive.

Roraback also explained his positions on two other big social issues. When it comes to abortion, "he has great difficulty personally with the issue," but he believes that "government should not interfere in a decision that's made between a woman and her physician."

He stood by the "Republican principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in his support of gay marriage in Connecticut.

Rowland

Roraback's opponent on the Republican side, Lisa Wilson-Foley was originally scheduled to be on Where We Live, but she cancelled when the promotion mentioned her involvement with disgraced former Governor John Rowland. Prior to her agreement to appear on Where We Live,it was revealed that Rowland was working on behalf of her campaign while on the payroll of Wilson-Foley's husband. "My only objection to their relationship was the absence of disclosure," said Roraback.

The former governor is now a radio talk show host on WTIC-AM. Roraback had been a guest on Rowland's show in the past when he was running for this Congressional seat. "There were a couple of occasions when I felt that the questioning was tougher than it had been prior to him being employed by the Foley's," said Roraback. "But that's my judgement."

Rowland also gave out Roraback's cell phone number on-the-air during the death penalty repeal debate, before it was known that he was working for Wilson-Foley. Roraback was called by a couple of people. "That was ok by me," said Roraback. "I give out my cell phone number quite routinely."

Affordable Care Act

Like many Republican candidates, Roraback supports the repeal of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. "I would vote to repeal it and I would do that in a heartbeat but I think the Supreme Court is going to take that step before January, 2013," said Roraback.

He would like to see future laws that "don't discriminate against people because of pre-existing conditions." He added that this type of discrimination "puts a lot of blameless people in a very bad spot."

The problem with "Obamacare," he says is that "It's kind of counter-intuitive when they say that we're going to pass a bill which is going to bring down the cost of health care then small businesses get a bill in the mail from their insurance company showing that they're premiums for health insurance are going up."

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