Candidates weigh in on security, taxes and the budget

Here's a list of candidates' answers to questions posed at last week's candidate forum for the six candidates for the 4th Congressional District:



Fiscal priorities and taxes

Charlie Brown, Democrat: Fiscal priorities should not be about "Propping up government's overseas." Tax cuts are needed for the middle-class so that the burden is evenly distributed.

Doug Ose, Republican: The top fiscal priority is, "Protection of the country from all challenges, direct or indirect." Ose said he already cut taxes during his prior three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tom McClintock, Republican: His fiscal priority is "the defense of our nation." He wants tax credits for individuals for health care, because the U.S. Constitution does not give government the right to run health care.

Ted Terbolizard, Republican: His top fiscal priority was for taxpayers to learn to quit asking government to solve problems. The candidate is seeking "less government and less taxes."

Suzanne Jones, Republican: Her fiscal priority is for government to use taxes responsibly to balance the budget. "We need to develop a simpler tax code" to stimulate the economy.

John Wolfgram, Democrat: His fiscal priority is to turn around the country's international trade deficit. He wants to shift half of income taxes to corporate and sales taxes.



National security

Brown: Politics have no business in military intelligence, because "having the biggest military in the world does no good if we don't know how to use it." The Vietnam veteran served in the U.S. Air Force.

Ose: "The U.S. has wide interests around the globe and we must be engaged with those interests." Ose said his travels to the Middle East and South America proved to him how important U.S. security is.

McClintock: National security starts at the borders against illegal immigrants because, "If the military can't defend our borders, what good are they?"

Terbolizard: The candidate is "completely opposed," to other governments using the United States military as a world police force. We need to make peace through business transactions, he said.

Jones: "We're not a police force; we're there for our own interests," she said. Her family's military background and her own work for the Army overseas showed her the need for national defense.

Wolfgram: The Vietnam War veteran said "war is institutionalized insanity" and wants Congress to take back the right to wage a war from the president.