24-Feb-10 5:00 PM CST

On the issues: 7th District candidate John Culberson

Texas on the Potomac has offered every candidate in contested congressional primaries an extensive opportunity to weigh in on their qualifications for office and their positions on the major issues facing the district.

We will print no more than two responses per day, allowing each candidate exclusive play on our web site. The candidates' comments will be published in the order in which they are received.

Today we hear from John Culberson:http://culberson.house.gov/

Why would you be the best candidate for the House seat?

Our nation is facing an urgent fiscal crisis. Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870. This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest. We simply must stop spending our children's future. As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, "Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible."

The people of District Seven know they can count on my to keep my word to cut taxes, cut spending, and honor the Constitution. As a staunch fiscal conservative, I have consistently opposed spending increases regardless of who occupied the Oval Office and will continue to do so as long as I am in office. Common sense tells you that spending more to save more is not a logical or coherent fiscal policy. The federal government must learn to live within its means - just like American families. It's time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less. I believe that by taking these steps, our economy will experience the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations.

How would you describe your political philosophy?
As a fiscally conservative "Jeffersonian Republican," I am committed to Thomas Jefferson's vision of limited government, individual liberty, and states' rights. Simply put, I believe in "Letting Texans Run Texas."

What are the most important steps you would take to produce jobs in the district and the country?
President Obama and Speaker Pelosi told us the so-called "stimulus" package was intended to create jobs and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. A year later, unemployment stands at nearly 10%, we have record deficits, record spending levels, and our national debt currently stands at $12.3 trillion. We need to get serious about job creation by dramatically cutting income and payroll taxes, and removing barriers to industrial productivity and profitability. Texas has weathered the economic storm better than the rest of the country because of our low-tax, limited regulation business environment, and our model tort-reform laws.

What would you do to reduce or eliminate the federal deficit?
Our national debt currently stands at $12.3 trillion, which is a $3.7 trillion or 42% increase since the Democrats took over Congress in January 2007. In three years, Congressional Democrats have accumulated more federal debt than in our nation's first 200 years. Americans do not budget their personal finances this way and neither should the federal government. Instead of increasing our debt load, we should use repaid TARP funds and unspent stimulus money for deficit reduction. We should also amend House rules to require that any increase in the statutory debt limit be considered as a stand-alone bill and pass with a supermajority two-thirds vote.

What are your top priorities in fighting international terrorism?
The U.S. is currently engaged in a war with terrorists who seek to harm our country in hopes of disrupting our way of life. We must recommit to defeating this threat and isolating terrorist regimes. We must treat and try terrorists as enemy combatants - not U.S. citizens. Europeans may want us to try terrorists in U.S. courtrooms, but Americans do not. Terrorists who kill innocent people and do not abide by international law should not be housed on U.S. soil or granted the same rights as American citizens. I have cosponsored legislation to prevent your tax dollars from being used to move terrorists to the U.S.

Do you favor full funding for the Constellation program or should NASA use the money for other priorities?
President Obama's FY2011 budget for NASA puts our security and prosperity at risk by eliminating the U.S. human spaceflight program. The budget abandons Constellation, the program most key to maintaining our leadership role in space exploration. Constellation enables us to ferry crew to space safely and funds the development of a heavy-lift cargo vehicle, which is essential to carry out scientific missions in space. The president's cuts will delay our access to space for several years and make us dependent on Russia and China, who are racing ahead with their own human spaceflight programs, making America less competitive and yielding the high ground in space.

Do you favor comprehensive immigration reform? If not, what would you do to fix the broken immigration system?
Immigration reform starts with securing our borders. With bipartisan support, I have successfully pushed a zero tolerance program that is dramatically reducing crime and illegal immigration along our southern border. Under this strict enforcement policy, anyone caught crossing the border illegally is arrested, prosecuted, and jailed for up to six months. I helped to implement this program in the Laredo and Rio Grange Sectors and I am working to expand it from Brownsville to San Diego. We also need a sensible visa system that allows people who pass background checks to enter the country legally for a period of time.

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/02/on_the_issues_7th_district_can_1.html

Click a star to rate!

Rating: 0.00 / 5.00 - Not yet rated.
0 ratings