By Jeremy Moreno, Times Staff Writer From: http://www.katytimes.com/articles/2004/04/03/news/01news.prt
A little more than two-weeks before the Congressional District 10 Republican run-off election, candidates Michael McCaul and Ben Streusand discussed health care, homeland security and highway spending during a candidate forum last week.
An estimated 100 people attend the forum, which was sponosored by the Katy Chamber of Commerce and hosted at The Club at Falcon Point.
Both candidates were asked about and said they were pleased with President Bush's decision to allow Condoleezza Rice, his national security advisor, to testify publicly and under oath about events surround the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Both agreed that stiffer border patrol, not the allocation of federal funds, is the answer to prevent taxpayer dollars from being funneled into the healthcare costs of uninsured illegal immigrants. McCaul did mention he is open to the possibility of establishing healthcare centers for the uninsured.
The two differed on their approaches to reforming America's healthcare system.
"I would have the federal government reimburse Medicare providers. Customers should choose their doctor and healthcare provider from the best guy or institution at the cheapest possible price. Healthcare is not competitive; it's a series of monopolies," Streusand said.
"It's truly a government-run system. We need to streamline it. I like a step toward free market principles. It would restore the relationship between the patient and physician. Congress and federal employees have a better healthcare system than the American people," McCaul said.
Asked about their dedication to the U.S. Interstate 10 Highway expansion project, the candidates pledged to seek every federal dollar possible to fund it. McCaul added that he would support a toll road, which could serve as an additional revenue source for the highway.
Streusand and McCaul each explained why they feel American jobs are migrating to foreign markets.
"We need to create the most favorable environment for businesses to stay in the country and create more jobs here. It's almost impossible to compete on a level playing field with foreign countries that don't have taxation," McCaul said.
"We should not impede the growth of American jobs. I don't think penalizing companies is the way to go. We need to enforce copyright laws and allow the currency to float against dollar. Chinese imports cost so much less and American exports cost so much more," Streusand said.
Both candidates said they would support action to replace the IRS with the National Fair Tax.
"I support the a National Fair Tax, which would be a federal sales tax. Every study I've seen has shown that it reduces the costs of goods and services in the country. The time has come, no longer can we fix a 100-year-old system with Band-aids," Streusand said.
This national retail sales tax would apply to everyone including foreigners and illegal immigrants and it is impossible to cheat," McCaul said.
Negative campaigning in this run-off has been an issue and was brought to the forefront. Each candidate said they feel they have been defamed and requested a return to the positive campaigning of the primary.
"I challenge my opponent to go positive. This trash warfare is unseemly," McCaul said.
"My record has been question, my business ethics have been questioned. I agree the campaign should be directed to the issues, and I would like this campaign to conclude with the discussion of these issue and look forward to having a clean debate the next two weeks," Streusand said.
Each candidate said they will not move to Washington permanently if elected, but will remain in Texas to be accessible to constituents.
Election day is April 13.
Any word on if he'll commit to joining Tancredo's group? That would go a long way in differentiating the campaign talk from a genuine interest in carrying those positions into policy. I think it would also help the candidate who did it on election day by showing that his committment is more than empty campaign promises - especially in Tancredo's case since he and his caucus are a thorn in the side of the "republicans" who want amnesty or amnesty-lite. I haven't heard anything from Streusand if he'll join either, so it still makes me wary of anyone who won't do that.