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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Economy and Jobs,
Health Care,
Energy Policy,
National Security,
Immigration Reform
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. In this time of high unemployment and budget deficits, what are the most important steps that should be taken to improve our nation’s economy and sustain job creation?
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Answer from Paul Hannosh:
I support the Fair Tax(HR 25) which has been endorsed by 73 Congressman, including Tom Mclintock and Darrell Issa. This would abolish the IRS and replace it with a national consumption tax and bring a tidal wave of jobs back to America. Under our current income tax system, all American made products have an embedded 22% tax on them which gives a competitive advantage to imports. The Fair Tax would level the playing field and restore our hollowed out manufacturing base.
Answer from Odessia D. Lee:
A good start is to raise the minimum wage, if income is larger we will spend more, that will aide in the growth of the economy. Creating a safety net by making medical coverage affordable. Connect state, local officials, local business as well as The Chamber of Commerce, to bring back decent paying jobs such as solar panels and manufacturing. We need to reach out to the businesses and companies. What is needed is to have a jobs bill brought to the floor of the House and passed.
Answer from Bob Conaway:
Deficits are manufactured by poor fiscal policy--if programs duplicative (like 70 federal agencies with drug enforcement programs), consolidate the duplicative programs and save on management costs. If the program funds the manufacture of products not needed or wanted, pick the best program(s) we need and go with it(them). Jobs needs to be created in the US that can reduce our balance of trade deficit, circulate currency internally so to maximize growth potential and reduce devaluation risk. We need to revisit unfair and predatory trade agreements that are shuttering our manufacturing capacity and related sales. Single payer health care would be another way to save billions. Allowing the federal government to negotiate prescription costs would be another cost saving tool.
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2. What, if any, changes should be made to federal health care policies or programs?
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Answer from Bob Conaway:
Put patient needs first and take the claim administrative denial and cut culture out of the decision-making where federal dollars are involved. The idea should be to get people better and save money. Focus on preventative care and medical choice. I would like to see some exploration into whether and how we could transition into a program that allows people to opt into single payer if they want it. The ability to negotiate drug prices for federally funded programs needs to be put back into the hands of purchasing management.
Answer from Odessia D. Lee:
Of what I have seen the ACA is better than what the uninsured had, but I am sure there things that can be done to make it better as with any new implemented programs, it takes time.
Answer from Paul Hannosh:
Obamacare is a disaster that has cost my family over $4,000 a year in increased premiums and I will repeal or defund it.
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3. What are your priorities with respect to our nation’s energy policy?
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Answer from Odessia D. Lee:
I am for clean energy such as wind, sun and water. What I am not in support of is fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas. Everyone needs to acknowledge that global warming is attributed to fracking for coal, oil and gas
Answer from Bob Conaway:
First, we need to realize that we don't have a national energy policy.
Second, look at conservation, lower energy lighting and multiple fuel technologies for homes and industry.
Third, realize as a nation if we don't conserve and reduce consumption, we have to deal with coal, nukes, oil, natural gas, wind, solar and fracking problems in some mix to keep up with the growth in energy usage--the mix and regulatory policies needed, have to worked out by negotiations in good faith by all stakeholders with Congressional leadership
Answer from Paul Hannosh:
I believe conservation is important as well as using clean, safe nuclear energy. Currently we have lots of unused nuclear "waste" that is sitting in dumps that could be used in plutonium reactors to provide clean, cheap energy with minimal waste and impact on the environment. This would also help us to move away from the "Petrodollar" which has lead to wars and instability the Middle-East.
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4. What, if any, changes should be made with respect to our nation’s security, including our national defense or anti-terrorism measures?
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Answer from Odessia D. Lee:
If we keep our agencies fully funded, manned and properly trained the United States should be well secured.
Answer from Paul Hannosh:
I would get rid of the TSA as it does not appear to be that effective and private security could do the job cheaper with less inconvenience to passengers. We need to profile groups that have a high propensity towards terroristic activity. Government should be focusing on spying on these individuals and not violating innocent Americans 4th Amendment rights.
Answer from Bob Conaway:
Tough. I had trouble with what the actual end game (for Iraq)was and by the obvious failure to understand the forces at play in the region. First the problem was Sadaam, then it was religious sects, then it was ethnic strife and then it was tribal--someone did a lot of foolish guessing with American blood and assets and it does not seem they figured it out. While I thought the "aluminum tubes" which were seen from the air were not legit excuses to invade Iraq, I was not sure as an outsider. I thought bottling up Sadaam was being done by the no fly zones, sanctions and the embargos. The price of invasion left us with a nation with even more strife, regionalization by ethnic and or tribal groups and oil (that we had many people die to protect) that is going to the Communist Chinese. The end game was not what we were told it was. Since the Iraq conflict, our reliance on military technology (vs hard intelligence and diplomacy) may be seeding a future crop that will make us less free and secure. The American people and our vets deserve better leadership. If we are asked to bleed and pay, we should be told the truth by Congress and be partners in the decisions that will affect our future.
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5. What is your position on the issue of immigration reform? What, if any, changes to legislation or policy would you support?
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Answer from Paul Hannosh:
I oppose amnesty and would bring our soldiers back from Germany, Japan and elsewhere and put them on our borders where they can do some good interdicting drug smugglers, terrorists and illegal aliens. A nation that does not control it's borders is not really a nation.
Answer from Bob Conaway:
We need make sure there is a pathway to citizenship and people who have been working here pay their taxes (if they are not already). Education is a superior alternative funding wise to crime abatement costs for those children who are here of no fault of their own. Separation of families is a tragedy in so many ways as it creates a family that we end up having to support --e.g. when we ship a breadwinner back to their native land, we lose a tax payment stream from the working adult and create a family potentially in need of public assistance. Policy which makes no sense at all.
Answer from Odessia D. Lee:
We are all immigrants, we all face challenges. You may remember there use to be signs which read NINA, which meant "No Irish Need Apply". Now it appears that some of those same sentiments may be in use against undocumented workers. Just as our nation has absorbed ways of European immigrants, we should look for means to help us absorb ways of Hispanic and other immigrants. I would really like for the Dream Act to pass, giving a pass to citizenship to all deserving.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' statements are presented as
submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
