League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
State of Ohio (Adams, Brown, Clermont, Pike, Hamilton, Warren, Scioto Counties) June 14, 2005 Election
	Peter A. Fossett Answers Questions Candidate for United States Representative; District 2; Republican Party

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What are your qualifications for office?

I am an intelligent and thoughtful person of high moral character and commitment who can think well about the issues facing the country while persuasively promoting and protecting the interests of the 2nd District with honesty and integrity. As the result of my educational and professional backgrounds, I have a deep understanding of the American experience and of our constitutional system. I know the problems we have faced as a country and the solutions we have attempted; I know what works and what does not. I know the lessons of history and can use them to secure the best possible future for our children and grandchildren.

2. What do you see as the three most pressing issues you would address if elected? What plans do you have relative to those issues?

Top concerns include reforming the Social Security system in a way that protects current retirees while strengthening the system for future retirees, promoting a tax system that ensures economic liberty and strong economic growth for all Americans, and vigilantly protecting our national security against external and internal threats. Please see my extended thoughts on these issues on by following the "Political Philosophy" link on the previous page.

3. How would you address the federal deficit?

The deficit should be addressed by reducing spending and not by raising taxes. We must place legally-enforcable caps on spending in order to force the government to set spending priorities; Congress should trade off spending for priority programs with cuts in lower-priority programs. National defense and homeland security should be priorities, because they are core constitutional functions of the national government. Middle-class entitlement programs -- such as Medicare -- are growing at unsustainable rates and need to be restrained and reformed.

4. What should be the federal government's role with respect to health care?

The federal government's role with respect to health care should be very limited. The keys to an effective and efficient health care system are competition and consumer choice, not government regulation and allocation. The federal government can play a role in reforming the tax code to reduce our dependence on employer-provided health care and to promote arrangements that maximixe the ability of individuals to control their own health care spending.

6. In October 2005, select provisions of the USA Patriot Act are scheduled to sunset. Do you support a renewal of these provisions and/or an expansion of the Patriot Act? Why?

I support renewal of the Patriot Act and careful consideration of its expansion. Effective homeland security must provide for liberty as well as security; intrusions upon our fundamental rights must be justified by a demonstration of their effectiveness in diminishing security threats. I believe the Patriot Act strengthens our ability to protect ourself without unduly interfering with our civil liberties, and welcome extensions that strike a similar balance.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Ohio Supreme Court Justice: Total words for the answer to the question may not exceed 50 words. The word limit must be observed. Words over the limit will be cut off in published information.

U.S. Senate: Total words in answer to the question may not exceed 100 words. The word limit must be observeds. Words over the limit will be cut off in published information.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: June 9, 2005 11:26
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