Candidates discuss immigration, foreign aid at 8th District forum

The six candidates for the 8th Congressional District on Wednesday night fielded questions regarding illegal immigration, U.S. foreign aid, Obamacare and the recent Internal Revenue Service scandal at a forum sponsored by the Cape County Tea Party at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

The candidates present were independent candidate Thomas W. Brown, Doug Enyart of the Constitution Party, independent candidate Dr. Robert George, Democrat Steve Hodges, Libertarian Bill Slantz and Republican Jason Smith. About 100 people attended. Brian Bollmann, Cape County Tea Party chairman, acted as host, and member Esther Bohnert asked the questions.

Candidates were asked under what circumstances illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S., disregarding how long they may have been in the country.

George noted the U.S. is a country of immigrants, but they should become legal and should be paying taxes.

Hodges said it's a problem when illegal immigrants take jobs from Americans. He supports issuing national tamper-proof cards that could be run through a national registry and verified.

Smith is strictly against amnesty and said the U.S. government needs to secure borders and make sure it doesn't dole out benefits to illegal immigrants.

Slantz doesn't agree with ID cards or strengthening the border. He said an illegal immigrant should never be allowed to stay in the U.S., but that at the same time, he believes in peaceful movement across borders and that there should be no wall.

"What are we, East and West Berlin?" he asked. "Fear of illegal immigration shouldn't be used to justify a police state or national ID cards."

The candidates were asked how they would vote on hypothetical legislation that would pay a full year of veterans benefits but also fund an "unconstitutional" item such as Obamacare. Several of the candidates have served in the military, but none said they would vote "yes."

Enyart said he has no intention of supporting the funding of Obamacare in any way.

"If you stir in evil with good, it's still evil," he said.

George said he's seen that Obamacare has been beneficial and people in this country need good health care.

"It's ridiculous when you can get it for $100,000 at one part of town and $50,000 at the other part of town," he said.

The candidates also were asked if they would vote on hypothetical legislation that would pay a full year of veterans benefits but also would send aid to foreign countries.

George said he would try to modify what he could, but under no circumstances would he vote "no" on a veterans benefit bill. He said his being hard-of-hearing from his time in Korea is nothing compared to how some of his fellow veterans have fared.

Brown and Hodges said they wouldn't send aid in that situation and taking care of home has to come first.

"My momma taught me we have to take care of home and then we take care of everybody else," Brown said.

Smith said,"If they burn our flag, and they're not our friend, we should not fund them."

Slantz said the U.S. government should stop sending all foreign aid, along with shutting down all U.S. foreign military bases and put money back into American families' pockets.

Candidates commented on the topic of the Internal Revenue Service scandal, when officials stated conservative groups that had filed for tax-exempt status had been targeted for in-depth investigations.

Most candidates said this was an unfair infringement of rights. Slantz offered to introduce legislation within his first 30 days as a congressman to abolish the IRS altogether.

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