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Sen Clegg: I disagree. This nation was created on the belief in sovereignty. The responsibility of the United States is first to its own citizenry. America must always protect its interests first whether it be keeping our homeland safe from terrorism, or preventing trade policies that hurt American manufacturers. We should join international efforts when it makes sense for the United States to do so, but we should never undermine our sovereignty, nor should we be required to allow another nation to tell us what our national and international policies should be.

5. Guantanomo military prison:

* Keep it open or close it?

Sen Clegg: Keep it open - we should not have enemy combatants populating our domestic prisons

* If closed - where would you send those enemy combatants? (N/A- see above)

* Would you be willing to try those enemy combatants in our civilian courts (with its accompanying mandatory rights as due to citizens)?

Sen Clegg: No, terrorists, enemy combatants, those seeking to end the right to freedom from tyranny do not deserve, nor qualify, for our civilian court system.

6. Should President Bush attend the Summer Olympics' opening ceremonies in communist China?

Sen Clegg: Yes.  To not do so would be against the very intent of the international athletic competition.  It is one place, one time in the world where politics disappear and differing cultures stand side-by-side in competition. In 1939 when Nazi Germany was host we entered and fielded quality athletes and showed the world that even a dictator could not stop the United States from competing, nor could they intimidate us from winning.
  
I do not think we should boycott the Olympics and penalize athletes who have dedicated their lives to excel in a sport. The United States should continue to engage China in discussions over their treatment of protesters in Tibet and their actions in Taiwan over human rights.

7. Are you in favor of using eminent domain in taking private property from one owner to another in order to expand taxable property values?

Sen Clegg: Absolutely not. As a state senator I served one summer with my colleagues to change the way eminent domain could be used and we banned the taking of property for private purpose, even when doing so would enhance or create a positive tax effect. 

8. Are you willing to sign an earmark moratorium?

Sen Clegg: I would sign a moratorium while we reform the earmark process. Earmarks are not the problem, it's the process and the abuse. I support transparency and an up and down vote on each earmark. However, what I do not  support is a federal bureaucrat at one of the agencies deciding what roads should be fixed, what bridges should be repaired or whether the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard should receive a contract for shipbuilding. Our state and our representatives in Congress should be advocating for that and making the decisions in Washington.

9. You have a choice: raise corporate taxes or eliminate five Federal programs.  Which is your choice? If it is "eliminate five programs", please list them. (Feel free to list more than five if you think more could go)

Sen Clegg: In my opinion there are hundreds of programs that are wasteful and need to be eliminated.  We cannot always rely on the government to provide for us.  I have always believed that limited government and personal responsibility is the best form of government and that is why I would cut at least these 5 programs:

1.  The Department of Education. The federal government has failed miserably in its attempt to regulate education.  It is up to the states to set a curriculum that meets the wants and needs of its citizens. It is time to take the bureaucrats out and to let the teachers teach.

2.  The IRS.  I support the fair tax that would eliminate the IRS.  A person should take their entire paycheck home to first serve the needs of the family, food and a warm place to sleep.  We need to stop punishing productivity by taxing it and move to a system that lets people decide their own taxes based on the decisions they make when they make a purchase. If you can afford the Lamborghini pay the tax, but stop taxing those who can least afford it.

3.  The United States Institute of Peace.  This program was created by Congress and paid for by taxpayers.  The Department of State should be working with the international community on developing peace in areas of civil unrest.

4.  The S-Chip program.  I believe that a family of four who makes over $90,000/year does not need taxpayer funded assistance for their children's healthcare. Government assistance is meant for those who are in need.

5.  In the recent bloated farm bill passed by Congress, they allow for huge subsidies to farmers in a year where they will be seeing record profits.  Congress wants to allow subsidies for a couple who farm and make an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $1.5 million.  These are the types of wasteful spending programs congress needs to get rid of.  Let’s return to fiscal responsibility.

 10. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are "demographic time bombs" in waiting. What steps should be taken to avoid future failures of these entitlements?

Sen Clegg: By 2035, entitlement spending will become 30 percent of the economy.  We need to curb our spending and make sure that defense and national security budgets aren't competing for money.

One option for assuring long term solvency of Social Security is including personal accounts, following the model of the Ryan-Sununu bill. On a voluntary basis, workers would be able to shift a percentage of the payroll tax to the accounts. There would be a federal guarantee that workers would get no less than the amount they would receive from that promised by the current Social Security law.
 
For Medicaid, I had pushed a plan in the NH legislature called Access which would have allowed the Medicaid population to be insured through private insurance. Unfortunately, the program was never implemented by the NH Department of Health and Human Services, but I would support legislation in Congress to implement this type of program.
 
 Lastly, I would support a cap on the growth of total federal spending each year.   

11. How would you propose Congress and the President balance the federal budget?

Sen Clegg: The best way to balance the federal budget is to curb spending.  Congress needs to stop spending money that we do not have.  In #9, I have listed 5 programs that could be cut, but in reality there are hundreds if not more that should be eliminated. The latest farm bill was yet another example of out-of-control spending. I support earmark reform as well as limiting the growth of federal spending.

12. Would you vote for the "Fair Tax"?   The "Flat Tax"?

Sen Clegg: I support the Fair Tax. It's time to overhaul our tax system, end the tendency to punish those who work harder.  We need to allow people to take their entire paycheck home, they earned it not the federal government.  Working folks should be allowed to first put a roof over their heads and then purchase the other necessities such as food and clothing.  Taxes should be a chose based on the decisions made by those who would purchase items knowing the tax would be fair, able to purchase a Ferrari pay the tax, purchase a Ford Colt pay the tax.  The tax decision is the purchaser’s decision.

~~~~~~~~ Visit Senator Clegg's website at http://www.cleggforcongress.com/