WTHR.com asked the candidates for U.S. Congress to answer the following questions. Todd Rokita's answers are as follows:
1. What do you believe is the number one issue facing Hoosiers today, and how will you work to address that in Washington?
The number one issue facing Hoosiers is the nearly $16 trillion in debt our nation is passing on to our children and grandchildren. On top of that, we've made $100 trillion in unfunded promises to future generations. With 10,000 people retiring per day into Medicare and Social Security, our debt will only continue to rise exponentially.
We have to stop and ask ourselves: how much more can we ask future generations to pay for us in the here and now? How much more of their economic freedom should they have to give up so that current generations can have more on their plates?
Our answers to these questions will determine who we're going to be: are we going to be like the country our Founders established, which has proven to be the most successful experiment the world has ever known for the self-government of man? Or are we going to be bankrupt like Greece, where citizens are rioting in the streets because the government made promises it can't afford?
2. After the Supreme Court decision to uphold much of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would you work to support or repeal the act, and why? What policies would you work towards to ensure that all Hoosiers have access to affordable care?
I strongly oppose Obamacare and have voted in the House to fully repeal this irresponsible legislation at every opportunity. It is an unprecedented expansion of government control over our healthcare system, and it places federal bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. Additionally, the law will cost over $2 trillion, will drive up our already unsustainable debt, and will impose more than 20 taxes totaling more than $500 billion, affecting Hoosiers at all income levels.
I have been working in the House to replace Obamacare with consumer-driven, market-based reforms that increase competition and choice, lower costs, and improve the quality of care for Hoosiers and all Americans. Some of these reforms include allowing individuals to buy insurance across state lines and implementing medical malpractice reforms. Additionally, my State Health Flexibility Act would reform the broken and inefficient Medicaid system by capping Medicaid funding at current levels and block-granting those funds to the states, allowing states to pursue innovative reforms that better serve their unique populations.
3. How do you believe the U.S. should secure its borders? Should undocumented workers be allowed a "path to citizenship?" Do you agree with President Obama's decision to defer deporting children who are undocumented? In light of the Supreme Court striking down parts of Arizona's law, what policies would you pursue, if any, to combat illegal immigration, and how would you fund those efforts?
Following the law is a core responsibility of living in a free republic. As our Founding Father John Adams said, our government is a government of laws, and not of men. We must secure our borders and enforce the laws on the books so that we do not reward or incentivize illegal immigration.
I do support legal immigration and view it as part of our American exceptionalism. If you broke the law, however, there must be a penalty paid. There may be different ways to assess that penalty, but the severity should be commensurate with the law broken.
President Obama's decision not to enforce certain immigration laws is a neglect of his constitutional duties. Under the Constitution, it is Congress' responsibility to make laws, and the executive branch's responsibility to enforce those laws.
4. What are your plans to help students cover the cost of higher education? How will you promote other options to students and families such as technical and vocational programs? What about unemployed workers who lack the necessary skills to find jobs?
Rising education costs are a serious problem facing students. I serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and have worked on several pieces of legislation to make it easier for students to achieve their educational goals.
Many students have been concerned about a potential doubling of interest rates for federally-subsidized student loans. While I voted in June to keep the current rates in place for a year, in the long run, rates will be lower and students will be best served if we remove the federal government from the student loan business entirely. The federal government's continued efforts to pour printed money into our higher education system has done nothing but inflate the costs of professors, administrators, and the overall cost of getting a college education for students. What we need is a more market-driven approach in place of the existing heavy federal subsidies in academia.
To address job training and workforce development, I have coauthored the Streamlining Workforce Development Programs Act of 2011. Our nation's workforce development system is a confusing maze of programs, many of which are wasteful and duplicative. This results in wasted tax dollars and poorly trained workers, a situation which benefits no one. Our bill would consolidate redundant federal job training programs, increase accountability and efficiency, and create a better overall workforce development system to serve Hoosiers and employers.
5. What types of energy do you think our nation should invest in for the future, and how could we use this as an opportunity for job creation?
Ultimately, Hoosiers and all Americans will be best served if we can streamline the federal regulatory and permitting regime, and end the practice of picking winners and losers by privileging certain industries over others through tax breaks and crony capitalism. The free market is very good at finding the most productive and efficient sources of energy without "help" from the federal government.
6. What should the priorities be in U.S. foreign policy?
While there are many areas of foreign policy importance to our country, I believe one of the most important is our relationship with Israel. I strongly believe America must remain a steadfast ally and friend to Israel. The threats Israel faces are serious and their security cannot be compromised. Iran has threatened to destroy Israel on multiple occasions, and their nuclear program remains a looming concern.
This is why I am a proud cosponsor of H. Res. 268, a resolution that affirms the important relationship between America and Israel and strongly states Israel's right to exist and defend herself.
Regarding Iran, I believe that the U.S. must take a firm stand against the current regime in Iran and do what we can to ensure safety and stability in the region. I believe the U.S. must exercise strong leadership on this issue. I have supported harsh sanctions on Iran and would like to see all nations sever economic ties with the country. It is simply unacceptable for Iran to develop nuclear weapons. While we all would prefer a diplomatic resolution to tensions with Iran, we also must be prepared for alternative scenarios as well.
In the near term, these are some of the top issues we face. But over the long-term, there are many other important issues on the horizon. We have to realize that our ability to pursue a responsible and strategic foreign policy has been severely compromised by the debt we've accrued, and this has to be corrected immediately.
7. Do you think we should invest more or less money on our national defense? What should the priorities be?
The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to establish and fund the armed forces, and it must be one of our highest priorities to provide for our common defense and to ensure national security.
Despite having an annual budget of nearly $700 billion, the Department of Defense remains the one agency that has not been able to audit its programs and spending. We can and should aggressively seek to eliminate waste and inefficiency in defense spending, while looking for opportunities to streamline the military bureaucracy in a way that does not compromise our national security. It is a disservice to our troops to waste the amount of money we are currently wasting in our military budget. Simply spending more money does not guarantee a stronger or more effective military force.
It should be noted that the military is already making $487 billion in cuts over the next ten years, regardless of what happens with sequestration. It's now also time to reform the true drivers of our debt – programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
8. How would you work to reach bipartisan accord on taxes? What kind of tax incentives would most benefit individuals and businesses?
I've been working with my House colleagues for months on a comprehensive plan to make our tax code simpler, flatter, and fairer, and in August we voted to pass a bill outlining principles for the reform we hope to execute next year. Those principles include consolidating the number of income tax code brackets from 6 to not more than 2, reducing the corporate tax rate to 25% or less (compared to 35% currently), repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, maintaining revenue of between 18% and 19% of GDP, and moving from a "worldwide" to a "territorial" system of taxation. The "territorial" system would help spur job growth by freeing up existing overseas earnings from American companies to be brought back and reinvested here at home, while ensuring they pay an appropriate amount of taxes on those earnings.
The income tax was initially set up as a vehicle for collecting revenue to fund the government. We need to get back to this because, over the decades, the tax code has been changed into a tool to incentivize behavior. That's why it's full of carve-outs, loopholes, and exemptions that favor certain interests over others.
Ultimately, I believe that there is a fundamental, real desire on both sides of the aisle for comprehensive tax reform. That's a good foundation for anything in Washington these days, so I'm optimistic. I'm going to continue working to achieve reform that results in a flatter, simpler, and fairer tax code for everyone.
9. How do you think our nation should tackle its national debt problem while continuing to provide essential services?
The "essential services" of the federal government are found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which lists the enumerated powers. If we had limited ourselves to those all along, we wouldn't have the debt we now face.
But since the federal government has not followed the Constitution, balancing our budget and getting spending and debt under control will require hard choices. For too long, the federal government has made promises to current generations and passed the bill on to the children of tomorrow. That approach has resulted in $16 trillion in debt – which will continue to rise exponentially if we don't act now.
Addressing spending and debt will require taking a hard look at entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, which drive our debt far more than any other area of spending. While we must honor our promises to current retirees, we need to be willing to adjust our promises to future generations in line with what we can actually afford.
10. What is your policy on Social Security and Medicare?
If we're going to have these programs in the future – if we're going to stop intergenerational theft – we have to act now. The silver lining is that if we act now, we can keep our promises to retirees today and ensure that these programs are around for our children and grandchildren.
Why is this necessary? Here's one reason: an average couple making combined $86,000 per year over a lifetime will pay in around $109,000 to Medicare. But when they begin collecting benefits, Medicare will pay out around $343,000 to them, on average. This means they will have paid in only 32 percent of what they receive. Can anyone claim that our current system of intergenerational theft is either moral or sustainable?
Making Medicare sustainable will require making the transition from a defined benefit, fee-for-service structure to a defined contribution structure, and requiring an aggressive means test. It will also mean using free market principles to lower costs through choice and competition and increased patient control.
Although Social Security is currently in better fiscal shape than Medicare, if we do nothing, Social Security will face major financial challenges. To place it on a solid long-term footing, we need reforms such as indexing the normal retirement age (NRA) to longevity standards and requiring an aggressive means test. These common-sense, gradual steps will eliminate a long-term shortfall.
We've finally started to have an adult conversation about the future of programs like Medicare and Social Security. Now, it's time to move from that conversation to action, and having my Budget Committee colleague Paul Ryan as part of a national ticket has moved us one step closer. If we are to preserve these programs for future generations, and ensure a bright and economically free future for our children and grandchildren, all reform options must be on the table. The longer we delay, the more expensive and difficult the choices will be to make.
11. How should Congress work to provide incentives to keep American jobs from going overseas? In what ways would you promote and advertise what Indiana has to offer to leaders of other states?
As a lifelong Hoosier, I know that our people are our greatest resource. The most important step we can take to strengthen our economy and allow good American jobs to be created over the long term is to get our spending under control and begin paying down our massive $16 trillion debt, so that employers in Indiana and across the country can borrow the money they need to grow and create jobs. We simply cannot tax and borrow our way to economic recovery – particularly when we borrow so much money from countries like China which are fiercely competing for American jobs.
By simplifying and streamlining the tax code, we can create a more predictable and welcoming environment for businesses to invest and create jobs here at home. And by reforming our federal regulatory system, we can further increase economic opportunities in Indiana and elsewhere.
To that end, I've partnered with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce to create the Red Tape Rollback initiative. Working with Hoosier job creators, we have identified dozens of federal laws and regulations that destroy jobs and limit economic growth in Indiana, and we have secured around 20 "victories" in the fight to roll back or limit the harm caused by those regulations.
12. What is the biggest environmental problem facing the world today, and how would you work to protect the country's economy from the impact of environmental crises? What policies would you pursue in order to safeguard Indiana's air, water and land?
Mankind has been given a responsibility to exercise responsible stewardship over the environment. While it is good and necessary to use our natural resources to grow the economy and increase the standard of living for all citizens, it is important that we do so responsibly. Just as we shouldn't leave our debt to the children of tomorrow, we should also leave them with an environment that allows them to prosper.
Sound science should be the basis of all federal environmental policies, and this is especially important for policies that have a significant impact on the economy and job growth. One such proposal, known as "cap and trade," does not achieve a balance between protecting the environment and protecting our constitutional rights. The potential benefits of the proposal are questionable and, if they exist, negligible at best. The harm done to the economy, via lost jobs, lost economic output, and increased costs to the consumer are significant.
Instead, we need policies that are smart and sensible, and which offer a predictable regulatory environment for the private sector. I fought for this recently when the EPA began implementing costly and duplicative permitting requirements for pesticide applications. These requirements place a significant burden on small businesses for little obvious environmental benefit. In response, I cosponsored and voted in support as the House passed H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act. This bill would clarify Congressional intent regarding the regulation of the use of pesticides to strike an effective balance between environmental responsibility and economic growth.
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