HOT SPRINGS — The four 4th Congressional District candidates met for the first time at a forum Tuesday night and presented vastly different plans for the country.
Republican Tom Cotton of Dardanelle, Democrat Sen. Gene Jeffress of Louann, Libertarian Bobby Tullis of Mineral Springs and Green Party candidate Josh Drake of Hot Springs laid out their positions on energy independence and health care at National Park Community College.
Dick Antoine, host of the Talk of the Town program on KZNG-AM, 1340, moderated the forum.
Cotton and Tullis both said that if elected, they would try to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010.
“The first step is to repeal that law, which is offensive to a free society and a free people,” Cotton, a former attorney and Army Ranger, said.
Tullis, a former legislator, said Congress also needs to allow health-care providers to negotiate prices for prescription drugs.
“Democrats and Republicans are both culpable in giving us the system that we’ve got, and it sucks,” he said.
Jeffress, a former high school music teacher, said his father died at age 63 and his mother died at 58.
“It’s not about Democrats; it’s not about Republicans. It’s about Christianity,” Jeffress said. “It’s personal to me. It’s not perfect, but we can do better.”
He clarified to reporters after the forum that he thinks that the health-care law is better than anything else the country has tried but changes may be needed. He didn’t have specific changes in mind.
Drake, a lawyer who owns his own firm, said that if the country can afford tax breaks for the rich and subsidies for businesses, it should be able to afford health care for every citizen.
“Health care is a human right. All the successful nations of this world recognize health care is a human right,” Drake said. “It has to be a national priority to provide basic health care to our people.”
On a question about what Congress can do to address rising fuel prices, Cotton said eliminating government regulation would help.
“There are challenges because government is too big and doing too much right now,” Cotton said. “The problem is not that government is doing too little; it’s that government is doing too much.”
Tullis said that the United States should team with Canada and Mexico to create a North American energy-security zone and stop using energy sources from countries like Saudi Arabia.
“Never again should we shed blood in the Middle East,” he said.
Jeffress said the country needs to focus on developing the resources it has, such as the lignite, coal and natural gas in the district.
Drake said the other candidates were oversimplifying. He said oil companies are operating in the Middle East, not the government. He said U.S. needs to re-prioritize.
“We’re looking at the now and not looking at the future,” Drake said. “We’re behind the game. We need to be working on solar power plants in south Arkansas and not coal power plants in south Arkansas.”
Prescott Democrat Mike Ross held the 4th District congressional seat for nearly 12 years. He did not seek a seventh term. The 4th District is the only one of Arkansas’ four Congressional seats held by a Democrat.
The district ranges from Ashley County across the southern half of the state and extends up to Madison County in Northwest Arkansas. The 33-county district is the largest in the state.
Candidates from local state House district races were also invited to speak at the forum. They were:
From District 24, Democrat Jimmie Harmon of Hot Springs and Rep. Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs.
From District 25, Rep. John Vines, D-Hot Springs, and Republican Michael Jones Sr. of Hot Springs.
From District 26, Democrat David Kizzia of Malvern and Rep. Loy Mauch, R-Bismarck.
District 13 Senate candidates were also invited to speak. They were Republican Alan Clark of Lonsdale and Libertarian Frank Gilbert of Tull.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 09/26/2012