Tim (and Elton) was interviewed in the Santa Barbara News-Press in a story that appeared Oct. 31. The article shows a sharp divide between Tim's and Elton Gallegly's vision of the economy, government and our district's future.

As part of its ongoing political coverage, the News-Press asked the candidates a series of questions about topics critical to the district and the election. Their answers follow, with candidates listed in alphabetical order.

Why should voters cast a ballot for you in the 24th Congressional District?

Tim Allison: As a successful businessman and community organizer, I have compiled an extensive record of service and leadership in business, local non-profits and community groups. It is time for new ideas, new energy and someone who will serve the needs of our community. Under Mr. Gallegly, constituent service is virtually non-existent. Many calls to his office go unreturned. If a public servant is no longer doing the job, it is time for new representation. If we are to change things in Washington, we need to start by changing who we send there.

Rebuilding the economy, creating jobs, protecting our environment, improving schools and providing strong constituent service will be my priorities.

Elton Gallegly: The people have a clear choice this election. They can vote for a candidate who has lived in the district only a few months — a former Obama coordinator who vows to continue the failed economic policies of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and who strongly supported ObamaCare, a trillion-dollar bill that only increased the size of the federal government and the failed stimulus bill. Or they can vote for someone who has actually created jobs, someone who understands the district and the people who live here, and someone who represents Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties in Washington, D.C., instead of forcing Washington, D.C.'s policies on Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.

What is your opinion of the new health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and what do you believe are its strengths or weaknesses? Would you propose any changes?

Tim Allison: The healthcare bill has some very positive features, but it missed the mark in significant ways. The new law's provisions — all of which my opponent has pledged to rescind — extend health coverage to millions who have gone without, blocks insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, allows young adults to stay under their parents' policy through age 26, closes the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription coverage, outlaws the practice of rescinding policies where patients had been paying for insurance and gives a boost to those relying on Medicaid. However, the bill falls short in one very important area: cost containment. Healthcare that is not affordable is healthcare that is not accessible. With or without this bill, premiums continue to rise for small businesses and individuals. After the elections are over, Congress must address the spiraling cost of healthcare for small businesses, individuals and families.

Elton Gallegly: Almost everyone agrees that health care needs reform. However, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health care law will destroy our health care system and replace it with an inefficient and costly government-run program. The new law includes new mandates and taxes that will increase costs and force employers to drop health insurance plans.

I support reform that would:

• Allow small businesses to form associations to purchase affordable health insurance for employees.

• Extend the income tax deduction for health care premiums to taxpayers who do not purchase coverage through employers.

• Cut medical costs by limiting frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits through caps on non-economic damages and establishing health courts to review claims.

• Establish grants for states to create high-risk insurance pools to help people with pre-existing conditions.

• Allow individuals to shop for insurance across state lines if the premiums in a person's state exceed 10 percent of the national average.

What is the solution to ensuring the Social Security system is fiscally solvent?

Tim Allison: I will fight against the privatization of social security. Incumbent Elton Gallegly supported the risky and dangerous scheme to privatize social security. Had he and his colleagues been successful, the security that so many of our nation's seniors rely upon in their retirement years would be gone with the stock market implosion. Seniors would be on the streets had Gallegly gotten his way. Our seniors need a strong and solid social security trust fund. The prices of rent and food continue to increase and seniors should not be penalized with a second year in a row without any increase. The fund has been running a surplus for decades. If we want to make sure that social security is fully funded for decades to come, the single best thing we can do is to create jobs. A vibrant economy and fully-employed workforce will swell that fund again and further extend the timetable for the availability of the current structural surplus.

Elton Gallegly: We must ensure that Social Security is there for seniors who have paid into the Social Security fund throughout their working lives. First, we must balance the federal budget. The biggest threat to Social Security is wasteful government spending. We must also work to grow the U.S. economy by eliminating unnecessary government regulations and keeping taxes low.

What should Congress do after the November election to improve the economy?

Tim Allison: Our first job in 112th Congress must be fostering economic recovery and doing every thing possible to create jobs. As a small businessman and economics major, I believe that Congress must provide leadership to help businesses to thrive, the housing market to regain its footing, consumers to feel confident again about spending, and for investors to find attractive avenues for putting capital to work. Doing this should include targeted tax cuts for the middle class, support for small businesses, closing tax loopholes that have encouraged sending jobs overseas, and promoting innovation and green jobs.

My opponent supported a tax break for companies who ship jobs overseas. We have a fundamental disagreement on this issue. I support aiding companies here in the U.S. in their efforts to create jobs, not rewarding those who send our jobs elsewhere.

Elton Gallegly: We cannot borrow, spend and tax our way to job growth. First, Congress needs to adopt strict budget caps that limit federal spending on an annual basis and are enforceable by the President. Without these caps, the federal budget deficit will continue to spiral out of control. Increased government spending just puts an additional stress on the economy and places Americans deeper in debt. To help small businesses create jobs, Congress must also pass permanent tax cuts for small businesses to allow owners to plan effectively for the future. We must cut capital gains taxes so when businesses start to recover they are not taxed on their success, but rather are able to reinvest and create more jobs. Moreover, Congress must ease the regulatory burden on small business. Unnecessary regulations hurt the economy because employers are forced to divert resources from job creation and developing new products and services.

What type of immigration reform, if any, is needed in the U.S. and what is the most critical issue to you in this debate?

Tim Allison: Americans deserve the safety and security of knowing that our borders are secure from terrorists or those intent on breaking our laws. The federal government has this responsibility and has not been living up to it. Sensible immigration reform will focus on deterring employers from hiring illegal workers and making it easier to verify a worker's status, while providing reasonable opportunities like the DREAM Act for those who are doing what we want them to do: paying taxes, attending college or serving in our military.

My opponent's positions on this topic are so extreme that he is not even supported by many conservatives such as John McCain, Meg Whitman or Carly Fiorina. He has submitted the same legislation over and over and does not have the support and respect of his colleagues necessary to get bills passed into law.

Elton Gallegly: First, we need to separate legal and illegal immigration. I am a strong supporter of legal immigration. We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws. We must not provide amnesty to law breakers.

Most illegal immigrants come here for work. Therefore, the best way to deter illegal immigration is to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to find jobs. Congress should require all employers use E-Verify — a free, easy-to-use, computer-based employee verification system that evolved from a system I had passed into law. Most illegal immigrants will voluntarily return to their home countries if they are denied work here.

I support a guest worker program for agriculture where employers, rather than taxpayers, provide housing and health care for their workers. Any guest worker program must be able to verify the employee's entry, employment and return to their native country.

How can the federal deficit be reduced, and are there any specific programs, agencies or budget expenses would you eliminate?

Tim Allison: As the father of an 8-year-old, I cannot see how in good conscience we can hand the next generation our debts and our problems, while at the same time cutting education. Our legacy must be a better one that that. Overall economic growth will, of course, ease the pain of cuts to come, so a flourishing business sector is critical. One clear place to turn is our foreign policy arena. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the time has come to welcome our troops home to a hero's welcome and rapidly transition to civilian government control. We can no longer afford the billions that are being spent on these long-term wars. We should instead be funding education, paying down our debt and ensuring that our returning soldiers have the healthcare and benefits they have rightly earned for putting their health and safety in harm's way in service to this nation.

Elton Gallegly: The first step to reducing our federal deficit would be to adopt strict budget caps that limit federal spending on an annual basis and are enforceable by the President. Congress should also adopt a balanced budget constitutional amendment.

Would you support any tax increases, and if so, for what?

Tim Allison: With the economy struggling with unacceptable levels of unemployment and related economic stresses, tax increases are generally not the answer. The middle class needs tax relief. I support extending income tax reductions already in place for individuals and families below the $200,000/$250,000 threshold, but agree with most economists who regard continuing the Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of taxpayers is simply a deficit-feeding give-away with minimal benefits to the broader economy. I would also support certain tax increases for U.S. corporations that continue expanding their overseas operations at the expense of American workers.

Elton Gallegly: No. The problem is not that the federal government taxes too little, it's that it spends too much. We need to eliminate the budget deficit by reducing wasteful spending and growing the economy. Tax increases will only make it more difficult for employers to create jobs and inhibit economic growth. The more people who have jobs, the more taxes they pay and government revenue increases without raising taxes. The same is true with the capital gains tax. Historically, every time capital gains taxes have been cut, government revenue has increased as that money is poured back into the private sector economy.

Name one federal program you would propose to eliminate?

Tim Allison: The administration's first budget contained a whole separate volume titled Terminations, Reductions and Savings that identifies programs that are particularly ineffective, inefficient, or duplicate other efforts. It recommended ending 126 of these programs to save over $23 billion in a year. Needless to say, not all of these recommendations were adopted by Congress last year. One that didn't make the cut but should have spends about $142 million in coal tax funds for the Abandoned Mine Land program. This program, adamantly defended by Republicans in the House and Senate, pays to clean up old mines in Wyoming and Montana that have already been cleaned up. This savings, however, pales in comparison to what we would save by transitioning out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Elton Gallegly: The easiest place to start is to combine or eliminate duplicative programs. There are more than 14 programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education related to foreign exchanges and designed to increase opportunities for students to study abroad. According to Government Accountability Office, the federal government funds more than 44 job training programs, administered by nine different federal agencies across the federal bureaucracy, to the tune of $30 billion. There are at least nine federal programs tasked with researching and developing biofuels, costing taxpayers nearly $300 million annually, and more than $800 million was included in the stimulus bill for these initiatives.

What piece of legislation would you author that would specifically benefit or aid the 24th congressional district?

Tim Allison: I would author legislation and provide leadership to provide a Million Mentors across the nation to aid in the success of our students. In a time of increasing class sizes, busy parents and overwhelmed teachers, we must bring the entire community together to mentor and tutor our young people. We have some great programs in place, but we must expand volunteer opportunities so that new retirees, parents and grandparents and those with skills, abilities and time, can help our students compete in a global economy. We must help slower learners catch up to grade level. We must provide challenging activities so that advanced learners can meet their full potential, especially in areas such as math and science. We must be committed to providing all of our students access to art and music education. Through classroom support and after-school programs, we can help provide a better legacy to the next generation.

Elton Gallegly: Before every session of Congress begins, I meet with city, county, special district, military and other leaders to assess their needs and to determine if the federal government has a role in fulfilling them. As a result of that process, and of meeting with leaders anytime a need arises on their part, I have introduced and had many pieces of legislation signed into law directly benefiting the 24th Congressional District. These include helping to provide an enhanced local supply of clean water and championing programs for the District's military installations at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Naval Base Ventura County, working with the District Attorney and Sheriff to solve DNA cold cases, and screening at the Santa Barbara Count and Ventura County jails for illegal immigrants prior to arraignment.

What is your stance on offshore oil drilling, and what can the government do to facilitate or encourage alternative energy sources?

Tim Allison: Whoever represents this district must bring to the job a willingness to fight for our fragile environment and the economic vitality of our tourist based economy here in the Central Coast. Those assets are wholly intertwined, but are always in danger from shortsighted exploitation of the oil in state and federal waters along our coast.

I support the West Coast Ocean Protection Act (H.R. 5213) currently before Congress, which would ban new exploration and drilling for oil and gas along the outer Continental Shelf from California to Washington.

At the same time that we are scaling back on offshore oil drilling, we must also ramp up investment in energy innovation—solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, biofuels, and more. This district is particularly well prepared to lead in the transformation to a clean, green economy.

Elton Gallegly: Our nation needs a balanced energy policy to maintain our standard of living and future economic growth. This includes policies to promote conservation and renewable and alternative sources of energy, such as wind, solar and nuclear, as well as sustaining healthy domestic oil exploration and development to reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports. For these reasons, I have cosponsored H.R. 2828, the American Energy Innovation Act. This legislation would encourage innovation to create renewable fuel options. It would promote greater conservation and efficiency by providing incentives for easing energy demand. It would also increase the production of American energy by utilizing all available resources and technologies and streamlining burdensome regulations. I believe states have a right to determine if drilling in state waters is acceptable and support oil exploration and development in a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), in part because the Alaskans support it.