Columbus Dispatch - Taxes, Troops, Energy Top 12th District Talk

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Columbus Dispatch - Taxes, Troops, Energy Top 12th District Talk

During four terms in Congress, U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi has tried hard to keep close ties with his constituents, he says.

But despite all the calls for him to oppose the $700 billion federal bailout of Wall Street, the Genoa Township Republican eventually voted to approve it.

During a debate yesterday, Tiberi said he opposed the first version of the bill but switched his position after assurance that the legislation would protect taxpayers by requiring repayment of the money.

"What is more important is making sure our credit markets did not collapse," Tiberi said during an hourlong debate in the WOSU studios at COSI Columbus. "We had a real problem we had to deal with."

Democrat David Robinson of Columbus said he would have supported the bailout from the start, noting that $1.4 trillion was lost during the days Tiberi contemplated his position.

Libertarian Steven R. Linnabary of Columbus distinguished himself from both, saying that he opposes the bailout.

"I'm not sure how adding $150 billion of more debt helps the taxpayers," he said of Democrats' proposal for an additional economic-relief package. "We should liquidate the debt on these failed institutions. We should also cut taxes so we can free up money for reinvestment and cut regulations, especially for the community banks which are hurting, and abolish the Federal Reserve."

The three candidates for Ohio's 12th Congressional District seat in the House sparred over taxes, government regulation, alternative energies and health care during the debate sponsored by WBNS-TV (Channel 10), the Ohio News Network (ONN), ThisWeek Community Newspapers and The Dispatch.

Sparks flew briefly when Tiberi suggested that Robinson's "Apollo II" energy plan sounded like the "New Apollo Energy Project" proposed a few years ago by Washington Democrat Jay Inslee.

"I was reading it over the weekend. I thought it sounded familiar remarkably similar," Tiberi said.

Robinson snapped back, "The Apollo II initiative is a product of my own mind, my own research and I resent the fact that you suggest it is plagiarism."

Robinson's proposal calls for government investment in research, development and production of new green technologies, independence from reliance on foreign oil by 2030, and an 80 percent reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050.

Tiberi said he supports an "all of the above" energy plan: one that would include alternative fuel sources, expansion of nuclear power and offshore oil drilling.

Linnabary said government "should not be in the business of picking and choosing winners and losers. When you do that, only the lobbyists win."

On U.S. involvement overseas, Linnabary was the only one calling for an immediate end to the war in Iraq and the return of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the 130 other countries around the world where they are stationed.

Robinson said he supports sending more troops to Afghanistan, which he sees as the central front in the U.S. fight against terrorism. Tiberi did not address Afghanistan but said President Bush's surge of troops to Iraq worked, and he predicted that a drawdown of U.S. troops would start at the beginning of the year.

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