* What is the most pressing issue...

* What is the most pressing issue in the state?

For me, it all starts by keeping jobs in this state and this

country and holding large public corporations accountable to their

workers and to us, the stockholders. As a representative, I will

support taking tax incentives and government contracts from American

companies that move their jobs, money and business offshore.

[Locally], there are issues relating to the high cost of housing

and the ever-present problems in transportation and how to best meet

the housing and transportation needs of a still growing region.

* How will you be able to address the concerns of Huntington Beach

in Washington?

I view my role in Washington as a job in two parts: First and

foremost is to make sure that the people of the 46th District have

access to the resources they need to solve their own problems; not

have solutions dictated to them from on high, then told to find the

money on their own.

The second part will be to help craft the big-picture solutions to

national problems that touch [locally] nonetheless: helping to create

conditions for real job creation; a real national healthcare plan

that takes care of seniors and the young; and making sure that local

communities have a maximum say in their schools.

* What makes you the best person for the job?

I have a wide range of experience that has uniquely suited me for

this job. First, I am a Marine Corps veteran and former pilot, and

put myself through college. I also put my kids through college, so I

understand how tough it is for a single parent to make due in this

day and age and still get ahead. As a businessman, I have fought for

labor rights in the board room, and I have been an entrepreneur, so I

have firsthand knowledge of small business challenges.

* What one thing would you hope to accomplish while in office?

I think this can split into two issues: first, the more immediate

accomplishment will be to work toward fiscal sanity, reducing the

budget deficit and creating sound economic policy to get back the

2.2-million jobs shed in the last four years. But in the longer term,

I want to be part of the coming debate when both parties are forced

to sit down and take a hard look at what happens when the Social

Security and Medicare crisis hits, currently expected within about 10

years. We need to start crafting these solutions now.

* How do you rate the federal government’s handling of homeland

security?

Poorly. The first step in addressing that is allowing the Patriot

Act to expire without any renewal and to work toward real, affordable

security solutions for our communities and cities.

* How should the federal government address illegal immigration?

We need to debunk the myth about “jobs Americans won’t do.” The

truth is that Americans will do those jobs, but not for less than

minimum wage. There must be tougher penalties for companies that

exploit and abuse immigrants, both legal and undocumented. We must

protect immigrant workers’ rights to organize and unionize, and we

need to take away the incentives for companies to abuse immigrant

labor.

* Is there too much spending in the president’s budget proposal?

Of course there is. These kinds of long-term structural deficits

simply can’t be borne.

* How can the deficit be reduced, and should Americans be

concerned about it?

Yes, the deficit is a huge problem for average Americans. It is

often an arcane subject. But at the end of the day, deficits,

especially “structural” or long-term deficits -- national debt with

no end in sight -- will drive up interest rates, because our treasury

bonds will become tougher to sell. When that happens, mortgage rates

go up, people with variable mortgages will find themselves upside

down on their homes, because property values will drop at the same

time.