Five congressional candidates vying for the First District were on center stage during a Snack and Chat event Monday evening at the Senior Citizens Center.

The five candidates liked the approach taken by U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, who is retiring to seek a 6-year term in the U.S. Senate. They praised Moran’s consistency in providing constituent services while being a pragmatic problem solver who consistently spoke up on behalf of farmers and ranchers, rural medical care and veterans. They liked his fiscal conservatism.

All five candidates said they did not approve of the passage of the comprehensive health care bill passed in Congress in March and signed by President Barack Obama.

They all opposed cuts in Medicare that hurt elderly, tort reform and increasing competition from insurance companies by allowing them to cross the state lines.

While they all championed repealing and rewriting the health care legislation, several of them also believed that if the act is not repealed it can be strengthened.

State Sen. Jim Barnett, Emporia, a physician, said the potential long-term implication of the bill is not good for rural Kansans. He was concerned about the growth of debt and borrowing.

His message, he said, is simple: Control spending, reduce regulations and improve infrastructure (good roads, schools and health care). He believed that rank and file Kansans offer good ideas and that following the Constitution will prevent the federal government from over reach, which he says is excessive today.

Sue Boldra, Hays, is a Roxbury native, who is a retired school teacher. She taught government at Hays High School and has taught at Fort Hays State University. She told her students they needed to be informed and involved and that she was practicing what she preached.

She believed in a balanced budget, term limits and tax reform. She also believed in securing the borders. Boldra opposes cap and trade that she said would be devastating for the First District because of its dependence on agriculture.

She said the loss of Medicare funds would hurt rural hospitals, which is a lifeblood, along with schools, banks, small businesses and agriculture. She believed Congress should follow the Constitution in determining priorities.

Marc Cobb, Galva, said experience has taught him that listening and analysis is the first approach to be taken with the last step being action. He said the health care act seemed to be one driven by action first, with details and analysis following. Cobb said even if the U.S. House and Senate change to Republican control, they wil have to work with the president the next two years and if Obama is re-elected in 2012, they will have to work with the president

Cobb said he was not taking out of state money to run his campaign. He is an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam. He has been a licensed attorney for the past 20 years. He taught business law at Western Illinois for a year.

Cobb also believed in strengthening the borders for terrorists and illegal immigrants. He also championed bringing the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the wars are culturally based.

Tracey Mann, Salina, who was raised on a farm near Quinter and is now involved in commercial real estate, was appalled about the procedural process that locked out those who had differing views.

He believed that tort reform, competition across state line and cutting unnecessary regulations have to be on the table.

Rob Wasinger, Cottonwood Falls, believes that part of the problems that have occurred is that Congress continues to be more urban oriented and the Obama health care is a new and large future social program. He said health care can be reformed without taking on large debts. Wasinger, who has 10 children, worried that soaring American debt threatens the future of the country for many generations.

“The race is about the future,” he said.

Agriculture

Jeff Bathurst, who represented the local Farm Bureau, also posed questions to the congressional candidates about their views on agriculture, the challenges faced by producers and improving the economy of the First District.

Wasinger, a former chief of staff member for Sen. Sam Brownback, said the last Farm Bill was more about identifying nutritional needs than needs of farmers and ranchers in the First District. While focusing on telling the positive side of production agriculture, Wasinger said he would be an advocate of opening new markets. He said the president has trade agreements on his desk that he has not moved forward because of the political conflicts from trade groups who fear the loss of jobs overseas as part of trade pacts.

Wasinger said access makes sense economically and producers benefit from trade.

“We (America) are 4 percent of the population and yet we feed the world,” Wasinger said.

Mann said farmers and ranchers are concerned about future regulations that can make them uncompetitive in the world market. The businessman believes there will be a day when farmers will not receive direct payments to their operations. Farmers need to have a strong crop insurance program as well as access to foreign markets, pointing to Cuba as a natural outlet.

Boldra agreed with other candidates, she also believed that it was time to reform the Agriculture Department so that it serves farmers and ranchers. She opposed cap and trade legislation, saying it would devastate Big First farmers. Boldra said one in five Kansans are directly impacted by agriculture so she would be an advocate of agriculture and agri-business.

Cobb believed that pressing other countries for open access into markets would be a priority for him. He noted that officials at a Dodge City meat manufacturing plant told him that only 17 percent of what they process goes overseas. He would oppose any proposed sanctions that involved food.

“Food should never be used as a weapon,” he said.

Cap and trade legislation would only take money out of Kansas and move the money to the East and West Coasts.

Barnett also said he would be an advocate of free trade.

“The most important thing the government can do is stay out of the way,” he said.

Government has a role in regulation, but he said trying to regulate “dust and water puddles” that occur naturally in the expansive Big First is unnecessary.

The candidates also were worried that nearly all of the counties in the Big First were losing population.

Mann said his native Gove County has declined in its population by 19 percent over the past 10 years. It is a story similar to many counties.

“We have fewer jobs and we have fewer farmers,” Mann said, which was also related to the larger size of farms.

Jobs are tied to good schools, health care, internet and mail delivery service. Taxes and regulatory policy need to be consistent so that Big First residents can compete globally.

“If every small business in the First District added a job it would not be a problem,” Mann said.

He would also actively recruit manufacturers to locate to the First District. He would advocate opportunities available in the First District to high school students.

Boldra said good infrastructure, including roads, education and airports are important to a positive business climate.

“Kansas is a safe place to raise children,” Boldra said.

She liked the idea of tax credits to entice families and businesses to locate in the First District, but she also feared that regulations as a result of accepting credits could deter growth in the long run.

Cobb said lowering tax rates at federal and state levels offered the best hope for economic expansion and job creation. He also believed in listening to what Kansans have to say.

Barnett said less government involvement would be an important step as it sets a positive tone for job creation.

“Regulations need to be fair and kept to a minimum,” Barnett said.

He said Kansas has niche opportunities in coal biofuel and wind production.

Wasinger said declining populations force communities to close schools, which devastate towns.

“We have to get rid of obstacles that keep kids from wanting to come back,” Wasinger said. “We export a lot of beef and wheat and that’s great, but we’re exporting people and that’s not great.”

He had earlier spoke about a homestead tax credit program championed by Brownback that entices people to move back to rural areas. The legislation would create opportunities, particularly for young people, to come back to open businesses. The part that was enticing was that it allowed younger farmers and ranchers to get a start. He said capital requirements are a deterrent to many young families who may want to farm. The homestead program could change that trend.

Wasinger said the decline in rural populations and increasing urban populations is not a formula that bodes well for rural Kansans because legislation becomes more urban oriented.

About 115 people attended the forum, which was sponsored by the Dickinson County Republican Central Committee, Dickinson County Republican Women and Dickinson County Farm Bureau. The lone candidate who could not attend was state Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, who was in Abilene earlier in the day for meet and greet.

Anita Bogart did read a statement on behalf of Huelskamp, who in his statement touted his conservative record in the Kansas Legislature and said he would take those principles and apply them as a congressman.