Mr. Porter's Statements to the Electorate Jon Porter for Congress Platform The Jon Porter campaign provides an Issues page on its website, discussing more than 50 topics affecting the 31st District, Texas, and the United States. We encourage all voters to visit www.porter2004.com and review the issues, in order to be an educated voter. There are five major issues in our platform:

1. Responsible Government
Jon Porter is fiscally conservative and focused on a balanced budget. Jon Porter strongly supports "pay-as-you-go" policy and would mandate Congress to enforce a balanced budget. We must end the policy of saddling our children with the nation's debt, and be responsible for ourselves now. Jon Porter will work for an honest, responsible and responsive government. This means ignoring special interest and PAC money. Washington must once again become the place of the People's interest, not multinational corporations'.

2. The Economy
America works when Americans work. We must seek long term economic recovery with long term growth by investing in areas vital to our future. We must assist state and local governments in their efforts to provide the best possible education, health care, and we must support our first responders. Tax cuts must be carefully crafted, and aimed at middle-class Americans, not wealthy Americans. We need economic growth generating demand from the bottom up, not trickling down -- lifting wages, and creating jobs. We must encourage good corporate citizenship and reward businesses that help America.

3. The Fort Hood & the Military
Our military deserves better tools and a real living wage. Fort Hood must continue to lead the Army. More troops can and should be stationed at Fort Hood and more joint exercise training must be conducted at the base. Military families must be provided good housing and job training. The political leaders must listen to the soldiers who are in harm's way, not block them from completing the mission and returning home.

4. Security Policy
We must create a real security policy to make America safer and stronger. We must forge a global consensus on terrorism and wage a global, unrelenting campaign to isolate terrorist groups and bring them to justice. This will require re-building damaged alliances and creating new ones. It means developing international institutions and treaties. It also means unified global efforts sharing the burdens of enforcement and intelligence. Moreover, America will be more secure if we make ourselves a source of hope, instead of fear. Terrorism does not only face America; it is a weapon against modern society that must be crushed. The world, with American taking the lead, must end terrorism and the causes of it. Our First Responders must be provided the equipment and training to protect us at home.

5. Personal Security
All Americans must have access to affordable health care and affordable insurance. Workers must have retirement security. This means ensuring the existence of social security, and allowing employees portability of their pension with control over the placement of their retirement savings. We must have the best public educationcn the world. To do so requires reforming schools, raising our expectations and standards for our children, reducing inefficiencies, and cutting administration. Every child in America has a right to have a high quality education. We must invest in new schools, new teachers, and smaller classes. We cannot allow a college education to be priced out of the reach for working families. Loan and grant programs should be expanded, not reduced, so every child who dreams of going to college can do so.

Questions for John Carter:
Mr. Carter is one of Congress' biggest proponents of a national sales tax. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that funding the Federal Government with a sales tax would require the tax rate to be 21%, this would be on top of the 8 1/2 % sales tax rate which currently exists in the majority of counties and cities within the District.

My questions are:

How can one support a tax that will be nearly 30 cents on the dollar?

It is true the rich spend more because they have more, but in terms of proportional income, how you can support a tax that adversely affects the poor, the middle class, and those on fixed incomes?