Decision ’92 : VOTING IN THE VALLEY / AN ELECTION GUIDE : CONGRESS / 29th DISTRICT : Q and A

Questions were sent to candidates in September. Answers have been edited to fit the space.

Tax Cut

Q. Do you support President Bush’s proposal for an unspecified across-the-board tax cut and an increase in the personal exemption for individuals?

Davies: No. Any tax cut proposed by Bush will benefit the wealthy and not middle-income and poor people.

Davis: No. As did Mrs. Thatcher, we should pay our debt in advance of lowering taxes.

Robbins: I support an increase in the personal exemption and do believe that a tax cut to stimulate long-term growth, savings and investment is needed.

Rogin: Yes. A drastic cut in taxation coupled with a massive cut in government spending, bureaucracy and regulations is needed.

Waxman: No. Given the size of the deficit, the deep recession and severe domestic needs, a tax cut would be utterly irresponsible.

AIDS Research

Q. Do you support a proposal by the National Commission on AIDS to greatly increase the federal resources committed to combatting the disease?

Davies: Yes. We need a cure for AIDS now!

Davis: Yes. I propose the establishment of a West Hollywood AIDS Research Facility for coordinated research and testing on human volunteer subjects.

Robbins: Yes, absolutely. The federal government must fully fund AIDS research programs at the National Institutes of Health, which would come to $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year.

Rogin: No. This is not the purpose of federal government. The public should not have to pay for other people’s lifestyle choices.

Waxman: Yes. As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, I have battled ceaselessly since 1981 for greater funding for both AIDS research, treatment and education.

Family Values

Q. Is a discussion of God, morality and family values appropriate for a political campaign?

Davies: No.

Davis: No. Discussion of religion flies in the face of the First Amendment. Morality and family values are excessively broad and subject to repressive misinterpretations.

Robbins: Yes. It is the nature of representative democracy to discuss the public’s concern over issues. I strongly disagree with the Republican Party platform adopted in Houston and the party’s narrow and offensive focus on its definition of family values, which, unfortunately, excludes many honest, loving and hard-working Americans.

Rogin: Yes. Character is the most important issue in a representative form of government.

Waxman: Yes. These are appropriate topics as long as they are raised with due respect for the fact that ours is a pluralistic society. It is wrong to set one group against another by making invidious distinctions between various faiths or (real or imagined) lifestyle differences.

Tax Increase

Q. Do you support spending more on job training, improvements to the educational system and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure by raising the taxes of individuals making more than $140,000 a year and couples earning more than $200,000 a year?

Davies: Yes.

Davis: Yes.

Robbins: No.

Rogin: No.

Waxman: Yes.

Capital Gains

Q. Do you favor President Bush’s proposal for a capital gains tax cut as an economic stimulant?

Davies: No.

Davis: No.

Robbins: Yes.

Rogin: Yes.

Waxman: Absolutely not.

Defense Reductions

Q. With the end of the Cold War, do you favor deep reductions in the $290 - billion annual defense budget? If so, how much could it be safely reduced in one year? Five years?

Davies: Yes. We should cut the military budget in half.

Davis: Yes. I would seek to cut expenditures by perhaps 20% the first year, but would reapply our military forces toward civil engineering and the defense of our borders against illegal immigration.

Robbins: No. Just because the Soviet Union is no longer a major threat to our security does not mean that other equally serious threats do not exist.

Rogin: No. Defense spending is one of the few legitimate functions of federal government.

Waxman: Yes. It would be irresponsible to estimate specific amounts for specific periods of time. The political situation in Eastern Europe is far from clear. We have an ongoing obligation to advance human rights, to protect small countries and to facilitate the development of Third World economies.

Medicare Benefits

Q. Should the government reduce Medicare benefits for the wealthy or ask wealthy beneficiaries to pay more premiums to help alleviate the federal budget deficit?

Davies: Yes. Both.

Davis: Yes.

Robbins: Yes.

Rogin: No.

Waxman: No.

Welfare Benefits

Q. Do you support reducing welfare benefits of parents who do not go to school, attend training or find a job; do not make sure that their children attend school or get basic medical care, or who continue to have more children while on welfare?

Davies: No. None of the conditions should be imposed. Benefits need to be increased.

Davis: Yes. I only support a restructuring that would discourage the bearing of more children. I do not favor training for jobs that do not exist.

Robbins: Yes. It is important that society understand that social welfare is temporary in nature only.

Rogin: Yes. Any tax or law that takes money from the person who earned it to give to a person who didn’t is theft.

Waxman: No. While we should encourage people to become self-sufficient, we should not be punitive and, thus, counterproductive.

Health Care

Q. Do you support a national health-care system in which the government establishes fees, pays all the bills and collects taxes to cover the cost?

Davies: Yes.

Davis: No.

Robbins: No.

Rogin: No.

Waxman: Yes.

Industrial Emissions

Q. Should the United States move more rapidly to limit industrial emissions that may be depleting the ozone layer and contributing to global warming even though such steps may hurt some businesses and eliminate some jobs?

Davies: Yes.

Davis: Yes. For every business hurt, a new one will be helped.

Robbins: There needs to be a balance. We cannot throw people out of work and business out of action overnight when scientists still disagree as to the degree and the effect of the ozone layer depletion. However, if as serious as current reports indicate, strict action must be taken immediately.

Rogin: No. Global warming is a myth supported by people who wish to destroy our economy.

Waxman: Absolutely. As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, I have reviewed virtually every claim that environmental protection exacts a price in jobs or economic growth. The claims are false.

Term Limits

Q. Do you support limiting the number of terms members of Congress can serve? If yes, what should the limits be for members of the House and Senate?

Davies: Yes. House, two terms. Senate, one term.

Davis: No.

Robbins: Yes. A lifetime limit of six terms in the House and two in the Senate.

Rogin: No.

Waxman: No.

Death Penalty

Q. Do you support capital punishment for any crimes? If so, what?

Davies: No.

Davis: Yes. Rape murder, child murder and mass murder. Not for the killing of law enforcement agents as they are armed, and therefore cannot be considered innocents.

Robbins: Yes.

Rogin: Yes. Murder, rape, treason, among others.

Waxman: No. I fear capital punishment is given disproportionately to the poor and minorities.

Abortion Rights

Q. Do you support a woman’s unrestricted right to an abortion within the first three months of pregnancy?

Davies: Yes.

Davis: Yes.

Robbins: Yes.

Rogin: No.

Waxman: Yes.