Hultgren's opponents tee off in forum

The final debate in the contest for Illinois 14th Congressional District was notable as much for what it lacked as for what candidates had to say.

Republican Challenger Randy Hultgren was a no-show. That allowed incumbent Democrat Bill Foster and third party candidates Dan Kairis and Doug Marks a free shot at swaying undecided voters.

One notable new direction in the debate resulted from a question about where, specifically, the candidates would trim the federal budget. All three of the candidates present found a common target in the military.

Foster said a bipartisan group identified $1 trillion in cuts that could be made to the military budget over 10 years without compromising military readiness.

“These cuts haven't taken place because of the special interests that are defending parts of the military budget that are doing us no good,” Foster said.

Kairis, the Green Party candidate, said there is no way the military budget should total $600 billion every year.

“That's almost as much as the rest of the world spends on their military combined,” Kairis said. “And we have two wars that cost over $1 trillion and, by the way, were unconstitutional. Why are we protecting so many different countries from whatever their threat is?”

Marks, a Libertarian write-in, said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to “destroy lives.”

“We're nation-building,” Marks said. “Our national defense should be for protecting the borders of our country, not for being the world police.”

The candidates also had other specific ideas for trimming the federal budget.

Foster said the deficit must be the No. 1 target in reducing spending. He also favors Congressional pay cuts and noted his votes against nearly $4 billion of so-called “wasteful earmarks.”

Kairis said spending cuts will follow the reduction of special interest influence in the budgeting process. He said every politician who takes $500 or more from any entity should be banned from writing or voting on legislation that benefits that donor.

Marks called for the elimination of both the Department of Education and the Department of Energy.

“These guys can't decide anything that's right for you and your family when it comes to education,” Marks said. “We should be able to make those decisions on our own. The Department of Energy came out in the 1970s to get us off oil. What have they done? Absolutely nothing. Maybe we need to rethink that department and make it go away.”

Hultgren's campaign, contacted after the debate, said their candidate was committed to an event in Geneseo Thursday night before the forum was announced. The Kane County Bar Association and the Women's Bar Association of the 16th Judicial Circuit organized the debate. They said Hultgren promised to attend.