Ken Ashby

Current roles

• Local Libertarian Party: Member

Former roles

• Local US House of Representatives: US Representative candidate

League of Women Voters 2008 candidate survey

LWV: Please describe the training and experience that qualify you for this office.

Ashby: I have lived in northeast Dallas for 23 years. I coached and taught science and math in public schools, and was an engineer in private industry before retirement. I am that rare candidate who is not a career politician and who refuses all special interest and PAC funding.

LWV: What reforms would you propose to the U.S. healthcare system to control costs, improve the quality of care and expand access to healthcare to uninsured Americans?

Ashby: I absolutely oppose a "single-payer" system. Under such socialist schemes, it is illegal to obtain health care except what the government monopoly rations out. Instead, we need to get government out of health care, since bureaucratic controls are what drive up costs faster than unregulated private-sector goods and services. Tax-free Medical Savings Accounts are an excellent way to expand choices, promote competition and make health care affordable for all Americans.

LWV: Do you support a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq?

Ashby: Yes, provided it is done in an orderly fashion. Our troops have successfully accomplished their mission, which was to replace the dictator Saddam Hussein with a democratic government and to rid that country of WMD's. Iraq's Prime Minister recently stated that he wants US troops out within 16 months. There is no point in staying where we are not wanted, where we are vulnerable targets, and where our presence motivates the recruitment of terrorists.

LWV: How do you propose to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S., while also meeting the increased need of American agriculture and small business for workers?

Ashby: No one believes it is practical to identify, arrest, convict, deport and permanently keep out over 12 million people. But it is certainly possible to incarcerate the criminal felons, gangsters and terrorists. Equally important is to cut off welfare benefits, like free schooling and hospital care, which attract freeloaders. Most Americans have no objection to immigrants who work productively, abide by our laws, learn English, pay taxes, and support themselves and their families.

LWV: The U.S. Highway Trust Fund is expected to go into deficit next year. Congress is reluctant to raise the federal gas tax. How should America pay for its massive infrastructure needs related to roads and bridges?

Ashby: Federal transportation spending is out of control under Republicans and Democrats with pork barrel and earmarks. Scandals such as Boston's Big Dig, ex-Speaker Hastert's Prairie Porkway and indicted Senator Stevens' Bridge to Nowhere illustrate fraud, corruption and abuse of power. I would insist that Congress spend highway funds only on clearly justified interstate projects. I oppose any tax increase, gasoline or otherwise, in this environment of wasteful spending.

LWV: What source do you think represents the greatest opportunity to achieve energy independence? How can the federal government best advance its development?

Ashby: Experts agree that all sources must be tapped to meet America's energy demands. It is as big a mistake to eliminate fossil fuels as to rely upon them exclusively. The federal government is already nine trillion dollars in debt. If it borrows trillions more from foreigners to subsidize alternative fuels, then we have only traded oil dependence for financial dependence. Instead, Congress must repeal restrictions on commercial domestic energy production, and let markets work.

LWV: What other issue do you believe will be most pressing in the next session of Congress, and what is your position on this issue?

Ashby: By far, our most serious problem is 50 trillion dollars, and growing, in entitlement obligations over the next quarter century, and the impossibility of financing them without wiping out everyone's life savings through inflation and taxes. Politicians who insist that government can deliver promised benefits are perpetrating the costliest scam in history. Their refusal to privatize Social Security and Medicare before insolvency becomes inevitable will bury the American dream for the next generation.