Dave Chandler, Green Party

Roger McCarville, Constitution Party

The American Constitution Party is about states’ rights. The party believes the federal bureaucracy is too large, and there is too much regulation and that private enterprise, individuals and state government need to determine society’s rules.

Roger McCarville, the party’s candidate for Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, states on his website, “Our nation is great, but its future is at stake because of the treasonous actions of those in Congress … It’s time to remove these traitors from the offices they’ve abused.”

Regarding higher education, “The bureaucracy is taking care of itself,” McCarville said. “The bureaucracy doesn’t give a you-know-what about each student. It’s another one of the many, many, many big lies. The cost of college should not be near what it is.” Because the federal government has done an “abysmal job at almost anything it ever tried to do,” each state should be in charge of running its own university system, he said.

“The taxpayers I talk to are not willing to spend more money on higher education,” McCarville said. “I think the U.S. Department of Education should be completely eliminated.”

Regarding Colorado’s proposed minimum wage hike, he said wages should be left to private enterprise and the private individual.

“The private individual ought to have enough confidence to find an employer that will pay him what he thinks his labor is worth. And then, if that isn’t the case, let he or she start their own little company. When you have your own little company then you positively know what you are worth.”

He also wants to make employers take responsibility for ending illegal immigration.

“The federal government has failed miserably,” he said. “Make the employer responsible.”

If fewer immigrants were coming into the country every year, then they could be assimilated, McCarville said. But because the numbers are in the millions, it has created a problem. He said sanctuary cities need to be illegal, along with “sponsors” who host illegal immigrants.

McCarville is also skeptical about the administration’s explanation of Sept. 11.

“I have many questions that have not been answered to my satisfaction on that tragedy.” If elected, McCarville said he would advocate a new investigation into the events of that day.

Before running for representative of Colorado’s 7th District, Republican Rick O’Donnell served as the director for the governor’s Office of Policy & Initiatives. He also headed the Colorado Department of Higher Education and was responsible for implementing the Colorado Opportunity Fund, which changed the way Colorado designates funding to higher education. Prior to his time in the governor’s cabinet, O’Donnell worked as a private-sector policy-maker with the National Policy Forum, the Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Center for the New West.

One of O’Donnell’s platform issues is overhauling the federal tax system.

“It is well past time for a tax code that promotes hard work and savings, not games and cheating. We need a tax code that is fair to all Americans, not one filled with special privileges for a select few. It is well past time to junk the whole nine million-word tax code and start over!” O’Donnell’s website states.

O’Donnell sets himself apart from some other Republicans with his emphasis on the environment, conservation and energy independence.

“Energy is not and should not be a partisan issue. In Congress, I will champion a long-term, forward-looking energy plan for America’s future,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell’s energy plan would focus on four key issues: using technology to create new sources of energy, providing economic incentives for energy efficiency, developing renewable energy sources, and achieving U.S. energy independence.

He has also said the U.S. borders need to be fortified with physical barriers and an increased National Guard presence. He is against any sort of amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country, but in his official immigration policy platform he does not put forth any solution to the logistical problem of deportation.

O’Donnell believes Colorado can and should lead the way in national research of renewable energy. He also talks about the economic vitality of Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, pointing to its growing healthcare and aerospace industries.

O’Donnell also wants to tackle the issues of forced labor and human trafficking.

“In Congress, I will join with people of goodwill from both parties to champion human rights. I will fight against some of the most heinous crimes of our generation: human smuggling, forced labor and sexual exploitation – particularly of children including child pornography – both at home in the United States and across the globe,” O’Donnell states.

He avoids issuing an official stance on abortion rights, or the issue of defining marriage and civil unions. O’Donnell does, however, support stem cell research, provided it utilizes technologies that do not harm individual embryos.