U.S. House of Representatives 8th District of Missouri -- Joe Allen

Name: Joe Allen

Party: Democratic

Birth: July 8, 1977; Mansfield, Mo.

Spouse, children: Not married; none.

Occupation: Attorney

Employer: The Merrell Law Firm, city of Rockaway Beach, Mo.

Businesses owned by candidate: Tri-Lakes Traffic Center, Tri-Lakes Enterprises LLC

Public offices held: Municipal Prosecutor for the city of Rockaway Beach, Mo.

Past political campaigns and offices sought: None.

Question 1: What is the most important issue facing the next representative from the 8th Congressional District?

Answer: The most important job in the next Congress will be to fix the economy and balance the federal budget. We must stop borrowing and printing money or we will continue to destroy the value of our dollar.

Question 2: What in your background or education makes you qualified for this office?

Answer: I was born and raised in this district and know what it's like to struggle through hard times. My father was killed when I was 6 months old and I was raised by a single mother. I grew up without health care and learned early in life the importance of working hard to get ahead. I worked my way through school at the College of the Ozarks and in law school at Oklahoma City University. I truly have the best interests of our citizens in mind and will always listen to them and not Washington special-interest groups. I believe life starts at conception, will not support further gun control laws and define marriage as between a man and a woman. Most importantly, though, I will vote for the pocketbooks of the hard-working, middle-class citizens in Missouri's 8th Congressional District. I believe these values make me the best choice to represent our district in Congress.

Question 3: Why are you better qualified than your opponent?

Answer: My opponent's recent vote in favor of the bailout of Wall Street says it all. I believe an overwhelming majority of people in the 8th district were opposed to this and I agree with them. My opponent would not have voted for this bill if she was listening to the people she represents.

Question 4: What is the most important step for achieving economic stability during the next two years?

Answer: We must look toward the future and stop printing and borrowing money to throw at our economic problems. Sacrifices will have to be made in our federal budget. Our next Congress must work hard to create more jobs for the middle class and focus our efforts on domestic issues.

Question 5: Should Congress enact a health care program that covers every American or should private sector efforts be allowed to prevail? Why?

Answer: Our next Congress must first balance the budget and stop the current deficit spending. Once this happens I would support legislation that would provide quality and affordable health care access to everyone. I believe that by investing in preventive care we can lower health care costs and fight against rising premiums for private coverage.