KOKOMO, Ind. — The four Republican Party candidates seeking to unseat incumbent Dan Burton all agreed the nation needs a simpler tax code and changes to encourage economic growth in the country.

As was the case in 2010, Burton is facing numerous challengers in the Republican Party primary in the 5th Congressional District.

Challengers Susan Brooks, Jack Lugar, John McGoff and David McIntosh answered questions Saturday at the Century Club breakfast at Elite Banquet and Conference Center.

Craig Dunn, party chairman, expressed disappointment that Burton decided not to participate.

All four candidates said they would support some form of a flat tax as a means to simplify the tax code.

McIntosh said he would support a flat tax proposal, but would maintain the mortgage and charitable donation deductions.

He said the flat tax should be in the range of 18 to 20 percent and he would eliminate the planned 2013 tax increase.

Brooks said 43 to 49 cents of every dollar earned goes to pay taxes.

“We need a simpler system,” she said. “We have a complex tax system. The wealthy companies can afford to pay lawyers and accounts to find loopholes in the tax code.”

Brooks called for a broader tax base and incentives to reward investments and savings.

Lugar said he supports a flat tax and is investigating the fair tax.

He said a concern was taxes on purchases that people make, which might make them forgo those purchases.

McGoff said former presidential candidate Herman Cain started the discussion on tax reform.

“We need to think about a different way of taxation,” he said. “I would support a simple flat tax. We would have a lot of unemployed  accountants, but people would have more money to spend.”

Two of the four candidates said they would have supported the federal government bailout of Chrysler to keep jobs in Howard County, but were generally opposed to the concept.

Brooks said she generally opposed stimulus packages and bailouts but that job preservation is critically important.

“We have to look at every proposal and how it will affect jobs,” she said of the Chrysler bailout. “In this particular case with thousands of jobs at stake, I would have voted to keep 4,500 jobs in Howard County.”

McGoff, making his third run to unseat Burton, said without the Chrysler bail-out Howard County would have gone under and would have voted for the legislation.

“Government regulation caused the problem,” he said. “We need less taxation and regulation. The $800 million stimulus package created very few jobs.”

McIntosh said he would have voted no because government should take over a private company. He said companies behave differently when they depend on government subsidies.

“It’s not the right role of government,” he said.

Lugar said he opposed government stimulus packages, calling it a “slippery slope.”

“We need to look at real solutions,” he said. “Bailouts create a situation where companies depend on government assistance.”

Lugar said the stimulus and bailout packages are the reason the federal government is facing a deficit.

The four candidates all favored a balanced budget amendment, but had different ideas on how to reduce government spending.

McGoff said cutting taxes would raise revenues noting the increased revenue during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

He said since Congress could not agree on a method to reduce the federal deficit, there is $1.2 trillion in mandatory cuts over the next decade, mainly in military spending.

McGoff said Social Security is taking in less money than it spends and the same situation will be taking place in Medicare. He said Congress should look at privatization of Social Security and a voucher system for Medicare.

McIntosh said it was critical for the federal government to get to a balanced budget and that the nation has to decide the needs and wants of the nation.

“We need to do the same job with less money,” he said. “In the area of entitlements. we need to look at a private sector competitive  model.”

McIntosh also called for caps in government spending.

Brooks said the federal government should follow the model of Gov. Mitch Daniels in making government more efficient.

“In Washington we need to cut spending and be more efficient,” she said. “Make Washington much leaner.”

Lugar said the nation didn’t have a revenue problem, but a spending one. He said there is a lot of “fat” in the federal budget.

Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can  be reached at 765-454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com