Duncan Hunter in State of Michigan Archives

On Free Trade: Reflect tariffs back at competitors

So we’re short on good businessmen, and I would junk those bad trade deals, bring them back to the table, and I’d practice mirror trade. If a country wants to put a 15 percent tariff against the United States, they’re going to see that reflected back at them. If they want to take it down to 1 percent, we’ll take it down to one, but there’s not going to be a one-way street any longer.

On Jobs: Unions built the middle class

HUNTER: A union is a receptacle of power, just like management. But those folks love this country, they love their family, and they helped to build a middle class, which has been important for America and for our party. We need to work with unions to win this presidency.

ROMNEY: There are some good unions and some not so good.

Q: Can you name a few “good” unions?

HUNTER: I can tell you a good union, the Steel Workers Union. When last year we had a strike in a Kansas plant that made the tires for our humvees, I called up the president of the Steelworkers and the president of Goodyear, and within a very short period of time, they were working together, they got that thing done for the good of the country.

On Tax Reform: Sponsored FairTax proposal

HUCKABEE: Nothing’s going to discourage Americans from spending money! No, the FairTax does something that is absolutely phenomenal for the economy. It untaxes productivity. It untaxes those things which we export.

HUNTER: I’m a sponsor of the FairTax.

On War & Peace: No Congressional authorization needed to attack Iran’s nukes

A: It depends on one thing: the president does not need that if the target is fleeting. We live in this age of terrorists with high technology, and if you have a very narrow window to hit a target, if the president’s going to have to take that on his shoulders, he’s going to have to do it. He has the right to do that under the Constitution as the commander in chief of the military forces. If he has time, then certainly you want to go to Congress, as we did in Iraq, and get the approval of Congress. So it’s a matter of whether or not the target is fleeting. And with respect to Iran, Iran is walking down the path to build a nuclear device. They’ve got now about a thousand centrifuges; they claim they’ve got 3,000. At some point, we may have to pre-empt that target. If we do, it should be done hopefully with allies but perhaps by the U.S. alone.