The candidates vying for Ohio's 1st Congressional District met up at the Waycross Community Media election forum October 13 to talk about the issues facing the residents of the district and the country.

U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) pitched bipartisanship in his opening statements at the forum that included state Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill), as well as independent candidate Rich Stevenson and write-in candidate Eric Wilson.

Chabot said that he believes he has a reputation for honesty and said he tries to work across the aisle in Congress, as he believes it is the "best way to get things done."

Driehaus said that he thinks it's time for a change in favor of leadership willing to get their hands dirty. Driehaus focused his opening statements addressing a pet-issue of his - the housing crisis. Driehaus highlighted his history of advocating for predatory-lending legislation and addressing the foreclosure problem.

Stevenson criticized the two "career incumbent" major party candidates, and said he was the only non-partisan participating in the forum.

Wilson aligned himself with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), saying that he will bring change to Ohio's 1st.

Questions came from e-mails as well as phone calls.

The first question addressed the recently passed "bailout" legislation, which Chabot twice voted against.

Chabot said that he didn't think it was fair "to put on the backs of taxpayers, bad decisions that were made on Wall St."

Chabot said that a serious financial challenge faces the nation. He said he had proposed, "in a bipartisan manner," a bill that would have dealt with the problem by allowing judges to lower interest rates on mortgages to allow people to stay in their homes.

Chabot also said that the people responsible on Wall St. need to be held accountable "and perhaps prosecuted" for their role in the current financial turmoil.

Driehaus said that had he been in Congress he "very reluctantly would have supported the bill."

Driehaus addressed recent accusations by the Chabot campaign hitting Driehaus "for not making a decision." Driehaus noted that his father had passed away as the legislation was in consideration, which delayed him taking a firm stance on the issue.

Driehaus said that he disagrees with Chabot on how the financial trouble came to pass. Driehaus blamed de-regulation of the financial industry for its current troubles. Driehaus said that the tools have existed to crack down on predatory lending and mortgage-backed securities. Driehaus said that no action was taken, however, on these issues.

Chabot said that clearly Driehaus had family issues to take care of "but it didn't stop him from attacking me." Chabot said that he did what he believed was right for the people by voting against the legislation.

Driehaus said that Chabot was "Johnny come lately" on the issue.

Stevenson noted donations from the financial industry to both Democrats and Republicans, and said he would have voted against the bailout. Wilson also said he would have voted against the legislation, blaming the greed of the banking industry for allowing the lending to get out of control, with the help of lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

When asked if they supported making English the official language of the United States, Driehaus said that he does, as did Stevenson. Wilson called it mean-spirited to force the latest wave of immigrants to speak English, which he said hadn't been done to earlier immigrants who were still successful in integrating.

Chabot hit Driehaus for his answer, saying that Driehaus had previously called it "divisive" to have such an official language. Chabot said he does believe English should be the official language and said he is co-sponsor of a bill to make it so. Driehaus said that he had voted against an "unfunded mandate" requiring the learning of English, but did not oppose making English the official language.

On energy, Chabot said he supports additional drilling, making it easier to build oil refineries, and promoting alternative energy in an environmentally responsible manner.

Driehaus said government should be promoting going after clean-coal technology, investing in alternative energy, and rewarding efficiency by incentivizing conservation habits. Driehaus hit Chabot for what he termed his support for tax-credits for "Big Oil companies." Driehaus said the tax-breaks should go to the middle-class, not "Big Oil." He also said that Chabot has repeatedly voted against alternative energy.

Chabot said that Driehaus' assertion that he had a history of voting against alternative energy was not true. Chabot said that Democrats say they're going to raise taxes on oil companies, but the burden is just passed on to the consumer, which Chabot said he does not support.

The full debate is available on the Waycross Community media Web site.