BUTLER TWP — Saturday marked the first time this year the two candidates for Pennsylvania's 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives squared off in debate.

Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, a Democrat from Erie, met with challenger Mike Kelly, a Republican from Butler, at the Butler Days Inn.

The debate was sponsored by the AARP.

Throughout the debate, the candidates stressed the importance of jobs.

Dahlkemper said she believes the best way to create more jobs is to bring more manufacturing to the country, to fight unfair trade practices and make sure workers are trained.

Dahlkemper also was in favor of eliminating tax incentives to companies that outsource jobs to other countries.

"That, I think, is wrong," Dahlkemper said. "Why should we give them a tax break?"

Incentives should be offered to companies that keep jobs in the U.S., she said.

Kelly said the reason companies are outsourcing is high taxes. However, he said he is in favor of eliminating incentives to outsourcing companies.

Kelly said the best way to increase jobs is for the government to lower taxes and to work with businesses.

He also saw a connection between jobs and Social Security reform.

"The simple solution to solving Social Security is getting people back to work," Kelly said.

Since Social Security is funded by wage taxes, having more workers would lead to more funding, he said.

Dahlkemper said increasing jobs is not the best solution to stabilizing Social Security. She said the best option is to remove the Social Security cap, which does not tax income over $106,000.

Both said they were against privatizing Social Security, but each had a different reasoning.

Dahlkemper said privatization puts seniors at risk.

"Wall Street is a risk, it's like going to the casino," Dahlkemper said.

She said Kelly said he is against privatization, but some of the people who support him are for it, including Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Ryan wrote a budget plan, which Kelly supports, that recommends privatization.

Kelly denied the claim.

"I'm not in Congress; you are," Kelly said.

He said the main problem with Social Security is the government regularly uses its funding for other programs, which he said is wrong.

They also discussed the 2009 health care reform bill.

Kelly said the bill does not address accessibility and affordability, and is difficult to understand and maintain.

"We have a program nobody understands," Kelly said. "It just can't be sustained."

Dahlkemper, on the other hand, would keep the bill.

"I'm very proud of the health care bill," Dahlkemper said.

She said it brings peace of mind to Americans, and as the richest country in the world, the U.S. should have universal health care.

Although they differed in opinion over health care reform, both candidates said they liked the clause allowing children up to age 26 to stay on their parents' insurance.

They also agreed on other issues.

Both found some common ground on the federal deficit.Kelly said he would not cut any funding for social security, Medicare or veterans. He said he was unsure exactly what he would cut, but said he would use a process he uses in his business.Kelly said he would look at every program and see what is the least useful or least successful. He also wants to look into a sunset law that would cut programs that are no longer viable."The 800-pound gorilla in the room is the spending," Kelly said. "You can't spend your way out of debt."Dahlkemper said she is currently working on a sunsetting bill. She also would like to cut Congress spending money on itself.The candidates also agreed there were some issues for which they would split with their respective parties.Dahlkemper said she would not vote in favor of abortion or a cap and trade bill. Kelly said he would not vote with his party any time it asks too much of him or is only serving its own interests.They also agreed, to an extent, on extending tax cuts that began under former President George W. Bush.Kelly said he is in favor of extending them to everyone. He also said he would not raise taxes, noting he signed a "no tax" pledge.Dahlkemper said she would extend the tax cuts to middle income families. She said it would be fiscally irresponsible to extend them to the wealthy."We just can't afford it; you just have to do the math," Dahlkemper said. "These tax cuts costed us over $2 trillion over the past 10 years."With the two candidates being from opposite ends of the district, they had differing opinions on regional interests.Dahlkemper said the issues in Erie are slightly different from the issues in Butler, but she emphasized she travels the district enough to understand how citizens from different areas react to different issues.She also said she brought $45 million in projects to Butler since she was elected.Kelly countered that, despite the money she brought to the region, Dahlkemper rarely is at the office she keeps in Butler. Dahlkemper said she holds regular office hours in every office she has in the district.Kelly also said there is little difference between the cities, as far as the issues are concerned."There's nothing Zip code specific about any of these issues," Kelly said.The election is Nov. 2.