Belknap County Republicans spent their Veterans Day evening learning a little bit about Jim Bender and why he wants to replace Republican Sen. Judd Gregg in Washington next year.

Someone who seems completely at ease with numbers, Bender is a deficit hawk.

"We are rapidly reaching the point when we cannot recover," Bender said, explaining that the current deficit is six times the country's total tax revenue and is unsustainable.

The Hollis businessman and entrepreneur is the fifth person to throw his hat into the senatorial ring. He joins former N.H. Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, Manchester attorney Ovide Lamontagne, businessman Bill Binnie of Rye and former state GOP head and publisher Sean Mahoney.

A self-described turnaround guy, Bender said he had taken three New Hampshire companies that were failing, turned them around to be profitable and will bring this business acumen to Washington.

"I would drop the capital gains to zero," Bender said, saying the income tax revenue of more people with more jobs would offset the revenue loss. "Capital rewards people who take chances."

When asked how he differed from the others, he said he's the only one, other than Lamontagne, "who just got on the wagon," who supports term limits for congressmen.

Railing against the Washington mentality, Bender said the longer a person spends in the nation's capital, the further away he get from the people he or she represents.

He also touted his experiences as a young man in Washington, where he wrote for a newspaper that tracked energy legislation and spent four days a week on Capitol Hill talking it to lawmakers.

"By the time I was 27, I had more experience [in Washington] than [President Barack] Obama had when he took office," Bender said.

When asked by Don Ewing of Meredith how he would get things done when he was no longer the CEO, Bender said dictating was never his style as a businessman, and he was a minority share holder in the companies he ran.

"I work collaboratively with my employees," Bender said.

Bender spoke at length about the debasing of the U.S. currency, saying that with half of the debt being held by others, sooner than later the U.S. will lose its position of power.

"How can you force cooperation when others have control of your oxygen supply?" he said.

He said he would support drilling for oil in both Alaska and in the northern Rocky Mountains. He said he would support more nuclear power, noting that the country has powered the Navy that way for years and would advocate for plants being built on military bases.

When asked what his world view was, Bender at first didn't understand the question that has become code among some for determining faith. When the question was explained, Bender said he was a Christian.

"I am also a constitutionalist," he said, noting that the U.S. Constitution has 15 pages of language saying what the government "shall not" do.

"This is a free country," he said in responding to the same questioner who also wanted his views on school choice.

When asked if he was pro-life or pro-choice, Bender said he personally is against abortion but doesn't believe the government has any role in those types of personal matters.

Describing the war as "enormously liberating" for the Iraqi people, he said he would support an "Iraq Corp" that would include every citizen in that country.

He said the nation can and should be in Iraq for many years and that the United States should begin reaping the profits from its lost people and treasure. He said the U.S. should get a 50-year guarantee of oil at $20 a barrel and after that debt is paid, should equally distribute the profits to the Iraqi citizenry.

The Belknap County Republicans meet once monthly at the Shang Hai Restaurant. The December speaker is scheduled to be Sean Mahoney.