Government students at Trinity Classical Academy had the chance on Thursday to ask Santa Clarita Valley elected officials and other local politicians about some of the key issues the country is facing.  The six-member panel included: Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita; Santa Clarita City Councilman Jason Gibbs, a member of the Republican Central Committee of the 40th Assembly District; Andrew Taban, founder and former chair of the Santa Clarita Democrats; John Due, chair of the Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County; Alexander Avalos, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America party; and Pastor David Hegg of Grace Baptist Church.  The leaders explained the platforms that their parties go by and also spent time in individual groups for more questions. The panel also debated a few questions as a group.  Hegg’s role was to offer the biblical response to issues.  Liz Caddow, head and founder of Trinity Classical Academy, listens in on a discussion that her students are having with Alexander Avalos, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, on Thursday morning. The class aims to expose students to different political opinions. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. According to Liz Caddow, head of school and the government teacher, the debate format is meant to allow for civil discourse and for the students to better understand what the different political parties in the U.S. stand for.  Some of the topics included abortion, immigration, gun control, inflation and foreign affairs.  As a Republican, Garcia said he is in favor of smaller government and lower taxes, and also that people should be enabled to succeed and not punished for their success.  “I actually think something you guys can take away from these types of activities is that regardless of parties, whether Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, socialists, we’re all Americans first,” Garcia said. “So, the ability to have this simple discourse, the ability to talk about the differences between our platforms, is important.”  (L to R) Councilmember Jason Gibbs and Founder and Chair of the Santa Clarita Democrats Andrew Taban participate in a debate at Trinity Classical Academy on Thursday morning, where students had the opportunity to listen to different political opinions. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Taban said the Democrat party is meant to be “the party for the people.” In reference to a question on America being involved in foreign wars, he said the U.S. has a responsibility as a global superpower to be part of peace conversations.  “We have to kind of partake in that system,” Taban said. “We’ve tried isolationism. It doesn’t work. So I think we have to partake in that. The question is, how much of a taxpayer’s dollar can be spent on that? And we can do it, but we also have to ensure our citizens are still taken care of.”  Avalos said he hoped to show students in attendance that a better world is possible so long as citizens are given the services they need. In reference to a question on crime, he said more opportunities are needed to disincentivize people from committing crimes.  “The way we treat crime is fundamentally broken in the United States,” Avalos said. “We think if we just throw enough people in jail, crime will go down. Guess what? That’s failed. We still have an above-average crime rate, but when you look at countries that actually focus on their social programs, and they actually take care of their citizens, places like Norway, Sweden and Denmark, they have the lowest crime rate in the world.”  Members of different political parties participate in a debate at Trinity Classical Academy on Thursday morning, organized by Liz Caddow, who is the founder and head of the school. The discussion aimed to expose students to a variety of political opinions. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Due said Libertarians believe in the Constitution “wholeheartedly,” and everything starts with personal sovereignty.   In reference to a question on the idea of freedom, he said that idea comes simply from being born and that there are certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by any power, whether it be a person or the government.  When asked about foreign involvement in wars, Gibbs said a strong military will limit global conflict, an idea that started, he said, with former President Ronald Reagan.  “We do have role to play, and we are playing,” Gibbs said. “The question we always have to ask ourselves though as a country, is if we’re capable of sending billions and billions of dollars to a country that most of us will never see, conflict that we won’t understand, why do we struggle so much with the idea of helping people dealing with a Category 4 hurricane that is putting our own cities underwater.”  David Hegg, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, speaks to students at Trinity Classical Academy during a debate organized by Liz Caddow, head and founder of the school, on Thursday morning. The class aims to expose students to different political opinions. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Hegg addressed each of the issues after the politicians, providing a viewpoint that is, in theory, independent from any political leaning.  “It’s a stewardship issue,” Hegg said in reference to foreign involvement. “You look at it through the biblical material, we’re here to be good stewards of anything God gives us … So the question is, are we being good stewards of our resources, where we’re providing for people and protecting our people, and at some point that may mean being involved overseas.”  Hegg added that he is concerned that the amount of money being given to other countries is being used to prop up the capitalistic profit of industry leaders.  A student discusses topics with John Due, chair of the Libertarian party of Los Angeles County, during a debate on Thursday morning at Trinity Classical Academy. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. 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