Candidates speaking at the Carlisle Fire & Rescue Services building Thursday evening agreed on one thing: the United States' government is broken. Each offered their ideas about how to begin fixing it. Immigration, gay marriage, taxes and education dominated the discussion at the candidates' forum sponsored by Cumberland County 9-12 Project and Action of Pa. ahead of the Nov. 4 election. Cumberland County 9-12 Project is the local chapter of a national organization that aims to inspire individuals and groups to connect with their communities through education, service and dedication to its nine principles and 12 values, according to its website. Action of Pa. is a Christian-based organization that promotes the election of candidates who will support the Judeo/Christian principles on which the nation was founded, according to its website. Attending Thursday's forum were candidates for both state and congressional representatives. Rep. Lou Barletta and challenger Andrew Ostrowski for the 11th District; Rep. Scott Perry and former Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson for the 4th District; Rep. Glen Grell for the 30th District; Rep. Sheryl Delozier for the 88th District, Rep. Will Tallman and challenger Paul Bart for the 193rd District; and Rep. Stephen Bloom. Gov. Tom Corbett and Sen. John Eichelberger were represented by surrogates.Moderator Ken Matthews, host of the afternoon show on WHP580 News Radio, tried to keep the event light by joking about leaving room for wrestling on the stage, singling out Thompson and Perry. He told the rest of the candidates to keep the fight clean. Corbett's surrogate, Pastor Jeff Griffith, spoke first, talking on behalf of the governor. Griffith said if Corbett is not re-elected, the state will not continue to thrive. Candidate Tom Wolf was not in attendance. Barletta and Ostrowski spoke next, tackling immigration and education early on. Barletta re-affirmed his belief that immigration reform is needed and that those in the country illegally should be deported. He also said he is working to save taxpayers money. "I realized that Washington is broken in so many ways that they don't realize what it's like on our streets," he said. "My short time in Washington I've been very frustrated by a lot of things going on, but I've stood up for everything that I believe in." Ostrowski, who is challenging Barletta for his seat, said he has been going about this election the old-fashioned way -- door-to-door -- to introduce himself to his possible constituents. "I don't have Washington insider incumbent money, I'm just out hustling, walking the streets," Ostrowski said. "I don't need to convince you that one of the biggest problems in this country is that our system is broken, our government is broken. ... It's really what has motivated me to run for this office. I never have run for any office before." When the two candidates were asked about common core and whether the government should have a hand in how schools teach their students, both candidates wanted to keep Washington out of the debate. Ostrowski said he knows a handful of teachers and he knows how hard the job has been, especially since common core has been put into effect. "We're going to make sure that these education issues remain local issues, these are not issues that should be on the national agenda," he said. "And we're also going to support teachers in this system. ... We need to keep a finger firmly on the pulses of teachers in the system and let them dictate what the needs of their students are." "Having Washington trying to use a one-size-fit-all (approach) when it comes to education is failing," Barletta responded. "It's not our students and our children that are failing, it's our education system and Washington that's failing our children. ... I worked for two years on some reforms that would take the power out of Washington and bring it back to the teachers, to the local educators, to the parents and get our education back at home where we can really determine what progress is and not have Washington try to educate some child in California the same way we're going to educate a child in Pennsylvania." Perry and Thompson stepped up next to the stage and discussed their working-class backgrounds and how they finished school and became the people they are now because they finished and valued their education's first. Both said they aim to make America a better place, Perry saying that the American dream is slipping away, and he wants to change that. The two candidates were asked about the United States government printing green cards for more than 30 million people who could eventually use those cards to stay in the country. Perry said he is concerned about the 9 million cards that were used within the first year of those cards being printed. "Why did we print 34 million if we have 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country?" Perry asked. "I say as a member of Congress how frustrated I am ... we're going to continue to do everything we can. ... We need an up-swelling of rage about the dissolution of our country by one guy, the president, by doing this." Thompson said she isn't up on this issue and will be educating herself on the green cards to make sure that she knows the numbers are correct, but that she does believe that the country should give people a chance to become legal citizens. "I will make my position very clear as I have been consistent as far as the need to reform our immigration laws," Thompson said. "We come from a lineage of immigration, so I support giving people the opportunity to become legal citizens in America. I look at these individuals as mothers, children and fathers and I'm proud that they would want to come to America. Yes, they cheat to get in, but that says a lot about America and the richness of America." Things heated up when Tallman and Bart took the stage, each candidate going back and forth about property tax and emergency services funding, saying the other was wrong about a conversation they did or did not have. They were the only pair of candidates to both need rebuttal periods, which stemmed just from their opening dialogues. "My opponent accused me of not going to any township meetings, but I don't have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I've been to the Reading council meetings," Tallman said. "(Bart) should know this, but he doesn't, I guess. I have House Bill 1924, which I introduced in December of this past year as a direct result of conversations with my opponent and other members of the Adams County council of governance. What that does is it allows those municipalities to levy an additional local services tax." "Actually what Will just said is not true," Bart rebutted. "The local services tax is intended to provide emergency services revenue, if you have businesses in the township. ... I would challenge him to come up with some details of what we talked about, if we did talk about this." The two candidates were also asked about job creation, and went on at length about their histories and capabilities surrounding creating jobs.