The LuLac Edition #622, Oct. 30th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: CONGRESSMAN CARNEY AND CHRIS HACKETT.

Going to the candidate's debate.

Laugh about it, shout about it

When you've got to choose

Every way you look at this you lose.

10TH DISTRICT DEBATE

OPENING STATEMENTS

CARNEY

Talked about his family, career in the military, how he got to Congress and why he wants to stay.

HACKETT

Told the audience about his family, the number of jobs he held on the way to building his business and why he should replace Carney.

DEBATES

HACKETT

Criticized Carney for not having more debates saying the he as a challenger asked for at least 8 of them. Implied that Carney was not confident in defending his record.

CARNEY

Said that he meets constituents around the district in a town meeting setting. Mentioned that in 2006 he only had one debate with Don Sherwood and said that was sufficient enough.

THE BAILOUT

CARNEY

Said he voted against it because it was wrapped in a package of 150 billion additional monies. Talked to local bankers who told him that more controls needed to be put on Wall Street, just as they are on local banks.

HACKETT

Said the bailout was symptomatic of what is wrong with Washington. Mentioned that any time you had government bail out private business, that set a dangerous precendent. Said he would have voted it against it.

EARMARKS

CARNEY

The Congressman embraced them saying that he was proud of the money he brought to the district. Carney said the extra money created jobs and helped boost the local economy. Saying that earmarks make up only 1% of the federal budget, he felt it was money well spent. The Congressman said he’d rather see it go to this district than somewhere else. Said earmarks were not just walking around money, but dollars that had to be earned by a Congressman.

HACKETT

Felt earmarks were part of the problem in Washington. Said that he would never say 1% in unnecessary spending was not insignificant. Charged that Carney took campaign money from the same industries that he gave earmarks to.

CAMPAIGN COSTS

CARNEY

Said his campaign was going to cost about 2.3 million dollars. Carney said that he was proud of the contributors because they were putting their trust in him. He said that some of the contributions were as low as $2.00. On term limits, Carney said term limiting was in place through the electoral process.

HACKETT

Told the audience that serious campaign reform was needed. Felt McCain-Feingold did not work and had to be revamped. His campaign was said to cost 1.2 million dollars. Added that term limits should be instituted and that a 10 year limit would be a good idea.

TRUTH STRETCHING

HACKETT

Took issue with Carney’s attacks on how and why his businesses did not pay taxes. Said that his name was being smeared with Carney’s big campaign money. He cited two tax bills he labeled as disputes and they were indeed small bills.

CARNEY

Mentioned that it was an issue of character and that he always paid his taxes. Said the fact was Hackett paid the tax bills after the primary and shortly before the general election.

IMMIGRATION

CARNEY

Fine employers who give work to illegals and protect the border. Urged electronic monitoring or science to track people who has a visa expiring. Wanted to expand the visa program, said it bothered him that there were 13 to 15 million people in the country unaccounted for. Voted and will again vote against amnesty.

HACKETT

Saying that the mantra should be “high fences-wide gates”, Hackett said he would be for securing the borders, fine businesses and start a “check out” program for immigrants whose visa is set to expire.

THE MILITARY

CARNEY

Work on withdrawing from Iraq and regaining a lost foothold in Afghanistan. Said that terrorists have reconstituted themselves there while we were in Iraq. Said he was more worried about Pakistan than Iran.

HACKETT

Lauded Carney for his service in the military. But the surge worked and to put a timeline for withdrawing from Iraq might not be a good thing. Said that Carney voted 90% of the time with Nancy Pelosi and said that we need to keep the military strong.

DEFENSE CUTS

HACKETT

Criticized Barney Frank for saying he’d cut the military defense budget by 25%. Said that conservatives would never stand for that but if there was an increase in the Democratic majority via an Obama win, defense cuts would be dangerous.

CARNEY

Said he would never cut defense spending by 25%. Suggested that when the war on terror ends, the military could use its resources to create civilian like jobs in the private sector so that defense workers in the district would not be left flat.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

HACKETT

Get rid of the death tax, keep the current tax cuts, fix the tax codes that keep business from growing local jobs in America. Said wealth distribution is a dangerous thing in a free economy and again cautioned that a stronger Democratic majority would raise taxes but not help the economy.

CARNEY

Said that the middle class needed tax relief. Mentioned that people were paying more and getting less. Carney said that the middle class is the driving force in the economy and is being beat down by the Republican administration policies.

FASHION REPORT

CARNEY

White shirt, red tie, navy suit.

HACKETT

Blue button down shirt, red tie with gray and blue stripes, navy blue suit.

CLOSING STATEMENTS

HACKETT

Hackett said that there are stark differences in the campaign. He felt the end had to come to pork barrel spending. Criticized Hackett for bailing out the sugar and auto industries and said that Washington needed to be changed. Cautioned about the Obama effect on Congress if elected and said he’d be an independent voice for the district and his country.

CARNEY

Said that he was ranked in the middle (# 217) by Washington insiders. Mentioned that he worked on both sides of the aisle in a bi partisan fashion. Carney said that’s why as a freshman he brought home so much money for the district. In a funny but fitting conclusion, he said he was raised in a broken home, having one parent a Democrat and the other a Republican. That led him to see the best of both sides of each party. He said he intended to continue to be a bipartisan advocate for the district.

CONCLUSIONS

Both did well. Carney was articulate in defending his record and Hackett as the challenger was more than adequate in stating his case. The district would be served well by either man. A draw.

THE HANDSHAKE

Both candidates bounded out of their spots on the podium for a hearty handshake.