Senate canidates exchange barbs at debate

Sen. Jon Tester, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg and Libertarian candidate Dan Cox sparred Sunday night during a debate at Flathead Valley Community College.

Democrat Tester is running to retain his seat in the U.S. Senate while being challenged by Republican Rehberg and Cox. The trio debated in front of a crowd of about 300 at the event hosted by the Daily Inter Lake.

Rehberg spent much of the evening attempting to align Tester to the “failed policies” of President Barack Obama, saying the Senator has supported the President 95 percent of the time.

“Your 95 percent figure is crazy,” Tester responded. “It’s inaccurate and misleading ... It’s amazing to me that they define me as something I’m not.”

Tester added that he doesn’t even agree with his wife 95 percent of the time.

Cox took jabs at both candidates throughout the debate often drawing laughs from the audience.

“I don’t consent to what the government is doing — that’s why I’m here,” Cox said. “Don’t let either of these gentlemen back into office.”

Rehberg attacked Tester for supporting the $830 billion federal stimulus bill, saying it failed.

“You don’t buy your way into prosperity,” he said. “I don’t think the government should be picking winners and losers.”

Tester defended the bill by pointing to local projects it paid for, such as work on Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road and constructing the Kalispell U.S. 93 bypass.

“We were hemorrhaging jobs,” he said of passing the bill. “We had to do something. It put people to work to build infrastructure and you call it failed.”

Cox entered the fray saying Rehberg voted to raise the federal debt ceiling by allowing stimulus spending to proceed. “One guy is voting for it,” he said. “The other guy is voting to allow it.”

Rehberg was asked about his support of cuts for the Public Broadcasting Service, Americorps and health clinics. He said the country has a debt problem and he was forced to look at the priorities that would impact people the most. He said he protected Headstart and special education programs.

“We have to get serious,” he said. “We have to learn to live within our means.”

Tester said Rehberg was handed a surplus that he “frittered away” on two wars, prescription drug coverage and tax cuts.

Cox jumped on the topic saying the country is likely facing $1.7 trillion in additional deficit spending next year.

“They’re only talking about nibbling at the edges of some of the proposed increases in federal spending,” he said. “We’re talking about cutting PBS. Let’s get real.”

Several times during the debate, Rehberg took Tester to task for supporting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that he claims caused the closure of the coal-fired power plant near Billings.

“Our Senator sided with unelected bureaucrats of the EPA and he was warned and unfortunately the plant in Billings is going to shut down,” he said. “It’s going to cost 35 jobs in Billings, but it’s going to cost $10 million statewide annually in lost revenue.”

Tester responded by saying the EPA regulation have been in place for 20 years.

“PPL Montana was more interested in outsourcing jobs,” he said. “The EPA makes its rules and some of them are bad and some aren’t so bad. I did listen to the executives at PPL and they said they could work with the regulations. Then a few weeks ago they decided to announce a proposed plant closure.”

Rehberg also attacked Tester’s support of the Affordable Care Act saying the money needs to be returned to Medicare.

“There are ideas and ways to address the uninsured and the high-risk,” he said. “We had the very same thing and the President’s health care destroyed that and started all over.”

Tester countered saying that without the Act, people with pre-existing medical conditions would be left without health care.

“To listen to the Congressman you would think the old system was grand. The old system wasn’t grand,” Tester said. “The bottom line is there are steps in the health care act that are going to help small businesses and families.”

Cox said repealing the health care act will result in “Republicancare.”

Tester and Rehberg again squared off when it came to managing federal land. Each were critical of the others’ bill concerning wilderness and forest management.

Rehberg said his bill, the National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, would protect hunting and fishing, while Tester’s plan would only create more acres of wilderness.

“It has no guarantee of jobs,” he said. “There is the guarantee of 600,000 more acres of wilderness. I don’t believe the people of Montana want to lock up more property before we address the management of our forests.”

Tester countered saying his own Forest Jobs and Recreation Act allows the U.S. Forest Service to do its job.

“It mandates to put loggers to work and truckers to work hauling those logs,” he said. “We haven’t managed the forests right for 30 years and that’s the reason folks got together and worked their differences out (to create the bill).”

Cox simply said that the federal government should not be managing the land.

“The Constitution doesn’t talk about the federal government getting to manage huge tracks of land,” he said. “You people are the ones that know best what we should be doing with the land.”

The candidates were asked about the Bush tax cuts set to expire on Jan. 1.

Rehberg said his first act if elected would be to repeal the Affordable Care Act and make the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent. He noted he would eliminate the inheritance tax, in part to make the tax regulations have more certainty.

Tester repeated a theme he held throughout the debate of folks coming together.

“We all need to work together to reduce the deficit in a big way,” he said.

He proposed a plan that would set an exemption for the first $5 millon in inheritance.

Cox led the closing remarks saying that the government has been run by both Republicans and Democrats.

“All it’s gotten us so far is debt, inflation and war,” he said. “I totally disagree that these gentleman have upheld their oath of office. Supporting me is supporting liberty.”

Tester asked folks to compare his voting record to that of the Congressman’s. He said Rehberg has served in a government that put two wars and a prescription drug plan on “the credit card” and created a tax policy that “inflated debt.”

“There is a clear difference between the Congressman and myself and Dan Cox,” Tester said. “The fact is if you take a look at the record of accomplishment I’ve done over the last six years and the Congressman over his 12 years and talk about fiscal responsibility. You can take a look at who has your priorities in mind versus his own priorities in mind.”

Rehberg said Tester has been very effective at supporting Obama and failed stimulus.

“As the government grows bigger we lose our freedoms and our opportunities,” he said. “I’m asking you don’t go down the old path. If the path we’ve been on for the last six years of growing government is for you then Jon Tester is your guy. If you believe in freedom and prosperity I’m asking for your voted for the United States Senate.”

Tester and Rehberg are set to meet again for a fourth and final debate Saturday in Bozeman.