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PA-12: McClelland, Rothfus Debate the Issues

Rothfus McClelland DebateThe Democratic challenger Erin McClelland squared off Friday evening against PA’s 12th Congressional incumbent Keith Rothfus in the second of three planned debates.

The event was hosted by the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, moderated by editor Chip Minemyer and held on campus at the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown.

Serving as an informative referenda on the candidates, the issues discussed gave the crowd clear benchmarks with less than three weeks till election day.

Economic Policy

Kicking off the debate on the issue of prospective economic policy, the difference in the candidate’s ideologies were clear.

The Republican Rothfus discussed the self-evident notion that every job equals another taxpayer to “help us pay for the critical programs we need in our country.” The incumbent blamed federal policies that have made Washington D.C. the country’s richest city, at the expense of the rest of the country, including Western PA.

McClelland in turn debased the notions of austerity and trickle down economics, remarking that they’ve been “put in place for a significant amount of time, and it has been unsuccessful in mobilizing the purchasing power of the American Middle Class.”

Further referencing Western Pennsylvania’s Middle Class, the Democrat continued “we need to make sure that we stop outsourcing and second-sourcing defense contracts and bring some of those jobs back.”

Referencing Rothfus in what would be one of the evening’s few attacks, McClelland declared  “You cannot take revenue off the table..We are with a Congressman who has taken revenue off the table and that is not acceptable.”

The Congressman responded by attacking President Obama’s economic policies that “have focused not on building wealth and creating wealth but on redistributing wealth,” adding only that “you get revenue’s by booming this economy.”

Fostering Higher Education Opportunities

The debate then turned to the question of whether the federal government is doing enough to provide opportunities to young people.

McClelland addressed the student loan crisis, stating, “There is a bill in the Senate to make sure that these young people can refinance this loan, but the other party is not allowing that…they [students] are paying interests rates in a time where interest rates are practically zero.”

She continued with a discussion of the state cuts to education. “Funding cuts across the board to our state institutions are causing tuition to rise through the roof. That is the root cause of student loans being as bad as they are.”

Rothfus defended measures taken up by the House to combat the student loan issue saying “we acted on a bipartisan measure this year to stop the doubling of student loan interest rates from 3.4% to 6.8% and tied it to the 10 year treasury bill.”

The Republican also touted the importance of trade schools as another option for today’s youth.

Ebola

The debate transitioned to the topic of Ebola and a responsible response to the perceived crisis.

Rothfus backed the idea of cancelling all visas to individuals coming from West African countries.

McClelland advocated that we trust the medical professionals, specifically those in the CDC who have already issued travel bans.

She also cited her seventeen years as a healthcare professional to frame the virus as a healthcare issue.

“We lose 70,000 people a year to bugs similar to Ebola, but nobody has talked about it until Ebola. We need to talk about how we move health care forward in a way that stops 70,000 deaths — and not just three.”

The Regions Drug Addiction Problem

Minemyer then questioned McClelland on how to combat the area’s struggle with drug addiction.

“It is a $1 trillion problem. We have the worst drug control policy in the free world,” McClelland said, going on to discuss the importance of having a leader to coordinate the efforts of stakeholder groups while simultaneously addressing the issue at all levels of government.

McClelland cited the policy work she completed as a member of the National Drug Control Policy’s 25 Cities initiative. “I’m going to take that to Washington and start to reform the drug control policy.” She added that her experience on the forefront of the issue will help bring results that will “save lives, restore families, empower our schools and save a lot of money.”

The Congressman too discussed his experience hashing out the issue with local government including the successful COPS grant application which allowed Johnstown to hire additional policemen.

He pledged finding data based models of treatment and ensuring they receive adequate funding, but did not provide specific details.

Veterans Affairs

In a region densely populated by veterans of the armed forces, the candidates were asked what their priorities were and what should be improved in the area of veterans care.

The Democrat was the first to respond and discussed improving access to VA care, citing prospective mobile VA services. The lack of services for women was also mentioned as part of the need for additional veterans services.

“The VA has next to no services specialized for women combat veterans. We have to start doing more for sexual assaults in the military and the PTSD issues that women experience later on,” she said.

Rothfus started by thanking Veterans and bashing the VA for disregarding accountability and transparency and cited the passage of the VA reform bill this summer as a positive step forward.

Foreign Affairs

The next topic asked how best to deal with emerging international problems including ISIS and Russia.

Rothfus echoed the standard Republican criticism of Obama’s foreign policy tenure, that he is “leading from behind” and employing an “Ad-hoc foreign policy.”

He advocated for a proactive and ambitious foreign policy that would allow the U.S. to lead from the front with a coalition of supporting countries. Regarding Russia, Rothfus said “you must be tough, you must be serious.”

McClelland was critical as well, and cited ISIS as a result of not having a “a clear-cut coalition, an overarching goal, and an exit strategy.”

She continued saying, “I would like to see one universal goal as it relates to our Middle Eastern foreign policy.”

Environment

An important question posed by a member of the audience asked what was the best way to keep the environment safe without risking important PA jobs.

Rothfus made it clear he supports the employment aspect of the trade off and advocated for a “cost-benefit analysis to make sure the regulations make sense and will not harm jobs and wages.”

He further cited analysis by the Small Business Administration that concluded the cost of compliance to environmental regulations totalled $1.8 trillion for American businesses.

McClelland followed by declaring that legislation has been ineffective in combating this important issue. The Democrat instead said the key to fighting climate change is encouraging corporate responsibility, citing the Boilermakers endorsement of her candidacy. She too stressed a plan that is “economically responsible and doesn’t lose jobs.”

Minimum Wage

The debate ended on the topic of raising the minimum wage.

McClelland made a definitive case for raising it, stating “You will see one million people have their income raised. You will expand our tax base without raising a single tax. What you will see is the increased demand on goods and services will create higher-paying jobs.”

Acknowledging that it would immediately raise the unemployment rate by .3%, she followed by remarking, “It is an absolutely essential thing we need to do. I really find it inarguable.”

Rothfus mentioned he would be up for the discussion, but that the immediate .3% is roughly equal to 500,000 people. His worry would be that it would take jobs away from younger generations, specifically teenagers.

Closing

In her closing statement, McClelland described her version of leadership and accountability, “I’m not saying that I can measure up. But what I am saying is that for the next two years, I’m not going to blame anybody.”

She continued with a proclamation to the audience, “I’ll tell you what: you put me in charge for two years and if you don’t like it, you can have Congressman Rothfus back. But if you’re with me on November 4th, I will be with you every minute thereafter.”

Rothfus touted the region’s unique expertise in various industries as a sign that it can lead the nation’s next economic boom.

He again stated that D.C. was taking money away from the region through regulation, while restating the harmful effects of President Obama’s policies in healthcare, the economy and national defense.

Impressions

Speaking definitively, McClelland was able to articulate her admittedly progressive policy proposals while responding well to the congressman’s criticisms. Her control of the room seemed to grow as the audience looked refreshed by clear ideas of a lively candidate.

Rothfus was able to stick to his base as a staunch advocate for Veterans, and was quick to place the blame for various issues on President Obama. The President’s unpopularity in this R+9 district made this a smart maneuver. Being the favorite, the Congressman tried simply not to lose the debate rather than risk error in trying to win it.

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