Sinking economy dominant at Giffords-Bee debate
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SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. - The faltering economy took center stage Tuesday as U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Timothy Bee, her 8th Congressional District challenger, faced off in their second of three debates.
Giffords, a Democrat seeking a second term, said she didn't like the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package that Congress passed on Friday "any better than the rest of you" though she voted for the measure.
"I have no interest in bailing out the greedy Wall Street fat cats," the freshman congresswoman said.
She said she voted for the measure after helping the House reject the first proposal on Sept. 29 because "it's irresponsible to stand by and do nothing" with the country's credit in turmoil and Americans' 401(k)s, pension plans, small businesses, banks and credit unions jeopardized.
Bee, a Republican and the state Senate president, said the bailout bill, which contained pork barrel spending, "is a perfect example of what's wrong with Washington.
"They (Giffords and other members of Congress) had many opportunities to see this coming and they didn't take advantage of trying to solve the problem until it reached a crisis point," he said.
"I believe something had to be done to help solve this problem, but the way this was handled was it was handled very poorly,"
Bee said provisions of the bill, including adjusting the alternative minimum tax, could and should have been addressed in earlier bills to provide taxpayers protection.
Concerning regulation of the financial markets, Bee said previous administrations through deregulation had enabled people who perhaps were not qualified to buy homes to do so. Now, he said, "I believe it's very critical that we move forward with oversight. This is what happens when you have organizations that privatize profits and socialize the losses, and we need to solve that."
Giffords noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last year "talked about the fact that he thought this problem would be limited to about $25 billion and we would be able to get out of it. And of course you see the international ripple effect of this problem."
Giffords said the United States has become a credit nation. "We have this notion in this country where we can just buy and buy and buy, spend and spend and we don't have to pay for it," from clothes and vacations to homes that people can't afford.
"Our economy is truly in a perilous situation," and there will be many more votes and steps that will be taken to reel in the markets and the financial service sector, she added.
About 350 people attended the wide-ranging debate at Buena High School, touching on topics ranging from energy production and immigration reform to school vouchers and Social Security.
Giffords, 38, and Bee, 39, took stronger verbal shots at each other throughout the 75-minute debate than in their previous head-to-head meeting on Sept. 14. The two have known each other since childhood. They were classmates from kindergarten through junior high in Tucson.
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Bruce W. (muertocabesa)
Oct 8, 2008 @ 4:35pmTim Bee LOVES George Bush! Birds of a feather flock together. Just like sesesh Hockeymoms and false Mavericks. -
mark w. (markie)
Oct 8, 2008 @ 2:02pmOh, and there is a clip to the right that will allow me to 'enlarge' the photo of Giffords.....No thanks. -
mark w. (markie)
Oct 8, 2008 @ 1:09pmI would like to se Giffords in a room full of actual bees. Africanized if possible.
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