Disagreement in the 1st District

By Mark Fischenich
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO October 14, 2008 01:18 am

— Democratic Congressman Tim Walz of Mankato and Republican challenger Brian Davis of Rochester disagreed repeatedly on issues ranging from federal regulation of the marketplace to drilling for oil in the Alaskan wilderness during a 90-minute debate in Mankato Monday.
Walz, a former school teacher running for a second term in the U.S. House, and Davis, a Mayo Clinic doctor making his first attempt at public office, disagreed — almost always politely. But the audience of about 400 at Minnesota State University saw clear differences on a multitude of issues between the two major candidates in southern Minnesota’s 1st District.
Davis was unabashedly conservative, making repeated references to his Republican Party endorsement and calling for everything from a return to God and religion in schools to a partial privatization of Social Security.
“The 1st District tends to be more conservative than most places,” said Davis, who suggested that Walz is too liberal for the district. “It tends to want lower taxes, smaller government, more conservative values. It tends to look skeptically toward a government that wants to spend $700 billion in tax dollars to bail out bad policy. These are the values I respect.”
Walz struck themes similar to those that helped him topple 12-year-incumbent Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht in 2006, becoming just the second Democrat in a century to represent the 1st District.
“What I told you I would do is I would go to Congress and I would support — and would make sure I was representing — every person in this district,” said Walz, who promised to follow the example of leaders in American history who also faced serious economic challenges. “.. Every time we’ve had those challenges, something amazing has happened in this country. We’ve been able to transcend politics, rise above it and find solutions.”
But before the candidates made their final pitch to voters in the hall (and to those listening to the rebroadcast on Minnesota Public Radio today), they tackled a long list of questions from the debate moderators and audience members.
The economy>
The nation’s financial crisis dominated early questions from moderators Joe Spear, the editor of The Free Press, and Jim Ragsdale, a long-time political reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Spear ran off a long list of troubling economic indicators including rising inflation, increasing unemployment, falling home values and massive federal deficits, asking the candidates what Congress could do.
Both candidates mentioned the pain southern Minnesotans are feeling. Davis focused on the impact of the energy crisis and the need to promote a healthy business climate through low taxes and minimal government regulation. He also pointed to the federal government’s failure to recognize the threat facing an inflated housing market.
Walz mentioned energy costs, stagnant wages, unaffordable health care costs and increasingly expensive college tuition. He cited a teacher in the Alden-Conger School District with three small children, a salary of just under $30,000 a year, $17,000 in student debt and a $12,000 medical insurance bill each year.
“That’s not the middle-class American Dream all of us ascribe to,” Walz said, before pointing to trade deals and energy policy under the Bush administration that undermined the economic prosperity of average Americans.
The rescue plan>
As the subject turned to the Wall Street bailout, which both candidates opposed, Walz said government in recent decades abdicated its role of being the referee in the marketplace — one who makes sure players follow the rules. He also noted the growing disparity between corporate CEO earnings and those of average workers — saying that the chairman of (recently bailed-out insurer) AIG made more in 15 minutes than an average electrician makes in a year.
Without provisions in the bailout bill to address those issues, Walz said he couldn’t support it.
Davis agreed that corporate wage disparity is a problem, but he said Democrats in Congress continue to deflect responsibility for allowing the subprime mortgage problem to escalate into a financial crisis. Irresponsible lending, where people who clearly couldn’t afford a mortgage were offered one anyway, started with the government-backed lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he said.
“We have to fix that first before we plow ahead with adding $700 billion to the national debt,” Davis said of the bailout.
Health care>
Davis said it’s a laudable goal to want health care coverage for all, but he believes statistics about the number of uninsured Americans exaggerate the problem by including illegal immigrants and young people who don’t want to buy insurance because they feel indestructible.
A believer in competition and consumer choice, Davis is skeptical of government’s ability to mandate coverage for all. A cancer specialist, Davis also said Congress needs more members with expertise in health care and spoke of the people who come into his office.
“They don’t come through the door as a Republican or Democrat,” Davis said. “They come through the door as someone who needs help.”
Walz countered: “If they don’t have health insurance, they don’t come through your door.”
Walz said health care coverage should be seen as a right, not a privilege. And he said that universal coverage makes sense economically because it promotes preventative care that would lower the overall cost of medical care in America.
Energy policy>
The candidates also differed dramatically on energy with Davis opposing government-mandated efficiency standards for cars and favoring oil drilling virtually everywhere, including without limit on the nation’s coastlines and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While he said he supports renewable energy, he was skeptical that the nation can make dramatic strides in converting to new fuels in the next five to 10 years.
Walz said he supports offshore drilling with limits and with royalties paid by oil companies dedicated to conservation and development of renewable fuels. He supported higher fuel-efficiency standards. And he noted that the bipartisan energy plan he helped develop was widely supported by Republicans, who offered it as an alternative to an off-shore drilling proposal put forth by Democrats.

The debate, sponsored by the nonpartisan group Debate Minnesota, was taped for broadcast at noon today on MPR (91.5 FM.).