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First Congressional Candidates, incumbent Tim Bishop (Democrat, Working Families) and challenger Randy Altshuler (Republican, Conservative, Independence) participated in a candidate’s forum at Fairfield in St. James on Monday. The forum was moderated by Joyce Rosenthal of the League of Women Voters of Smithtown. The format was question and answer with time allotted for closing statements. Candidates were asked to give detailed answers to questions in support of their positions. Although the forum started off with some confusion Rosenthal kept the candidates on topic.
There wasn’t much disagreement between candidates. Asked to identify three priorities both agreed on “jobs, Social Security and Medicare.” Both candidates agreed that there are real problems with Congress and that blame for its dysfunction can be assigned to both parties. Bishop placed blame on recently elected “Tea Party” members who he said were unwilling to compromise for bipartisan solutions.
Both candidates hold the position that the federal debt needs to be addressed through bipartisan action and “everything needs to be put on the table”. Everything includes loopholes but neither candidate offered specifics. Bishop, voted for sequestration (automatic spending cuts), he explained that at the time of the vote there was no other option. His choice at the time was, vote yes on a package that included sequestration or allow the United States to default on its financial commitments. Altschuler expressed concern for a $16 trillion debt and the impact it has on the children and grandchildren of the people in the room.
Both candidates stated a willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion and to cross party lines. Altschuler pointed to Bishop’s record of voting along party lines in almost 95 percent of his votes. Bishop countered that he votes with one mindset; how his vote will impact on the middle class family like the one he grew up in.
On the topic of veterans both candidates expressed their profound respect for those who serve in the armed forces and committed themselves to doing everything possible to provide needed programs for veterans. Altschuler acknowledged the work Bishop has done and added a commitment to do more to educate veterans about the services that are available to them.
On the issue of taxes Altschuler said, “Taxes are bad” and talked about the negative impact taxes have on job creation and how taxes are forcing young people to flee Long Island. Bishop talked about the top twenty employers in Suffolk County being very reliant on tax dollars and that there has to be some thought as to how to cut taxes without having a negative impact on jobs. Bishop stated that when it comes to Romney’s plan for the economy the numbers just don’t add up, ” you can not increase funding for defense, shore up Social Security and Medicare and reduce taxes at the same time.” Bishop mentioned that the Grover Norquist “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” which Bishop stated Altschuler signed (requires signers to oppose all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and to oppose reductions of deductions and credits, unless matched by dollar for dollar by reducing tax rates) prevents the closure of loopholes considered a tax increase as being an obstacle to finding real solutions. Altshuler addressed the defense budget committing to a strong national defense but emphasizing the need to spend money wisely by reducing waste and redundancies in the defense budget.
How did the audience respond to the debate? After the debate there were still some people unsure of who they were going to vote for. The primary issue for most everyone was “JOBS”. One woman who preferred not to give her name said “we all know people who have lost their job and can’t find another job. Both candidates talked about the importance of jobs but neither offered specifics. We pretty much got what we expected from the candidates no specifics about how they were going to get people back to work.”
There were people who knew coming in to the forum who they were going to support. One retiree, a marine veteran of the Korean War, praised Tim Bishop for the work he has done for all veterans. One woman said that even though Bishop has been in office for ten years and has experience it might be time to elect someone else. There were people who expressed concern over Altschuler’s history of outsourcing jobs and some who expressed concern over Bishop’s history of voting with Congresswoman Pelosi.
One thing is certain, the people in the audience were listening and they will be voting!