Spokane7
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October 14, 2010 in City
Economy the focus of Murray-Rossi debate
The first debate between U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and her Republican opponent Dino Rossi came down to who’s to blame for the sluggish economy.
Murray, a Democrat running for a fourth term, warned that a vote for Rossi would reverse progress.
“He wants to go back to the Bush economic policies that got us into this mess – going into two wars without paying for it, passing tax cuts that are not paid for and leaving us with tough decisions today that hurt all of us.”
Rossi pointed to the health care overhaul and stimulus spending and said leaders are “moving down a path that is very dangerous.
“If we don’t have a course correction in this election, I think we’re going to wake up 24 months from now in a country that we don’t even recognize,” Rossi said.
Murray and Rossi faced off for the first time Thursday in a one-hour debate at KSPS studios in Spokane. It aired live on KSPS and KXLY.
Polls show the contest tight, and the race is attracting national attention as Republicans strive to win a majority in the U.S. Senate.
Murray said Rossi’s support for extending tax cuts for individuals who earn $200,000 a year could destabilize Social Security and halt the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and hurt student loan and construction projects that repair dams and other infrastructure.
“If Mr. Rossi gets his way and we extend the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans … there is no way that we can sustain the programs that are so important in front of us,” she said.
But Rossi said it’s Murray-backed spending and policies like the recent federal health care legislation that endangers Social Security and other programs. He also accused her of “class warfare” for wanting to only to extend the tax cut for those earning less than $200,000.
“The biggest threat is going to be the debt – the debt that Sen. Murray has helped amass for this nation,” Rossi said. “I don’t think her spending is going to help us preserve Social Security for the future.”
Rossi targeted new health care law and said other concepts, like laws to limit lawsuits against doctors and allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines, would have been better approaches.
“You’re losing your freedoms, you’re losing your choices,” Rossi said. “This potentially could bankrupt America and also impact Medicare, as well,”
Murray said the new health law will make a difference by stopping insurance companies from denying coverage for needed care.
“The only group of people that health care in this county was working for was our health insurance companies,” Murray said. “Every family, every business, every community was struggling with double digit increases.”
The debate hit on several topics related to the military.
Rossi said he is waiting for a study that is under way before deciding whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military.
Murray said she believes the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy should be tossed and that sexual orientation should not be used to discharge anyone in the military.
Rossi said setting a deadline for withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan would aid terrorists.
“What they will do is go hide out in their caves and wait until we leave,” Rossi said. “We have to give our military every tool possible so they can achieve their objective and come home as soon as possible.”
But Murray said she supports a timetable for withdrawal.
“We have a number of military families who have sacrificed so much for our nation,” Murray said. “We owe it to them to know where and how long they’re going to be there and how much more sacrifice they have to give.”
Rossi and Murray will face each other one more time: on Sunday in Seattle.
MAC faces angry crowd 
hawken on October 14 at 9:25 p.m.
Is Bush going to be the excuse for all the failures of the Dems for the next generation?
Bush must also be responsible for what looks to be a Republican avalanche in November as well…. even though we haven’t heard a single word from him since he left office some two years ago…. not a single word!
Ron_the_Cop on October 14 at 9:55 p.m.
Murray is very venerable if taken to task for her involvement in the RPS Bond Frauds in Spokane and her submission of Michael Ormsby’s name for US Attorney for the Eastern District of WA.
This was a blatant political appointment by the Obama administration without any vetting. Whether you’re a D or R this guy should have been indicted. Ormsby appointment could be used to take the Obama Administration to task over its very questionable appointments to high office.
Ormsby has since been confirmed interesting without a Senate confirmation hearing which will hurt Spokane citizens in one way or another. So much for Ormsby’s being interviewed under oath and having tough questions being asked re his involvement in the RPS Bond Frauds. His appointment as the chief federal law enforcement officer in this region is akin to leaving the fox to guard the hen house or as Tim Connor of the Center for Justice said it’s like putting Bernie Madoff in as chair of the SEC.
See my post:
The Crime that Leads to the White House (Spokane, WA)
http://tinyurl.com/2g8p2my
And Tim Connor’s recent piece at the Center for Justice:
The Torch Passes to Mike Ormsby
http://cforjustice.org/2010/10/01/the-torch-passes-to-mike-ormsby/
If this were to become well known it could sway voters in the eastern part of the WA and could split off the undecided in the more liberal western part of WA around Seattle. This election will be won/loss by the undecided in the Seattle area. This information may be enough to cause a shift to Rossi. This is a real Achilles Heel for Murray beyond the general issues that Rossi is using in his campaign.
Dazzeetrader11 on October 14 at 10:05 p.m.
Murray’s voted with EVERYTHING Obama has put forth. She didn’t read the healthcare bill…but she wrote it! lol….nice try!ll this alone should get her fired.
She’s a disgusting woman trying to save her job…that’s about it. If you love the Obama socialism and all the mess he’s created, vote for her because she voted for it too…., If not..vote for Dino. Simple huh?
spokanecougar on October 15 at 1:45 a.m.
Wow, its amazing how much better Murray was during that debate that Rossi was. Sorry but no matter what candidate you are for that debate was clearly won by Murray. Rossi is just a scary fascist like most of todays conservatives and tea baggers.
Dazzeetrader11 on October 15 at 2:31 a.m.
Murray will please you coug…she lies better than DINO. But…you’ll be pleased that she’s voted for every possible Obama item since he was elected….doesn’t matter…she’s voted for each one.
Most people, as you’ll see in Novemeber don’t like the liberal spenders like her …who seems to be the “Fountain of Pork” which is just another way of bribing the voters. As you might expect, most liberals ( should read: brain dead big spenders)
just Do stuff thinking the government will always be there to spend more. Gevernment thinks it can steal from who the define as “too wealthy”, create class warfare, general divide the country and cannot control spending. SO they tax…and tax and tax…and never can quite understand why there not enough money for their social programs. Never occurs to them that they simply spend too much.
She did a lousy job. Deer caught in the headlights. If you were aware of what she’s done, you would hide. Her, Gregoire, Marr, and the big kahuna Obama…need to be sent packing. And they will…25 days left. Then comes the November vote.
Truth his, she’s never made a budget ( Dino has), never cut spending ( Rossi did) and doesn’t know her Hanford facts. Rossi made it quite clear that she and her comrades are fixin to close Yucca…which is where the nuclear waste from Hanford was to be deposited. How does one clean Hanford when there’s nowhere to put the waste? She didn’t understand the link…open mouthed dumbstruck….Oh and one more thing…if you read the law on nuc wastes…we cannot move it unless there’s a dumpsite to move it to. Patty doesn’t quite “get that”. What she proposes is illegal.
RepAreADisease on October 15 at 5:36 a.m.
Daisy, actually Murray voted against all the things that exploded the deficit. Bush’s tax cuts for the rich, Medicare Part D, and the authorization to to allow Bush the opportunity to blow the arms and legs off of millions of innocent people in Iraq for oil. She probably knew Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11.
How she voted in Obama’s attempt to keep America from experiencing 20% unemployment shouldn’t be held against her, because I remember all kinds of talk about a 2nd great depression when Bush was sliming out of the White House.
Hows much we spend is not as important as how much we collect from the filthy rich that are the only ones benefiting from Reaganomics, and failed Bush policies, and where we spend it. Giving it as handouts to the fossil fuel industries, and the War Profiteers doesn’t help anyone but a few CEO’s and stockholders, and does not provide opportunity.
Your “fountain of pork” statement is offensive. Pork is chump change. Look at the billions missing in Iraq, or better yet the PHARMA handout that Medicare Part D is if you want to see something sickening. Pork is a great campaign red herring but has nothing to do with the real problems destroying our country. Most of the stuff Murray requested benefited our state big time.
JBlim on October 15 at 5:54 a.m.
I’ve been suffering through Daisy’s posts for a while now, there are several themes. Here’s Daisy in a nutshell:
1) Democrats are bad and can’t do anything right, furthermore, anything people don’t like was caused by Democrats
2) Republicans are always good.
3) Facts don’t matter.
4) Tax cuts and spending cuts will solve all our problems, anyone who disagrees is a socialist
RepAreADisease on October 15 at 6:22 a.m.
What amazes me is how mad the tea baggers are at Obama for not instantly fixing 30 years of Reaganomics, and 8 years of the Bush nightmare.
“We’re mad, and we’re not interested in facts!” The tea bagger rallying cry. It’s like they pretend the deficit was 1.3 trillion per year before he spent the first nickel, and 700,000 jobs per month were being lost.
Unfortunately without protecting our manufacturing industry, like every other advanced nation does, and getting off of fossil fuel, America will never recover. No amount of stimulus will do any good long term if our trade deficit is 600 to 800 billion dollars every year. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the foreign countries the represent are spending millions making sure that doesn’t happen.
I also heard that 83 of the nation’s largest 100 corporations pay no income tax according to Ring of Fire. I wonder if that bothers the tea baggers, since they have to make up the difference. Of course Rossi isn’t talking about that…..
hawken on October 15 at 10:59 a.m.
RepAreADisease …. Liberals are easily amazed.
Corporations provide jobs and industry… Where’s your outrage that only 47% of the people in this country pay income tax while 53% live at the public teat?
Where is your outrage with these numbers?
* According to data from the IRS, the bottom 50 percent of income earners pay approximately 4 percent of income taxes.
* The top 25 percent of income earners pay nearly 83 percent of the income tax burden, and the top 10 percent pay 65 percent.
* The top 1 percent of income earners pay almost 35 percent of all income taxes.
* The top 400 richest Americans paid 1.58 of total income taxes in 2000.
http://taxesandgrowth.ncpa.org/news/do-the-rich-and-businesses-pay-their-fair-share
How about this for a little history?
“We are spending more money than we have ever spent before, and it does not work. After eight years we have just as much unemployment as when we started, and an enormous debt to boot.”
Treasury Secretary To Franklin Roosevelet
Henry Morgenthau, May, 1939
We’re doing the same stupid things today that Roosevelt did during the great depression….
Where’s your outrage for doing the same stupid things expecting a different outcome…. which I think is the definition of a fool
misjustice on October 15 at 11:27 a.m.
“Last week, Forbes magazine published what the top U.S. corporations paid in taxes last year. “Most egregious,” Forbes notes, is General Electric, which “generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion.” Big Oil giant Exxon Mobil, which last year reported a record $45.2 billion profit, paid the most taxes of any corporation, but none of it went to the IRS: ”
“Exxon tries to limit the tax pain with the help of 20 wholly owned subsidiaries domiciled in the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands that (legally) shelter the cash flow from operations in the likes of Angola, Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi. No wonder that of $15 billion in income taxes last year, Exxon paid none of it to Uncle Sam, and has tens of billions in earnings permanently reinvested overseas.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/06/exxon-tax/
misjustice on October 15 at 11:28 a.m.
I watched the debate and Senator Murray smoked DiNO!
He was uncomfortable, cleared his throat repeatedly, and generally had to depend on his prior stint as a state representative to try and demonstrate that he has the experience required to be a Senator. Overall, his performance was woefully inadequate.
DiNO! = 3 time loser!
wmpbrown on October 15 at 12:12 p.m.
During the last 18 years in office Sen. Murray has signed bill’s into law that give U.S. based corporations with operations “offshore” up to the first $100,000,000 of income earned “offshore” tax free. What bill’s or laws have you assisted with that give tax breaks to U.S. corporations that have all of their operations within the legal borders of America that are equal to or greater than those “offshore”?
Right now, 20,000,000+ Americans are unemployed or under-employed because small businesses – 80% of the U.S. economy – are paying the taxes that large corporations are exempt from paying. Today every elected official in Washington D.C. will auction out laws that will give U.S. based multinational companies tax free income if they force more Americans out of work.
Thank you Senator Murray, you are a great help to the people of your district and this state!
misjustice on October 15 at 12:50 p.m.
“…small businesses – 80% of the U.S. economy – are paying the taxes that large corporations are exempt from paying.”
Tell me about it, wmp. I am a small business owner and pay my fair share of taxes. If only the large corporations would do the same…Maybe I should consider “off shoring” my business? I hear that the Cayman Islands are nice.
miked2002 on October 15 at 4:27 p.m.
Hawken - ever ask yourself why those lower 47% of the population don’t pay taxes? (income that is - they pay the same gas, property, etc taxes as you or I) It’s because they can’t afford to. Maybe you should check out some statistics about income distribution in these United States we live in. For a family of 4 to not have any tax liability, they have to make less than ~$45K. That’s right - over half of American families make less than $45k. The reason they don’t pay any income tax is because it costs that much to clothe, feed and house that family. The reason rich people can afford to pay more in taxes is exactly that - they can afford it!
If that’s not enough to convince you of your gap in logic (and the talking heads that fed you this recurrent “half of Americans don’t pay taxes” misinformation) ask yourself this - would you rather complain about those poor people not having to pay taxes or would you rather trade places with them. C’mon - you could have it so great and not have to pay any taxes! It would be awesome! A Republican dream come true - minus all those nice cars, houses and luxurious lifestyle choices with which you are troubled. I’m sure those 47% of your country-mates would be happy to trade you places, despite the inconvenience those pesky taxes would pose to them.
JBlim on October 15 at 5:01 p.m.
wmpbrown says:
“During the last 18 years in office Sen. Murray has signed bill’s into law that … ”
She can sign bills into law?? I thought the president signed bills into law.
misjustice on October 15 at 8:18 p.m.
These are the guys DiNO! is for;
“…General Electric, which “generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion.”
That 1.1 BILLION “tax benefit” would be a tax REFUND.
While sqawky sqawks about the poor schmuck making 40K, paying no federal income taxes, the dudes at GE are cleaning out the US Treasury Department.
Tell DiNO! NO! AGAIN!
wmpbrown on October 15 at 8:25 p.m.
JBlim
I stand corrected without an excuse.
Although Sen. Murray did “sign” or more appropriately, approved of and attached her name to the bill’s for Clinton, Bush and Obama to sign into law that helped to put 20 million+ Americans out of work.
As a Senator, Obama also approved of those same laws.
I didn’t watch the debate, because neither of them would give a real answer. Words came out of their mouths, but they didn’t say anything. As I understand it though, Big Bird asking Burt and Earnie questions would have been more chalanging.
RepAreADisease on October 15 at 8:26 p.m.
Dino. Who is paying for your attack ads? India? China? Bahrain? Outsourcers? Of course.
When all you can do is lie about Patty’s record what does that say about you Dino?
If the whole senate votes as Patty Murray did, Bush would not have ran up hardly any deficits. Sorry to break it to ya.
RepAreADisease on October 15 at 10:07 p.m.
Actually wmpbrown Clinton created 22 million jobs, balanced the budget, and brought millions out of poverty, just so Bush could push them back down. The bills that Clinton signed were mostly good, and Murray voted for many, but Clinton actually stated NAFTA was not good for America down the road. He admitted it. Like a man. Unlike anyone like Bush would ever admit to a single mistake.
It’s not like the Republicons that voted for the tax cuts for the billionaires claimed they made a mistake, and helped bankrupt our country by helping the people that need help the least. Then there is the matter of not policing Wall Street….. Not enforcing EXISTING LAWS.
When it comes to the policies Bush pushed through, Murray voted against almost all of them when the Republiconvicts ran the show. Medicare Part D passed by reconciliation, and Murray voted against it. Borrowing from our kids to pay 5 times the price for drugs for seniors.
Patty Murray’s voting record has been stellar, and I have been paying attention. I understand that cutting taxes for the rich and cutting services, opportunity, and protections for the rest is not a good economic policy. Sorry to break it to you.
It seems “freedom” to a right winger is leaving companies free to rape and pillage at will. As far as my freedom, well, not so much…
wmpbrown on October 16 at 7:48 a.m.
Murray’s record is stellar, the 11 million dollar campaign coffer she has came from the very companies she helped get tax free income will attest to that.
JBlim on October 16 at 10:12 a.m.
First wmp says: “attached her name to the bill’s for Clinton, Bush and Obama to sign into law that helped to put 20 million+ Americans out of work.”
OK I give up. What bills were those?
Then wmp says: “Murray’s record is stellar, the 11 million dollar campaign coffer she has came from the very companies she helped get tax free income will attest to that.”
Now what are you talking about? Are you making stuff up again?