Rep. Labrador debates Democratic challenger Ringo

BOISE – Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador and his Democratic challenger, Shirley Ringo, outlined starkly differing positions on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to taxes and spending, as the two faced off in a debate on Idaho Public Television on Thursday night. Labrador, a Republican who is seeking a third term in the district that represents North Idaho, said Idahoans voted in favor of banning same-sex marriage in 2006. “We have to look first at the Constitution. There’s nothing in the Constitution about gay marriage, there’s nothing in the Constitution about traditional marriage,” he said. “So you need to decide whether that’s something that courts should be deciding, or the people should be deciding.” Ringo, a longtime state representative from Moscow and a retired math teacher, said, “We certainly can’t put ourselves in a situation where the vote of the people overrides the Constitution.” She added, “We can see how awkward it would be to have a state-by-state decision on this, where a couple could get married in Idaho and then go to Oregon and have them not recognize that marriage. So that’s something that just wouldn’t work from a practical point of view.” Ringo also pointed to the case of Madelynn Lee Taylor, the Idaho veteran whose request to be buried with her same-sex partner at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery was denied because of Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage. Labrador said that’s a case where the state shouldn’t even be involved. “Why should the state decide who should be buried in that plot?” he asked. “That’s something we should actually start considering as policy makers, is whether we should have all these benefits based on marriage status. Maybe the state should back off a little bit and decide that maybe we shouldn’t be involved at all in marriage.” On cutting federal spending, Labrador said, “I absolutely am willing to touch everything across the board.” That includes making cuts to the military, entitlement programs like Medicare or Social Security, and even programs that directly benefit Idaho like funding for the Idaho National Laboratory, the major employer in southeastern Idaho. “What has ruined nations in the past has not been military conquest, it has been their inability to actually pay for government,” he said. “We need to do something about the debt and the deficit.” Ringo said, “His approach is just slash across the board indiscriminately regardless of who would be hurt by those cuts.” She said she favors a combination of careful cuts along with closing tax loopholes and other moves to increase revenue, and boosting pay and employment to generate more revenue overall. When asked specifically where she’d be willing to cut, Ringo pointed to military spending, and noted its rise since the Iraq war. “She wasn’t willing to mention a single thing that she would cut except for the military, so the one thing that the Constitution provides for,” Labrador retorted. “She talks about tax reform which in her lingo actually means tax increases.” He said he, too wants to close tax loopholes. “But we should use it to lower taxes,” he said. Ringo called for raising the minimum wage – Idaho is still at the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. “Now that is not an amount of money that anybody can support a family on, that anybody can live on, and to me that makes it immoral,” she said. Labrador said, “What we need to do is actually give people the opportunity to get better jobs. … We can raise that minimum wage all that we want, but if they’re continuously living under that minimum wage, they’re not going to provide for their families.” Labrador said he’s helped bring about big changes in Washington, D.C. “In the last four years we have spent less money, we have actually brought the unemployment rate down,” he said. “And we have done the things that we needed to do to make sure that Washington, D.C. becomes a place where we can work. There’s much more to be done, and that’s why I want to go back.” Ringo said, “We need to invest in people and help them prosper. We need to invest in programs such as Head Start and Pell grants, to invest in veterans, to invest in safe roads and bridges and immigration reform. Congressman Labrador is not willing to make those investments.”