NY23 Debate: Rep. Tom Reed (R) vs. Martha Robertson (D) ‘75

A crowd of over two hundred people packed into Clemens Center in Elmira, New York on the evening of Oct. 23 to get the chance to watch live the only debate between House Rep. Tom Reed (R) and his challenger, Democrat Martha Robertson ’75.

The auditorium itself only had capacity for roughly 160 spectators, and since Reed supporters had arrived earlier most seats went to them.

The debate questions were more or less what were expected. Topics included immigration policy, Obamacare, gun control, minimum wage, climate change, Medicare and Social Security, ISIS, and jobs. Interestingly, but not so unexpectedly (and quite coincidentally too), there was a question about Ebola and travel bans.

Here’s a rundown:

• Immigration Policy
  • Reed: Doesn’t support amnesty and believes Senate bill gives amnesty; willing to compromise to give citizenship to illegal aliens’ children but not adults who come to the U.S. illegally
  • Robertson: Supports Senate bill, criticized Reed and Republican House for blocking the bill, said bill was good enough for the Senate but “not good enough [for Reed or the Republicans] to vote”
• Impact of the Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare)
  • Robertson: Criticized Reed for being a medical debt collector and cited medical bills as number one cause of personal bankruptcy; ACA not perfect but can be reformed; told an anecdote about a friend named Phil who, without Obamacare, would have gone bankrupt; criticized Reed for voting 50 times to repeal Obamacare, 50 times to “bankrupt Phil”
  • Reed: Said voting 50 times to repeal Obamacare “right thing to do”; need tort reform, promotion of hospices, “empower individuals and doctors, not insurance companies and government”; criticized Robertson for supporting single-payer (Robertson in rebuttal denied saying despite video of her doing so)
• Gun violence legislation, universal background checks
  • Reed: Member of NRA for life with A+ rating, said Robertson has an F rating; real conversation should be about mental health; must defend 2nd Amendment rights; those who commit crimes with guns should lose right
  • Robertson: Claimed against New York’s SAFE Act and wants to repeal though Reed later challenged this point which prompted Robertson to say “you’re lying”; for universal background checks and criticized Reed for voting to cut mental health services
• Federal minimum wage
  • Robertson: Need an “economy that includes everyone”; wants higher federal minimum wage, referenced Wal-Mart indirectly receiving government welfare because its employees receive entitlements; said 2/3 of women earn minimum wage so this issue is also a women’s issue
  • Reed: Should think about minimum wage as “starting wage” and instead focus on creating more opportunities for advancement; claimed Robertson supports living wage of $22/hour–“that’s extreme”; Robertson denied this in rebuttal, saying “facts matter”; wants local control over minimum wages not federal decree, what works in one area of country might not in another
• Climate Change
  • Reed: Everyone can agree on preventing pollution; all regulations should have cost-benefit analysis
  • Robertson: Says it’s a question of jobs, fighting climate change “biggest jobs generator”; criticized Reed for being “funded by the oil and gas industry” and for thinking “95% of scientists are wrong”; called Reed a “climate denier
• Senior Issues (i.e. Social Security and Medicare)
  • Robertson: Opposes “disastrous” votes, raise Social Security cap to ensure people have “retirement with dignity
  • Reed: By 2033 Social Security will be bankrupt; need reform but not affect those currently receiving benefits or those about to; reform for those “generation outside of receiving benefits”
• Common Core
  • Reed: Against Common Core, calling it a “big government, one-size-fits-all” program; should empower parents, local governments,and teachers instead
  • Robertson: Every child should have quality education, need basic educational standards; supports Common Core just not implementation; criticized “high-stakes testing”; mentioned she was a kindergarten teacher
• Ebola and travel bans
  • Robertson: Need to keep U.S. safe; criticized Reed for “mindless cuts” to CDC and NIH; read from a note card a quote from the director of the NIH about cuts affecting ability to fight Ebola
  • Reed: Supports travel ban or at least strong detention-type policy; claimed recent funding to CDC and NIH in areas related to fighting diseases like Ebola increased; said “Robertson wants to throw more money at problems”; need to hold government accountable (in rebuttal Robertson said Reed making cuts where U.S. needs most, must pay his “fair share”)
• Create more jobs
  • Reed: 4 points- reduce national debt, reform tax code, reduce regulations, and have “all above energy plan”; claimed Robertson voted to raise taxes while on the Tompkins County Legislature
  • Robertson: Criticized fracking (Reed mentioned it) and Reed for being funded by oil and gas industry; said Reed supports fracking except in “his own backyard”; mentioned Reed owns a vacation home in the Finger Lakes region; said only raised taxes 43 cents in 12 years
• ISIS
  • Robertson: Said being a kindergarten teacher taught her how to make people get along; need to build coalitions, no boots on the ground
  • Reed: Need “peace through strength”; need secure borders and protect homeland; denied supporting boots on the ground
• Questions for each other
  • Reed to Robertson: Why she never responded to letters from him to help save Lansing power plant and 500 jobs it supported; Robertson claimed letters looked like “form letters”
  • Robertson to Reed: Why Reed part of “war on women” (this elicited laughter from the audience); Reed: denounced “political rhetoric”