Kryzan vs. Lee on Hardwick

12:00: Kryzan says it comes down to the future – we have serious issues in the country and district, and she wants to work for change to the status quo. If you think the last 8 years have been good, then vote Lee. If you want a better future, and new ideas, then vote Kryzan.

What should the election come down to on Tuesday? Lee: people are frustrated with Congress, and they want someone who will be a steward of their tax dollars, and he’s run businesses, so knows what it’s like to create a job and to run a business. People in Congress didn’t understand, and only 18 people in Congress have an MBA (as does George W. Bush).

Lee says “she’s changed her tax views”, and Kryzan is hitting back. Lee brings up the fact that Enidine employees took out an ad in the News, which is way beside the point. Kryzan doesn’t understand how pledging to lower taxes on 95% of people in the district equals a tax increase. She was going to go to a Halloween parade dressed as the scary Alice Kryzan in Lee’s ads, but it would have scared the children.

Kryzan says neither of them control what the national party puts out as ads, and she didn’t and wouldn’t have put ads out like the DCCC’s. But Lee has put out his own ads that are lies about Kryzan’s record, and she has done no such thing. Lee has sent out a fundraising letter pledging to “raise taxes” on every family in Western New York. She’s running on platform of helping hard-working families in the district, green jobs, and ending the war. She has tried to be issue-oriented in the campaign.

Lee complains that Kryzan would never accept special interest money, but she has. He is offended by shots taken at his “family” and his business, and his patriotism. They never exported a job to China. They employed people in China to sell product into China. The only way a US manufacturer could compete in China is to do that. He also complains that he was never fined anything for selling secrets to China. It had to do with the company that acquired his. Lee claims this race should be about the issues; jobs and taxes. He has created jobs in the community, and when asked to disavow any ads against Kryzan, he doesn’t.

Hardwick doesn’t like the tenor of this race, and asks the candidates about them.

11:45: On race relations, Kryzan mentions that she worked long ago to end racial discrimination in Chicago. Obama’s election will be a giant step forward. Lee says there is a lot more to be done, and our own inner city in Buffalo is struggling with extremely high unemployment rates, and the high school graduation rate is too low. The federal government can try and get more community involvement to eliminate racial discrimination.

On higher education, Lee doesn’t want the federal government to be too involved, and grants & loans need to be expanded. Kryzan would not re-authorize No Child Left Behind, and she is in favor of local control of schools and we need to encourage people to send their kids to college and make the road easier through tax policy and Pell Grants.

Kryzan thinks we need to look at trade policies, and they need to be reexamined and renegotiated to place us on a level playing field. We’re the only free trading country that free trades. Lee says free trade has to be fair, and China, e.g., keeps its currency artificially devalued.

Lee is against the Employee Free Choice Act. Kryzan is in favor of it.

11:30: The “hotbutton” questions:

1. Gun laws: Kryzan is for reasonable gun control legislation such as the Brady Law. Lee is for anyone to have whatever gun they want, anytime. “There are so many laws on the books now, but we don’t have judges that enforce the laws” – pablum with know meaning.

2. Abortion: Lee is against Medicaid funding for abortions. Kryzan is for full reproductive health care services.

3. Minimum wage: Kryzan says it needs to track the cost of living. Lee is against raising the minimum wage, and it doesn’t matter anyway, because most of them are part-time helping small businesses.

4. Fairness doctrine: Lee is against it, and is against the regulation of private business. Kryzan says private business leases public airwaves, and it’s a public resource, but a fairness doctrine would be misdirected.

5: Family Leave Act: Kryzan says if we want to walk the walk about supporting families and family values, then government should wake up and do it. Paid family leave needs to be looked at in the greater context. Lee says that 80% of jobs created in the country are by small business, and family leave is “ok for a hardship”, but wouldn’t go for mandating paid leave.

11:15: On health care, Kryzan believes it should be a right for Americans to have accessible health care, and we’re the only industrialized country that has so many uninsured. She says the government should offer some sort of free-market insurance program that is “the best program out there” and guarantees portability, insurability, and affordability. Lee says we need to make health care more affordable. He says his “approach is different” and shouldn’t involve a big government program. (Which is interesting, because no one suggested that). On McCain’s $5,000 tax credit – which is about 50% or less of the cost of a health insurance plan – he brings up tort reform and “frivolous law suits”, and it needs to happen on the state and federal level, according to Lee. Kryzan hits on Lee, who said he wants to see “more people covered”, and asks rhetorically whom Lee doesn’t want to see covered. Kryzan is more concerned about people who can’t get health insurance, rather than doctors who have trouble buying malpractice insurance. If we didn’t spend $12 billion per month in Iraq, we could afford a great health care program.

Lee says we ought to ship illegals back to where they came from. He wants to round them up and deport, but does make some mouth-noises about a guest worker program, without calling it that. They both recognize the difference between the southern and northern border. Kryzan suggests reformation of the process, which costs too much and is uneffective. As for illegals who are already here, we can’t just ship them back because it would a logistical and financial nightmare. We need to be pragmatic, and examine a pathway to citizenship that includes some form of hurdle for them to hop before they can legalize their status.

11:00: In an answer on Social Security, Lee talks about creating jobs – especially manufacturing jobs. He says he doesn’t have the answers as to how to fix Social Security, but we need a bipartisan solution. Kryzan talks about raising the ceiling of SS contributions, which is now set at around $100k, and it’s regressive now and we need to take a look at what’s fair. Kryzan gives a specific response – Lee talks in generalities that are somewhat beside the point.

On agricultural subsidies, Lee talks about farmers being the backbone of the district, and they’ve been hit by labor and energy problems. He avoids the question, and Hardwick presses. He says farmers aren’t “taking advantage of the system”. Kryzan is a member of the Wyoming County Farm Bureau, and she knows what the concerns are. Farmers want to see fair regulation that works for them, and they are most often talking about health care, and the availability of labor in the district. Cutting costs and maintaining labor are their biggest problems. She also punts on subsidies, but they’ll talk health care and immigration after the break.

10:50: I’ll say one thing for Kryzan that Powers didn’t really do during the primaries: she is not letting her opponent get away with even an ounce of bullshit. She’s having none of his class warfare “redistribution of wealth” nonsense Lee is peddling, and she’s hitting him hard on not doing anything out in the community and not really being particularly accessible to the press or the voters in the district. She’s getting some great shots in, and Lee’s on bigtime defense right now.