On Sunday evening, Blue Ridge Cable Hosted a Debate between incumbent Susan Wild, a Democrat, and Ryan Mackenzie, her Republican opponent. In her opening, Wild and Mackenzie told voters a bit about themselves, and then Mackenzie labeled Wild as a progressive masquerading as a moderate. Off the bat, he also took Wild to task for "repeatedly" saying "derogatory things about the people of Carbon County," which is a part of her congressional district.
Warehouses and truck damage to roads. - Wild hears about warehouses "probably more than almost anything." But she voted for the Infrastructure Act to provide federal funding for road and bridge repairs. She said warehouse proliferation will continue because of the "unique zoning laws in Pa."
Mackenzie said infrastructure is a "balancing act," and has worked with local officials to "reduce the impact" of new development."
(Blogger comment) - This is primarily a question for state officials.
What specific steps would you take to lower costs for working families? - Mackenzie said, "families all across our country are getting crushed by inflationary prices across the board ... ." He said he's never voted to raise taxes and did vote to reduce the inheritance tax for small businesses. He basically said he'd work to reduce taxes, and criticized Wild "for voting for every single plank of Bidenomics. That massive spending in DC is what has caused the inflation and high prices."
Wild said she feels the impact of inflation, too, as she does her own grocery shopping and pumps her own gas. She said she has to do everything she can to reduce prices across the board, from prescription drug prices to groceries. But she added that "corporate gouging is a real thing. ... People at the top - the 1% - they're doing just fine. so we got to make sure that we are cracking down on corporations that are price gouging." She added that the housing problem "has got to be a priority."
Continued support of Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion. - Wild noted her district has a significant number of Ukranian constituents. "I have supported the funding we have sent to Ukraine because of the fact that Ukraine has fought very hard to be a democracy. We need to support them and, by the way, many of my constituents still have friends and family in Ukraine. ... We need to make sure that Ukraine wins this war. This is Putin's war. He would love to take over Ukraine and then move into Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe and we can't let that happen. We will end up with WWIII on our hands and all of our European allies will be greatly affected."
Mackenzie agreed that "what Vladimir Putin is doing is an atrocity and we need to call that out and his evil acts need to be recognized. At the same time, the failed policy and foreign policy of Susan Wild and Joe Biden has let this war drag on for 2 1/2 years, causing death and destruction in Ukraine. He said we need a "peaceful resolution instead of "chaos around the world. ... We are not exhibiting strength, which would lead us to peace"
What Can a Federal Legislator Do to Reform Property Taxes? - Mackenzie said he'd support no taxes on tips or social security, which would put money back in people's pockets. Wild observed that property taxes are a state issue. but a federal legislator can make sure the Tax Code is fair to the middle class. She criticized the 2017 tax cuts as benefiting primarily the 1%. Workers are unable to deduct boots and things they need for their jobs. "We got to make sure the 1% is paying its fair share. It would solve a lot of the problems in this country if we didn't have tax cuts for billionaires."
Stance on War in Gaza and Continued Support For Israeli Offensive. - Wild supports Israel's right to defend itself and said that most of the arms sent are for defensive purposes. She agreed that the US "absolutely" must eradicate Hamas. Mackenzie said the October 7 attack was an atrocity and that all hostages must be returned before anything else can happen. He said we need to crack down on Iran. He indicated Wild sent letters saying she is pro-Israel and is pro-Gaza. Wild said she supports Israel, but the war must end. "She was caught red-handed taking both sides of a serious issue," retorted Mackenzie.
School Shootings. - Wild supports universal background checks, "but that is not enough." She said parents should be held responsible for safe storage. Mackenzie said mental health records should be part of universal background checks, but Wild said that Mackenzie voted in favor of ghost guns.
Abortion Moving From Federal to State Level. - Mackenzie does not support a federal ban on abortion and supports exceptions for rape and incest. Wild retorted that in 2016 and 2017, Mackenzie voted in favor of an abortion ban that did not include rape or incest exceptions. "I don't believe the government, or any politician should have any say so in what any human being does with their body." Mackenzie accused Wild of "a bunch of lies." He accused her of having an "extreme fringe position that includes taxpayer funded abortions. She countered that Mackenzie has accepted $35,000 from the House Speaker, who supports a federal abortion ban. "Who you take money from says a lot."
Social Security Reforms. - Wild wants to continue social security, and funds will not run out if billionaires are properly taxed. Mackenzie said he would protect social security, but Wild engages in massive deficit spending, which hurts the ability to fund social security. Wild countered that Mackenzie would put Medicare and social security "on the chopping block every single year."
Affordable Housing. - Mackenzie said that one person he met spends 40% of his income on housing. He said a local nonprofit is using federal funds to house immigrants instead of people who are already here. Wild said she supports a bill that would provide a down payment for first time homebuyers and a child tax credit.
Immigration. - Wild supported a bipartisan bill to stop illegal immigration, but the Speaker refused to put it out for a vote because Trump wanted to use it as a campaign issue. Mackenzie said drug cartels are running the border and we now have 10 million illegal immigrants. He opposes sanctuary cities while Wild has repeatedly voted against border walls.
Passenger Rail from Scranton to New York. - Mackenzie said it is "worth exploring," but it is a very expensive proposal that would require years of eminent domain. Wild is a "big proponent" of passenger rail. "It would be great to have a train. Let's let people get here via passenger rail."
Bipartisanship - Wild says she works across the aisle every day and is rated in the top ten most bipartisan legislators. She voted against her party. She apologized for her remarks about Carbon County. Mackenzie claims he has been bipartisan as a state representative, while Wild has voted 100% of the time with Biden and 98% of the time with Pelosi.
29 comments:
She is a pro-war candidate financed by California money. She speaks about voting independently. But she voted with liberal democrats on Biden initiatives (including tons of dough for illegals, 100% of the time. 100%. She favors abortion until the head is emerging from the birth canal. She's incredibly radical. She raised four times as much money as her opponent and is still in a toss up race. It would be nice to be represented by someone representing this district, and not Los Angeles, where she gets all that money.
Sick and tired of abortion abortion
abortion! I would like to know why Congress cannot pass timely appropriations bills. Why are we governed by continuing resolutions and omnibus bills? Neither candidate addressed it.
Wild is nothing but a lying liberal biden/harris puppet
It’s nice to see a summary of that debate without you interjecting your personal bias. We are pretty sure we know how you will be voting already, Bernie.
I continue to believe, as a Member of Congress, Susan Wild shares a great deal of blame for the many and obvious failures of the current Federal Administration. American families are hurting due to the administration now in place.
The ONLY sure way to effect change in our nation’s performance at that level is to put DIFFERENT people at the controls. For me, this means voting for Mackenzie. As a true Independent voter, I have no rigid support for any one political party.
Susan Wild and Bob Casey keep pushing this narrative that it's corporate greed. First off CNN disagrees and the receipt is below. I will play along for one minute. So companies decided to get really greedy as soon as Biden/Harris got into office and price gouge everybody? That tells me they took advantage of some very WEAK politicians because they know they won't do anything about it. So either they are weak or Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is correct per CNN. This woman has done nothing
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/business/inflation-biden-rate-fed/index.html
I keep hearing about "Corporate Greed", "Greedflation" "Shrinkflation" and price gouging as the reason for inflation. Present your evidence and name NAMES please.
My own take is that she did lose this debate. She failed to respond to most of Mackenzie's attacks. She should have named some of the corporations that are price-gouging, should have explained that inflation is primarily the result of a world-wide pandemic and the spending that necessarily had to follow, along with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She criticized Mackenzie for taking $ from anti-abortion House Speaker Johnson saying where you get your money from says something about you. But she herself takes all kinds of $ from numerous out-of-area sources.
I also thought the attacks at her for claiming she is pro-Israel and pro=gaza to different constituencies was effective.
Having said that, I did not care for Mackenzie's answer on Ukraine bc he failed to make clear that he supports continued aid to this embattled bastion of democracy. He instead harped on a peaceful resolution, and that appeared to be a nod to Trump cultists who want to appease Russia. It is one thing to attack a "failed" foreign policy and claim more strength is needed, but Mackenzie did not state that he would project that strength by supporting our NATO allies and honoring our treaty with Taiwan.
Neither candidate was particularly impressive, but I'd give Mackenzie the win on this one. I'd be tempted to vote for him if he distanced himself from Trump cultists or projected a more resolute response in Ukraine. I'd need to see differences between him and Trump, but he instead parrots him. I doubt either candidate is particularly bipartisan.
"Who you take money from says a lot."
Indeed. Wild took big chunks of money from Emily’s List (do they support ANY restrictions on abortion?), and, of all groups Bain Capital (I wonder how they felt about Trump’s tax cuts). Jeez, I thought Dems thought those guys were the devil incarnate. Of course, she took six times as much from lawyers and law firms as she’s complaining about with regard to Mackenzie’s funding from Johnson.
https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/susan-wild/summary?cid=N00041997
And why is U Penn giving her so much money? I wonder what they’re hoping for from her. Because she took their money, I guess she can be held accountable for all their wacko ideas about gender pronouns and demonizing Israel?
Leaving the actual source of funding aside, even the Morning Call (!!!) called her on that misleading ad claiming that Mackenzie had to be held accountable for every belief any of his donors might have.
She's flat and dull; an automaton who is not capable of original thought. But she'll win solely on the strength and unity of local Democrats.
Legislators from neither party are willing to make adjustments to strengthen the Social Security Trust fund. Over $50,000,000,000 in federal taxes annually is paid on Social Security income. So instead of strengthening, he wants to weaken it. How exactly would Trump and the GOP replace that - Trump's absurd across the board tariffs - which we consumers would pay? Come on, Trump dangles these proposals like carrots for the uneducated to swallow whole, with the skin on.
I can’t get past that she used a fake police officer in an ad to misrepresent an endorsement from law enforcement. When people put lies out in the open freely, it makes me wonder what lies they’re willing to hide.
Bye bye Susan Wild. Game over.
Universities don't/cant by law give money to candidates ... those figures apply to employees, etc. in general the more educated an individual the more likely they donate to democrats. Before the republican party drank the orange kool-aid the reverse was more common.
do you listen to yourself? "He harped on a peaceful solution." God for bid we want peace then you bring Trump into it. Wow now you don't want peace because of Trump. Can you leave Trump out of it for two seconds?
I respectfully disagree. All we got was 2 partisans parroting the party speaking points. A little fact-checking would be helpful. Your conclusion that only a change in elected leadership will improve America is downright scary and obviously not fact based.
BernieOHare to 1:42, he did not answer the question. He was asked whether he’d continue to support Ukraine and ducked the question. Everyone supports peace, but on what terms? He sounded too much like an appeaser.
Yes, Democrats are now the elites and more and more of the working class align with Republicans. Hence the big donations for Wild from lawyers and bankers, and college professors.
Mackenzie clearly won the debate. Wild was sleeping the whole time.
@Bernie can you post the WFMZ debate. It aired last night!! I think Ryan also won that one. It was a lively debate.
Retire Wild. Good riddance.
If I recall BO isn’t a fan of either one. I can’t vote for rubber stamp Wild. I’m not exactly thrilled with Mackenzie either.
You parrot Fox News and other misinformation about the economy and inflation which in fact was and is caused by corporate greed.
6:11, You are correct. Neither is very impressive, and Wild appears to have some real character issues. That is extremely important to me and is one reason why I detest Trump so much. While Wild avoids the nasty rhetoric, she has been dishonest since she first announced her candidacy six years ago. Now I see more evidence of her dishonesty in this race. I will likely cast no vote in this race.
As much as you say Mackenzie is like Trump; Wild is much like Biden and Harris and their policy's which we don't want since they don't work. Hence Bidenomics which she voted for.
Educated + Elite? you're regurgitating the propaganda
Bernie (6:11), if you truly believe that there is little to choose between Wild and MacKenzie, (I don't) then perhaps you should consider casting your vote on the basis of who you would prefer to control Congress? If Republicans continue to control the House, then it will continue to be as dysfunctional and pro-Trump as it was for the last four years. Do you want that, especially if Trump wins?
When I was in 9th grade, my Civics teacher said that if you think two crooks are running, vote for the lesser crook, because if the worst crook wins, things will be even worse. After all these years, those words continue to echo in my head.
1:33, You do have a valid point and i will reconsider. I am disturbed that Rs slam Harris for not getting anything done when they know it is their numbers in the House that have made it that way. I do have a problem with Wild's personal integrity, and that is the most important issue for me in any race. I do not, however, want a Congress person who says No to sending further ais to Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel.
9:28 So you don't like the words. Surprise surprise. I forgot Dick Cheney. Will she have him in soon for a campaign stop? Would probably impress you see since you seem to love the old guard of the Republican party. Let me guess, you never said anything bad about any Republicans before they "drank the kool-aid."
Union members were paid $100 each to attend her 9/7 event. Look it up.
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