As part of the
Crashing the States project, our crew--including hekebolos (currently at the keyboard) and Reality Bites Back, are sitting in the gymnasium at Charles M. Russell High School--and the liveblogging of the Debate is about to commence!
It's a full house, and the audience is overwhelmingly pro-Tester. It's a great environment here in Montana.
This is also being broadcast on C-SPAN, if you can tune in.
Follow below the fold--the candidates have already been introduced!
Burns starts with the usual thanks. We see a different kind of Montana than there was in 1988. Economics wasn't all that good if you weren't in mining or timber. It was anatural-resource based state. But we've changed because we have more economic opportunities than ever before. Learning institutions have grown, and we have more opportunities in non-traditional jobs. That's a great change, but the challenge is still out there to provide new opportunities for our young people. That's what elections are about--the next generation. Thank you for coming.
TESTER: I'm an organic farmer from 75 miles Northeast of here. This election is about a vision for a better Montana and a better America. We've created 100 additional jobs in aviation of Great Falls. We need to get a flying mission back here. We need to get America energy independent. We need to bring Montana values to Washington instead of the other way around. It's time for a change.
Q: what actions will you take to maintain the air force base in Great Falls?
TESTER: I was saddened in 1996 when we lost the flying mission. But it needs to be an integral part of our national defense. It's the highest priority. I was raised with the air force base in the backyard. It has been a part of my life. I have 77 silos in my district. And as you know, North Korea was recently added to the list of countries that have nuclear capability.
BURNS: My record is pretty clear. We lost the flying mission. What we've done is put systems out there with new housing, new support systems that support families. When they make the decision on what to do, it is, what kind of support system for families do you have. If your support system is modern and it contributes to the retention of personnel in the air force, then it'll stay for a long time. Missions are changing constantly. We have a new border wing now. It's part of Great Falls. It's part of people who understand national defense. We're still in the mission of deterrence against rogue nations that keep rattling their sabres. Ronald Reagan was right--peace through strength. The base will always play a role as long as I'm a US Senator.
TESTER: I got to work with the delegation to keep missions in the base, to the tune of $100,000. The commander does an incredible job.
Q. We live in troubling times. Iraq is consuming much of our resources. Iran and N. Korea are joining the nuclear club. Terrorism has no politics, and makes geopolitics complicated. What do we need to do for our national security?
BURNS: The war on terror is our nation's greatest challenge. They kill indiscriminately. Women. Old people. Just to further their cause. When WWII opened, the president said, "we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Our people in the military understand this, and they understand what has to be done. And we as citizens have to take on new responsibilities in our neighborhood. Osama bin Laden, in his messages to the world, he is dedicated to an international network to take down western culture. It will take resolve. Terrorism didn't start on 9/11. It started in 1964 in Munich. This president has said, enough is enough. And he wants the tools to fight it. I swore an oath to fight all enemies, foreign and domestic.
TESTER: In the short term, we need to expand our intelligence services. We also need to expand our special forces to break up cells. From a more global perspective, we missed some opportunities with North Korea, though I do applaud the new UN sanctions. but ultimately, we need to apply diplomatic pressure. We have a situation with Iran like what we had with N Korea a few months ago. We need to apply pressure using our allies to make sure they aren't successful. They signed a non-proliferation treaty. Last thing is the war on Iraq. We were fighting teh war on terror in Afghanistan. Then we started in on Iraq. But because we took the focus off the war on terror, Osama bin Laden is still free.
BURNS: We're making progress in Afghanistan. The UN forces are there, and there for a reason. We're making great progress. The progress is freedom, landlordship and property rights.
Q: How do you differ from your opponent in property rights?
TESTER: First off, things aren't going great in Afganistan. We just had to send 5000 additional troops. But on the budget: my priorities aren't Senator Burns' priorities. I worked with the legislature to make sure our kids have the very best educational opportunities. We also invested in healthcare. 1 in 5 montanans have no health insurance. We have twice that many whose deductible is so high that the best they can hope for is catastrophic coverage. But we addressed that in the state house and legislature by fully funding the children's health insurance program, by offering tax cuts to businesses, and by allowing businesses to pool their resources.
BURNS: my priority is the national debt. I look at how we compete as a nation internationally to make sure that we have economic opportunities for all Americans. Research into new technologies. That will keep us ahead of the rest of the world. We have not funded those like we should have. We will always lead the free world as long as we lead in technology. As far as our social programs are concerned, we have entitlements. Education goes along with our new technologies for world leadership. Then we get down to the infrastructure of how we do business in this country. Transportation, communication, people being able to branch out and be competitive with the rest of the world. The people can make it work--just give them the freedom to do it.
TESTER: We need to empower the middle class in this country. Without that, we cannot move forward. I don't feel particularly safe with what's going on on Iraq, and we need to refocus on the war on terror.
Q: What will you do on energy?
BURNS: (talks about expanding drilling.) We have something on renewables in the farm bill for the first time. And that dovetailed with what we wanted to do across Montana with our farms and ranches. And in 2007, that will have a stronger energy component. We need to take alternatives and renewables to make them work. We'll always be dependent on a little bit of oil. I'm for ANWR. The one law you can't repeal in this country. It's the law of supply and demand. But we can shift that demand to alternatives and renewables.
TESTER: From a farm standpoint, fuel prices are cutting into an already small profit margin. We have tremendous oil reserves in Montana. I think we have some tremendous opportunities in conventional sources, but we have tremendous opportunities in renewables, and our portfolio allows for things like that. From a biofuels standpoint, there's a 5-million gallon fuel plant scheduled to open next fall in Hamburg. But we have to get to the point where this country is energy independent. that will create jobs. It will put more energy on the marketplace so we're not paying people who don't like us. And it will help the trade deficit and maintain the value of the American dollar. From the Rocky Moutntain standpoint, it's too valuable and too precious to be drilling.
BURNS: Why did you vote against that drilling in the state senate if you're for coal gasification? Makes no sense to me.
Q: What do you think should be the top three priorities in the farm bill?
TESTER: The coal gasification bill--I voted against that because it shouldn't be on the taxpayer back, it should be on the company's. As for the farm bill, we're losing people in agriculture. The insurance program doesn't work right right now. We need our family farmers kept on the land. The other issue that I think needs to be involved is the energy issue. It does so many good things on all sides. the third thing is a revolving loan program. I think with the price of fuel teh way it is, why shouldn't we have something where we can create jobs here and export it for a higher price?