Congressional debate offers up more of the same

Ninth District Republican Party Chairman Larry Shickles had proposed hooking the candidates up to lie detectors for their debate Tuesday night. Republican Mike Sodrel’s campaign said he also would agree to the proposal.

We guess running against someone in four consecutive elections doesn’t breed trust.

The debate took place in two parts. The candidates were first questioned individually by a panel made up of Vincennes-Jasper student Erin Hochgesang and two journalists. The second part involved all the candidates answering questions from the audience. Only the first part was televised and addressed in this editorial.

Democrat Baron Hill went first and said some disappointing things about trade policy. He points out that the North American Free Trade Agreement caused jobs to leave the country as though trade is a zero-sum game and expressed concern about future trade deals that did not have sufficient labor and environmental standards.

When it came to immigration, Hill referenced a House bill he worked on to make smuggling people across the border a felony but wouldn’t dare bring up the benefits of allowing more immigrants in or bringing those here illegally into the system.

Sodrel was up next. He talked about energy without saying much about how he would move away from oil besides that he would offer cash prizes for more efficient vehicles.

Then he talked about temporarily suspending the capital gains tax or giving tax breaks for repatriated funds as a means for helping people through the recession. Apparently the bailout was bad because it increased our debt, yet providing tax breaks that would have done the same isn’t.

It is a shame that on the current financial crisis, which could have provided fresh material to a match we have seen before, all the candidates basically had the same position.

They all opposed the bailout and were right about the risks. They were certainly right about how shameful it was to tack $150 billion more in pork to pass the bill through.

As the debate went on, the paradox of the 9th District became clear. Neither Hill nor Sodrel has performed spectacularly when actually in office, but they are probably better than plenty of other congressional candidates.

Sometimes it is hard not be enticed by Eric Schansberg. As an economics professor he seems much more knowledgeable on the issues than plenty of Libertarians. If only he was completely immune to his party’s wackiness.

When it comes to this election, the 9th District hardly has a clear choice.