1st hand account: The last debate in NJ-11

by: FogerRox

Sun Oct 26, 2008 at 03:33:38 PM EDT

This morning there was a debate at the Temple Beth Am in Parsippany, between the candidates vying for the NJ-11 Congressional seat, Democrat Tom Wyka, Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen and Independent Chandler Tedholm. I took 4 pages of notes and have reconstructed some it here.

Before the debate started, I walked over to the Congressman to shake hand..

Good luck Congressman, we're within single digits and closing  :-)

The moderator took questions from the floor, which consisted of a majority of about 50 Wyka Supporters and about 12 Frelinghuysen supporters, with another 70 attendees not showing any affiliation.

On 2 occasions the same republican supporter interrupted, complaining about the selection of questions from the floor. Well my friend, you should have dug deep and got some friends to show up.

We're investing in a missile systems to prevent a missile attack....

Opinions are important, and actually facts are important too, I helped upgrade the electrical system in Picatinny Arsenal, which hadn't been updated since 1945...

I don't apologize on what I do on the behalf of Morristown Hospital, I don't apologize for being selfish on the behalf on New Jersey...

Tom started off by slamming Rodney for his voting against the Webb Hagel GI Bill, and noted that if an earmark can stand on its own merits, it should be voted on by the full House. And then Tom delivered one of my favorite Thomas Jefferson quotes:

An informed Democracy will behave responsibly

Followed up by:

You can't change Washington unless you change the people you send to Washington.

Then a lady with a Wyka sticker on her lapel asked "Rodney" about his vote on the credit swaps, here is Rodneys answer, and I quote:

I don't remember that bill, that specific vote. I think I'm on the right side of that issue.

EDIT: Here is the citation:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/200...

When asked about recent reports on JP Morgan Chase using its 25 billion in bailout money to buy another company, Congressman Frelinghuysen responded:

I don't always agree with Barney Frank, I don't think that money should be used to buy other companies. I agree with Barney Frank, that violates what the heck we did the other day.

Tom Wyka chimed in:

I agree with Congressman Frelinghuysen, it really is outrageous.

I then got a chance to ask a question:

This question is about progressive taxation vs regressive taxtion. We worked our way out of the Depression and won WW2, with 70 to 90% top tax rates,  this engaged the middle class in the economy.

In the light of recent campaign charges of class warfare, Ronald Reagan started class warfare by giving a 60% tax cut to the rich and doubling payroll taxes on middle class families, since then median individual income has not kept up with inflation.

In looking forward to the next 5 or 10 years, how can tax policy be used to re-engage the middle class in the economy?

Tom Wyka talked about supporting Barack Obamas tax cut for the middle class, and his support for Green collar jobs. Tom also made the point that without helping the middle class they wont be demanding much in the way of goods and services, and thusly we'll see less job creation.

The next time someone tells you we don't need more regulation, remember they are telling you to look the other way...

.... Warren Buffet said, "there's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.....

The one thing that really stuck out that Rodney said was this:

I can't imagine a worse job killer than raising taxes.

Thats the problem Congressman, you can't imagine real solutions for real problems.