Published in the Union Leader on September 18, 2012.
Kuster, Bass differ on tax, health care policy in 2nd District U.S. House debate
MANCHESTER — Republican incumbent Charlie Bass and Democratic challenger Ann Kuster differed on taxes, budget cutting and health care in their first debate of the 2nd District U.S. House general election campaign Tuesday, a mostly polite affair that focused on issues.
In contrast to the sharp tone of the Monday debate between 1st District Rep. Frank Guinta and former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, the words “extremist” or “Tea Party” were never spoken by the two candidates, who have known each other for most of their lives and competed in a tough campaign, narrowly won by Bass, two years ago.
Bass, seeking his eighth term, defended his support for the Bush era tax cuts, saying they were passed at a time that “the economy was in some danger” and “were partially responsible for the economic boom of the mid-2000s.”
He said he supports extending the cuts but called for a larger debate about “fundamental tax reform,” saying tax reform and deficit reduction “go hand-in-hand” and “have to be linked together.
“Having this campaign dogma about those making more than $250,000 a year really doesn’t help the economy recover,” Bass said. “It does create good campaign fodder. I believe we need to act in a bipartisan fashion” to “try to come up with a fundamental plan for tax reform that will make the U.S. more competitive globally.”
“It isn’t going to happen in a Republican way or a Democratic way. It has to happen with all of us working together,” Bass said.
Kuster, calling for a return to the Clinton-era tax rates, said Congress must “get serious” about reducing the deficit and fixing the economy , and it is “not serious to give millionaires and billionaires an additional tax break.”
Like President Barack Obama, Kuster supports ending the cuts for those earning more than $250,000 a year.
“Frankly, in New Hampshire, that’s a comfortable style of living and I think above and beyond that millionaires are willing to contribute,” Kuster said.
“For Congressman Bass to double down on trickle down, we know it doesn’t work.”