Candidates go head to head in 13th District Congressional Debate
By: Kim Behrens
Updated: October 18, 2012
NORMAL--Hundreds packed ISU's Brown Ballroom Wednesday night for the first public debate between Democrat David Gill and Republican Rodney Davis.
The main issue at hand?
How to tackle the nation's deficit.
"I'm worried about our future generations as far as this national debt and everything," said voter Scott Lee.
Both candidates agree something needs to be done.
But they have different ways of reaching that goal.
"You need to have the millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share, the corporations paying their fair share," said Gill. "A quarter of corporations shouldn't get away with paying zero or a negative effective tax rate that they get because they fund their Congress people."
Davis says it's all about extending current tax rates to grow the economy.
With extra money in company pockets, owners can buy more equipment and hire more people.
"That's the way we grow our economy, and we're going to do it on the backs of small business owners," said Davis.
Gill says he supports small businesses, but the nation needs to cut spending, which includes bringing the troops home.
He says the dollars to support military funding aren't there, and corporate domination is to blame.
"That's how you put two wars on a credit card, that how you wind up with a joke of a Medicare prescription drug bill," Gill explained.
He wants to invest in education and affordable healthcare for all Americans.
"It is money that they ought to have back in their pockets," said Gill.
Davis says public health insurance like ObamaCare raises taxes and takes away the doctor patient relationship.
"We need to cut the fraud and the waste out of each and every agency we can and dedicate that towards paying down our national debt," said Davis.
While debate analysts at ISU say both candidates came out swinging, in three weeks time, it's up to the voters to decide who has the best plan for the future.
The 13th Congressional District is a newly redrawn territory that includes voters in Bloomington and Champaign.
The main issue at hand?
How to tackle the nation's deficit.
"I'm worried about our future generations as far as this national debt and everything," said voter Scott Lee.
Both candidates agree something needs to be done.
But they have different ways of reaching that goal.
"You need to have the millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share, the corporations paying their fair share," said Gill. "A quarter of corporations shouldn't get away with paying zero or a negative effective tax rate that they get because they fund their Congress people."
Davis says it's all about extending current tax rates to grow the economy.
With extra money in company pockets, owners can buy more equipment and hire more people.
"That's the way we grow our economy, and we're going to do it on the backs of small business owners," said Davis.
Gill says he supports small businesses, but the nation needs to cut spending, which includes bringing the troops home.
He says the dollars to support military funding aren't there, and corporate domination is to blame.
"That's how you put two wars on a credit card, that how you wind up with a joke of a Medicare prescription drug bill," Gill explained.
He wants to invest in education and affordable healthcare for all Americans.
"It is money that they ought to have back in their pockets," said Gill.
Davis says public health insurance like ObamaCare raises taxes and takes away the doctor patient relationship.
"We need to cut the fraud and the waste out of each and every agency we can and dedicate that towards paying down our national debt," said Davis.
While debate analysts at ISU say both candidates came out swinging, in three weeks time, it's up to the voters to decide who has the best plan for the future.
The 13th Congressional District is a newly redrawn territory that includes voters in Bloomington and Champaign.
