Four Senate Candidates in Louisiana Get Feisty on Budget Deficits

Baton Rouge, LA, Morning Advocate ^ | 10-28-04 | Shuler, Marsha

[Theodore R.]

Four Senate candidates get feisty on budget deficits

By MARSHA SHULER mshuler@theadvocate.com Capitol news bureau

Assigning responsibility for escalating federal budget deficits and raids on the Social Security trust fund prompted friction and feisty exchanges Wednesday among the four major candidates in the U.S. Senate race. U.S. Rep. Chris John blamed the Bush administration for pushing tax cuts and higher spending while the budget deficit soars to historic highs.

State Treasurer John Kennedy and state Rep. Arthur Morrell said John and U.S. Rep. David Vitter -- who have been representing Louisiana in Washington -- contributed to the problem.

Meanwhile, Vitter called it a spending, not taxing, problem. He said his three opponents support Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who proposes even more spending and little in tax cuts to cover it.

The four candidates squared off in a New Orleans TV station in the last televised forum leading up to Tuesday's election to replace retiring U.S. Sen. John Breaux, a Democrat. They are among seven candidates seeking election to the six-year Senate term.

The candidates calmly answered questions on their positions ranging from tax cuts to abortion, relief for National Guardsmen and reservists serving in Iraq, national energy policy and safety in Louisiana after 9-11.

But a television panelist's question about federal fiscal issues the new senator would face brought out some political fangs.

"We need to quit digging a hole," said John, D-Crowley. He added that fiscal discipline has been "thrown out the window" by the Bush administration's support of tax cuts and higher spending.

John said he went along with $1.3 trillion in tax cuts when the economy was good and the nation was running major surpluses. But he balked at more tax cuts when those surpluses started evaporating -- unlike Vitter, who went along with Bush.

"The deficit is a spending problem, not a tax problem," Vitter said. He noted the "big gulf" between himself and the three Democrats, who he said support Kerry and his big spending plans.

"That's not true, Mr. Vitter," John retorted.

John said Republicans control the U.S. House and Senate and have racked up the two largest deficits in U.S. history.

"Mr. Vitter and Mr. John are part of the problem. They both voted for tax cuts and high spending," Morrell said.

Kennedy said that five years ago, the U.S. had a multiyear, $5 trillion projected surplus; today there is a projected multiyear, $5 trillion deficit -- "the most dramatic turnaround in the history of civilization."

Kennedy said Vitter and John played a role as they voted for tax cuts for the wealthy and then took $600 billion out of Social Security to pay for it.

Vitter said the tax cuts didn't cause the Social Security raid. But when pressed by a questioner, he said, "Every time you have deficit spending, there is an impact on Social Security."

Vitter said he favors taking Social Security off the budget so it cannot be touched, but Morrell noted that Vitter participated in raids as he talked about creating a "lock box" for Social Security.