Victoria Hurley-Schubert

By: centraljersey.com
LAWRENCE – Differences in the 12th Congressional District candidates were clear through the mudslinging and accusations during a debate held at The Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
At times, Ben Dworkin, director of The Rebovich Institute, had to remind a passionate audience about debate decorum.
Incumbent Democrat Rush Holt, of Hopewell Township, and Republican challenger Scott Sipprelle, of Princeton Borough, had vastly different opinions on each issue addressed during the hour-long debate, at times going back and forth between themselves without the moderator.
The festivities began with opening statements when Mr. Holt reiterated his campaign theme of expanding the American dream while Mr. Sipprelle said the current administration’s agenda is undermining the character of America. Mud was flung as the candidates picked on voting records and employment on many issues.
One of the main issues was the Middle East.
Military presence in Afghanistan is not making Americans safer, said Mr. Holt, and the military needs to be moving toward disengagement to other areas around the world like intelligence and disarmament that will offer more security.
"It’s clear now the military presence is not making America more secure," he said. "Our reason for being there should not be to try to reshape the country of Afghanistan at the end of a bayonet. It won’t work, and it is not worth the investment of treasure and lives."
Mr. Sipprelle said money spent on this military action is taking resources from America’s future.
"America’s military is overstretched and too costly," he said. "Our defense budget equates to roughly half of the world’s defense spending with less than 25 percent of the world’s GDP, and that differential of spending defines the amount of money we’re not investing in America’s future."
Both were concerned by reports of the Taliban in Pakistan. Mr. Sipprelle is "troubled" with the strength of the Taliban since Pakistan is supposed to be a U.S. ally and thinks America’s role should not be nation building "because it will take a long period of time to create the kind of nation states that embrace America’s values, our commitment to democracy, women’s rights, free markets and free enterprise … and for us to try and create that by the use of our military forces, I don’t think we’ll be successful."
Mr. Holt said he can not count on the existing government structure in Pakistan to keep the Taliban in check, and the United States would be "using resources badly" by increasing forces in the area.
For U.S. strategies in dealing with Iran’s nuclear capability, Mr. Holt was clear as he said the United States should be firm – "we can not tolerate a nuclear Iran." When asked if the United States should pursue military sanctions against Iran, Mr. Holt had a one-word answer: "Perhaps."
Mr. Sipprelle said the United States should take action before military sanctions become necessary with economic or intelligence actions.
Switching to economic issues at home, the candidates were asked about the Troubled Asset Relief Program. TARP funding was a waste of taxpayer money, said Mr. Sipprelle.
"It reinforced the concept of too big to fail," he said. "When you bail out … you are undermining the core concept of personal responsibility and prudence."
Reckless, greedy unregulated behavior is what left taxpayers holding the bag when the financial sector collapsed, Mr. Holt said. TARP was an action that had to be taken to prevent further financial collapse.
The candidates also addressed the issues of the government’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the military and same-sex marriage.
"To pretend there aren’t gays and lesbians … is just misguided … we should honor service of people in the military," said Mr. Holt.
Such decisions should be left to the discretion of the military, said Mr. Sipprelle. When pressured for a more definitive answer, he said if the chain of command supports a repeal, he would support it.
Marriage between individuals is not an issue for the federal government, said Mr. Holt.
Mr. Sipprelle said "marriage is between a man and a woman," and he would be in favor of civil unions.
The candidates had polar opposite opinions on job growth and encouraging companies to hire.
Sticking to the agenda he laid out at the beginning of his campaign, Mr. Sipprelle said the government does not and cannot create private sector jobs. To encourage private companies to increase hiring, he said the government should simplify tax codes and abolish tax breaks and allowances of corporate America.
Small businesses need incentives to grow, said Mr. Holt, and education needs to be expanded as does the research and development sector.
Another area of great difference between the candidate was health-care reform, with Mr. Sipprelle saying social medicine has failed and Americans should be empowered to choose the health-care options that work best for them.
Mr. Holt preached the benefits of President Obama’s health-care reforms doing "what Medicare did for the elderly in 1965."
The candidates will be participating in two more debates before the election. The first was in East Brunswick on Monday night, and the second will be aired on NJN the weekend before the election Nov. 2 .