shreveport on c-span 2 at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we are trying to bring you the kentucky senate debate. some information about the candidates. mitch mcconnell is the fourth most senior member in that chamber. grames challenger alison -- grimes is the third of four children and her father is the chair of the kentucky democratic party. again, we're trying to bring this to you here in a few minutes. >> kentucky's u.s. senate race. our guests are kentucky ecretary of state alison

lundergren grimes of the republican party. >> you have labeled senator mcconnell as senator gridlock. and stated in one press release that his message is clear, six more years of partisan and gridlock in washington, d.c. enator mcconnell you, in turn, you said that secretary grimes is an obama liberal.

what would convince voters that you would be an independent voice in washington and would not support the president's agenda for 22 years. >> kentuckians know my report and i want to thank you, bill, and k.e.t. they know the record i have. my record is one of putting the people of kentucky first. i have my disagreements with the president. his energy philosophy wrongly ruling by executive order. the president is not on the ballot this year. it's myself and senator mcconnell. and he doesn't want to take responsibility for all that's wrong in washington, d.c. washington isn't working for kentucky. and it's due the gridlock, the that ction and partisan he champions from infrastructure to education, to agriculture, to manufacturing. it's hurting kentucky and i'm

in this race to hopefully give hard working kentuckians a fighting chance of earning a good wage and having a good quality of life, making sure that we grow the middle-class the right way. something that hasn't been a priority for senator mcconnell whether you call i him senator gridlock, senator no-show or senator shutdown. >> we'll talk about those issues tonight. senator mcconnell, what can you say tonight that convinces voters that you will not side with washington. and that this is not your ascension in blocking the obama agenda but you have kentucky issues first? >> well, let me just say that my opponent is trying to deceive everybody about her own views. she's been an active democrat all along, a delegate to the convention.

senator mccaskill didn't go. she's made major efforts to try to deceive the people of kentucky about her own views and where she's likely to go if she were to get there. with regard to my own record there have been three major bipartisan agreements during the obama years between republicans and democrats. the vice president and i have negotiated every one of them. december 2010, two-year extension of the bush tax cuts the 2011 budget control act. the fiscal cliff deal on new year's eve of 2012 which made 99% of the bush tax cuts permanent and also got a $5 million per person estate tax per person which is really significant for family farms and small businesses here in kentucky. 99% of them will not have to be

sold in order to get them down to the next generation i'm prepared to negotiate with the other side when we can find areas of agreement. but i don't share the president's agenda. it's been demonsably bad for america and kentucky. >> how would your agenda be different? >> look, as i've said, i've been prepared to negotiate with the democrats when we can find areas of agreement, that the three major deals that i just mentioned are the only major deals during these obama years. all of them is to reduce spending or keep taxing low. >> you would vote for the president -- >> both are areas to agree on. i was perfectly willing to negotiate with them. those were good agreements thatened up being passed by a very large majority. >> and going forward you would work with the president and senator reid? >> the president said we need a tax reform. we now have the greatest tax

rate. great way to export jobs. i agree with the president on that. the president said we oug to be negotiating trade agreements. i and most of my members think that america is a winner when we engage in international trade. so there are areas of agreement. i've demonstrated that in the past and will do it in the future. >> let me -- let me actually address that. >> endorsing or working on that democratic agenda. can you address those two points? >> what you just say senator mcconnell say is a complete departure from what he said to his family, the coke brothers out in california when he went there and asked them to help him buy his way back to washington, d.c. he told them that if we gave him another six years on top of the 30 he's had he would have nothing to do to giving debate level on the vote to actually increasing minimum wage or

extending employment benefits or helping our students going to college all common sense partisan proposals. you've yet to hear anything that he will actually work on because senator mcconnell's 30-year record is gridlock, partisan that's cost this nation a 16-day government shutdown. we can't afford to go in that direction. my record speaks for itself. i'm an independent thinker that does what's right for the people of kentucky. not partisan. i'm not bought and paid for by the coke brothers or any other special interest. >> let me ask senator mcconnell to speak on that. >> speaking of what we say in private meetings, my opponent said sha she was going to go to a fundraiser that harry reid sponsored to her and tell her how important it was to stand up for coal.

>> and i did that. >> never mentioned a word of that. the meeting was recorded, subsequently released that never mentioned a word of coal. this is the harry reid that will make majority. she's the guy that says coal makes you sick. she will enable him which will guarantee that we have no votes on coal. >> did you mention coal in that meeting? >> let me address this. senator mcconnell, you and your henchmen, you can mislead kentuckians with negative nasty ads. but i do speak for myself and i did have strong words to enator reid regarding an energy. coal keeps the lights on. my record is consistent. senator mcconnell actually

fought against the coal plants. he's accepted over $600,000, his family has from anti-coal interests. it's on his watch that we've lost thousands of coal jobs. my record speaks for itself. when it comes to trade, let me say this, when it comes to trade my record is again consistent. i'm for free and open and fair trade especially for our workers. it's needed if we are going to have a strong economy. but we can't continue to turn a blind eye senator mcconnell has to letting china cheat. we have to hold china accountable. >> let me ask you to respond. we're going to talk about issues, cole if you want to respond to that? >> look, i haven't said anything in a private meeting i haven't said publically. i've been entirely consistent both privately and publicly. secretary grimes' whole campaign has been deseefed to people to deceive she's

something she isn't. it's pretty clear where she's comes from. all the anti-coal that she's going to do their bidding. look, the issue -- the outrageous issue that somehow my wife and i profited from anti-coal activists that was given four pinocchios by "the washington post." it's spirit yes hard to get four pinocchios. the only one i can think of that got four pinocchios is the president. when he said if you like your policy, then you can keep it. >> there's a message from both of you from jason belcher in floyd county. he said the winer of this election will be in office until 2020. if you are elected by 2020, what will be your signature in office and why would it matter? >> thank you very much for this question. >> i'm in this race because i believe we have to have a senator that actually wants to help put hard working

kentuckians back to work. i believe unlike mitch mcconnell that it is the to tor's number one job brings jobs back to kentucky. i hope to have the support of republicans and democrats. not just in frankford but in washington. we haven't had anyone to enact a jobs plan. i'm the only candidate in this race with a jobs plan. that's how we put kentucky back to work. and i begins by ending the tax breaks that senator mcconnell that have shifted our good kentucky jobs overseas. and continues with strengthening the middle-class and we do that by increasing the minimum wage in contrast to the 17 votes that mitch mcconnell has said no to the minimum wage. are sor jobs would be your signature plirment? >> putting hard working kentuckians back to work.

>> it's a good question. there's a great likelihood thatly be the leader of the majority in the senate next year. the majority leader gets to set the agenda but to look out for kentucky's interest. one of the basic questions is who can do the most for kentucky over the next six years? we've had an anti-jobs agenda during this administration. virtually everything the president has tried to do has been a job destroyer, the spending, the borrowing, the taxing, the overregulates. if we had a chance to have a new agenda to begin to take america in a new direction, we'd be voting like aproving the keystone pipeline which will enable about 20,000 people to go to work very quickly. beed voting on things like pushing back against the environmental protection agency and it's war on coal. it's cost us 7,000 coal mining jobs. an for every coal mining job

you lose three more. our question is from floyd county. he knows they're in the middle o a depression entirely caused by the obama administration. >> so your signature goal would billion -- >> creating jobs. >> there have been a number of reports on voting. for a secret ballot. you have that right. enator mcconnell that has that right. i'm tasked with overseing and

making sure we are enforcing all our election laws an i worked very closely especial by the members of our military to insure the private ji of the ballot box. >> so your reluctance is a matter of principle? >> i'm not going to compromise a constitutional right provided re in kentucky in order to carry favor on one or other side. i'll protect that right for every kentuckian. >> and you won't answer that question tonight? >> again, you have that right. senator mcconnell has that right. every kentuckian has that right. if i was chief election officer and don't stand up for that right who in kentucky will? >> you said you were a clinton democrat. and i'm curious about what in your mind separates a clinton democrat from an obama democrat? >> well, from my work here in

kentucky and, indeed, in this campaign, it is one that is based on growing the middle-class. and as we saw under president clinton's tenure especially when you increase the minimum wage you actually help to expand the middle-class. we saw one of the largest growth under president clinton's tenure than ever before. we have not seen that. and it's because not just two sits in the white house but congress has a role. your united states senator play as huge role and you've yet to hear from senator mcconnell how it is he would help kentucky get more jobs. he doesn't even think it's his job. that's what his own words in lee county -- so the difference between a clinton democrat and an obama democrat is -- >> is growing the economy right. >> yeah, there' no difference. the clinton support for example what the e.p.a. is doing and the war on goal. there's not a dime's worth of

difference between a clinton democrat and an o bottoma democrat. there's no sacred right to not announce how we vote. i voted for mitt romney proudly. and i voted for john mccain. 116-120 kentuckians agreed with my judgment that we would have been in better shape had we been elected. the congressional budget office run by a clinton staffer which my opponent greatly admires said that raising the minimum wage right now would cost between a half a million and a million jobs. independent studies indicate it would cost us 17 jobs. and an economist said the economy of louisville is thinking about doing it themselves. it will cost them 17,000 jobs. 50% of these jobs come from

young people have a heck of a hard time fining work. i can't think of a worst time to be killing jobs for young people. let me just finish. there are times when a minimum wage increase would be appropriate but not in a jobless recover iry like this. very the senator for or increasing the minimum wage. because when he went to california he was against it. suddenly two weeks ago he was for i. you are consistently against helping people here in kentucky actually earn a living wage. let me respond to the false allegations regarding the studys that have been done. 90% of those that are on a minimum wage are older than 20 years old. >> let me allow bethanie spencer from o wingsboro to ask -- do you think the minimum wage is a livable age? >> the minimum wage is largely an entry level wage. 50% of the people who earn the widge are young people who are beginning a career.

they don't stay at that rate very long. but if you engage in this kind of minimum wage increase right now -- i mean, this is a liberal staffer who used to work for bill clinton who runs a congressional budget office say you're going to destroy between a million and half a million jobs. 50% from young people. that's not a way to grow our economy. the reason things like this are being contemplated because of this slow recovery we've had after the recession of 2008. everything this administration's done has made the recovery worse, the borrowing, the spenting the overregulating. that's why these issues come up. but the last thing we ought to be doing is destroying jobs to young people. >> how do we counter that argument because we hear that a lot? >> that was from bethanie spencer. >> bethanie thank you for that great question. and i do believe that we must work to increase the minimum wage so that it is a living wage.

$7.25 an hour does not allow a family of four to rise above the poverty level. the studys that have been done here in kentucky and prps that's what senator mcconnell has lost sight of. being in washington for 30 years can do that. but the studies that have been done here the kentucky show that you would increase the minimum wage would increase the wages of 30% of kentuckians and create thousands of good paying jobs. the c.b.o. report -- >> it would not be a job killer. >> the c.b.o. report that senator mcconnell mentions and what he doesn't tell you is the full story. the full story is it would help lift a million americans out of poverty. the way we actually grow the middle-class and we put hard working kentuckians back to work is by giving them a living wage. i don't fault senator mcconnell for becoming a multimillionaires on the backs of hard working kentuckians. that's what measure's about.

he's gotten rich by keeping kentucky poor. >> i can't let that stand. she's been given four pinocchios -- >> so you're not a multimillionaire? is she not a multimillionaire? >> she knows that a result of an inheritance when my wife's mother passed away. she's consistently gone throughout the state that i enriched myself at public expense. her family has made more money off the government than i've been paid a salary in all of the senate. she knows it's wrong. she's been given four pinocchios repeatedly for continuing to say that. >> votes speak for themselves. 17 times voting no against increasing the minimum wage. you heard him here, he's not for giving kentuckians a living wage. i know the mama that gets up at 6:00 a.m. to work two jobs

because not only does she ve a senator that doesn't think she deserves equal pay for equal work but she's not earning a living waning. we have to wage that. not just for the women of kentucky but the women of this nation. the workers in kentucky and the works across the nation. >> let me remind everyone if you're just tuning in this is k.e.t. and you're watching the debate between senator mcconnell and secretary grimes. because you have no hesitation about what you voted for, in the republican primary in 2010 who did you vote for? >> trey grayson. >> and let me also ask you as i asked you the different between a clinton democrat and the obama democrat. what's the difference between a tea party republican and a accomplished republican movement? >> the tea party was against the spending, borrowing and taxing against the obama

administration. it produced a lot of energy and enthusiasm which led toe a lot of success in 2012. and we've had some spirited primaries around the country since then just like the democrats have had in kentucky forever. and it leads toe a stronger party. i had a primary myself this year. i don't own the seat. i have to earn it. and i think it produces no bad outcome any more than having democratic pray marys have produced for them in a lot of democratic races throughout the years. i'm going to assume that most people who are following the u.s. senate race in kentucky have heard you both speak a lot about issues. if they haven't heard you speak, they've seen an ad or two. heard them on the roof. i don't know if they've heard you talk about what you believe and how your belief really cribs to what you think might be the philosophy or role of

government that you have. talk to me about the fundamental role, the proper role of government in people's lives. secretary grimes? >> well, i do believe that government has a place to help make the lives of kentuckians better. we are a super power in the world. and we have to object this, to advance our economic interest an too protect our u.s. homeland that does not mean that we have to be the world's police. i think we have work that we have to do with battles right here on our home front and here in kentucky they include helping to put thousands of kentuckians back to work who under senator mcconnell's 30 years in washington have found themselves in dire circumstances unable to put food on the table and gas in the cars. it begins by making sure that the women of kentucky get equal pay for equal work. something that senator

mcconnell has been against. it becomes by making sure that our grandmothers that they have a senator who strengthens and protects medicare and social security. >> do you see that as the role of government in people's lives? >> i believe that government has a place to help make the lives of kentuckians better. and we have to have a senator hat knows kentucky threw and -- through and through. not one that's out of touch. but one that knows the president of kentucky are struggling. >> senator mcconnell. work has ay for equal been enacted since 1965. the job of the senator in my view is to protect to the extent possible this great country and the framework. and the framework involves that people have an opportunity to realize their ambitions.

which means that too much government can frequently be a deterrent to opportunity. and that's something we have to watch to protect against when you have an explosion of spending and depth and taxes and regulation like we've had over the last few years. what it does is depress the economy, make it less likely or young people can dig their way out of all of this. in the senate there's an opportunity to save and protect jobs almost every day. ducka.ucka -- pe the. the new conversion plant, all advocated an supported by the guide you're looking at. over here in richmond, the chemical weapons clean ip employing hundreds and hundreds of house skilled people. down in lake cumber labd when

they decided a little fish was endangered by raising the water .ove oddly enough and appropriating funds that create job tons. >> can you give me one specific are your jobs plan where the federal government would enhance people's lives in kentucky? >> sure. first, let me say the senator has admitted that there are opportunities to save and protect jobs every day in the senate. but what we seen here in kentucky is that our unemployment is above the national average. we're running a 90,000 jobs deficit under his watch. middle-class kentuckians are

continuing to struggle. each of the areas that he just mentioned those jobs still lost. my jobs plan it calls for making sure we actually grow the middle-class the right way. we could help kentuckians' lives improve by making sure that we fight for early childhood education. we fight for to give business as tax incentive to actually provide childhood services. we fight for our veterans to receive the proper treatment when they come back from serving this country. >> and you're confident that the federal government would participate in those ideals -- >> we fight for the vital infrastructure projects, northern kentucky, the burr tee comes. parkway, western kentucky. i-66 and i-69. these are vie vat projects that the kentucky senator should be fighting for.

instead he's been fighting for myself. >> of course, none of that is factually accurate. the biggest thing we got in this country in a dramatic way is the job-killing administration. they have crushed the economy. this is the slowest recovery after a deep recession since world war 2. normally when you have a deep recession you have a quick bounceback. it didn't happen. and the reason it didn't happen is because of all the government access that we experienced. it's been particularly acute here in our state with the war on coal. you know the congress when it s entirely controlled, you know, passed the stimulus. ey could not get cap and trade through to congress. now he's trying to do it through the e.p.a.

this is an administrative created depression. giving barack obama another vote in the senate conning this democratic environment in the senate. he couldn't do anything to improve america's economy and certainly not kentucky's economy. >> will we address cole? >> le me ask you senator mcconnell -- one in four kentucky children live in poverty. why? >> because we haven't had the kinds of growth and opportunity to keep saying the same thing over and over again. but the economy is very sick. even though unemployment appears to go down. the number of people looking for work, bill, is the same number of people you had in a carter administration. that tells you that there are people that have given up and dropped out. we need to lift people up. and the only way to do that is through a vibrant private

sector. this administration has been a disaster at getting our economy going. it's been dubably acute here in kentucky. reports are there are strong job gains nationally in 2014. on base to be the best job growth since the 1990's. the unemployment rate is below 6%. over 55 ion jobs jobs. doesn't this think that this is a job on the uptick. the most recovery after a dedeep reception after world war two. you add on to that this evastating assault on the coal industry and even in this slow economy. we're slower than the rest

because of the assault by this administration. >> let me ask you to address the property question, one in four children living in poverty and i ask the question why? >> well, as you know in our jobs plan, it's a statistics that's clairing. we need to address i. not just one that says after 30 years -- >> how would you address it? >> growth and opportunity. that's what kentuckians united states senator should be fighting for. an or jobs plan is an action orienting jobs plan that's about advocating for our family members. training our workers not just for today but for tomorrow. making sure that we are invigorating appalachia and offering better wage. we do this by not only fighting to strengthen and protect our goal. was making sure that we diverse fy our economies. something that our jobs plan was developed with kentuckians

rom both east an west. we have to have someone who wants to make sure. the science, technology and math programs. we have to have someone who wants to bring eastern and western kentucky online. not a senator but that votes would bills that provide that intrastructure. the minimum wage increase that she advocates is going to cost us a lot of jobs for a lot of people. a much better way to target the low income people that you're talking about is the earned almost tax credit. the way to deal with that under employment problem. the problem is those are who

are employed. without killing in i jobs at all. which is already part of the tax law and grown and expanded. >> let me stop here, bill. that's amazing to hear the senator say that terned income tax credit that he thinks should be grown because he supporting bills that don't support that 28,000 kentuckians. 140 military families. 300,000 children. stay out of poverty. his record is against -- i don't have any idea what she's talking about. i've been a long time supporter of eitc and the credit. >> he supported bills that slashed that funding. these show be made perm nen. >> in the >> there are probably things that you can pluck out. but when you put together a

budget, secretary grimes has not put this experience yet but when you put together it, you're not going to approve of everything in there. what they're designed to do is put an overall cap at what we're going to spend. you can't serve in a legislative poddy. or cast a vote for something that your not crazy about. >> senator, secretary let's talk about the affording care act. we'll just say that relegal root. and we've all commk familiar with. you said you would like to see it streamlined and fixed. let me begin by asking this question. -- has obamacare been a connect or or a fail?

>> kentucky can act as a website. it was paid for by a $270 million grant from the federal government. in my view, the best interest of the country would be achieved. y pulling out obama branch and let me tell you why. in order to there were 85% of americans had health insurance. and built ok $7000 a program for the elderly. in order to provide a subsidy for people who are not old and not poor. >> i think that was mistake number one. mistake number three, health insurance premium tax. i would provide a trillion dollar hit. over on the consumer side

you've got lost jobs. they estimate 2.5 million jobs would be lost. higher deductibles. a lot of catastrophic impact on the nation's health care system which could have been avoided by not passing this 2,700 page bill. it put the government in charge of america's health care bill. th regard to connect, it's a state exchange. they would have to pay for it because the grant would be over. and with regard to the medicaid expansion that's a state decision. the state's can decide whether to expand medicaid or not. >> and you would support kinect? >> that's the state decision. >> but would you support it? >> yeah, i think it's fine the

support it. >> 80,000 of those are in the private insurance market. what would you do with them? >> those people are now paying more for less. and the hospitals are not experienced a new kind of uncompensated care. people who have insurance but the co-payment and deductibles are so high they still can't pay. the reason for that, bill, is the federal government is telling the federal insurance companies what they can sell. >> on a couple of points and secretary grimes we'll ask you to respond on this in a minute. >> on the c.b.o. report of the ,016 has been trade out in four years. and other health facilities like home health. they are not cuts or a shift. they are a value based reference in payment to medicare.

>> that's washington talk for a cut. i've had 70 hospital town hall meetings bill over the last two years. our hospitals are being rim racked by these medicare reimbursement reductions. look, these are the people who take care of the elderly. and they are being rim racked medicare acare, reimbursement reduction. i was in a meeting with the home health care organization just in the last organizations. they're not going to be able to provide as many services because of these cuts. so let's make sure we understand what we're talking about here. $700 billion raid on medicare. in order to provide subsidies for people who are not old and not poor enough to be on medicaid. that bill is a huge mistake. >> just one other point on job loss. didn't the c.b.o. report say the decline and the number of full-time equivalent workers are people not being employed at all and others working fewer

hours. isn't that a way how some have interpreted it in what you just said a job loss? let's put it simply? 2.5 million people would not be working. i done think that's a good idea for the country to have more joblessness particularly as a result of this bill which was a huge step in the wrong direction. i think it was, in fact, the worst piece of legislate that has been past in the last half century. >> and it's substantiated by facts that premiums are going up all across the country. >> premiums are going up, co-payments are going up. it was announced that 14,000 people were losing their policy here's, in kentucky. i'm sure there are some. some people who are getting insurance who didn't have it before. most of the people who signed up or medicaid that is medicaid eligible people who are signing

p but on the private insurance it's rim racked. >> that's 80,000 people. >> how many of them got insurance after having policies canceled? and the new policies are not as good as the old one. >> i'm not sure that number is available. >> i don't want to tell you. >> how would you vote on a bill to repeal the affordable care act? >> i would say that this is a matter of standing up for 500,000 connectians. there's work -- kentuckians. there's work that we have to do but we have to have a senator realize what is the realities are. and the fantasy land that mitch mcconnell is in it doesn't show the statusics that we have in the state. we have a half of million kentuckian who is for the first time ever are filling prescriptions. they're going to the doctor, getting check-ups. i will not be a senator that rips that from their hands. >> would you give me one

specific area where you would ever streamline or fix in your words the affordable kay about? >> sure, extending the grandfathering clause. if you like your doctor you should be able to keep that. we need to mean that. that's the extension of the grandfathering. it require as senator that wants to stop the partisan politic and trying to score -- would you replace or change kinect? >> i think over half a million kentuckians lives are better as a result of the creation of our state based exchange. there's work, yes, that we have to do. but we have to have a senator that wants to work in conjunction especially with the state of kentucky to get it done. >> secretary and senator we appreciate you on being on "kentucky tonight" on k.e.t.

there are plenty of cole miners in east kentucky who have been out of work for two years or more. and i'll bet that some of them are watching tonight. how will you help them after this election? >> here's the problem. we've already discussed it at some length but it's worth going back to because it's the biggest problem we have in the state right now. >> the administration has issued two regulations through the e.p.a., pursuing a goal they could not past when they totally controled the congress. one, there's never a coal generation plant built in america. targets o tarkts targs existing. coal plants. we know what the mission is. . 's global carbon emissions

no industrialized country in the world is going to do this. germany for example which used to be the greenest country in europe is now importing goal. the indians have called green peace a threat to their economy and say they have no interest in reducing the carbon emissions. the chinese are being coal ired plants. even if you felt that this was a cause worth pursuing, our doing it all by ourselfs is going to have zero impact. what we need to do in congress and we haven't been able to get any votes because harry reid will not let a single vote occur on coal. not a one. begin to restrict the funding of the environmental protection agency so they cannot go down this path. >> quick follow-up question. is this a place, the world power, the united states should

take a leadership position and be the first to take action against a global warming -- >> the president has been trying to take a leadership position but of course nobody is interested and tying their hands behind their back and creating more problems for their people in pursuit of a goal -- >> you're not looking if the united states to be the first one to make this move? >> my job is to look after kentuckian's coal miners. this administration has engaged in an assault on our coal industry. we've lost 7,000 jobs. it is a disaster. they need be stopped. that is one thing, i guarantee you that if the american people change the makeup of the senate, give me a chance to set the agenda for the country and for kentucky. we will at least be voting on efforts to bring in e.p.a. i believe the reason harry reid the fellow who said cole makes you sick is he's afraid they'll

actually pass. i will guarantee that we will be voting on those particular issues. >> secretary grimes how would you help? >> i'm already helping them right now trying to purr our current senator to actually support common sense measures at would protect miners like they proposed by trying to push to make sure that the health care coal protection benefit act is actually supported by kentucky senator, all things that haven't happened yet. i'm proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the thousands of united mine workers and kentucky and across the nation. they've endorsed me because they are ready for a senator that will have their back, that will fight to make sure that they will fight for the benefits. to get the black long ben it ins that they deserve. the protections. that help toe make it easier

for our minors, their retyrees, the widows in their families to actually get those benefits. .e wants to repeal root and and we also have to work across the aisle in a coalition effort to build especially with other energy producing states the effort to make sure that senator reid or whoever ever the majority leader is, listens to those here in kentucky to make sure that coal has a rightful place as an expert. they still aren't being heard in washington especially to benefits of our coal miners. >> secretary, let me just can you. what's your position on climate change and do you question at all the scientific evidence that lends itself to the debate

with climate change. to recognize the realities of what are happening around us. didn't stop senator mcconnell. it shouldn't stop you here. i recognize unlike senator mcconnell the realities of global warming but i do believe that we have to take a balanced approach. and that is stopping to protect the good jobs here in the state. especially jobs. with the solutions that we leave this world in a better place. for the children i hope you have some day. i think that balanced approach is looked at and fighting in clean cole technology. under senator mcconnell's watch. kentucky has gone without the funding that we need to make such technology affordable. we could have to stand up and fight for especially -- >> do you believe clean coal

technology is working and viable. there's a demonstration. and it's working for the united states and if the world for that matter. >> i believe that we have the fight. >> where is it? >> you can see in west virginia. it's fre. senator ve to have a to bring that back. you've answered this. you've also talked about the you'll grant that you're not a position. do you believe that -- we shouldn't be discussing climate change? >> look, there are a bunch of outsiders who feel like this is a problem. and maybe we can do something about c.o. 2 emissions.

a lot of signities felt that we were moving towards an ice age. i think the main think to understand here is the job of the united states senator from this ky is to fight and administration has destroyed 7,000 of them. it's not a surprise that they would have this report. supporting ent is most of im. >> we've used this administration over and over again. senator mcconnell has a role in all of the jobs that have been lost here. they happened on your lost, senator. you've been there 30 years and you don't want to take any responsibility if for loss of the jobs here in the state or the lack of the benefits that our minors an their families are having to work for. it's wrong.

>> secretary grimes, if i may, congress didn't pass. we defeated it. when your party volumed the both and the house. this is what he wor own the cold industry through the e.p.a. congress didn't do anything of this. >> and the failure on senator mcconnell's park necessary -- >> you can't just read one line of a c.b.o. report or take one line of someone's resume. you have to read it in full context. and what the resume shows, the only person he has been working for, it's not the people here in kentucky. it's not our minors. it's not eastern or combern economy. benefits is on senator mcconnell. >> you want to respond to that? >> quickly. >> goal.

al croft head of the institute for royal journalism and we've been teaching this semester about you. one of their assignments was to answer a question. and he wrote this question. student lone debt had a record high 1.2. and it's causing people people to get married. what should be done to fix this problem? senator mcconnell? > we just passed it in 2013. that i think identifies that. the reason this young man has got this problem is because the conomy is so poor. we are in are in a situation where young people go into cool. and then can't find work unless

we get this economy going, this problem is going to persist. now, my opponent supports a bill by elizabeth warren which is a big tax break. that's exactly the wrong thing to do in this environment. until we get this economy going we're not going to have much of an impact on this problem. let me squst say the governor's decision to expand medicaid the two biggest budgets. the two biggest legislature eads to -- and they raised the tuition. so health care cost through the medicaid program are driving tuition up and compounding the problem further for these young people. >> let me just say i think this again, chose the complete difference between senator mcconnell. a senator of the past vs. the senator of the future.

someone who just wants a self-promotion for his pear, vs. someone who wants to be a senator for the people of kentucky. i believe that the filibustering efforts snoort mcconnell read reduced the student lone debt. we have to have a senator that alizes we have 360,000 opportunity. i sat acrot a woman who has that. she has a great paying job but she doesn't have the senator that wants to back her. she has said he won't even consider allowing debate let aloy a both. refinsing student loan debt. that's wrong. i support your legislation. it's supported by countless

republicans as well to make sure that we are putting kentuckians especially our students and graduates first well. they deserve a senator that wants to back them. >> yeah, it's not the support of a pawn. which under the obama administration their debt has exploded. we have eded more adele. and all of them are from what secretary grimes is saying let's just add more debt to the federal government low. discan do. iggest you know, every generation of americans has gone to their grave believing that they had -- a better america than their parents left for him. that's now in doubt. and this massive, massive down. as really compromised the

chances of our >> if i might i want to address -- >> just very quickly. >> the massic debt that we have two and two on wars on a nation's credit cards. that's attributed to. i'm going ask ru to go first. november the fourth has great service for you. but kentuckyians all over the commom mon weal. go to a job. they'll pay a more gain and try to family. they want to know which of you they can trust more to provide for them a decent standard of living and quality of sludget secretary grimes you have 30 seconds. >> i believe kentuckians know my record. it's an >> of being i a good relationship that is what my

job's plan is all about. it's a pro prehencive jobs plan. you're the only one with a job plan after 20 years, we've yet to see it. and it's about making sure. we fight for them to earn a living wait. to not not just the right equal pay for equal work. we fight for or strengthness to strengthen and protect medical medicare. >> i think i've demonstrated that i have the relationship ualities to do that. a recent poll of staffers out d mest working senator of 100. we have the chance to pick a

senator. thank you very much to with here tonight. join us us on "kentucky tonight." >> and we had a couple of your facebook comments. brian just refused to tell kentuckyian who is she voted for in twage. if she hides her votes how does she expect voters to trust her? and this from elizabeth. all mitch can do is wlame obama and he is one who has been in the office for 30 years with nothing to show for i. wake up, kentucky. and on c spanl 2 tomorrow, the view on l.a. debate for u.s.

enate. under louisiana's election system, if a single candidate fails to get 50% of the vote, we'll have live coverage at 8:00 p.m. eastern time tomorrow night. now the entire arkansas debate between marc pryor and his republican chearling congress tom cotton. this is the only debate that will include both candidates.

>> the contest tans are u.s. representative tom cotton, the republican nominee. mr. nathan le france reporting the green party. u.s. senator mark pryor, the incumbent and democratic nominee. and mr. mark sweeney, candidate of the green party. the nominees will be questioned by a panel of arkansas journalists. michael he belin. gwen more rick of arkansas business. and dwayne thompson of arkansas media. each candidate will have two minutes. each will have seconds to respond to a question. while rebuttals are limited to one minute. and at the conclusion of each broadcast, each candidates will

opening and closing statements were determined prior to tonight by a drawing in which the candidates for their representatives participated. our timekeeper is elizabeth lewis. our first opening statement begins with mr. swaney. >> well, thank you for watching this debate. i'm with the green party. the green party is the only progressive political party in this senate race today. the green party has several characteristics that differentiate it from the other parties. i hear people say the green party is like the democratic party. it is not. the green party has three

principles that we believe in, and they are peace, social justice, and protecting the environment. early in the first term as a yor was asenator pr strong supporter of the iraq war, which cost lives of americans and added more than $1 trillion to our national debt and did nothing to protect the united states of america. the green party believes it is immoral and wrong to hire people to work and not pay them enough money to live during the time they are working, and because of that, we support a living wage. which is more than a minimum wage. but senator pryor cannot even support his own party's call for an increase in the minimum wage $10.10 per hour. he only went to go as far as $8.25 an hour.

and finally, the green party believes that climate change is the most important issue facing the planet, and we have to begin addressing this problem. the senator voted for a bill that prevented congress from even discussing a carbon tax, so these are just some of the differences between myself and the senator and the green party and the democratic party. >> mr. sweeney, thank you. mr. prior. >> first, thank you for allowing me to be your senator, and i want to say that 12 years ago, you sent me to washington to to get a bipartisan way things done for america and for arkansas. that is exactly what i have done, and we have done a lot of great things together, saving jobs at texarkana, funding research, making toys safe for our children, shrinking the size of the federal government but at the same time honoring the commitments we have made to our veterans. i believe i represent the best

state in the union and the best people in america, and i also believe we have a lot at stake in this election. i do not know if you have heard the audio, but several months ago senator cotton went to , california to spend time with his billionaire donors. they were talking about voting against the farm bill. it is a vote against arkansas. you can hear the ovation on the tape for voting against arkansas. folks, he's not listening to you. he's listening to them. that applause is still ringing in his ear, and those dollar signs are still in his eyes. congressman cotton has allowed his ambitions to get the best of him. he will do anything, say anything vote however he can so , he can get their money to win this race. he has his billionaire, but i have you. that's all i've ever had is you, the people of arkansas. you have prayed for me, you have

set my course, you have given me direction. that's why tonight i am asking for your vote on november 4. i know together we can keep america strong and keep arkansas working. that's what i mean when i say arkansas comes first. >> thank you. mr. lafrance. >> good afternoon, i would like to say thank you for allowing me to be here among the other candidates. i think today you will find a distinct difference between myself and the libertarian candidate and the other candidates today. what i mean as that though they have their own interest groups that influence how they vote in washington all three parties , have one common goal. that is, grow the size of the

federal government. it is to consolidate control and power over our lives in washington, d.c. because that control means more money for their campaigns. that is a cycle i think needs to end and end now. the overarching goal of my platform is to take this consolidated power in washington, d.c. and diffuse it down to the state level, to the county level, to your communities, because this is america, and this is founded on local government and a limited federal government. so now we have a federal deficit of over $18 trillion. it is a federal deficit both republicans and democrats have controlled over the last 10 years. no matter which party was in power, we saw spending and the deficit grow. i think it needs to end now. so what i will bring to arkansas

and the rest of the country is a voice in washington of a true limited government. we will return that paur back to yourwer back to you and to economies. >> mr. cotton. >> as i've traveled around the state of arkansas i have listened to people. they are frustrated with washington. and they should be. washington long know it needs to change. washington could use more of the common sense that i learned growing up on my parents' farm. washington could use more courage, as shown by our combat troops.

and oure is a disaster, national debt is almost $18 trillion. parents are worried about the kind of future we're going to leave our kids. so am i. anne and i were so excited last week to announce we're expecting our first child, a baby boy. we want to make sure our baby has the same kind of future that we all had. not a country that's poor with less opportunity and less safe and secure. unfortunately, that's the kind of future that barack obama's policies promise. senator pryor has voted with barack obama 90% of the time. foring a decisive vote obamacare. voting for every single penny of new deficit spending. mark pryor said barack obama doesn't offer a lot to rural america to states like arkansas. i agree. i just don't understand why he votes with him 90% of the time. barack obama's policies are on

the budget. i agree with that. in arkansas those policies are called mark pryor. as you are listening, i hope you agree, there is a better way. let's repeal obama care and get health care working again. let's stop terrorists before they attack us here again. if you are ready for change, i'm ready to serve. >> mr. cotton, thank you. our first question tonight goes to mr. pryor. >> mr. pryor, i think a lot of people are turned off by the negative campaigns, especially some of the groups, like citizens united. what do you think? >> well, i'm turned off by the negative tone as well. you know, i wish that the groups, they set the tone ovwer 20 months ago, and they have

money try tof get me out of my senate seat, and i think what you see playing out on your tv screens and playing out in your mailboxes is a business transaction. here you have congressman cotton, who goes out here to friends, his this billionaire supporters out in the california resort. there is more on that audio tape i mentioned a few moments ago. there is a point in there where they say, tom, you are in a room full of investors. why should we invest in you? i think that sums up the race pretty well. i have never heard it said so plainly. they are investing in tom cotton just like they would invest in a company. why? they want to get a payback on this investment, and they will. if he is elected to the senate, they will get six years of

paydays, because what he will do is cut things like cut social security. he will increase the age to 70 on medicare and social security. he will vote against farm bills and do things like that to find the so-called savings over here and then turn around and give them enormous tax breaks over there. so congressman cotton is a good investment for them, and that's why they spent well over $20 million on television trying to buy the senate seat. but, ladies and gentlemen, you know what? this seat is not for sale. this seat belongs to you. i'm mark pryor, and if i have your vote, i will do this differently. >> i am here to say i have not aired a single ad in the state of arkansas. i'm sure a lot of television viewers here today will appreciate that. you can't turn on the tv without seeing a half dozen, dozen of

these ads in every 30 minute program. and that's a shame, because these negative ads are not informing the voters of arkansas what senator pryor or representative do the cotton are going to do in washington. they are just mere attacks on each other. whether it is an attack ad or a personal ad doing whatever, that's not telling you the voter what are they going to do for you in washington. because that's what matters in the end, what they are going to do for you. i can tell you i will vote for -- work for you, in arkansas, everything will day in the united states senate. now the fact i don't have a lot , a lot of big donors means i do not have a lot of influence from outside parties, people that donate so's of -- donate thousands, hundreds of thousands of these super powers, dollars. they are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. they are doing it for a return on their investment, just like a business. and for both the democrat and

republican candidate, whoever would win, they expect that return on investment through their votes and with a favor. there is no such influence on myself as a libertarian party candidate. i will vote for you. you don't have to be a big-time donor to visit me in washington to talk about the issues because every citizen , will have access to visiting me. >> i think the last thing everybody wants to hear is a bunch of politicians whining about attack ads. frankly, i have dodged literal bullets, so a few metaphorical bullets on the campaign trail are not a problem. what troubles me is the problems americans are facing because of the obama --pryor economy. i met some people on the campaign trail two weeks ago. they are two-income families,

with jobs that they like, and they have young children but , they had to sell their mortgage and move in with their parents because the price of health care had gone up so much. i think of all of those in arkansas who are struggling. look where we have come in six years under barack obama. we have only dreated 28,000 full-time jobs in arkansas, yet we have added 88,000 people to the food stamp rolls. and 60,000 people have dropped out of the work force all together because they are so discouraged they don't even want to look for work. or think about what obamacare has done. it is going to cost 2.5 million jobs. we can see premiums increase 138%. the senator voted to cut medicare to pay for obama care, and what does that mean? seniors, over four thousand wilsey medicare advantage plans canceled. i just saw one last week in

arkansas, who had just gotten a cancellation notice. time and time again, mark pryor has rubber stamped barack obama's big time agenda. a vote for mark pryor is a vote for more of barack obama's policies. >> mr. cotton, thank you. to mr. swaney. >> i'm glad you asked that question. it's a very good question. i'm not particularly disturbed by the negative content of these ads that come from out of state. but i am disturbed by the sense united decision that made them possible and inflated the huge sums of money that are now devoted to these campaigns we are very opposed to this decision by the supreme court of citizens united. it leaves two concepts of corporate personhood, the idea that a pile of paper is equal to an actual flesh and blood human being. this is something we very strongly oppose. as a result, we are in favor of

and do support a constitutional amendment that would change the constitution and define human beings to be national flesh and blood humans and nothing else therefore, we would like to see this decision overturned. the second opinion that should be overturned would be the hobby lobby decision which we , think is a bad decision and goes into the rehlm of imagination where they imagine a corporation can have religious feelings. this is simply in the realm of the ridiculous. if we add to this by giving them even more advantages, we are all going to be building ourselves a bad life to live, so we oppose the citizens united decision and support a constitutional amendment to repeal it. >> mr. swaney, thank you. for rebuttal, mr. pryor.

>> thank you. let me say, the negative ads in our view are bad for the system. they affect people's confidence in our government. i think the quality of information that these ads create is not good for the system. let me say, there are two things you never wavent to see in a political campaign when it comes to money. you don't want to see unlimited money and you don't want to see secret money. that's what you have with citizens united. i think money has a corosive event. this is the first election cycle we've seen in the state. it's been around three or four years. it is the first time, and it is a pretty ugly picture. i have already voted to change this system. i will continue to work to change this system. i think the fact that the supreme court has said citizens united can allow secret money and unlimited money, i think that's bad. what it does, it diminishes the voices of real people and real arkansans and that's not good

, for the system. >> our first question goes to mr. lafrance. >> i feel badly for people that don't have dvr's because of when i watch these political ads, i feel dirty. some have called for multiple pinocchio's and pants on fire, and yet, they keep going forward. some of these are not from outside groups. some of these are from the candidates' own campaign. so along the same lines, what is the responsibility that you as a candidate have for the tone of your ads, and are you responsible for making sure that your ads don't lead the voters misled about your position on issues that are really of critical importance in our lives. >> thank you. the citizens united decision was definitely a tumultuous one of thesee now have all groups, in-state, out-of-state,

that do not have to reveal where the money is coming from. they can air attack ads on whoever they want. they can spend however much they want. personally, i think that the ads that we air, television, radio, should be informing the voters of arkansas about what we would do while in office. the negative ads are just that. they are usually just misleading people or take a single statistic and blow it out of proportion. it is just not right, and it is not fair to the voters who are trying to make an informed decision on election day. so unfortunately with the supreme court decision, right now there is not a lot that can be done, although, i can say as a candidate, and i would encourage my other candidates to do the same, i would come out publicly and specifically say i do not want this kind of support for my campaign. i do not want attack ads running against my opponents in my name

or for my campaign. i just don't think that's the right way to run a campaign and i don't think it is informative for the american people. >> mr. cotton? >> i don't think people want to hear us whining about attack ads. i think they want to hear solutions for america. and, frankly barack obama hasn't , offered solutions. pryor keeps voting with barack obama. we need to get back to basics. we need to balance our budget. we need to pass a balanced budget amendment, which i support. >> are you answering my question about what your job as a candidate is, or are you just doing talking points? is it your responsibility as a candidate to make sure your ads are not misleading?

>> i will have to allow him to go a head, because we have no provision for a follow-up western right away. mr. cotton, do you want to go ahead? >> sure. i can only control the ads i have run, and i am proud of the campaign we have run. our campaign is about getting our economy going again so we can get more people back to work, not on the food stamp rolls, which is what has happened in the obama-pryor economy. 28,000 full-time jobs, but 88,000 people on unemployment. fundamental you want to look at what's happened nationwide, the top 5%, people that live on assets and investments, they are ryorg ok under the obama-p economy, but people who live off their labor, have to work to put food on the table, they have seen their incomes decline. because mark pryor always stands with barack obama for higher taxes and more spending like obama care and more big

regulatory spending. i don't think that's right for arkansas. that's why i don't think people in arkansas are ready to vote for mark pryor, because a vote for mark pryor is a vote for barack obama. >> on to you mr. swaney. ,>> to answer the question i , believe that the candidate is 100% responsible for every piece of advertising that comes from that campaign, and i believe that candidate should be held to account if the media is able to show those ads are misleading or untrue. and that should be enough disincentive for candidates to lie and attack ads. so i think that is a pretty direct answer to that question. i would like to say further, though, on a separate subject, if i'm allowed, that i'm opposed, as the green party is opposed to , the death penalty. this subject has not been discussed much in the senate race. but i want everybody to know

that i am opposed to the death penalty. and when i am lucky enough to be elected to the united states senate, i will work very hard to eliminate the death penalty in the federal system. and i wanted to make that statement in case i didn't get a chance to say so otherwise. thank you. >> mr. swaney, thank you. mr. pryor. >> i want to thank you for that question, because i am responsible for the ads in my campaign. one of the differences is whenever we release an ad, we provide documentation to that ad, every fact that's in there. every vote, every statement. we put the context in there. this is something i sat down with my campaign team on day one, and i said look, one of the things we want to show about this campaign is integrity. the people of the state of arkansas deserve that. they deserve honesty when it comes to campaigning. now one thing you heard about from my opponent and one thing you see in his ad is his rhetoric is very clever.

and that's great for advancing his political career. that's going to help him climb the political ladder. but the problem is, arkansans are smarter than that. our voters in arkansas are amazingly independent and smart voters. time and again you will see -- mythat, i can talk from experience in some of my races. back in 2002, i won the state very big and so did mike huckabee. and you can find these kinds of election results in basically every given election cycle. people you are stubbornly independent. they don't want to be told about a lot of misinformation and bad information. in fact most of the people i , talk to, when they see the ads come on television, they hit the mute button. i hear that over and over and over. and again, like i said in my , previous answer, it is not

good for our system. we need to change this. we need to get the supreme court to reverse citizens united or to campaign finance reform or amend the constitution to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. >> mr. lafrance. >> thank you for the opportunity for rebuttal here. again i would just reiterate what i have already stated. the money being donated is not money being donated by people like you and i, but the money being donated by the large special interest groups, by the unions, by the wealthy individuals, wall street banks, big corporations across the country, that money is not being donated to these campaigns because they have a strong political belief or because they think it is the right thing to do. they are making an investment in every candidate they throw money at. and that's an investment you and i and the rest of the people across this country cannot afford to make.

and so, our voices are not heard in washington. i'm going to change that. there is no special interest, in my campaign for u.s. senator and i will work for the people , of arkansas and no one else. question comes from mr. thompson and goes first to mr. cotton. >> mr. cotton, there is open war in syria and iraq. there is something that looks a whole lot like undeclared war going on in the ukraine. and our soldiers for a couple decades, our service personnel of all the branches of the service have , been asked a lot, ranging from extended deployment to the lives, and itr has all been very expensive. what strategies should we have diploid in a bipartisan

manner over a long course of time that we can afford? >> the most fundamental responsibility of our government is to keep america safe. and barack obama's foreign-policy of weakness and indecision has made america face greater risks in the world. unfortunately, mark pryor has been rubber-stamping that foreign policy. if we look at what's happening in iraq and syria with the islamic state, they are rampaging across the region. they are beheading americans and crucifying christians, and they are burying people alive. this is happening because barack obama failed to take the advice of his generals in 2011 when they asked for a small stay-behind force. not a frontline trigger pullers like soldiers and i were in iraq in 2006 when we were fighting the precursor group of the al qaeda group but , trainers, planners, advisors. because of that decision, we lost our leverage with the iraqi government. we called into question the trustworthyness of the united states among allies in the

region, and we allowed al-qaeda in iraq to regroup and move to syria and take advantage of the vacuum there. they are not just a terrorist group, they are a terrorist army. they are the most well-financed organization potentially in modern times, and if we don't stop them, they are going to continue to rampage across the middle east, and they could attack us here in the united states. their own leader when he was released from captivity the last decade of war said "i , will see you guys in new york." the president doesn't have a good strategy. what he has is a political strategy. what we need is to take it seriously. no commander-in-chief would ever take any option off the ground including troops on the ground. , because the islamic state certainly isn't taking any options off the table. but barack obama does that, and, once again, mark pryor rubber

stamps his failed policies. >> it is a very difficult situation. you can go on and on about what caused the situation and how it should have been handled differently. i do not like war and do not generally supported, but i personally am not a pacifist. i think we need to defend the united states from attack and a second one is to put an end to mass human rights violations. it is my judgment that the situation in syria and iraq with isis meets both those criteria. and i support military action to destroy isis. i think congressman cotton was correct when he listed vast quantities of human rights violations being reported from -- committed by these people, reported by independent observers from all over, but i think congress needs to authorize it, and i think we need to seek support from the

united nations, and i think we need to seek support from other islamic countries. and i think that support should also go to helping defray the cost of this because isis is a threat to the entire world, not merely to the united states. briefly speaking about ukraine, we have no business messing around there. i have a strong suspicion that we initiated that problem. and it is a blowback case. if the russians were trying to influence a group of people in mexico to illegally overthrow the mexican government and put in a government in mexico hostile to the united states, i think we would be very upset. i think we need to be working constructively with the russians. we have common enemies. and we need to be working constructively with the chinese. we have common enemies. >> before i begin, let me say thank you for your service. let me ask you about isis for a moment.

i want to be very clear about this. my number one priority as your senator is to keep america safe from terrorism. isis is basically a terrorist organization. we must meet threats like this head on. isis that's why i support the , air strikes in order to damage isis and we have to destroy their capability to harm america. whenever it comes to something like this, i have three criteria, and this is a new. this is not something i created in the campaign. this is something i talked about probably my first month in the senate when president bush was in office. first, there must be a clear national security threat. second, there must be a clear mission with defineable and attainable goals, and means when -- that means we know when we state, and that means when the job is done and third, , there must be a coalition with regional partners

thehere who are bearing burden along side americans and putting themselves at risk just like americans are in harm's way. now i'm not sure what , congressman cotton's criteria is when it comes to something like this, but it seems that he is arguing to a more open-ended commitment in iraq. one interesting thing about his voting record is he is into nationbuilding. but he's also voted to cut schools, roads, and hospitals here in america. i believe for us to be strong at home -- for us to be strong abroad, we have to be strong at home. >> thank you. to mr. lefrance. >> again i would also like to , thank mr. cotton for his service. it is very much appreciated. when it comes to isis and the terrorist threat in the middle east i think we need to take a and look in the mirror

and realize that a lot of this is our own doing. this began with the bush administration's decision to invade iraq and overthrow saddam hussein with no plans about what to do after that happened. that left a significant power vacuum that we are still 10 years later dealing with. we helped install a prime minister that was very discriminatory against certain factions in iraq that did not bring the country together. he was our guy, and he helped to divide that country even further. and in fact, isis has gained , such a stronghold there because there is such division and because so many iraqis don't trust their own government. they would rather trust someone associated with their own religious sect, so isis being what it is now is a threat. i think we have to take actions, but it should not be unilateral. this has to be a unilateral effort to ensure that we defeat this threat and then allow these

countries that have been dealing with wars within their borders for years and decades to finally heal. to finally have democracy. have some self-control over their own future and their own governance, so i think that's the way to approach this. now, representative cotton, i do disagree with him on some foreign policy issues. one major was his support of one barack obama's effort interact with theory at last year. barack obama wanted to bomb theory at an arm syrian rebels even though a third , were rebels. approved of that. i think tom cotton is generally wrong on foreign affairs, and i think i will provide safety and security for americans. >> thank you. mr. cotton. >> when you are in combat you learn some basic lessons.

when we go into a new sector in baghdad, we would set up a security perimeter, we would dismount our weapons to be at the ready. if you look hard and tough, your enemies will think you are hard and tough. if you pull up, lollygag around, your weapons are hanging at your side you will look weak and soft , and people will be ready to take a strike at you. barack obama has made america look weak and soft in the world. and senator pryor has been weak and unsteady when it comes to our safety and security. one year ago, when i was a lonely voice calling for security in iraq. even when hillary clinton called and asked him, senator pryor voted no. he also voted forces in syria against isis. he is supporting them against the islamic state. i don't know what's happened in the meantime. mr. barack obama said he needed senator pryor's vote. whenever he says he needs senator pryor's vote, he gets it.

>> it goes first to mr. swaney. >> there has been talk about food stamps today, and the farm bill passed this year includes funding for the supplemental nutritional assistance program, commonly known as food stamps. they have been linked for decades. should they be linked? >> yes, i think so. the farm bill is worth about $100 billion per year. billion dollars of that has been for the food stamp program, and i support that food stamp program, and i believe the food stamp program should stay in the farm bill, because the money goes to farmers that grow the food that feed americans. and i actually find it a little offensive that people in congress who give away sometimes hundreds of billions of dollars of advantages to the richest people in this country, starving our federal government of needed revenue and don't care anything about the effect that it has on our deficit on the other hand seem to think it is just

terrible that some americans are getting food to eat and that the people that grew that food are getting paid some money to do that. i think that is unconscionable, i think it is wrong, and i do support the food bill. there are some fundamentals differences. i think too much of the remainder of that money goes to wealthy farmers and not enough to the less well off farmers. i also think it doesn't make the right priority choices for agrabusiness in terms of environmental choices the agra-business uses. and so i think there could be improvements in the farm bill, but i do not wish to see it divorced from food stamps. >> thank you, sir. mr. pryor? >> thank you. obviously, the farm bill is an important piece of legislation for arkansas. in fact, i think you can argue, of any bill congress passes in a five-year period, the farm bill

is probably the most important to arkansas. it covers about 20% of arkansa'' economy because about 25% of our economy is ag-related. there is a clear difference between the two of us in this race because congressman cotton voted against the farm bill. he is the only member of the arkansas delegation to do that. every indicator i have ever seen -- received from anybody in arkansas was that we should support this legislation because it is good for arkansas. let me tell you something. this is not just about the farmers. so much of this legislation is about rural america, things like world electricity, world water, ruralal electricity, water rural broadband. , all those things are in the farm bill. we need those to pass so we can help arkansas stay competive in the global economy. yes, specifically about the food

stamp program. and my opponent, as we all know, has been talking about the food stamps and how the president has hijacked the food stamp bill. i think that is why it is either in the "washington journal" or "new york times," i don't remember which one, ran a cartoon where they gave out fake , nobel prizes, and the one they gave to congressman cotton was for political fiction, ads that don't connect to the real issues in arkansas. his rhetoric is very good. he talks a good game, but the truth is, that does not help arkansas' farmers, that doesn't help people in rural arkansas, rural america. >> mr. pryor, thank you. to mr. lafrance. >> i would like to he eliminated food stamp program. nowhere in our constitution did our founding fathers give the federal government the authority to take income, to take wealth, take earnings from

one group of people and give it to other people at their own discretion. that is not freedom, and that's not an american quality. i believe issues such as helping out those struggling to make ends meet and have food on their tables or helping people with housing, these kinds of issues should be dealt with in the private sector by private charitable organizations. let the american people keep their tax money. let us decide what causes are best to give to, not politicians in washington. this is an example of what i spoke about in my opening statement, that this consolidation of power and this continual power grab in washington is an attribute of all of my opponents and their parties. this is because things like the food stamp and the food bill. -- food stamps, all of these goodies, they get dolled out to supporters, people that support their campaigns, and it is wrong.

the federal government and elected officials there have no business taking our money and to give it to other people at their own discretion. we, the american people, are smart enough and compassionate enough. we will give our money to the best run charitable organizations that help the most people most efficiently, rather byn having it confiscated washington politicians and doled out to whoever they please. that is wrong, and if i am elected, i will work to fix it. ce.thank you, mr. lafran mr. cotton. >> i think we need a real farm bill that focuses on farmer. i voted for those bills in congress. senator pryor and barack obama insist on doing things the old way, keeping them combined. that's the status quo. if you are happy with the status quo and $18 trillion in in debt, then that is probably the way you wanted, but i want

to solve problems. i grew up in my parents small family farm. by the time i was five years old, i was out with my dad working. i was probably 200 small, but i went out there early, smaller than the straw bale that i had to kick out of the back of the truck. i learned a lot of lessons, and one lesson i learned is that you cannot keep spending more money than you take in and i learned , it is not enough to live at your means, have you to live below your means because you have to save for a rainy day. that's what we need to do in washington, d.c.. we need a farm bill to help farmers, and i voted for but we one, also need a food stamp bill without the waste and abuse with the institutionalized fraud that is in some states, like illinois, so they can game the system so they can enroll more people on food stamps. we don't have that system here in arkansas but guess what? your taxpayer dollars are paying for it.

it was almost the food stamp $1 trillion. program has grown under barack obama by almost 70%. arkansas farmers get about one half of one percent of that bill. almost 75% of them, like my family and livestock producers, can expect to get nothing. i think that's a bad deal. that's why i think a vote for mark pryor is a vote for those failed barack obama policies. >> to mr. swaney. rebuttal. >> well this is an interesting , discussion. we are talking about the national debt and the cost of running the federal government, and i often believe the republican party exists for one reason and one reason only. and that is to ensure that rich people pay the lowest possible tax. and they do that by starving the federal government of revenue, thus driving up our national debt. they did that by reducing the capital gains tax. they did that by limiting the -- eliminating the inheritance

tax. they did that by refusing to pass new taxes. that did that with bush tax cuts. they did that by allowing corporations to keep one point i forget how many trillion dollars off shore so they didn't have to pay tax bringing it back to the united states. and yet, these same people find it unhappy that they need to reduce spending by taking money from the women's, infants, and children's program. these are people that don't care if babies starve. they love their ideology more than they love human beings. >> mr. swaney, thank you. the next question goes first to mr. pryor. >> if you are elected or in this case re-elected, what would you like to see happen with the affordable care act, and please include in your answer what result your decision would have on the 200,000 in arkansas and those that have employer-sponsored plans. >> yes, thank you for that question, and i do want to talk

about some specifics here in a moment. please remember, before the affordable care act passed, people in arkansas were routinely denied health insurance if they had a preexisting condition. in fact, they were one medical -- one bad diagnosis away, one medical emergency away from bankruptcy. back then the insurance companies had all of the power. we needed to put patients back in charge of their own health care. now i do support changes in the , law. i do. but i don't want to go back to those days. my opponent, congressman cotton , has already voted to go back to those days. he has voted to allow people with preexisting conditions to denied coverage by health insurance companies. this is important to me. a few weeks ago i was in church and a guy came up to me and gave me a hug. and he said thank you for voting , for the affordable care act. and he said, i am a diabetic.

i have not had private health insurance in 15 years, but now i do. congressman cotton wants to take that away from him. i don't. some of the things specifically about the private option, i think we need to keep the private option. i want to give a lot of credit to the republican legislature and the democratic government to work together to get that worked out. i hope we keep the private option. right now we have over 200,000 arkansans on the private option and on the exchange, and that is about 250 thousand arkansans that have private insurance today that did not have it one year ago. on, thank you. mr. lafrance. >> very succinctly, the affordable care act needs to be repealed in its entirety. it has been a disaster for the united states. health costs are skyrocketing. i talked with doctors throughout arkansas and the united states.

i have talked to doctors throughout the united states they have made one thing clear. , they are focused on their computer screens when they are talking to patients making sure they put in the right key words and the right codes because of the mandates of the affordable care act. their focus has gone from patient care to dealing with the affordable care act and federal government regulations on health care. and that is wrong. so the first step is to repeal obamacare. the second step is to get government out of the health care industry. a long time ago, health insurance used to be affordable americans, and it was really an insurance product. today it is not affordable for a lot of people. costs go up tremendously every year, and it is a system that's out of control. part of that was the founding a system of medicare and medicaid. and then a lot of the massive expansions have driven up prices. a lot of that is the drug companies that have driven up prices. health insurance isn't really safe anymore.

think about your auto insurance. if you took the current policy with your automotive insurance if , you took your car to the gas station, insurance would pay for your gas. that is not what insurance is about. insurance is to protect us from catastrophic illnesses in our family so that we can survive and continue to thrive. right now it is just a transfer , of wealth from healthy people people to ill people. it has gotten worse under obamacare. we need to repeal it and restructure the entire system. >> to mr. cotton. >> obamacare has been bad for the country, and mark pryor casts a decisive vote for obama care. he is responsible for that law. i think of all the people i met across the state of arkansas, is one story i want to tell is of a man that runs a dental office where he practices. they lost their health insurance

because their office wasn't obamacare compliant. for example it didn't have , pediatric care and neo-natural care. some couples obviously need and want those provisions. anne and i need those provisions in our health insurance. and we choose them. this couple is in their late 50's. they have grand kids. they don't have kids. yet they lost their health insurance because barack obama and mark pryor thinks government-run health insurance that dictates those to you is better than you and your family making those decisions. look at all of the problems obamacare has caused. 2.5 million jobs lost. $700 billion in cuts to pay for obamacare. just gotseniors despitetion notices, barack obama's and mark pryor's

promises you can keep your plan if you like your plan. and billions of dollars wasted on a broken website. we can do better. we can repeal obamacare and trust patients and dr.. let small businesses pool their resources together so they can negotiate better resources. and it is not just obamacare. when we start in health care reform, we can take a program like medicare and let the states make decisions for all their populations. mark pryor said he wants fixes on obamacare, but he never proposes any, because barack obama has not. and mark pryor always puts barack obama first, not arkansas. >> mr. swaney. >> the affordable care act is better than nothing. i have friends of mine, family members, that have been unable to visit a doctor for serious illness for years who have now been able to go to the doctor. so i don't want to say that i think the affordable care act is a bad thing. it's a step, but only a step in the right direction.

for those who have very low incomes, it is affordable and possible then for the first time to see a doctor. this is a good thing. but there are many people that have a moderate income and are far from wealthy and can't afford the premiums for the affordable care act. not only that, the affordable care act does nothing about the cost of medicine. and without some price discipline, you can expect that medical costs will continue to increase. therefore we will continue to put more and more burdens on the citizens and the government. therefore, and because of these reasons, the green continues to support and call for a national health insurance take the insurance industry out of medicine and remove the profits. we believe, in the green party that basic medical care is a human right, and to deny it for

any reason is basically a violation of human rights, and in some cases might be moralally equivalent to murder. other nations have done this and have done a good job, and they get better outcomes for about half the cost because they have national health insurance. we are addicted to the idea that capitalism like a religion must always be right and must always be the only solution for every problem. it is not. it does not work in the case of the medical industry, and we need national health insurance. >> rebuttal, mr. pryor. >> again, gwen, thank you for that question, and let me give you an idea of things i do support. contrary to what representative cotton says i don't support , changes. i'm a democratic sponsor on a bill that would fix the exchanges for pastors and ministers. it is a technical fix. but nonetheless, an important , one. and i'm also supportive of repealing the medical tax.

there are three things right there. let me also get back to congressman cotton's answer on the affordable care act. he had no answer at all for people with preexisting conditions. none. in other contexts, what he talks about, is reestablishing the high-risk pool. let me tell you something. congressman i'm a cancer , survivor. i have lived in this. i've been in the high-risk pool. it is not a good place to be. when we had the high-risk pool in arkansas we had over 20% of the people that did not have insurance. if we reestablish the high-risk pool, we are just throwing sick people to the wolves, and i don't support it. >> the next question is from mr. thompson and goes to mr. first lafrance. obama has two years left in his last term. he is a lame duck. he is blocked by a hostile majority in the house. he has a senate that at best is going to be pretty evenly and bitterly divided. this is a six-year term you are

running for four senate. would you please tell us what you would hope to accomplish in that six years, most of which will not be with president -- be under the administration of barack obama? and please don't mention obama, if you can give me an answer like that. [laughter] >> i appreciate that. what i hope to accomplish is pretty simple. if elected, i want to leave office six years from now or be re-elected for another term potentially, with the federal government smaller than it is today. with the budget deficit gone, and a balanced budget amendment in place. i'd like to see the income tax system be completely over-hauled. we have a 75,000 plus page income tax system. companies have to hire armies of accountants, c.p.a.'s just to do with it and try to find the loopholes that benefit them. it is ridiculous.

our laws in washington are supposed to be laws made for the american people. people should be able to read and understand these laws. in fact, most of the republicans and democrats in congress don't bother reading them themselves, and most don't understand what's in them. with the income tax system, i would like to scrap it. put the whole thing in a shredder, 80,000 pages probably , a big mess. i would like to replace it with the fair tax where americans pay a sales tax to the federal government on final consumer goods. this can almost eliminate the i.r.s., tremendous cost savings for americans, and i think it will be a big boost to our economy. in addition, like i said, i want to strengthen the federal government. we have agencies that are tremendously bloated. they need to be cut down to size. we need to balance the budget. at the same time i would like to cut your tax burden as well,

because the middle-class right now is just under a tremendous strain from the income tax system that they are facing, and it is hurting families all across america. >> mr. cotton. >> well, barack obama can do a lot of damage in two years. he's already done a lot of damage in six years. that is one of the reasons why the arkansans are so disappointed with mark pryor for voting with him. we need to get our economy moving again, because arkansans and hurting. we have fewer than 30,000 new jobs. wages are down almost 5%. how can we do that? well we need to start with tax , reform. we need to reform our tax code. we now have some of the highest taxes in the industrialized wormed. that makes arkansas and our country less competitive for jobs right here at home. we need to reform our regulatory laws, so you can hold congress accountable for every rule or legacy that

comes out of those places so we do not have them point their finger at nameless and faceless democrats. look what this is doing in places like north dakota or out in middle of odessa in the basin. we can have gas prices that are falling, diesel prices that are falling. and we need to untap the potential for clean coal for holding the potential for lowering prices for every arkansasn, every american. those are just a few of the things that i hope to get to work on, but in these last two years, the president can still do a lot of damage, and some of that damage could last for generations. if he continues to get supreme court justice nomination or continues to pack the lower courts, that will be an obama echo that will last for decades. if they had your way, you wouldn't have a second amendment right to keep and bear arms. our marriage laws would be over-turned. we would not be able to protect

unbhorn life. that is why a vote for mark pryor is a vote for barack obama. >> mr. swaney. >> good question, but i fear i will not have time to cover all the ground. the first thing i would like to see at the end of my six years in my first term as senator from arkansas would be to solve the problem of climate change. know we don't hear a lot about it, and i read a lot about it. i care about the future and i care about the future of my children and grandchildren. if we do not care about it, we are not good human beings, and we better get busy on it now. i believe we need to institute a carbon tax. this would eliminate the economic advantage that burning fossil fuels has over cleaner energy, thereby moving us away in stages from a carbon-based economy. the second thing i would like to do is tax wall street.

i studied about this, and i found some tremendous numbers. i will try to say this bass. $1 trillion a day $1 trillion a , day just in america just stocks and bonds. $383 trillion worth of financial transactions by wall street every year. not one penny of it is taxed. that needs to change. i want to see a minimum wage increased to a living wage and put more money in the hands of the working people because that will bring jobs by reviving the economy, it is the only way it can be revived, and that is increasing consumer spending. i want to see a balanced budget and social security saved. both of those things happen by restoring the tax cuts, the revenue taken from the federal government by these tax cuts by those people who only care about the interests of the rich. and last, i would cut off aid to israel. they don't need it. and i would seek better relations with china and russia. >> thank you, sir. mr. pryor?

>> thank you for asking that question on president obama, because as you all noticed, when you ask questions about negative ads congressman cotton talks about obama. when you ask a question about isis, he talks about obama. you talk about the farm bill, he talks about obama. you see a pattern? yes. clearly he is running against one man but i am running for 3 million arkansans. that is what this race is all about, and that is the difference in this race. i'm on your side. when i look at you and travel the state and hear what is on your mind, that's when i go to work. congressman cotton loves to throw out these phony stirks about how much i have agreed with president obama. you all know me. you know i don't agree with president obama on a whole variety of things. just take the keystone pipeline. take his epa regs on carbon. take the cuts to social security.

i disagreed with him last year on gun control, so much so that when i voted no on his legislation, mayor bloomberg of new york my philosophy is this. if you look at the rankings of the people that actually look at the senate and how we vote. -- actually look at how we vote, every year i've been in the senate, every year they've ranked me as one of the most independent senators in washington. that's because i listened to you. and you know when president barb was in office there were times i agreed with him, there were times i took heat for agreing with president bush. arkansas comes first and that's what i mean. >> mr. la france for rebuttal. >> thank you. it's pretty simple what i would like to do as in my first six year term. i would like to