it is one of the key things a governor does -- appoint judges. it is a key function for as far as which way we will go as a state. one of the supreme court judges in kansas hosted a fundraiser for paul davis. i cannot believe they did that, but they did. this is a liberal judge -- liberal court that has overturned cases like the carr brothers. heinous crimes. overturned those cases. it will probably be appealed. they will be appealed to the united states supreme court. states supreme court overturned the kansas supreme court in a unanimous opinion by the u.s. supreme court. it matters what judges you appoint and whether they stick to the law or rewrite it. this is important. it has not been discussed this much in the campaign but it is critical how you move forward as a state. i will appoint judges that stay within the boundaries of the law and the constitution. we feel this constantly in the

society today, and i ask for your vote in november on that direction, and not on obama direction for the state of kansas. >> representative davis. >> thank you for being here today. when i decided to get into the race, i knew governor brownback would run an ugly campaign with personal attacks. when i didn't think the ads could get any sleazier i turned , on my television this morning and i saw an ad that he is running linking me to the carr brothers murder. i knew one of the victims. governor, you trying to exploit that terrible tragedy to help get elected is disgraceful. you ought to be ashamed of it. i have taken a lot of hits in this campaign, but you know what? they are worth it because the future of kansas is on the line and i don't want to see four more years of what we have had. four more years of a stagnant economy, of degrading our

transportation fund, of cuts to education, early childhood, k-12, higher education. i mentioned next year our daughter caroline will walk into a public school classroom for the very first time, hopefully in topeka. my wife and i are like any other parents who want the very best for her. she and her friends will not be able to achieve those great opportunities if we continue to have a governor who has never made education a priority. a governor that has turned our state into a science lab, trying to gain national acclaim. his experiment put our stay deep -- state deep into debt, damaged our economy and it has jeopardized the quality of education for entire generation of kansas kids. we don't need a red state model, we don't need a blue state model -- we need common sense solutions that work for kansas. jill docking and i will restore the cuts to our public schools and we will get our economy

moving again. we will use proven ways to grow or economy. no more experiments. the future of our state depends upon it. i ask for your vote on november 4 so we can restore kansas together, because we must. thank you for being here today. >> everyone, let's give a great round of applause. [applause] our candidates for the office of governor in the great state of kansas. thank you all very much. campaign 2014 is bringing you more than 100 debates for the control of congress. stay in touch and engage. follow us on twitter, and like us on facebook. >> now, the first debate between candidates in the montana u.s. senate race. emma amanda curtis is facing republican congressman steve

daines. dropped outhn walsh of the race due to allegations of plagiarism. listed as solid republican. this is about an hour. the montana television network, in partnership with montana pbs, this is campaign 2014, the senate debate. made possible thanks to support from the greater montana foundation. the greater montana foundation, founded by montana broadcasting communicationorts on values of importance to all montana. towe welcome you tonight debate night here on the montana television network. we welcome you here to the campus of msu billings.

we present the only televised debate for the montana u.s. senate campaign here in 2014. i am your moderator for the evening. we want to welcome our live audience tonight, along with the people tuning in, and the stationtelevision networks across montana. we are going nationwide on c-span 2, so a big welcome to folks watching across the country. people are also listening in on statewide radio. we are on yellowstone public radio, along with statewide, with friends at the northern news network. we would like to acknowledge our sponsors. msu billings, with this beautiful facility, one of our primary sponsors, along with yellowstone public radio, the billings gazette, and the montana television network. all four entities are joining forces. a special thank you to the greater montana foundation for all their support. just a few housekeeping items to

mention. our format tonight -- we have the candidates who will be questioned by the panel of three journalist. no opening statements tonight. the first candidate gets 60 seconds to answer the question. the other candidate will have 30 seconds to rebut and then both get another 30 seconds to rebut what was said. we hope we will have a lively discussion along those lines. we are asking the audience locally to hold their applause until the very end. we covered cell phones, not applauding or hissing during the debate. that gives us more time to cover more questions. with little ado, let's meet the candidates. we would agree the senate race in montana has everything but a debate. a televised debate. we are here tonight to fill that void. let's meet amanda curtis. she and her husband live in butte.

she is a math teacher at butte high school and was elected to the montana house of representatives in 2012. she is a total product of the montana university system. she has a biology degree from montana tech. she is working on her masters currently. she and her husband live in butte and she is a high school teacher at butte high and has taught at the middle and element the helen up middle school. middle school. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> also with us, we have steve daines. steve was raised in bozeman and is also a product of the montana school system. he has a degree in chemical engineering. he worked for proctor and gamble and worked in his family's construction company and was selected as vice president for right now technologies out of bozeman. he was elected to the house in 2012.

he and his wife cindy have four children. it is great to see you tonight. thank you for being here. >> i appreciate it. is up tough job tonight to our three panelists. let's introduce you. in the left-hand side we have , mike denison on the panel tonight. for those byline reading newspapers across the state. for the past nine years, mike has worked for the newspaper state bureau but has been covering state house and government issues for 20 years. -- 22 years, with the ap. big welcome to mike. good to see you tonight, mike. thank you. also we have with us the news director of yellowstone public radio, who has been covering state and national politics for 28 years. the first governor she covered was back in the mid-1980's. good to see you tonight and i

know you have a bunch of good questions. and last but not least and sanjay. he has worked in the past for the helena independent record and the great falls tribune. those are our panelist tonight. thank you very much. [applause] >> all right. that is enough of the applause. i have the first question as the moderator. we flipped a coin before it started, and amanda you get a chance to answer the first question. and it is this: isis has been identified as one of the biggest threats facing the united states of america and perhaps the world. and my question is, did you believe president obama's response to the isis threat is adequate and if not perhaps when would you be willing to put ground troops on the ground to deal with that threat? >> isis is a terrible group and has absolutely no respect for human life. america absolutely has a role to

play in ending isis. but we cannot be the policemen of the world. we need to have a serious conversation about how much this is going to cost and where the money is going to come from. >> steve, same question, did you believe the president's response to the isis threat has been adequate and would you at some point be willing to put boots on the ground? >> my concern with the president's response is the lack of clarity. -- a strategy. he needs to consult with congress. we need to be on the same page, moving forward. we need a long-term strategy. the isis threat is not going away in the near term. 9/11 was 13 years ago and this is going to affect generations potentially. we need to address it with a long-term strategy. i don't support putting combat groups on the ground but we need a strategy with energy security and need to produce oil so the word looks to us for energy not the middle east. we need to secure our borders and ensure we don't have isis coming from the southern border and number three we need to

ensure we have a coalition of middle east allies in supporting the united states in dealing with this serious threat. >> quick follow-up about putting boots on the ground. how would you, if this war moves forward, how should we pay for this war? >> i also don't agree with putting boots on the ground. it is up to the folks in that region to step up to the plate and contain isis, and help us in making them go away. we have seen politicians kick the can down the road and making sure we know how much it is going to cost and who is going to pay for it. that should be a shared cost among all the folks who feel the threat from isis. >> steve, two wars on the credit card already, how are we going to pay for this? >> the isis forces are receiving $2 million a day from refined oil. so we cannot afford to stop -- afford not to stop this

threat. if you remember 9/11 i remember , being in business during 9/11 when the economy froze so it is -- froze. the cost to the economy for doing nothing is going to be far greater than what it will take to combat this force and ensure we secure the homeland for this generation and our children and grandchildren. >> our first question from the panelists goes to jacky. your question. >> i suppose i am more formal. congressman daines, one year ago the republicans shutdown down government. if republicans controlled both the house and the senate after the midterm election, would you again support a shutdown again if you get into a budget stalemate either with the president or fellow republicans? >> the government shutdown was a failure of washington. washington is broken. it takes two parties to negotiate a deal. the president was unwilling to come to the table and engage the congress. congress was standing up to protect from the harmful affects of obamacare.

we wanted to give individual americans the same privileges the president had given large business and unions. it takes two to sort it out. it was a failure. and during the government shutdown i refused to take take my salary and donated it to the big sky honor flight. because in the real world when you don't get results you are held accountable for that. and i said the failure of the system, and i didn't believe it was right to take salary during that time. >> amanda, your response. >> the government shutdown absolutely was a failure. and congressman daines has a clear voting record and that is one of the reasons i agreed to get into the nomination. he voted for the government shutdown that cost the state of montana millions of dollars and hurt montana's small businesses. he is so out of touch with how we live in the state we can -- that he can afford to go

without congressional pay but most families can't relate to that. >> congressman? >> we worked hard to make sure we protected montanans against the shutdown. that was a failure of washington, d.c. 16, iber 16, -- october broke with the republican majority to stop to shutdown and move forward with the government again. so it is as a failure of government and that is why it is important it never happens again. we just had that stalemate again and moved through it with reasonable and rational minds coming together and avoided another shutdown. >> i would just remind everyone that the shutdown did affect montanans and it affected all seven of the reservations because there were no plans for those sovereign governments and what would happen to them during the shutdown. >> follow up?

>> i do want to follow-up. many republicans signed the no new taxes pledge. i am asking you, would you vote for a federal shutdown again? >> we do not need to have a shutdown. we need both sides coming to the table and coming to agreement. this was the first president in the history who would not sit down with congress and negotiate an increase to the debt ceiling. president obama did it before, in president clinton, president 2011. reagan and president bush did it. this was a president unique in history that the he refused to sitdown and negotiate a deal. that is the way you work, moving forward in politics. you need two parties sitting down, finding a solution and moving forward. >> amanda? >> what i didn't hear is no, i would not vote for a government shutdown. [laughter] no, i would not vote for a government shutdown because it cost our state millions and hurts montana businesses and our native american reservations and

the comments about compromise and working together are right and that is why it is important to not send the most extreme congressmen montana has ever had back to washington, d.c. as our senator. >> next question goes to mike. >> representative curtis, you said you support the affordable care act and it helped people get insurance. what about the vast majority of people who had insurance but didn't get subsidies to buy it? why should they support it? they are paying for it but see few discernible benefits. >> i was just at the bobcat tailgate the other day and i ran into a physician who has been practicing medicine for 30 years. he said, it is really nice to meet you. don't repeal the aca. he said he had a preexisting condition that made him as a

health care provider uninsurable. i know the aca is not perfect. i have travelled over 8,000 miles across the state listening to residents having problems with delay of care and the cost their insurance. so i am just saying that i am willing to work with both sides of the aisle to fix these issues and make this bill work better for everyone. i actually have had the experience of having my health care plan rise in cost, so i am feeling that myself. >> steve, your rebuttal. >> i will stand with the people of montana and not president obama. as i have traveled around the state, i have been to every one of montana's 56 counties and overall we don't like obamacare and want it repealed. we don't want to see a washington-led solution. d.c.-led solutions do not solve

the problems. they create more problems. 35,000 people in the state lost their insurance. president obama said if you like your health insurance you can keep it. well, tell that to the 9,000 medicare advantage patients that are losing their coverage, who just got the letters in the last two weeks. >> do you have a follow up? >> no. >> i am so glad president obama isn't on the ballot. the people who are on the ballot is one of, who truly us and understands these issues of rising health care costs, and the most extreme congressman we have ever had, who instead of working for a solution threw a tantrum and voted over 40 times that isl something absolutely saving lives for working families in montana. >> congressman daines, again on obamacare, you said you are

interested in repealing the affordable care act and replacing it with things like tort reform or health savings account and portability of plans state lines. but for people that can not afford health insurance now and haven't been able to, do you think those things will help them get health insurance, and do you think we should have a policy as goal to get towards some kind of universal health coverage for people that can not afford it? >> i believe the answers to the health care problems is to have a montana solution. by the way i didn't vote against , obamacare 40 times. i voted once. that is my voting record. here is what we need to do. tort reform is a 10-20 percent saving in defensive medicine cost. we also need to expand hsa's. obamacare cut hsa's. we need to expand hsa's. and number three we need to allow american people to have a tax deduction who are not

working for a company to receive the same tax deduction when they work for companies with employer-sponsored plans. at the end of the day i don't , want a one size solution that works for california or new have a one-size-fits-all solution for california and new york. we need a solution that works for rural montana. hard-working, middle-class montanans do not want to see an album -- and obama solution in d.c.. they want to see it in here. >> amanda. we have unfortunately seen solutions andall that vote to repeal the aca was one of those. the fact of the matter is the aca provided for our state to expense medicare, our model

legislature dropped the ball on that, and i would like to see us continue to improve the aca and an month hannah's next legislature, expand medicare for all of our systems. >> steve. the problem was ensuring that the poor, the disabled, those that cannot afford health care are getting coverage that the congressional budget office , 31 million americans will still not have health care coverage after the aca is implemented. net the pelosi sold it as a $950 billion project. the latest estimates suggest it will now be $1.8 trillion spent and we will still have 31 million americans uninsured. this is after the aca is implemented. >> i really does have to step in here and say that when you look at the cost savings of preventing citizens from having

their initial point of contact with the health insurance system be the emergency room, the amount of money that is saved by this country in the long run is astronomical. that is a much more realistic way to look at the numbers that >> the updated cbo updated last at $130d the aca now 1.8ion to our debts, so trillion dollars raise taxes, 31 million americans uninsured, it is going to raise the deficit $131 billion. take a look at that senate committee report that >> sanjay, do you have a follow-up? those, are they going to benefit from tax elections at all?

>> we need to solve this at the state level. withs are moving forward programs and plans that are unique to that state's needs that think about montana and a resident in winnock might be something different than someone in bozeman. we need a state-focused solution. look at what the v.a. did when it took over the health care system. look at indian health services. when the federal government takes over a system it becomes expensive and the poor, disabled , and elderly are not getting the care they need. >> amanda, your follow-up. >> i would ask anyone who voted to try to repeal the aca to explain that to my mom who hasn't had health insurance in 31 years but now has access. or explain that to my friend who

as a health care professional for the first time is considered able to be insured. >> moving along. jacky? >> because of the needs of police, roads, sewer and water systems is immediate and emense would you support the return of ear marks, otherwise cnn as congressional reports, to pay for the projects? >> in talking about eastern montana, it is important to remember our state has given corporation corporations making millions an 18-month tax-free holiday. and when you look at paying for roads, bridges, schools, police officers, perhaps we should be taxing in the first 18 months instead of letting an out of state company come in and reap

as many natural resources as it can and move on to the next well before it has to pay taxes. >> congressman daines? >> i will answer the question. no, i don't support earmarks. they were abused. you so what happened in washington, d.c. i had a career in politics prior to serving in the house of representatives. the problem with earmarks is you have members of congress using it to cut deals at the expense of the taxpayer. they use it to pad their own success at the expense of the american people. i serve on the transportation infrastructure committee in the house and we can work through prioritizeing our projects -- prioritizing our projects without earmarks. >> amanda, rebuttal?

>> i am also against earmarks and we should not send our congressman back to washington, d.c. to be in the senate who has supported giving incentives to ship corporations oversea overseas. >> steve? >> the most important thing we want to do is see better paying jobs and less government. 50% of the people graduating from universities are underemployed or unemployed. that is one of the biggest challenges we face and why when you talk with montanans, they say they don't want to travel outside of the state to see their grandchildren. they want opportunities for people to stay here in montana. we educate our children here, we raise them here, and then we export them because there are not enough good, high-paying jobs here in montana. >> next question is for mike. >> congressman daines, you said abortion should be illegal in most cases and oppose funding for planned parenthood.

why are these goals the right thing for montana? >> it is important we provide contraception to women and make it accessible. but it is important we have a respect for life. we are a nation that has a great respect for life. if a soldier is left on the battlefield we will riv risk the lives of 20 seals for one life. our declaration of independence says life, liberty and happiness are what we stand for. they are the most vulnerable and have no voice in our society and that is why i will stand for life for those who are the most vulnerable.

>> amanda? >> congressman daines sponsored a bill that would ban most kinds of contraception. when i was 16 years old, i accessed planned parenthood and i don't know if you notice but there is only one woman standing on the stage and women can absolutely trust me to trust them. only one woman for the senate that . >> congressman daines? >> i am a father of four children. two sons and two daughters. it is important to make sure some someday my daughters will have access to contraception when they need it. i think it is very important we stand to ensure the women across

this country have full access to contraception. we need to make sure we stand up and respect the first amendment and there is an issue of freedom of speech there. that is why it is important we stand for women and ensure they have access to contraception. >> i would just step in and say what congressman daines just said in mentioning the first amendment is he is reminding us he supports the hobby lobby decision saying a corporation can make my health care decisions for me and as a woman senator, i absolutely disagree with that. >> next question is sanjay. >> representative curtis, you said you support the jobs coming from the coal industry and the development of the keystone xl pipeline. on the other hand, many of your supporters also have serious concerns about climate change