Politics

Hill, Meadows debate at WCU

By Bill Moss, Published: September 5, 2014

CULLOWHEE — Democratic challenger Tom Hill and U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows engaged in their first and maybe only debate in their contest for the 11th Congressional District.

Hill, a retired physicist from Zirconia, pursued themes of help for the middle class and attacked Meadows for what he described as partisan actions.
Meadows, who was elected for the first time in 2012, went to a small-ball achievement when asked in the opening questions what he would work on first if re-elected. He mentioned a bill he cosponsored to exempt nonprofit organizations from onerous and expensive requirements of the Dodd-Frank banking reform law.
There were jabs, a handful of applause lines and couple of light moments. But neither candidate landed a knockout punch in the debate, which ran for about an hour and 20 minutes and was seen by around 300 people at the A.K. Hinds University Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.
The candidates fielded questions on immigration, the Affordable Care Act, fracking, corporate tax loopholes, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Meadows' role in the government shutdown a year ago and shooting of unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo.

Immigration

Answering a question about a flow of immigrants at the border, Hill urged a more compassionate view.
"This notion that 15 million undocumented workers are voluntarily going to deport themselves back to Central America is absolutely nonsense," he said.
Hill challenged Republicans "who claim to be Christian evangelicals" on immigration. "I ask them simply to look at the mirror and ask what would Jesus do? You think Jesus would be out there yelling obscenities at these people coming across the border and telling them to go home," he said. "I seem to recall that he made a statement like 'Suffer the little children, to come unto me.'"
He also came out strongly against most military campaigns abroad.
"As Mark tried to shut down the government" to block Obamacare, Hill said, he would freeze funding "for these never ending wars."

Corporate taxes

Meadows said closing loopholes for corporate income taxes "is something we all can work on" but added that the government should not pick winners and losers. The bigger problem, he said, is the higher corporate income tax rate that chases companies overseas.
Hill scoffed at that.
"These deadbeats would not pay taxes if it was $5," he said. "They're not going to pay. As long as they can move offshore and avoid taxes they will do so. They've shown that."
Later, returning to the issue of taxing corporations and the wealthy to balance the budget, Meadows said that approach is flawed.
"Eventually you run out of other people's money," he said. "If you tax all those corporations in that top 1 percent, you still cannot balance the budget.
"The problem is not a revenue problem, it's a spending problem and we've got to get that under control," he concluded, drawing applause.
Hill said if Congress taxed corporations that are now evading taxes, the U.S. could collect $900 billion. "It's not on the back of the working class," he said. "We working people, we poor people, we're taxed to death. Every time we turn around, we are taxed. It's the wealthy that are escaping taxes — they are paying 13 percent if they're paying at all."

Government shutdown

Moderator Frank Fraboni, a WLOS reporter and anchor, asked Meadows' to describe his role in the government shutdown and asked if he had any regrets.
"Tom has a copy of the letter. Nowhere in there does it say anything about a government shutdown," Meadows said. "Tom has a plan that says he wants to have a government shutdown to cut funds to the military. I think that that is not responsible."
Meadows then pivoted to his chief reason for the threat — the Affordable Care Act, which is unpopular in North Carolina and in the 11th District.
"Did I believe that the Affordable Care Act would be problem when it's rolled out? The answer is yes," he said. "Did I believe that people would not be able to keep their health care? The answer is yes. Did I also believe that they wouldn't be able to keep their doctor? The answer is yes. Did I believe that they would pay higher premiums? The answer is still yes."
"Did I believe that Harry Reid would be reasonable? That's where I was wrong. If you want to suggest that this freshman congressman has more power than Harry Reid and can close down the government, so be it, I'm going to do a whole more for Western North Carolina if I have that power."
Hill said Meadows' interpretation can't erase his fingerprints on the October 2013 shutdown.
The letter "led to the shutdown, and it was an uncompromising position," Hill said. "It did not talk about bipartisanship and working together and it was a group of Republicans who decided to hold the federal government in order to defend Obamacare. They passed bills that override the ACA 40 times. Forty times they repealed it. They're just really sore losers."

Bipartisanship

Hill returned also to his theme that Meadows adheres to an extreme rightwing view.
"There is great bipartisanship when it comes to dropping bombs and blowing people up," he said. "I'm looking for bipartisanship on things that affect our lives here in this country."
Meadows responded that he had cosponsored more bills with Democrats than all but one of North Carolina's Republican delegation.

Age and experience

Introducing another question, Fraboni said that Hill, who if elected would be 77 when sworn in, would be one of the oldest freshmen in U.S. history.
"Why should the voters elect someone with your lack of experience in elective office and your relatively advanced age?"
"I'm in excellent physical condition," Hill responded, and mentioned other older politicians in Congress — they were all Democrats — who are in good shape. "I'm well educated and I can do these things."
"People say, 'You don't have experience.' That's exactly what we need in Washington," he said. "I am not politically correct. I don't even agree with my party all the time and I don't support Obama all the time."
Hill's straight response left it to Meadows to remind the audience of Reagan's famous answer to the age question in 1984, when he said he would not use Walter Mondale's youth against him.
"Age is not factor," Meadows said. "Really the problem is not Tom's age, it's his ideological perspective."
Hill said he had heard Meadows promise a balanced budget. "Where is it?"
"It's sitting on Harry Reid's desk," Meadows said.