Tax, benefits focus in 1st District

Crawford rethinks March comments, calls Causey an ‘insider’

— During a 1st District congressional debate Monday, Republican Rick Crawford denied that he’s ever backed a flat tax, a claim undermined by a video showing him calling it “a good idea.”

Democratic nominee Chad Causey said Crawford supports a flat 23 percent national sales tax “on almost everything we buy: medicine, gas, cars, clothes. I don’t think there is anything interesting about that. ... That’s a bad idea.”

That charge, Crawford responded, was an attempt “to divert our attention” from Causey’s reluctance to oppose President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul.

“Again, what he has shown is an ability to not only go to distortion, to flat-out lies. I’ve never supported the flat tax or fair tax and that’s not part of my platform,” Crawford said.

But in a YouTube video from a March appearance at a Lonoke County Republican Party committee meeting, Crawford is heard saying, “a flat tax is a good idea, provided we don’t add that to our income tax.”

Unlike his opponents, Crawford didn’t answer questions from reporters after the debate taped for broadcast Monday evening on the Arkansas Educational Telecommunications Network at the University of Central Arkansas.

When asked to reconcile Crawford’s March statement with his comments on Monday, Crawford spokesman Ted Prill said: “Rick Crawford is against tax increases. It’s that simple. He doesn’t support anything that is going to take more money out of the pockets of our families.”

Causey’s claim that Crawford supports a flat tax just shows that Causey is a Washington insider, Prill said.

“The reality is the metric system is an interesting concept. Unicorns are an interesting concept. Doesn’t mean that we support it,” Prill said, adding that Crawford was the only candidate to support a pledge not to raise taxes.

The Republican and Democrat, both from Jonesboro, also squared off over privatizing Social Security.

Causey noted that Crawford signed a platform advanced by conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that includes a vow to provide younger workers with the choice of personal retirement accounts.

“Mr. Crawford supports privatization; I don’t,” Causey said. “I’ll work to protect and strengthen Social Security. ... It’s the last safety net that keeps millions of Americans out of poverty.”

Crawford denied supporting Social Security privatization. “If you say a lie long enough it doesn’t make it true. I don’t support privatization of Social Security. ... The wordsmithing doesn’t change that fact,” he said.

In the March video posted on YouTube, Crawford also voiced support for private accounts to Lonoke County Republican committeemen.

“Particularly those people that are my age and younger, I think we need to allow them to participate in a private plan and come up with a way to provide for their own retirement. ... And then we can, hopefully, restore some solvency to Social Security for those people who genuinely need it,” Crawford said.

Causey said that supporting private accounts would divert Social Security revenue from current senior-citizen recipients. Crawford’s campaign now says that he favors private accounts only for future generations.

Crawford said repealing “Obamacare,” a word he mentioned more than 20 times in the hour-long debate, was his first priority. He said Causey had hedged on the issue, which showed a “lack of ability or commitment to support the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, which is the greatest threat we face.”

Causey said he wouldn’t have voted for the legislation that passed Congress, but he wanted to modify the law by allowing the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices and roll back the $500 billion in Medicare cuts.

The leading candidates did agree on several issues.

Both Causey and Crawford said they backed a balanced budget amendment and the full and permanent extension of the tax cuts enacted by Congress in 2001 and 2003, known as the “Bush Tax Cuts.”

And they both support an opening of trade to Cuba to benefit 1st District agricultural exports such as rice.

Green Party candidate Ken Adler of Batesville said he supported universal health care, a drastic cut in military spending and a flat income tax. He said after the debate that the flat income tax, often criticized by liberals as being regressive, wasn’t a Green Party position, but his own. He said eliminating tax loopholes and requiring everyone to pay the same percentage of their income was the fairest way to tax.

In their closing statements, Causey and Crawford made final appeals for votes.

Causey mentioned that after church on Sunday while “looking for a deer stand to hang for this upcoming bow season,” that he “began to really realize” that the race isn’t about personalities, but about the everyday concerns of 1st District voters.

“I’ve never been handed a thing in my life,” said Causey, the former chief of staff of retiring U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, whom the hopefuls are vying to replace. Causey promised to protect Social Security and create jobs.

“No one will take this responsibility more seriously. No one will work harder,” Causey said.

Crawford, who owns an agricultural news service, said he was a small-businessman with “real-world experience.”

“The last thing we need inside Washington is another Washington insider,” Crawford said. “The 1st Congressional District is not for sale. ... It’s a public trust, it’s not inherited.”

Voters in the 26-county east Arkansas district will go to the polls Nov. 2.

Arkansas, Pages 13 on 10/13/2010

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