Democratic Senate candidate Scott Leckman says Sen. Bob Bennett is wrong on a number of issues, but none more so than tobacco.
While Bennett, R-Utah, says he wants a reasonable, workable solution to the tobacco question - teenagers protected and tobacco firms paying higher taxes - Leckman says Bennett's voting record doesn't square with the talk.Tobacco and how to handle it is only one of many issues the two candidates disagree on.
Leckman, a general surgeon, basically believes that Congress and Bennett haven't taken what opportunities are presented to help families, especially families with children, or deal with the work-a-day problems of Americans.
To give families more money, Leckman would triple the current $500 tax credit per child to $1,500. For some Utah families with a number of children, that would prove to be a considerable tax break.
He also wants to better fund early childhood intervention programs, believing the programs work and will save taxpayers a lot of money down the road in health care, education, even prison costs.
Bennett believes the GOP-controlled House and Senate are moving in the right direction, getting the federal government out of people's lives, reining back the Internal Revenue Service and eliminating the federal budget deficit.
Leckman criticizes Bennett for first supporting, then opposing, a bill sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that would have raised cigarette taxes considerably and put the money into a new children's health-care plan.
This year, Bennett opposed the McCain tobacco bill, the main tobacco bill debated, says Leckman. "In June 1998, Bennett voted to kill a measure designed to reform the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco to minors," he adds.
Bennett says the Hatch bill may have actually led to fewer kids being covered by health care and that the other bills had such high tobacco tax increases that black marketing of cigarettes could have resulted compromising control of tobacco products.
Bennett says Congress should give another round of tax cuts, much along the lines of cuts that took place several years ago.
Increasing the child tax credit, cutting the capital gains and estate taxes helped spur the U.S. economy into the longest expansion in recent history, Bennett says.
The senator says that letting people keep their money and make their own choices about how it is spent is the best thing the federal government can do.
Besides answering questions posed by the Deseret News, Leckman also filled out the Vote Smart questionnaire. Bennett declined to fill out the Vote Smart questionnaire; his aides say he stands by a long-time policy of not filing out such questionnaires. In fact, Bennett's aversion to filling out questionnaires is so strong he preferred to be interviewed by the Deseret News rather than fill out the newspaper's questionnaire.
Leckman's Vote Smart answers can be found online at (www.vote-smart.org).
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
U.S. Senate
What is the main issue facing Utahns and how would you address it?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
We need to stop failing our children. Twenty percent of our children live in poverty. The number of homeless children has tripled in the last decade. The homicide rate for children ages 14-17 has increased 172 percent since 1985. Illicit drug use among high school seniors has increased.
We are failing as parents. Most parents are in an economic crunch and a time crunch. Parents are working longer hours, spending less time with their children.
I propose that we triple the child tax credit to parents with young children. We should also be doing much more early childhood intervention for high-risk families.
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
It's growth. And the main burden of dealing with the problem lies with the state and local governments. But very often there can be a federal role, as in funding highways. My responsibility, as a senator, is to see that Utah gets its fair share of federal assistance in the issues of highways, education, crime control and health care.
Should President Clinton resign? If he doesn't resign, what penalty should he face and why?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
I came out early calling for the censure of the president. Like most Americans, I would like to get the entire controversy behind us so that we can address the critical problems facing Americans. However, there is a constitutional process that has begun and we should let it run its course.
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
The only person who can decide if Clinton resigns is the president himself. Right now, I'm less concerned about the outcome of the (impeachment issue) than I am with the process. If you fix what the outcome should be in your mind, then you warp the process to get that result. We have a constitutional process that should run its course. If that process doesn't end in removal from office, then I'd consider a motion of censure or some other kind of public condemnation.
What, if any, kind of tax cut should Americans get in 1999 and/or 2000?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
Any tax cut should not come from the "surplus." This surplus is from Social Security payroll taxes and should be preserved for Social Security. Any tax cuts should come from the discretionary part of the budget.
I propose tripling the child tax credit for parents of young children. This would benefit parents who are overworked and who could then spend more time raising their children.
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
We should get the same kind of tax cut that we gave at the beginning of this Congress - which produced such increased economic activity. We cut the capital gains tax, the estate tax and gave a $500-per-child tax credit.
Every businessman knows you cut prices to increase volume and overall profitability. We cut taxes, but tax revenue went up. And we can do it again.
How would you "save" Social Security for the baby boomers?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
Social Security should be designed to ensure a reasonable standard of living during retirement years. In must be financially sound and economically sustainable. Private savings by individuals and employers should be encouraged by the government to provide additional retirement income.
I'm open to the idea of partially privatizing the program - using individual saving accounts. Any shift should be gradual so as to minimize the impact on the flow of funds in the financial markets.
I'm opposed to increasing OASDI taxes (currently at 12.4 percent).
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
We must find a way to have money held in trust for the next generation - and then that money will grow and grow. It's amazing the large amounts of money that compound interest will generate. It can grow much faster than the present system. The power of compound interest over years can, in fact, lead us out of this problem. I think we can find some device of investment that historically out-performs the current rate of return in the Social Security system.
What constitutional amendments would you vote for?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
It depends on what is introduced in those years. I don't plan to introduce any myself.
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
I would only support a balanced budget amendment.
Do you support an east-west light rail line in Salt Lake City?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
Yes. The route will be determined by local officials; federal funding would be most desirable. If a tax increase is necessary, citizens should vote on it.
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
I've always left those kinds of decisions to local political leaders. I don't advise on whether a referendum should be held. But once the decision is made, I support funding at the federal level.
If you could write Congress' tobacco settlement, what would it contain?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
As a physician, I see first hand the suffering and premature death that results from tobacco use.
My settlement would contain: The FDA have full jurisdiction over all tobacco products and nicotine delivery devices, including marketing and advertising restrictions; subject tobacco industry to significant penalties if tobacco use among children does not drop substantially; increase federal taxes on cigarettes, which will cut teen use; not provide tobacco companies with special legal advantages or immunity in exchange for the industry's acquiescence on national tobacco control legislation.
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
At the very minimum we must codify the agreement that the attorneys general - and Utah's own Jan Graham - have set up with the industry. Cigarette taxes should be high enough to discourage smoking, but below a level that would create a black market. We should use the tobacco tax for health care, for all ages, including children, and anti-smoking campaigns aimed at teenage consumption.
Bennett's question for Leckman: Virtually every observer predicts the Republican Party will maintain control of the U.S. Senate after the elections. After six years of seniority, I sit on the Appropriations Committee that passes the federal budget for Utah projects. If you are elected a member of the minority, with no seniority, how could you do a better job in serving Utah than I could?
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
In fact, I believe I could do a much better job. Six years ago, you (Bob Bennett) asked the voters to elect you as a freshman senator in the minority party. Apparently back then you didn't feel this would prevent you from representing Utah.
In 1974, Republican Jake Garn ran for the U.S. Senate asking Utahns for their vote because we needed balance in representation. (The delegation was Democratic, Democrats were in the majority in the U.S. House and Senate.) Utahns responded to this message.
I agree with Jake Garn. Utah would be better served with balance in our representation in the Senate. This is especially important with a Democratic administration. I could work well with Sen. Hatch to make sure the needs of Utahns were well served.
Leckman's question for Bennett: Why have Republicans abandoned the middle class in favor of the wealthy?
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
Says who? The Republican tax cut, the first to be enacted in 16 years, is strictly targeted to help the middle class. Its main provision gives a tax credit to families for each child, which Dr. Leckman himself has endorsed. How can he endorse it and be opposed to it at the same time?
Bennett's question for Leckman: If the House votes to impeach the president and a trial is held in the Senate, would you say lying under oath to a grand jury is an impeachable offense, or it's "no big deal?"
SCOTT LECKMAN (D)
What the president has done is indefensible. He should be held accountable. Our Founding Fathers described an impeachable offense as `treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
The definition was, I believe, intentionally left ambiguous. Many thoughtful people concede that an impeachable offense will mean whatever the Congress decides it means. This is a political process. If it comes to a vote in an impeachment trial, I would consider both the evidence and what Utahns want.
Leckman's question for Bennett: Why have you not been able to reduce the growing gap between the rich and the poor in this country?
ROBERT F. BENNETT (R)
The so-called "income gap" in America is primarily a "skill gap" - those with good skills in the information world get good jobs and move ahead, while those with no skills get left behind and sink even deeper into despair.
One significant answer is better education, particularly in our inner cities where the education system has all but collapsed. I've worked and voted for a number of innovative experiments that could improve this situation, but President Clinton, who prefers the status quo, has vetoed them all.