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Title: Slotkin, Barrett clash on economy, abortion in first TV debate
Originally reported on www.detroitnews.com by Melissa Nann Burke
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Slotkin, Barrett clash on economy, abortion in first TV debate
Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett clashed over the economy, abortion rights and state incentives for businesses in a heated, 30-minute congressional debate that aired Sunday morning on WDIV’s “Flashpoint.”
It was the first of two debates planned for the pair, who are facing off in the race for U.S. House in Michigan’s new 7th District that covers the greater Lansing area and is considered one of the most competitive contests for Congress nationally this fall.
More:Slotkin-Barrett debate on ‘Flashpoint’
Slotkin, a Democrat seeking a third term, for the first time addressed publicly the controversy over her leasing a Lansing condo from a campaign donor and director of government relations for a Michigan manufacturer, saying the attack by Republicans is “political desperation.”
“The thing that really pushed me is that Tom Barrett has insinuated that I’m living with him. If you believe I’m living with a man who’s not my husband in the same apartment, just say it, man. Like, just come out,” Slotkin challenged Barrett.
“The idea that he’s in government relations — 100%, I don’t challenge that. He’s a Michigan manufacturing company guy,” she added. “But the idea that somehow there’s something bad going on — if I weren’t paying rent, that’d be one thing, but I’m paying fair market rent.”
Barrett, a Charlotte Republican, went on to double down, saying that Slotkin was “living with a lobbyist when there are 1,513 available apartments in Lansing, Michigan.”
The Detroit News reported Friday that Slotkin’s landlord, Jerry Hollister of the firm Niowave, is living out of state in Connecticut, though he remains registered to vote at the Lansing condo where Slotkin is also now registered.
More:Slotkin leasing Lansing home from business executive, campaign donor
Slotkin again pushed back on Barrett repeating the claim that she is living a man who’s not her husband: “My husband and I would like to talk to you about that,” she told Barrett. The Republican challenger then restated his objection.
“I don’t know the circumstances of that arrangement, but I’m saying it is an improper for a member of Congress to be living in a residence owned by a lobbyist where they are both registered to vote,” Barrett said, before the show broke for commercial.
Earlier in the debate, Slotkin and Barrett clashed on abortion rights, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in June.
“Michigan voters are going to have their their chance to voice their opinion on this,” Barrett said, a reference to Proposal 3, the ballot proposal enshrining the right to an abortion in the Michigan Constitution. “I am someone who is pro-life. And that’s a deeply held, sincere position that I have. It is one that is based on a firm, moral recognition that life is important and life is important to defend.”
Slotkin and “Flashpoint” host Devin Scillian both pressed Barrett to explain his opposition to exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases of rape or incest. Barrett responded by saying he’s “pro-life,” including the life of the mother. Asked if he supports a federal prohibition on abortion, Barrett said it’s “something that will be ultimately decided by the states.”
Asked for her response to concerns about the ballot proposal being too “wide open” with no limits on third-trimester abortions, Slotkin didn’t answer directly, but said the question instead is whether voters side with the Roe v. Wade standard or Michigan’s broad 1931 ban on abortions.
“My opponent will not talk about children who have been raped. Will not talk about incest. Will not talk about the 1 in 4 women who has had a miscarriage — in the middle of the worst moment of her life and needs a D&C, because he’s black and white on this issue,” she said, referring to a surgical procedure that is also a common method of early abortion. “And it just doesn’t work that way in this day and age.”
Barrett said he and his wife went through a miscarriage, and that it’s a “devastating, devastating” experience.
“My opponent doesn’t understand my position, and she’s using a lot of rhetoric,” Barrett said. “Obviously, all of us — my opponent and I included — are very considerate of people who are who are going through miscarriages and everything else. That is not in any way what this is about.”
Scillian asked the candidates about President Joe Biden’s remark last week on “60 Minutes” that the U.S. would be willing to commit U.S. troops to Taiwan’s defense if China were to invade it. Barrett, a former Army helicopter pilot, said he didn’t want to make “predetermined decisions” about what an international conflict could look like.
“I think we have to let countries defend themselves. I’m not about nation building,” Barrett said. “I spent 22 years of my life in the United States Army deployed around the world. We’ve seen with the Ukrainians that when we tell them that they need to defend themselves, they rise to the occasion. We can certainly assist them in that effort.”
Slotkin sounded more hawkish, calling Taiwan “fundamental” to American national security.
“The Taiwan Strait is fundamental to our Navy’s freedom of navigation,” said Slotkin, a former top defense official in the Obama administration. “All the trade for everything we want to buy and we want to own goes through that one strait. So if China takes it, they literally get to be like the Coast Guard for our trade, and I refuse to accept that.”
“Is it worth American lives?” Scillian said.
“I think that’s what we’re trying to do right now is bolster Taiwan … so that they can defend themselves,” Slotkin said “But I would be ready to engage, yes.”
Barrett was asked to respond to a national Democratic ad that hits him for five votes he took against bills to create and fund a state incentive program aimed at attracting economic development projects to Michigan.
A major thrust of that package was to secure a $6.5 billion investment from General Motors Co. in Michigan plants, including a project promising to create a projected 1,700 jobs at a $2.5 billion battery cell plant through Ultium Cells LLC in Delta Township west of Lansing — in Barrett’s state Senate district. “If Tom Barrett got his way, those jobs wouldn’t be here, they’d be somewhere else,” the ad says.
“I have voted consistently against taking taxpayer money directly out of taxpayers’ wallets and giving it to someof the most profitable and highest-rated global corporations in our state,” Barrett said, highlighting an analysis that found it would cost taxpayers at least $166,000 for each job that GM said it is going to create.
As for a recently adopted bipartisan bill to create incentives for domestic computer chip manufacturing, Barrett argued the Congress should have banned the importation of foreign-made chips and prohibited the ability of companies benefiting from the incentives from doing any business in China. “They didn’t do that either,” he said.
Slotkin was asked to respond to a national GOP ad that blames inflation on the trillions of dollars in government spending for COVID and other relief, repeating twice a clip of Slotkin saying, “we’ve gotten pretty used to throwing out, like, trillions of dollars.” It also claimed she is raising taxes on Americans.
“For me, it is completely disingenuous.I have never voted on an individual increase to an income tax in my entire life.If they’re talking about taxes on the biggest corporations, I did: I voted to make sure that 150 businesses in the country — the biggest ones that have a billion dollars in revenue or more — pay more than 0% in taxes,” Slotkin said.
“He’s against corporate welfare. You should have no problem with companies like Amazon or Facebook paying a minimum 15% of tax instead of a 0% of tax.”
In an exchange about the economy, Barrett charged that Democrats’ outsized spending has driven inflation up to historic levels and argued that Slotkin’s policy plan to tackle the issue hasn’t worked. He blamed Democrats’ economic policy for contributing to “rampant” inflation in countries around the world.
“This has been born and brought about by failed policies and failed decision-making,” Barrett said. “We have to stop the spending that’s going on. We have to rein in that spending, and it hasn’t been done by anybody in Washington right now.”
Slotkin challenged Barrett to lay out his plan to lower inflation instead of talking points. She pointed to a bill she co-authored to suspend the federal gas tax; her call for Biden to open the Strategic National Reserve in a bid to lower gas prices; and prescription drug legislation set to take effect in January to lower costs for Medicare participants.
“It’s not perfect. If there was a silver bullet on inflation, it would have been fired,” Slotkin said. “But again, what is the plan, right? What is the idea that is being put forward that somehow, he’s going to get elected and magically inflation is going to turn around?”
The general election is Nov. 8. The next Slotkin-Barrett debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 6 on WLNS.
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