Candidates for Kennedy seat field questions at UMass panel
By: Marianna Nash
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: News
Last Sunday, Western Massachusetts voters met five of the six contenders for the late Edward Kennedy's Senate seat at a panel discussion held in Bowker Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts.
The two-hour debate, which was free and open to the public, was sponsored by the Women's League of Voters and public radio stations WFCR and WNNZ. Moderator Bob Paquette, host of WFCR's Morning Edition, asked questions submitted by league members and Five College students.
Three of the Democratic candidates participated: U.S. Representative Michael Capuano, City Year founder Alan Khazei and Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca. Capuano left before the conclusion of the debate, and Attorney General Martha Coakley was not present. Republican state Senator Scott Brown and business leader Jack E. Robinson also sat on the panel.
The questions focused mainly on the economy, environmental policy, health care and nuclear weapons, with the Democrats generally concurring on the last two.
Brown took a strong position against the cap-and-trade system, Massachusetts health care reform and leniency towards illegal immigration. He also stated his support for deploying troops to Afghanistan. "War is terrible," he told the audience, "but we need to get the job done."
Both Brown and Robinson said they were opposed to the public option in the federal health reform bill, though all three Democrats supported the provision.
Citing private insurer costs, Khazei defended the bill. "Health care needs to be a right, not a privilege," he said. "I actually do want to tax 'Cadillac plans'... We need it to pay for everyone else." Khazei also attributed the lag in the legislative process to influential PACs and lobbyists, and emphasized that he would not hesitate to disclose the practices of such groups if elected.
On the subject of clean energy legislation, he said he would try to add a provision supporting research consortiums and clean energy entrepreneurs to the Senate bill. The bottom line, he said, was that he would put citizens' and environmental organizations' needs before the wants of powerful special interest groups, particularly oil companies.
"I agree with Alan," said Paglucia. "We've got to stop the PACs and lobbyists." Paglucia continued to urge greater use of "our trade, our money and our might" to pressure other countries to cut carbon emissions.
"We'll end up destroying the whole world if we keep putting hydrocarbons in the air," he said.
Robinson noted that while he would work to limit greenhouse gas emissions, he would also try to bring a "balanced approach" to Washington. "The environment shouldn't ruin the economy, but the economy shouldn't ruin the environment," he said.
Capuano's rebuttal focused on the negative effects of cap-and-trade policies on labor. He argued that the cap-and-trade system failed to protect jobs in certain industries that would be disproportionately affected by the reforms. "I know that we think that's not important, but to them, it's jobs," he said of those constituents.
According to Capuano, the new senator should know how to manage money at the federal level. "If you want programs, we have to pay for them," he said of government services. "There's no free lunch."
Khazei took a different approach. Noting that he would work to bring a Senate office to Springfield, he referred to the late Senator Kennedy as an example of the commitment to service he would aspire to achieve.
The Kennedy Seat
The "Kennedy seat" has been carefully guarded by the Kennedy family for the past sixty years. Senator Kennedy's passing marked the second time since 1947 that a Kennedy has not been represented in the U.S. Congress. The first time was in 1962, when Senator John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States.
The special primary election is slated for Dec. 8, followed by a special election on Jan. 19 for the coveted seat, which is currently held by interim senator Paul G. Kirk, Jr.
The two-hour debate, which was free and open to the public, was sponsored by the Women's League of Voters and public radio stations WFCR and WNNZ. Moderator Bob Paquette, host of WFCR's Morning Edition, asked questions submitted by league members and Five College students.
Three of the Democratic candidates participated: U.S. Representative Michael Capuano, City Year founder Alan Khazei and Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca. Capuano left before the conclusion of the debate, and Attorney General Martha Coakley was not present. Republican state Senator Scott Brown and business leader Jack E. Robinson also sat on the panel.
The questions focused mainly on the economy, environmental policy, health care and nuclear weapons, with the Democrats generally concurring on the last two.
Brown took a strong position against the cap-and-trade system, Massachusetts health care reform and leniency towards illegal immigration. He also stated his support for deploying troops to Afghanistan. "War is terrible," he told the audience, "but we need to get the job done."
Both Brown and Robinson said they were opposed to the public option in the federal health reform bill, though all three Democrats supported the provision.
Citing private insurer costs, Khazei defended the bill. "Health care needs to be a right, not a privilege," he said. "I actually do want to tax 'Cadillac plans'... We need it to pay for everyone else." Khazei also attributed the lag in the legislative process to influential PACs and lobbyists, and emphasized that he would not hesitate to disclose the practices of such groups if elected.
On the subject of clean energy legislation, he said he would try to add a provision supporting research consortiums and clean energy entrepreneurs to the Senate bill. The bottom line, he said, was that he would put citizens' and environmental organizations' needs before the wants of powerful special interest groups, particularly oil companies.
"I agree with Alan," said Paglucia. "We've got to stop the PACs and lobbyists." Paglucia continued to urge greater use of "our trade, our money and our might" to pressure other countries to cut carbon emissions.
"We'll end up destroying the whole world if we keep putting hydrocarbons in the air," he said.
Robinson noted that while he would work to limit greenhouse gas emissions, he would also try to bring a "balanced approach" to Washington. "The environment shouldn't ruin the economy, but the economy shouldn't ruin the environment," he said.
Capuano's rebuttal focused on the negative effects of cap-and-trade policies on labor. He argued that the cap-and-trade system failed to protect jobs in certain industries that would be disproportionately affected by the reforms. "I know that we think that's not important, but to them, it's jobs," he said of those constituents.
According to Capuano, the new senator should know how to manage money at the federal level. "If you want programs, we have to pay for them," he said of government services. "There's no free lunch."
Khazei took a different approach. Noting that he would work to bring a Senate office to Springfield, he referred to the late Senator Kennedy as an example of the commitment to service he would aspire to achieve.
The Kennedy Seat
The "Kennedy seat" has been carefully guarded by the Kennedy family for the past sixty years. Senator Kennedy's passing marked the second time since 1947 that a Kennedy has not been represented in the U.S. Congress. The first time was in 1962, when Senator John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States.
The special primary election is slated for Dec. 8, followed by a special election on Jan. 19 for the coveted seat, which is currently held by interim senator Paul G. Kirk, Jr.