50th District candidates spar at forum

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Sunday, May 7, 2006 12:14 AM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- A group of about 150 seniors finally got a chance Saturday to see a full-scale candidate debate, just one month before the June 6 runoff to pick a temporary replacement for the 50th Congressional District seat formerly held by Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

The seat has been vacant since late last year, when the Vietnam War hero pleaded guilty to his role in a massive scam in which he received $2.4 million in bribes to steer government business to two defense contractors. He is now serving an eight-year, four-month sentence in federal prison for those crimes.

Saturday's face-off between Republican Brian Bilbray and Democrat Francine Busby didn't disappoint, as the two hashed out their positions and criticized each other on everything from abortion and lobbying to illegal immigration.

Busby, who has made ethics reform the main plank in her campaign platform, began with that issue.

"I am talking about restoring integrity to a legislative process that has given drug companies a Medicare bill, has given oil companies an energy bill, has given credit card companies a bankruptcy bill and has really stuck the American people with the bill," she said. "People feel like they have nowhere to turn ... they feel like they have been sold out."

In his opening statements, Bilbray stressed that as a congressman, he would represent local interests "not representing a party, not representing somebody in Sacramento or Washington."

He also touted his experience as a local elected official, having served Imperial Beach as a councilman and then mayor, then on the county Board of Supervisors, and finally as a congressman, representing the 49th District from 1995 to 2000.

He said his years in Congress will give him the seniority he needs to do a more effective job than Busby.

"We can't wait five years to address the illegal immigration issue," he said. "We can't wait for somebody to learn and gain seniority."

The moderator, Channel 10's Nina Jimenez, posed questions submitted by audience members. Each candidate had two minutes to respond, and their opponent was allowed one minute to rebut.

Abortion differences


Clear differences emerged between the candidates' positions on abortion.

Bilbray said that while he supports current federal law that allows women to get abortions during their first trimester, he opposes late-term abortions, and while in Congress he voted to prevent them.

"I do not support infanticide, and partial-birth abortion is infanticide," Bilbray said.

He added that he also supports requiring doctors to notify parents before performing an abortion on minors. Some states have such laws.

Busby said that while all people would like to see fewer abortions, she believes that should be done by giving women greater access to family planning and birth control.

"That's the most humane, the most reasonable and rational way to reduce the number of abortions," Busby said.

She said that those who make the decision on a late-term abortion do not do so on a whim. They do so because they are in a "tragic situation," where the child "has a problem" or the mother's health is at risk, Busby said.

"That family should have access to making the decision," she said.

Lobbying: 'What's the big deal?'


Things got a bit dicey when the question was posed: "What is the big deal with Brian Bilbray being a lobbyist?"

Busby said "you and I" don't have as much access to Congress as lobbyists.

"Our Congress is selling out to an auction house, instead of (being) the house of the people," she said.

Since leaving Congress in 2000, Bilbray has worked as a registered lobbyist in Washington. However, he has defended himself from that label and its implications, saying that most of his lobbying work was advocating for the Washington-based anti-illegal immigration group Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.

In response to Busby's statements, Bilbray said he decided to run for Congress because, "I believed strongly that illegal immigration ... needed to be addressed."

Tax cuts


Another question was how would Bilbray vote on a proposal by President George Bush to renew tax cuts. Conservatives say the tax cuts that Congress and Bush enacted in 2001 have been one of the main reasons for the country's strong economy.

Many Democrats, however, have criticized the cuts as mainly benefiting the wealthy, not low-income Americans. They have also blasted the tax reductions as one of the chief causes of the mushrooming national debt ---- a debt they say poses grave risks to the nation's economy in the years to come.

Bilbray said he would vote for making the tax cuts permanent.

"The argument that we need more money, more money in Washington, is an argument that says we need less money in San Diego County," he said.

Busby said she would not vote for renewing the tax cuts. She said that with the unprecedented debt the country now faces, allowing the tax cuts to continue "would be irresponsible, until we start talking seriously about trying to balance the budget."

"If we are going to have them, they should go to working families ... and not to the wealthiest," she said.

Illegal immigration


Asked what he plans on doing about the problem of illegal immigration, Bilbray said he plans to continue to push for a crackdown.

"The House gets it," he said of a bill approved by the House of Representatives last year that focuses on beefing up the border and increasing penalties on those who employ illegal immigrants. That bill, however, makes no provision for a guest-worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to temporarily live and work in this country.

A competing Senate bill stalled last month that would have allowed many of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living here to begin a path toward legalization, with certain restrictions and qualifications.

Calling that proposal nothing more than amnesty, Bilbray said it would have rewarded people for being in the country illegally.

"We need to crack down now," he said.

Busby said that she has yet to hear Bilbray make any concrete proposals for dealing with the problem.

"You can't just build walls ---- we've got the 'for hire' sign out, we've got the 'keep out' sign out," she said.

She blamed the current immigration crisis on the ongoing failure of Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform that protects the nation's borders and cracks down on employers, while not allowing illegal immigrants a pathway to legalization.

Clearer picture of candidates


After the debate, several members of the audience said they really enjoyed seeing the give and take between the candidates and the opportunity to see how they handled themselves when confronted by tough questions.

"It's always good to hear it from their mouth, instead of something that was written for them by someone else," said registered Republican Anne McCain, 81.

Registered Democrat Al Rodbell, 66, had a similar take.

"We were able to ask pointed questions that could not be answered by sound bites or tested by consultants," Rodbell said.

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426 or wbennett@nctimes.com.

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