Rivals spar on health care, taxes

CARSON CITY -- Democratic congressional candidate Jill Derby accused her opponent Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., of hurting residents by opposing bills to expand health care for children, to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower cost prescription drugs and to bring women pay equity.

"You ought to vote for Nevadans," said Derby in a spirited debate between the two conducted at Great Basin College in Elko.

Their debate was televised in Northern Nevada by Reno television station KRNV-TV, Channel 4, and over Elko's KENV-TV, Channel 10.

Derby added the health-care bill Heller opposed would have provided benefits for 70,000 needy children in Nevada.

But Heller countered by saying he voted against $300 billion in tax increases during his tenure in Congress and the children's health-care program would have increased taxes by $72 billion.

He added that $5 billion of the health-care benefits would have gone to children of illegal immigrants. Derby, however, contended that only citizens with at least five years of residency could have applied for the proposed health-care benefits for their children.

Heller also said he favored lowering drug costs by allowing the purchase of prescription drugs from other countries.

The two are vying for the 2nd Congressional District seat that covers all of Nevada except for the most heavily urban areas of Clark County. Two years ago Heller, then secretary of state, beat Derby, a member of the Board of Regents, by 5 percentage points. At that time, Republicans had a 48,000-voter advantage in registration.

That lead has now been cut in half. Recent polls, however, show Heller with a lead of as much as 13 percentage points.

During the debate, Heller repeatedly touted how he had voted against the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill and criticized members of his own party for their profligate spending.

If Nevadans elect Derby, Heller predicted she would support additional bailouts.

"Who is going to be there to say no?" he asked.

The $700 billion bailout is a "drop in the bucket," according to Heller, who predicted big business will be back asking for more.

Derby emphasized that she is not a big spender and supports pay-as-you-go policies that require government to offset any spending increases by equal reductions in other programs. She said she had the support of the "Blue Dog Democrats" in Congress and they favor such policies.

"You should not spend money you don't have," said Derby, noting that under President Bush budget deficits now top $400 billion a year. "My opponent is part of the shovel brigade that has gotten us in this deep hole."

"I'm for cutting taxes, too," Derby added. "It is the middle class that needs help."

Heller disagreed with Derby's assertions vehemently. He contended that more than half of the Blue Dog Democrats supported bailing out billionaires on Wall Street and that "pay-as-you go" is another way of saying "tax increases."

"Everything you talk about is tax increases and big government," he told his opponent.

While Derby called the $700 billion bailout "outrageous," Heller read from news accounts that seemed to indicate that she initially supported the bailout.

Derby, however, contended that what she wanted was not a bailout for Wall Street, but one that helped the middle class. She noted that the Drum Major Institute, which she called a nonpartisan group, gave Heller an "F" grade for his votes on bills helping the middle class.

Heller said he never heard of the group, but that his voting against $300 billion in tax increases "does not hurt the middle class."

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.