SC Senate follies

[Rspaight]

Let's see what the Republican candidate for Senate in SC has to say about the issues, and how he answers the hard questions:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6267835

Announcer: And now a special MEET THE PRESS Senate Debate. Today: South Carolina.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. DeMint, when President Bush was debating in 2000, he said that he would never go to war unless he had a clearly defined exit strategy. What is our exit strategy for Iraq?

REP. DeMINT: Well, Tim, every night in South Carolina, over 2,300 families go to bed worried about their Guardsman, reservists, who are in Afghanistan or Iraq. I've been to funerals of fallen soldiers. I mean, it is a very serious issue to us, and I don't think the president or me would put our troops in harm's way without a real reason. But Americans are freer than any other country because we've always been willing to fight for that freedom.

MR. RUSSERT: But what is our exit strategy?

REP. DeMINT: Our exit strategy is to help the Iraqi people set up a democratic government, a stable democratic government, and we can't leave until we make sure that they're free and that they have a stable government.

MR. RUSSERT: If the Iraqis choose to have a fundamentalist Islamic regime, would that be acceptable?

REP. DeMINT: Well, they need a democratic government and if they choose, whatever their leaders are, they're going to choose that, and I think the president supports them setting up the government that they want, but we just need to make sure it's a democratic, accountable government, and that they can defend themselves against terrorists.

MR. RUSSERT: But if they vote for an Islamic republic like Iran, that's their vote, we would accept that?

REP. DeMINT: Well, that's not a democracy if it's like Iran. It needs to be an accountable government and they're going to have elections and they're going to have an accountable democratic government.

MR. RUSSERT: So we would resist the will of the Iraqi people?

REP. DeMINT: That--we wouldn't--no, if they get a chance to vote, Tim, they would not be voting to set up a regime like they have in Iran where they don't have a vote.

[...]

MR. RUSSERT: Congressman DeMint, why did you vote against the creation of the September 11th Commission?

REP. DeMINT: Well, I voted for the--I mean, the 9-11 Commission and last week we voted on a bill in the House that affirmed...

MR. RUSSERT: No, no, you voted against the creation of the commission on July 20...

REP. DeMINT: Well, when it was first brought up, we voted against it because they wanted to release the results right before the election. It was totally political. But I supported the commission, I supported the findings of the commission and last week we passed in the House our intelligence reorganization, which will make this country safer.

MR. RUSSERT: But you did initially oppose it?

REP. DeMINT: I opposed the date when it was going to be released.

MS. TENENBAUM: He opposed the 9-11 Commission. He originally voted against it, and now he's voted for the recommendation, so this sounds familiar. I voted against it but later I voted for it, but he did vote against 9/11...

REP. DeMINT: Tim, it...

MS. TENENBAUM: ...and he's voted against port security for South Carolina.

REP. DeMINT: It was a clearly political question. They wanted to release the results right before the election to put George Bush at a disadvantage.

MR. RUSSERT: But numerous Republicans voted for it on that day.

REP. DeMINT: Well, it was clearly political and I was not going to put the president at a disadvantage.

[...]

MR. RUSSERT: Let me talk about one of the issues that has dominated the debate in your campaign. Ms. Tenenbaum was on the air talking about a bill which you co-sponsored.

REP. DeMINT: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: Which would replace the Internal Revenue Service with a 23 percent federal sales tax. Let's watch her commercial.

(Videotape):

MS. TENENBAUM: My opponent, Jim DeMint, has a big idea: a new 23 percent federal sales tax on just about everything we buy, like milk, bread and groceries, clothing, new tires, going to the movies, even prescription drugs. But what we really ought to do is cut taxes on middle-class families. If Jim DeMint gets his way, you're going to be extra busy.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: What would you say to Ms. Tenenbaum about that ad?

REP. DeMINT: She's built her whole campaign around this idea that I'm gonna raise taxes 23 percent. Last week when The Augusta Chronicle endorsed me in this race, they called her campaign fundamentally dishonest. Tim, I've been a businessman for many years. I've dealt with the IRS. I've worked with hundreds of companies that are having difficulty being competitive in this country because of this tax code. My main goal in the Senate will be not only to cut taxes, but to get rid of the IRS, to get rid of this tax code and replace it with something that's fair and simple. This tax code is the biggest job killer in this country. And, Tim, since I've been in Congress, I have sponsored or co-sponsored 11 different tax reform ideas. And I have not attached myself to just one of them. So it's completely misleading to say, first of all, that I want to raise taxes. There's only one person in this race, Tim, that's proposed a billion dollar sales tax increase in South Carolina, it's not me.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, hold on. When you say, "I want to abolish the IRS," that sounds good and people say, "Oh, isn't that a great idea?"

REP. DeMINT: Sure.

MR. RUSSERT: But let me show you the analysis of a bill that you co-sponsored. You co-sponsored HR 25. This is what Jonathan Weisman wrote in The Washington Post: "Under [a national sales tax], those just above the poverty line likely would see a substantial tax increase. That might not go over well in South Carolina, where nearly a third of the population lives on incomes twice the poverty level or less." And he goes on, "DeMint has lamented what he calls `an eleventh-hour crisis in our democracy'-- that many of the beneficiaries of federal social welfare largesse pay little or no federal income taxes."

When you talk about federal social welfare largesse, you're talking about Social Security, Medicare. The fact is there are 500,000 taxpayers in South Carolina who do not pay federal income tax because they don't make enough money. That's one out of four South Carolinians. And if you take away the income tax and replace it with a 23 percent sales tax, they will pay that sales tax on everything. When George Bush was asked about a national sales tax a couple of weeks ago, he said it would hurt the middle class. That's an idea that you co-sponsored.

REP. DeMINT: I would not support any bill that raised the taxes on any American, and I never have, over 50 times I've voted.

MR. RUSSERT: But what would do you?

REP. DeMINT: And it depends on how you shape that sales tax plan. There are several different sales taxes. I've co-sponsored flat income taxes. Tim, right now the poor actually pay a disproportionate share of their income. The most regressive tax we have is payroll, over 12 percent of what they earn, and most of what they pay in taxes is hidden in the cost of the problem.

MR. RUSSERT: Will you have a refundable aspect for the poor?

REP. DeMINT: Well, I'm glad you asked that, Tim, because if just had a straight sales tax, it will hurt people.

MR. RUSSERT: But then you're not abolishing the IRS. You need a bureaucracy in order to oversee and manage the refundability.

REP. DeMINT: No, the estimates on these various sales tax plans would reduce the cost of enforcing a tax about 95 percent. We could reduce the cost of taxes on every American. And, Tim, I just want to make it clear, I wouldn't vote for any plan that came out of the House that raised taxes on lower income.

MR. RUSSERT: The personal income tax is a progressive tax, the more you make, the higher the tax you pay. A sales tax is across the board. It hits everybody.

REP. DeMINT: Not with refunds. And you look at the different plans. They all have exceptions or refunds to hold the poor harmless, and I would not vote for any sales tax plan that raised taxes on the poor or middle class or anyone.

[...]

MR. RUSSERT: In a previous debate, Mr. DeMint, you were asked a question, and this was your answer about teaching in South Carolina.

(Videotape, S. Carolina Educational TV Debate, October 3, 2004):

REP. DeMINT: If a person is a practicing homosexual, they should not be teaching in our schools.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Why not?

REP. DeMINT: Well, I apologize for that remark, because I really regret distracting from the main issues of this debate.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, do you apologize because it's a distraction or do you apologize for what you said?

REP. DeMINT: No, I apologize for distracting from the real issues of this debate. This is...

MR. RUSSERT: So do you--wait, but let's clarify. Do you believe that gays should be able to teach in the public schools of South Carolina?

REP. DeMINT: I believe that's a local school board issue and the voters of South Carolina want me to talk about how they're going to be safer, how they're going to have better jobs, how I'm going to save Social Security.

MR. RUSSERT: But you said they shouldn't be. And the Republican Party in South Carolina's platform...

REP. DeMINT: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: ...said they should not. Do you believe that gays should be able to teach in the public schools?

REP. DeMINT: I believe that's a local school board issue.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, two issues that you may have to vote on. Do you believe that gay people should be able to adopt children?

REP. DeMINT: Adoption is one of the issues I've pushed for in the Congress and anything else. In fact, I was inducted into the National Adoption Hall of Fame for my work on adoption. The states regulate adoption and they need to make decisions about who's going to adopt, but I'm going to continue to promote families through adoption.

MR. RUSSERT: But do you think gays should be able to adopt?

REP. DeMINT: I believe children should grow up in a family with a father and a mother. But I think the state should decide who are going to be those families.

MR. RUSSERT: Should gays have federal benefits, gay couples?

REP. DeMINT: I think everyone should be treated equally. What people do in their private lives is their private life and I don't think any--I've been an employer for years. I've never asked questions about sexuality and I don't plan to start now.

MR. RUSSERT: You also, when asked about your comments about gay teachers, said this: "I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman, who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend, should be hired to teach my third-grade children." Do you also still believe that, that a single mom should not be a teacher in South Carolina schools?

REP. DeMINT: I believe that's a local school board issue. And, Tim, I was answering as a dad who's put lots of children in the hands of teachers and I answered with my heart. And I should just say, again, I apologize that distracted from the real debate.

MR. RUSSERT: But you apologize for distracting but are you apologizing to gay teachers or to single mom teachers?

REP. DeMINT: No. I'm apologizing for talking about a local school board issue when the voters want us to talk about how we're going to make them safer, win the war on terror, how we're going to create jobs, how we're going to fix our health-care system. And these are things I've worked on in the Congress and that's what I plan to do in the Senate.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think that non-citizens should be teaching in South Carolina schools?

REP. DeMINT: I think that's up to our state superintendent. I know that we brought in thousands of teachers from other countries. That's a decision my opponent has made, and I think that should be a state decision who's teaching in the schools.

MR. RUSSERT: But you're making judgments about gay people or about single moms and, in effect, disqualifying them. Are you certain that you never had a gay teacher?

REP. DeMINT: Listen, I have my personal beliefs, Tim, but I honestly believe that the teachers should be hired by local school districts. They should be making the decisions on who should be in the classroom.

MR. RUSSERT: But don't the voters have a right to know about whether or not you still stand by comments you made in the campaign? Do you stand by your comments?

REP. DeMINT: I apologized for answering a local school board question.

MR. RUSSERT: No, you're apologizing for the distraction, but it's a simple question. Do you believe that gays should be able to teach in South Carolina schools?

REP. DeMINT: Well, Tim...

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that single moms should be able to teach?

REP. DeMINT: It's a very simple answer. I think the local school board should make that issue, not Senate can--I mean, make that decision.

MR. RUSSERT: But you didn't think that a month ago when you answered the question.

REP. DeMINT: And I apologize for that, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: For answering the question?

REP. DeMINT: Yeah, for distracting from the real thing.

MR. RUSSERT: But not for the substance of your comments.

REP. DeMINT: Tim, who hires teachers should be decided by local school boards.

[...]

MR. RUSSERT: You would ban all abortion, period. If that was the law, who would you prosecute, the woman, the doctor, the father, who?

REP. DeMINT: We've got to make laws first that protect life. How those laws are shaped are going to be a long debate.

MR. RUSSERT: But any law that banned abortion would have to have in it...

REP. DeMINT: Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: ...the criminal sanctions that would apply.

REP. DeMINT: It would have, and we have to decide that, Tim. What we have to--Tim...

MR. RUSSERT: What is your view as a legislator?

REP. DeMINT: My view...

MR. RUSSERT: Who would you prosecute?

REP. DeMINT: My view is that unborn children are human life. They deserve the protection of law. And just like the president said, there's no longer a question of when life begins, it's just a question of when love begins. We can have all the debate that you're talking about once we decide it's human life, but the debate is do we have property or do we have a person?

MR. RUSSERT: I accept that, and respect your views, but if you have a law which says all abortions should be banned, period, who should be prosecuted if they perform an abortion, the woman, the doctor, who?

REP. DeMINT: I think the lawmakers at the state level...

MR. RUSSERT: You want to be a lawmaker.

REP. DeMINT: I do want to be. But we need to...

MR. RUSSERT: You want to be a United States senator. What is your view?

REP. DeMINT: My view is we should protect all human life and that our laws should be set up to protect that life.

MR. RUSSERT: But who would be prosecuted?

REP. DeMINT: We'll just have to decide that. I mean...

MR. RUSSERT: What is your view?

REP. DeMINT: You know, I can't come up with all the laws as we're sitting right here, but the question is are we going to protect human life with our laws?

[...]

MR. RUSSERT: Jim DeMint, Inez Tenenbaum, we'll be watching your race very closely.

MS. TENENBAUM: Thank you, Tim.

[lukpac]

MR. RUSSERT: The personal income tax is a progressive tax, the more you make, the higher the tax you pay. A sales tax is across the board. It hits everybody.

REP. DeMINT: Not with refunds. And you look at the different plans. They all have exceptions or refunds to hold the poor harmless, and I would not vote for any sales tax plan that raised taxes on the poor or middle class or anyone.

Refunds? How does *that* work, exactly? Save up all your receipts for the year!

[Rspaight]

Right. It's so simple.

Furthermore (credit to Atrios for pointing this out) -- if the resulting tax revenue is the same, and he's not raising taxes on "the poor or middle class or anyone," then everyone will be paying exactly the same tax they did under the old system. What's the point?

(And the "cost of enforcing a tax code" that he talks about is miniscule in the context of the federal budget, even assuming that this massive "claim all your purchases for a refund" system is really 95 percent simpler than the current system.)

Ryan