2008 Louisiana Senate Debate between Mary Landrieu & John Neely Kennedy: on Budget & Economy


John Neely Kennedy: Be concerned about economy, but not scared

In past debates Kennedy opened by aligning himself with John McCain, but [in this debate] he described his ideas for re-establishing economic stability in the financial markets and the US economy, an attempt to take control of an issue widely considered a drag on GOP candidates nationwide. “I know many of you are scared. Don’t be. Be concerned, be angry, but don’t be scared,” Kennedy said. “We will survive this economic crisis.”

Landrieu, meanwhile, continued to push herself as a centrist senator who works across party lines and has brought home billions of dollars in aid to Louisiana during her 12 years in Congress, particularly since the blows of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. “Send me back to continue to fight for you, to deliver for you,” she said.

Source: 2008 Louisiana Senate Debate by Associated Press on NOLA.com Oct 16, 2008

Mary Landrieu: Opposed $700 billion bailout; not enough taxpayer safeguards

Both candidates offered differing views of how to ease the national economic crisis. Kennedy said federal officials should suspend accounting rules that financial industry representatives blame for exacerbating the problems.

Landrieu opposed the $700 billion financial market bailout backed by the White House and approved by Congress. But she also said that she supports government-guaranteed loans between banks and the use of federal tax dollars to buy stocks in banks to shore up the financial system: both plans pushed by the Bush administration, using the authority and money from the bailout bill.

When he was allowed to ask Landrieu a question, Kennedy asked why she now supports elements of the bailout bill: “What made you change your mind?”

“I didn’t change my mind,” she replied. “I did vote against the bailout package because I didn’t think there were enough safeguards for taxpayers.”

Source: 2008 Louisiana Senate Debate by Associated Press on NOLA.com Oct 16, 2008

  • The above quotations are from 2008 Louisiana Senate Debate between Mary Landrieu & John Neely Kennedy.
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Candidates and political leaders on Budget & Economy:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2018