Linda Lingle in 2012 Hawaii Senate Debates

On Education: I support PBS, but Big Bird is not essential to America

Hirono and Lingle don't agree on much in their race for US Senate, but they both like Big Bird. The "Sesame Street" icon-turned 2012 political hot topic played an upfront role in a freewheeling debate. The debate began with the moderator bringing out a stuffed doll of Big Bird and asking if cuts to PBS are serious.

Lingle at first said she's friends with the chief executive of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and that she's been a supporter of PBS, backing off remarks from a previous debate that PBS should be considered for cuts along with other programs if they're not deemed essential.

"Linda seems to have changed her mind," Hirono said. Lingle then clarified her previous comments, saying she was talking about PBS in the context of the rest of the nation's spending.

"It's going to be very important for people to look across the spectrum of how we spend our money and set some priorities," Lingle said. "I did say I'm not sure that Big Bird is essential to the defense of America."

Source: Reuters on 2012 Hawaii Senate debate Oct 20, 2012

On Homeland Security: Don't let up on its defense spending, like pre-WWII

Lingle pressed Hirono on her vote that helped set up the so-called "fiscal cliff" scenario set to take effect in January if Congress can't reach a compromise on spending cuts and tax hikes. Lingle said Hirono shouldn't have supported cuts of $50 billion per year to the military as part of the deal, because the cuts would have crushing effects in Hawaii given the large military presence here. "We can't do a pivot if we're cutting $50 billion" per year in defense, Lingle said.

Hirono said Congress was right to raise the debt ceiling and needs to reach sensible compromise to avoid the deep cuts planned.

Lingle compared today's times with the period between WWI and WWII to say the US shouldn't let up on its defense spending or become more isolated.

Hirono retorted that nobody's talking about weakening national defense, but Tea Party Republicans have said the US should worry more about itself than other countries.

Source: Reuters on 2012 Hawaii Senate debate Oct 20, 2012

On Jobs: OpEd:Did nothing to save jobs when Aloha Airlines went under

And as the hour flew by, the attacks kept coming. "Who can forget Furlough Fridays on her watch or the Superferry fiasco? Or the fact that 2,000 jobs were lost when Aloha Airlines went under--direct jobs--while [Lingle] sat on her hands," said Hirono.

"It's just too risky to send my opponent to the Senate. [Hirono]'s not a strong leader, has no history of getting things done and doesn't work well with others," said Lingle.

Source: KITV coverage of 2012 Hawaii Senate debate Oct 17, 2012

On Principles & Values: Work with national Republicans to get things done for Hawaii

Hirono launched into a familiar refrain: "My Republican opponent's economic priorities, my Republican opponent's plan is exactly the same as Mitt Romney's," said Hirono. "My Republican opponent has joined with the national Republican party."

Lingle stood her ground: "My opponent has spent this entire campaign attacking national Republicans. These will be the very people we would have to work with to get something done for Hawaii," said Lingle.

Source: KITV coverage of 2012 Hawaii Senate debate Oct 17, 2012

The above quotations are from 2012 Hawaii Senate Debate. Click here for other excerpts from 2012 Hawaii Senate Debate. Click here for other excerpts by Linda Lingle. Click here for a profile of Linda Lingle.
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Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018