Richard Lugar in 2012 Indiana Senate Debates
On Abortion:
Government should not have a role in reproductive services
Lugar, the six-term incumbent, said the federal government should not have a role in reproductive services. "I think I'll do a ditto," said Mourdock, the second-term state treasurer.In his closing comments, Mourdock said, "As you've heard
tonight, we have differences." Not many. Unlike the almost daily accusations and rebuttals between their campaigns, Mourdock and Lugar were mostly on the same page during their only debate in advance of the May 8 Republican primary election.
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 12, 2012
On Budget & Economy:
Pass the remarkable House budget plan & extend Bush tax cuts
Asked what could be done to cut the $15 trillion federal debt, Lugar, 80, urged the passage of the "remarkable" House budget plan and the extension of Bush-era tax cuts.
Mourdock, 60, called for the elimination of the Energy, Education, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development departments.
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 12, 2012
On Energy & Oil:
Make all cars "flex-fuel" vehicles
Lugar found himself accused of driving up gas prices. Mourdock leveled the provocative charge that Lugar's ethanol policies are driving up prices at the pump, now at $3.85 a gallon in the state.Lugar has long been at the forefront of pro-ethanol
policies, including a proposal to make sure that all cars are "flex-fuel" vehicles capable of running on ethanol. But Mourdock charged that federal policies promoting ethanol are contributing to rising gas prices. "Most of us, especially as
Republicans, object to mandates from the federal government," Mourdock said. "And yet suddenly we saw more ethanol being mandated into our gasoline."
The federal government gave gas refiners a subsidy to add ethanol to their product,
but that policy was phased out at the start of 2012. Instead, the federal government now mandates only that the industry add some sort of alternative fuel, which often means ethanol derived from corn.
Source: Huffington Post on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 12, 2012
On Environment:
Ethanol mandates help state corn farmers
Mourdock claimed a government mandate to include ethanol in gas was driving up prices overall. Lugar disagreed, saying that the mandate he supported has helped keep the overall price of gas stable, and that ethanol is a "Hoosier product with Hoosiers
producing it."Lugar countered that the ethanol requirement helps state corn farmers, and said that gas prices are decreasing thanks to a relative calming of Middle East tensions.
Source: ABC News coverage of 2012 Indiana Senate debates
Apr 12, 2012
On Families & Children:
Government should play no role reproductive health services
When asked how to best provide reproductive health services,
Lugar said government should not play any role. Mourdock agreed.
Source: RealClearPoitics.com coverage of 2012 Indiana Senate debates
Apr 12, 2012
On Foreign Policy:
Russia is neither friend nor foe; just an important country
Mourdock and Lugar differed in their responses to a question on whether Russia is a U.S. friend or foe. "Russia is neither friend nor foe; it is an important country with whom we have to deal," Lugar said. "I'd say we have come a long way since the
Cold War." Lugar, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Russia remains "an authoritarian government" and that the U.S. should employ "very strong diplomacy" with its leaders while working with
Russian dissidents to advance democracy and human rights."I think they are more foe than friend," Mourdock said, accusing Russia of aiding the governments of Iran and Syria and continuing to occupy former Soviet satellite Georgia.
Lugar said Mourdock was wrong to suggest Russia is diverting funds from the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to help anti-American regimes in the Mideast.
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 12, 2012
On Homeland Security:
So-authored nuclear nonproliferation program 20 years ago
A majority of the debate questions focused more on foreign policy and national security--Lugar's specialty as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He frequently touted his nuclear nonproliferation program--
co-authored 20 years ago with then-Sen. Sam Nunn (a Democrat)--the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) nonproliferation program following the Cold War.
Source: RealClearPoitics.com coverage of 2012 Indiana Senate debates
Apr 12, 2012
On Immigration:
Yes, voted for DREAM Act, but not for benefits to illegals
About the only time either candidate got testy was after Mourdock claimed Lugar voted to give Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants, an apparent reference to the DREAM Act, legislation that would have provided a
route to citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. "That is unfair," Lugar responded, denying he had cast such votes. Lugar did support the DREAM Act.
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 12, 2012
On War & Peace:
US is not going to have troops in Afghanistan indefinitely
Asked about prospects for reducing the U.S. military's presence abroad, Mourdock decried an "inexcusable foreign policy failure in our withdrawal from Iraq" and said the Obama administration "cannot lead from behind."
Saying the U.S. is not going to have troops in Afghanistan "indefinitely," Lugar favored efforts to fortify U.S. military strength in Asia and using intelligence resources "more skillfully."
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 12, 2012
On Energy & Oil:
Subsidizing ethanol makes overall gasoline prices go down
When Mourdock blamed high gas prices on government regulation and an ethanol mandate that Lugar supported, the Senator fired back. "Ethanol makes the overall prices go down and furthermore, it's a Hoosier product with
Hoosier's producing it on farms that meant higher values for corn and higher land values for this state," said Lugar.
Source: 14 News WFIE Evansville on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 11, 2012
On Principles & Values:
OpEd: Lives in Washington DC, no longer in Indiana
Mourdock waited until the very end for perhaps the biggest jab of the night, pointing out his opponent doesn't even live in the state he serves. "It is a place if I have a privilege of serving as your US Senator, I'm not moving from. I will always calls
Darmstadt, Indiana, home," said Mourdock.Because there was no rebuttal allowed on the last question, Senator Lugar didn't get a chance to respond. But the 80-year-old Senator, who's been in Washington since 1976, defended his record.
Source: 14 News WFIE Evansville on 2012 Indiana Senate debate
Apr 11, 2012
Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018