Jon Tester in Montana 2006 3-way Senate Debate

On Budget & Economy: Montana suffered from Burns’ cuts in discretionary funding

JONES: That’s easy for me. Eliminate unconstitutional departments and agencies.

BURNS: There’s only one way to control the deficit--grow the economy and control spending. We have brought down spending on the discretionary spending - the part we have some control over. The non-discretionary part is troubling. We’re continuing with the tax cuts which have energized the economy--that’s the way you take care of the deficit. We didn’t ask for 9/11, or Katrina, or the war on terror. We always grew through it. You grow the economy and control spending and that’s the way you take care of the deficit.

TESTER: When it comes to funding for Montana, we took the third biggest cut in FY05, in that discretionary funding. Out of 13 subcommittee chairs, Sen. Burns is ranked 10th in getting dollars to this state for critical projects. It’s time that we spend the money wiser, that we prioritize better, and start looking out for middle class folks.

On Corporations: Energy plan was written by oil companies, so no renewables

BURNS: The incentives for alternative fuels & renewable fuels are just like any other incentive to increase production, & that’s exactly what is happening, because of the competition in the market. We would not have had those big windmills if not for [the recent] energy bill. It is the marketplace that will force us into conservation and renewables.

On Education: More tuition tax credits, low-interest loans, & Pell grants

I’ve got a kid in college today in Montana, and one that just graduated a few years ago. So I know what college education costs you and your families. We have finally started to turn the university funding at the state level around, with the first significant funding increases after a decade of neglect. But we can do more.

I have a plan to expand tuition tax credits to make college tuition more affordable for Montana families. Sen. Burns has voted to end tuition tax credits for 11,000 Montanans. I believe we need to keep low-interest loans and increasing Pell grants. Sen. Burns has voted against higher student loans and opposes increases in Pell grants. Too many middle-class families are being priced out of the dream of providing their kids a higher education.

On Energy & Oil: Agricultural oil sources are profitable and renewable

JONES: The cheapest electrical power is nuclear energy. We must re-institute nuclear power. Coal is another one. Montana is rich in coal, which can be liquefied into gasoline. Government over-regulates the energy industry.

BURNS: Last year we opened up some new areas for energy production. And we found more oil and we found more gas. That’s what brings down the price of gasoline, when policies inject competition into the market.

TESTER: America’s energy independence is critically important, and we have a tremendous opportunity in Montana to help America become energy-independent. If I were not running for US Senate, on my farm, we would be crushing safflower, because I’ve run the numbers, and it works, and it provides a renewable energy source that makes sense. We did a lot of things in the last session to help promote bio-fuels and renewables and wind energy.

On Energy & Oil: Kyoto Accord needs worldwide communication & US leadership

BURNS: No; it doesn’t get to the real folks that should have some way of controlling their greenhouse gases. That’s the reason I’m a great believer in alternative fuels. We have to do everything that we can do, [but] stay within the economy growing.

TESTER: Us pulling out of the Kyoto Accord is exactly what’s wrong. We need to have communication with folks around the world. This is a worldwide problem. I hope [global warming] is a glitch in the environment, but we need to treat it in case it’s not. I’d point out that, with the exception of wind and solar, you still have carbon emissions from other renewables, like biofuels and ethanol. Our universities can be a big player in how we can sequester carbon, and solve this carbon issue. We can solve this problem but it’s going to take some research dollars, and some commitment, and some leadership. The folks that are there can’t do it. We need a change.

On Energy & Oil: Global warming is much more rapid now than historically

BURNS: We’ve been warming since the Ice Age, and that continues. That’s a pretty well-known fact.

TESTER: The truth is, the polar ice cap is half as thick as it was in 1950. Yes, Earth is warming since the Ice Age, that’s correct, but it’s warming much more rapidly now than it ever has in our history.

JONES: There is global warming; it’s very slight; it’s a recovery from what’s called the Little Ice Age, when the average temperatures were much lower. In the years 500AD to 1000AD, temperatures were much higher than they are right now. Global warming is a natural recovery, and is not harmful. Most of it is only happening in the northern hemisphere. Scientists have proven that carbon dioxide emissions contribute only about 5% of the total greenhouse gases. If we reduce that worldwide, do you think it will have a big impact no greenhouse gases? No it will not. This is a natural occurrence and we should not make any effort to change it.

On Government Reform: Earmarks without transparency are wrong for democracy

TESTER: The current process of earmarking in the middle of the night, without transparency, is the wrong way for representative democracy to be working. Good projects, like this land-grant university, can stand up to the scrutiny of the light of day. Quite frankly, I don’t support earmarks, period.

If a project’s a good project, which includes probably most if not all of those 34 earmarks, they could withstand scrutiny in front of the entire Congress. I’m not for earmarks because they don’t pass public scrutiny with the transparency that our government and our forefathers set up.

JONES: Incumbents always put something in the transportation bill so they can brag about all the money they brought to the state. None of the 34 are qualified.

BURNS: I’m proud about what I brought back to Montana. That money’s going to be spent somewhere in America, and I want Montana to get her share.

On Government Reform: K-Street cronies control Congressional spending decisions

A: I’d start with no-bid contracts in Iraq. That’s kind of wild. Then negotiations for Medicare Part D prescription drugs--I negotiate when I go to buy a pickup truck, so we ought to be negotiating-- but that’s what happens when you have big pharmaceutical companies writing legislation. It’s time that we spend the money wiser, that we prioritize better, and start looking out for middle class folks. But that’s not the people who have control- the cronies on K-Street that buy votes have more control than the folks that elect us. You need to have people back there in Washington who have experience balancing a checkbook and setting priorities. I have balanced a checkbook in the private sector and in the public sector. My opponent has not been able to do that.

On Health Care: Families can’t afford to get sick; that’s not health care

On Homeland Security: Build forces to fight terror cells; not take away our rights

TESTER: It deals with the freedoms that so many people have fought and died for. If we want to get serious about the War on Terror, we need to make the investments to fight the war on terror. We ought not be taking rights away from honest citizens. If we’ve got terror cells around the world, then let’s invest in human intelligence. Let’s invest in our Special Forces. Let’s go after ‘em, and let’s be serious, and not get sidetracked by Iraq. Right now, we’re taking rights away from honest people. If they think you fall into their list, you’re a target. By the time they figure out there’s a terror cell, they can get a warrant. The Senator wants to let them have Carte Blanche. The government ought not be taking away our freedoms.

JONES: We’ve lost our Fourth Amendment rights; now there’s no protection to our privacy.

BURNS: The Patriot Act is a tool that is in place now for drug kingpins and organized crime.

On Principles & Values: Premature to call for impeachment proceedings against Bush

TESTER: I think it’s a bit premature to say that there should be impeachment proceedings against Pres. Bush. I do think there will be public hearings, and I think that’s critically important. If impeachable offenses are found, then so be it. I think we need to focus on the issues I hear about from the people of this great state. We’ve got a system that’s broken right now, and needs to be fixed, and it needs some leadership back in Washington DC. The current cast isn’t getting it done.

JONES: Yes, Pres. Bush has committed many impeachable offenses. He has issued executive orders that have the force and effect of law, when he has no constitutional authority to issue laws. Pres. Bush pushed the Patriot Act and other bills that have been just as threatening to our freedom. This man has to be impeached in order to preserve our freedoms. We have to impeach this man to let these people know they cannot do that to our freedoms.