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Heck’s, Herrera’s questions go unanswered

Candidates for 3rd District challenge one another on key issues

By Kathie Durbin
Published: October 26, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
Denny Heck
Denny Heck Photo Gallery

Entering the home stretch of the 3rd Congressional District race, Democrat Denny Heck and Republican Jaime Herrera are challenging each other to take stands on substantive, hot-button issues such as health reform, cap-and-trade legislation and the state income tax measure on the Nov. 2 ballot.

But so far, neither candidate has taken the bait.

The Heck campaign announced over the weekend that it would pose 10 questions to Herrera — one per day until Election Day — on key issues. Campaign spokesman Aaron Wasser said Herrera “has yet to answer” the questions and that “Southwest Washington voters deserve to know.“

So far, Heck has directed two questions at his opponent, each accompanied by a statement of Heck’s position:

• “How will you explain your support of repealing health care reform to people who can now no longer be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition or to those who lose their insurance when they become sick?”

• “Why do you continue to oppose reining in big Wall Street banks and the reckless practices of CEOs, even after they brought our economy to its knees and cost our country millions of jobs?”

The Herrera campaign fired back Monday, not with answers but with its own list of questions that campaign spokesman Casey Bowman said Heck “needs to answer.”

• “Does he support the $695 fine in the health care bill for everyone who doesn’t buy insurance?”

• “How does he plan to vote on I-1098?” The proposed state income tax on high earners is on the Nov. 2 state ballot.

• “Would he vote for cap and trade or not?”

Neither candidate had responded to any of the questions posed as of Monday evening.

Instead, the Herrera campaign issued a press release Monday saying Boeing Co. has raised its health insurance deductibles by 50 percent based on the increased tax it will have to pay under the reform bill.

The Associated Press reported last week that Boeing has sent a letter to employees informing them that deductibles and co-payments will rise significantly for some 90,000 of its nonunion workers. The company cited three major reasons for the cost shift — untamed health care inflation, the effects of the new law, and lifestyle issues, including obesity and lack of exercise.

“The ‘reform’ facade continues to crumble from the trillion-dollar health care bill as employers are now beginning to charge employees more for their health care coverage,” Herrera’s campaign said.

Heck called health care reform “a work in progress.” However, he added that “ending the practice of denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and putting a stop to insurance companies pulling coverage from people who become sick must remain part of any plan and should not be repealed.”

Herrera opposes the income tax measure on the November ballot. Heck has not publicly taken a position on the initiative.

On financial reform, Heck said he is the only candidate in the race who favors comprehensive Wall Street reform, including reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited community banks from engaging in risky investments with depositors’ money. He said he also supports forcing risky derivative contracts “out of the shadows and into public exchanges” and favors enacting stronger consumer protection measures to curb deceptive practices.

In response to a questionnaire submitted by The Columbian during the primary campaign, Herrera said, “We can’t have a system where companies are free to take huge risks, and if they pay off, they reap huge rewards, but if they fail, the taxpayers are on the hook for massive bailouts.”

She said she would be open to “potentially reinstating some portions of Glass-Steagall.”

Herrera said in her questionnaire response that she opposes federal cap-and-trade legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, claiming it would increase the average family’s energy bills by $1,700 a year.

Heck insisted in recent debates that he has not taken a position in favor of cap-and-trade legislation and has asked Herrera to stop claiming that he has.

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