District 9 candidates differ on issues, from economy to health care

July 21--SOUTHERN INDIANA -- Indiana's 9th Congressional District candidates don't agree on much, but they both place importance on the economy.

That's about where Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, a Republican, and Democrat Liz Watson stop nodding their heads in unison and start shaking their heads at their opponent's stance.

Hollingsworth voted for the GOP tax reform bill in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He views its passing as a victory for the middle class. The bill gave over 80 percent of American households a tax cut and vastly reduced the tax rate for corporations, leaving extra money for them to use at their discretion.

"That's enormous," Hollingsworth said. "That has only fed into the economy. It's led to people being able to make ends meet in ways that they haven't before. It's enabled work that pays more than it has before."

Watson, though, sees Hollingsworth's vote as one for himself. The wealthiest Americans will get the most money back on their taxes. A report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress claims that Hollingsworth will personally receive a $4.5 million tax break, a conclusion they reached from analyzing his public financial disclosure reports.

"I don't think we can go back and let him double his money," said Watson, referring to Hollingsworth's re-election bid.

Watson also takes issue with the fact that the bill will drive up the country's deficit to $1 trillion in 2020, leaving less money, she says, for Medicare, Social Security and infrastructure investment.

During Hollingsworth's time in office, however, the country's economy has improved; the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent this year, its lowest since 2000.

"A better economy is what Hoosiers demanded first and foremost, and I and Congress and the administration are delivering on that promise day in and day out," Hollingsworth said.

But one part of the economy Watson thinks her opponent has ignored has been health care.

"It's expensive when people are out of the workforce because they're so sick, [and] can't continue to support their families," she said. "Bringing down heath care cost and increasing coverage is good for our economy, and it's an investment we need to be making."

Hollingsworth opposes the Affordable Care Act, instead advocating for a free-market service.

Watson supports "Medicare for All," which would work up to universal health care by gradually expanding eligibility for the government-funded health insurance. She also wants to authorize Congress to negotiate prescription drug prices to keep costs low.

"We're the richest nation on earth," Watson said. "And yet we have the highest health care costs and some of the worst outcomes. We can do so much better than this."

Besides continuing to improve the economy, Hollingsworth believes in stopping the same elected representatives from coming back to Washington election after election.

Hollingsworth has personally pledged to serve only eight years, or four terms, if re-elected to his position. The first bill that he introduced as a Congressman would have kept senators from serving more than two six-year terms and House members from serving more than four two-year terms. The bill died after being referred to a couple of committees.

Since then, Hollingsworth said he's signed onto many term limit bills, but none have passed.

"There's the career politicians that have been here 20 to 30 years that don't want to see that," he said. "And then there are the people that have been elected in the last two or thee or four elections and say, 'actually, this is really important,' because they see the electorate that's angry -- that's angry at 'why are we electing the same old people and not solving any of the same old problems."

Personally, Hollingsworth would like to see term limits reduced to the time limit that he included in his first bill, but he said he'd be open to supporting another bill if it gets traction.

"I think making sure people have an expiration date, that's the more important thing," he said.

Hollingsworth also authored a bill in 2017 that would have stopped members of Congress from becoming lobbyists after their term is up.

One of Watson's other concerns is the health of the public education system. She worries about its funding and the prevalence of school vouchers.

"We need to make sure, you know, we protect and strengthen our public school system," she said. "And Betsy DeVos, of course, seems to be doing everything she can to gut our public school system, and I'm not going to let that happen."

Hollingsworth cited securing the U.S./Mexican border as another of his priorities.

"I don't think we can have a meaningful conversation about what to do from step No. 2 to 450 until we first secure the border," he said. "And I voted over and over again to provide funding to secure the border, to increase border control, to provide for a wall, to ensure that we have a physical barrier between us and drugs coming into the country -- illegal immigration coming into the country."

When it comes to handling the immigrants that are already in the United States, Hollingsworth said he thinks the system is broken, both for legal and illegal immigrant.

To solve aspects of those problems, Hollingsworth said he voted earlier this year for the Goodlatte bill, which if passed, would have given DACA recipients legal status for three years at a time, but also would have cut back on legal immigration, added to border security and immigration enforcement and mandated that employers use ""E-Verify" to ensure that their workers were in the country legally.

Watson, on the other hand, believes that the border is already secure, according to her website. She wants an immediate pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, as well as reformation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and a reduction in the country's reliance on private detention centers, among other actions.

Finally, Hollingsworth believes that advocating for the military, including proper pay, is something that will help Hoosiers feel safe.

Both candidates think they've figured out what Hoosiers want most.

ON THE ISSUES:

Tariffs

Watson: We're seeing the effects of these rash actions on soybean prices, on dairy prices. If you talk to the farmers, you know, which I've spent some time doing, they're very unhappy about what's happening, and I think that Congress needs to exercise oversight. And that's really important. One of the things that really concerns me about our current representative, is on so many of these issues, he fails to stand up for Hoosiers. He's not willing to stick his neck out ... when we need to make sure that we're fighting for people in this district. And this is one of these examples. He stood in Martinsville and beat his chest and said how excited he was about the tariffs, you know? That's not good for people in Martinsville.

Hollingsworth: ...Everyone agrees that China is not playing by the rules -- that they've been ripping off American companies from their intellectual property. They don't allow access to their domestic market for our companies and workers, but they get unfettered access to the U.S. market, and oh, by the way, they've been ripping off American workers. We've seen factories close all the way across this country, all the way across the district... . We have to address this, and President Trump is the first president despite all of them saying it for the last, on both sides of the aisle by the way, for the last 20 years -- the first president to stand up and say, we have to balance the terms so that the American worker and American companies get a fair shot.

Trump and Putin / Russian interference in U.S. election

Watson: Well, it's very concerning that the intelligence community says Russia has interfered with our elections and that the president seems, at least temporarily, willing to take Putin's side over the intelligence community's. I'm not the only one to say that. Republicans are standing up and saying that. Dan Coats is saying that. Dan Coats -- a Hoosier, Republican Hoosier, from Indiana is saying that he's absolutely concerned about making sure that our administration protects the integrity of our election system. And this is not a partisan issue. It should not be. It's about, you know, protecting our Democracy from outside interference, and we all have to stand up for that. And to do otherwise is cowardly, and Trey has been completely silent.

Hollingsworth: I think that we have adversaries around the world that are looking to do harm to American interests. Whether that harm is in elections ... through China and trade and stealing from the American economy ... [or] direct harm through Iran, North Korea, seeking a nuclear missile. ...I think the president in each encounter has shut the door on adversaries in terms of taking advantage of us, but has been willing like president's before him, like I would advise anybody, to continue the dialogues with each of them. For the first time, meeting with the North Korean leader, meeting with President Putin, meeting with the Chinese's current president, Xi, making sure that they continue to have a dialogue, but that we stand ready to enforce the red lines against those that wish to do us harm.

Danielle Grady is the business and economic development reporter at the News and Tribune. Contact her via email at [email protected] or by phone at 812-206-2137. Follow her on Twitter: @dgrady1222.

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