Whitehouse, Flanders spar over social safety net in U.S. Senate debate

Oct. 21--SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- With just over two weeks until Election Day, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and his Republican challenger, former Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Robert Flanders, sparred Saturday night over single-payer health care, immigration and potential threats to Social Security and other safety-net programs during an hour-long debate at the University of Rhode Island.

The debate between the two Ivy League-educated lawyers began on a friendly note, with Flanders wishing Whitehouse, the two-term Democratic incumbent, "a happy 63rd birthday" and promising "not to make his age and relative inexperience an issue in this campaign." But with Republican control of the U.S. Senate at stake, there were few other laughlines.

Flanders accused Whitehouse of "trying to scare people" into believing the Republicans in Washington are intent on decimating Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

"He's running ads that are absolutely false," said Flanders. "The Republicans have never said they want to get rid of any of these programs. That's just completely false. This is just a scare tactic to go after seniors and others, in the hope they will vote for him again and elect Democrats."

"Stop lying," said Flanders at one point during the debate, which was sponsored by The Providence Journal, The Public's Radio (formerly Rhode Island Public Radio) and the University of Rhode Island.

The response from Whitehouse: "What I have said is they want to cut it, and the reason that I say that ... is because [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell just said it himself ... [and] because the Republican House passed a budget with $2 trillion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts. ... You can't pretend that is a fantasy."

He alluded to McConnell's statement on Tuesday that the only way to lower the record-high federal deficit would be to cut entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

On immigration, Whitehouse and Flanders saw the potential problems -- and the potential solutions -- through completely different lenses.

"Look," said Flanders, "my opponent -- and the Democrats -- seem to be pushing for an open-borders situation. ... In a post-911 world, we can't let an unvetted mass of people come in here who seek to do us harm ... or go on the public welfare, and flood our schools. ... We can't afford that."

But Whitehouse said his own experience as a former state and federal prosecutor tells him: "If you want to do gang cases in Rhode Island, you have to make sure that people from those communities will talk to you, and if they fear that when they come in they will be punished for coming in and talking to you, that hurts law enforcement. ... So to me, the people to listen to on this are the police chiefs."

They both agreed, however, that questions remain unanswered about the killing of Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, despite this Friday headline in The New York Times: "Trump Says Saudi Explanation of Journalist's Death Is Credible, in Break With U.S. Intelligence."

Asked if the U.S. should be tougher with Saudi Arabia by, for example, halting arms deals or ending U.S. assistance in the Saudi air strikes in Yemen, Whitehouse said: "We absolutely should be."

"What has been disclosed so far about that crime is way too little. The president has been far too soft on the Saudis, I believe. ... One set of sanctions would be against Saudi Arabia generally, and that would be in the arms sales area, and potentially other related areas like our support for their activities in Yemen."

In May, Whitehouse and his Rhode Island Senate colleague Jack Reed broke ranks with most of their fellow Democrats by voting against a resolution that would have pulled American troops out of the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The bipartisan resolution sponsored by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Utah Republican Mike Lee and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy failed on a 54-45 vote.

A shift in stance? Whitehouse did not say. But he said other responses might now be warranted: "I am holding my powder on which is the best way to go until we know more."

Flanders agreed: "It's an intolerable situation, and I think we have to crack down on Saudi Arabia, even though they have been our strategic ally in that region."

"We have to be cautious about dealing with them, because they have been such a staunch friend of the United States, but this activity -- murdering a U.S.-based journalist ... is absolutely something that we as a civilized nation can't tolerate.

"It bears all of the indications of being a hit ordered by the highest levels of the government, the crown prince, and so I think we need to be severe in our sanctions here and let them know that there's going to be hell to pay ... and consider seriously cutting back if not eliminating the arms sales that are pending with Saudi Arabia," said Flanders, noting "we [also] currently allow refueling in Yemen for their activities in that region, and I think that's another area we need to take a hard look at cutting."

The two men also agreed on the need to ease the burden of student debt on young adults, with Whitehouse taking credit for his role in passage of a "$350-million student loan forgiveness initiative" for eligible people in public service fields, like teachers, social workers and military personnel."

But they disagreed more than they agreed.

Flanders got to repeat his oft-heard criticism of Whitehouse for his role in the passage of a 2016 law that changed the way opioids are regulated, which critics blame for worsening the nation's opioid overdose epidemic. A former Drug Enforcement Administration official told "60 Minutes" that the law hamstrung the agency's ability to crack down on illegal shipments by wholesale distributors.

Whitehouse's response: "When the story emerged, we had a hearing on it in the Judiciary Committee. ... We brought in the woman who runs the section that does this type of enforcement. ... She testified under oath, and she said there had been no harm to her enforcement efforts."

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