POTTSVILLE — The two candidates vying for the opportunity to represent the 9th Congressional District in Washington, D.C., went head-to-head on Thursday in a candidates forum at the D.H.H. Lengel Middle School.
The Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce sponsored the forum to have Republican Dan Meuser and Democrat Denny Wolff express their views on local and national topics and how each would represent the constituents in the U.S. Congress. About 150 people were in attendance.
Chamber President/CEO Robert S. Carl moderated the forum, presenting questions on eight topics. The candidates stayed on topic throughout the forum as they answered the questions, though there were a few times when they briefly sniped at each other during their response time.
Both candidates have served in state government. Wolff was secretary of agricultural for Gov. Ed Rendell, and Meuser served as Gov. Tom Corbett’s secretary of revenue.
The winner of this year’s election contest will be the first U.S. representative for the new 9th District, which includes all of Schuylkill, Carbon, Columbia, Lebanon and Montour counties, and portions of Northumberland, Luzerne and Berks counties.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 22 that the congressional districts in the state were an unlawful partisan gerrymander in violation of the state constitution, and after the governor and General Assembly failed to agree on a revised district map, the court stepped and released its own district map, putting Schuylkill County in the new district. The county is currently in the 17th Congressional District represented by Matt Cartwright until the beginning of the year.
Before the forum started, a coin toss was used to determine who would start first in answering the first question. The toss went to Meuser.
Pottsville Area School District Superintendent Jeffrey Zwiebel welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Carl for his opening statement.
The candidates made their opening statement before hearing the questions. The first was on economy/tariffs. Carl asked for their views of the current economic and trade outlook, opinion of trade and the tariff negotiating approach President Donald Trump has taken.
Meuser stated that the country is on a phenomenal track compared to two years ago with record low unemployment, manufacturing optimism is good, wages are going up. He spoke of the need to give deal with the trade matters with other countries on a level playing field.
Wolff agreed that the economy is doing great, but he said the financial institutions and those who work on Wall Street are make great profits, but the economic boom hasn’t reached the 9th District yet. He said more needs to be done than complain about the problems but to actually do something. An example he gave was to help young people learn trade jobs so they can fill well-paying jobs in the area. As for tariffs, Wolff said trade agreements work much better than tariffs.
The second question was on Social Security. Carl said the system in trouble with projections indicating that the system will be insolvent by 2034.
Wolff said Social Security needs to be protected at all costs since many senior citizens rely solely on their monthly benefit. He agrees that raising the wage cap from $128,000 to $350,000, which will generate additional revenue and keep the system solvent. Wolff also addressed a move by the state government when Meuser was revenue secretary about selling the lottery system, which he said fund programs senior citizens benefit from. The plan did not go through.
In his rebuttal, Meuser said there were lies in Wolff’s statement, first saying that the lottery system was not going to be sold, but it was an opportunity to bring in a sales manager team to assure certain rates of growth. For Social Security, he agreed that the system must be protected, but he was against the wage cap increase. He said economic growth will bring more money into the system without raising taxes.
Infrastructure/transportation was the next question. Meuser said Pennsylvania has more state roads than the New England states and New York state combined and there is a long way to go in keeping road safe and maintained. He said he will work in Congress in developing a federal plan.
Wolff said the state has problems keeping the roads up to date, and investment in road infrastructure helps the economy in many ways. Wolff also spoke about the need to increase access to broadband internet service to locations that have limited service, putting businesses in an economic disadvantage.
The fourth question was about the opioid/heroin crisis. Carl asked what should be done in dealing with the crisis. Wolff called it the “crisis next door” and the problem continues to grow in Schuylkill County, the state and the country. He said education is important, early intervention, informing school children about what the risks are, and how the drugs are destroying individuals and families.
Meuser agreed that the crisis is a serious issue for all sectors of society. He said that Schuylkill County has had 63 deaths involving opioids so far this year, while 2017 had 51 cases.
The remainder of the questions dealt with taxes, national debt, health care and immigration/border wall.
When all questions were answered, Carl asked for closing statements. Meuser was first, speaking about staying the course set during the past two years.
“My opponent’s campaign has been entirely unsubstantiated, undocumented, false accusations against my family’s name and slandering a great Pennsylvania manufacturing company,” Meuser said. “It’s shameful. It’s really terrible where things are. We are committed to focusing on the issues moving forward throughout the 9th District. I think they are already there, but understanding the great contrast that exists, and the fact the direction of our country is at stake.
“I am running for Congress because I love my country, and I do not believe our government is serving it well enough,” he continued. “I do think there is far too much special interest, which leads to self-interest. I am running because I believe I bring experience to this role so I can be an effective member of Congress in Washington, working on the issues, communicating the facts to the people, all of us governing together and doing everything to advance the agenda that is in place with the goal of bringing enough prosperity and enable as many businesses to grow as possible. There are great contrasts in this campaign. We are 180 degrees, we’re polar opposites, on every issue — from taxes to regulations to Obamacare to illegal immigration solutions to the idea of draining the swamp. I am for term limits. I am for a balanced budget amendment. I am for bringing order to our government and lawfulness and due process, and we allow the private sector and American families to make this the land of opportunity. There is a lot at stake in this election. It is about the direction we’re going to go. We’re either going to continue the path that we are on for the last two years in advancing an agenda that is working for the vast majority of Americans. We want to work for all Americans or we back up two years, make a hard left, and go down the path that will lead to Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House that will lead to obstruction and what will lead to an impeachment. They say it. I don’t know we don’t hear. Just the other day Nancy Pelosi made the comment that with that gavel in her hand, she will work on restricting guns and enacting amnesty. A vote for a Democrat in this congressional race, or any congressional race, is a vote for Nancy Pelosi. If they take the House, she will be the next speaker of the house, so it is up to us.”
Wolff gave his closing comment next, speaking on rural values and their importance.
“I want to start my closing remarks by talking about rural values. They’re your values. They my values. They’re the values I grew up with,” Wolff said. “They’re about close-knit communities in the 9th Congressional District. They’re about integrity. They’re about accountability, and they’re about helping your neighbors when they have a problem. This is where deer hunting is a holiday, where the county fairs are the biggest social event of the year, and where wealth isn’t measured by how many cars you have, the kind of Rolex you have, but it’s more about the people that live around you and the way you care about each other.
“I am not looking for people to blame. I am looking for problems to solve,” Wolff continued. “There is a big difference between my opponent and I. I lost track of how many people he blamed tonight. Tom Wolf, Kathleen Kane, Chuck Schumer, and about four other people that he blamed for the problems of the past. And they all happen to be Democrats. I don’t think that is a coincidence. I don’t think my opponent has the temperament to be a member of Congress, especially when I walked up to him at our first debate to shake his hand and he told me to go to hell. I think that says a lot. For the people that I talk to in the congressional district, health care and the economy is important to them. Certainly their frustration with the inability of Congress to work together to move important legislation forward is right there. I am the only candidate in this district running that can do that. I’m the only candidate that will reach my hand cross the aisle and say look, ‘We have some problems to solve. Let’s get to work and take care of business.’ We’re in challenging times right now. There is no question about it. We need people that are willing to work for the people in this district. We need someone to represent the working-class families. We need someone that will move our agenda forward. We went over the whole list here tonight — health reform, immigration, opioids, infrastructure, the list goes on and on. I’m the person who will do that.”
When Carl presented his closing statement, Meuser and Wolff stared intensely at each other from their podiums.
The General Election will be held Nov. 6, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Contact the writer; jusalis@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023