The one and likely only CD 2 debate was held last night in Sierra Vista. (I searched for a video, but do not find one posted as yet).
Rep. Martha McSally (R-Raytheon) predetermined the debate sponsor, time, date and location of the debate and announced it in a press release without any negotiation with her opponent, Dr. Matt Heinz (D-Tucson). Hence the McSally “Chicken Bunker Debate.”
From the coverage in the Sierra Vista Herald and the Arizona Daily Star today it appears at first blush that McSally may have also selected the topics, if not the softball questions, as well.
McSally was not asked any questions that she did not want to answer, like those I have posted here for years.
Like her very first substantive vote in Congress, vote No. 6 on H.Res. 5 for House Rules Changes, passed 234-176 on a party-line vote, sets up election-year battle over Social Security’s finances in 2016:
Buried in new rules that will govern the House for the next two years is a provision that could force an explosive battle over Social Security’s finances on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.
Social Security’s disability program has been swamped by aging baby boomers, and unless Congress acts, the trust fund that supports it is projected to run dry in late 2016. At that point, the program will collect only enough payroll taxes to pay 81 percent of benefits, according to the trustees who oversee Social Security.
The House adopted a rule Tuesday blocking such a move, unless it is part of a larger plan to improve Social Security’s finances, by either cutting benefits or raising taxes.
But if Congress doesn’t act, benefits for 11 million disabled workers, spouses and children would be automatically cut by 19 percent. The average monthly payment for a disabled worker is $1,146, or a little less than $14,000 a year.
This bit of GOP gamesmanship has since been sidelined, but McSally voted for it.
