Calaveras EnterpriseFront Page Local News School News Club News Business News Sports Crime Obituaries Multimedia Place an Ad Online Lodestar Magazine Photo Galleries Columns Letters to the Editor Submit a Letter Announcements Thursday, October 23, 2008 News | Sports | Classifieds | Calendar | Special Sections | Opinion | Contact Us | Local Links | Real Estate | Autos and RVs | Dining News Obits Advanced Search • Archives E-Edition E-Edition Log In Top Story Lungren, Durston collide in Angels Camp By Mike Taylor Email this story | Print this story Posted: Thursday, October 23, 2008 3:18 PM CDT Democrat Bill Durston, left, with Enterprise Publisher Ralph Alldredge and Republican Dan Lungren.Differing views on the direction the country may take after the Nov. 4 election came to a head Wednesday as Republican Rep. Dan Lungren and Democratic challenger Bill Durston squared off in their only face-to-face debate for the 3rd Congressional District. Durston decried U.S. actions in Iraq and referred to the war there frequently; Lungren touted his experience gained while serving two non-consecutive terms in Congress and one as attorney general in California. About 250 people listened intently at the Bret Harte Theater in Angels Camp at the debate presented by the Calaveras Enterprise. Publisher Ralph Alldredge moderated the two-hour question-and-answer session and kept the candidates on strict time limits. Durston, 59, is an emergency room physician who said he was running, “...because people asked me.” He went on to say he is “dissatisfied” with Lungren’s performance and questioned whether voters could trust the congressman. Lungren, 62, said he first went to Congress (he served from 1978 to ’88) “...because we needed change.” He added that during his first term in Congress he helped restore the military and “...tried to limit government. We ought to allow people to do their best with little government interference.” Education and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 came as the first subject for discussion and Lungren said he supported the idea of establishing standards for students but not nationalized curricula. He added that he worked to make sure the Secure Rural Schools Act remained in place as the economic recovery bill came through Congress. The act requires the federal government share 25 percent of proceeds received from federal lands in rural counties. Durston began his response with an analogy to his medical career, saying, “Do no harm.” He went on to say NCLB placed too much emphasis on “cramming mathematics and English into kids at the expense of other subjects. It doesn’t lead to well-rounded students.” On healthcare, Durston said the biggest problem was that special interest groups have gotten too much from the existing system. Lungren stepped into the party line and said Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s plan to shift a tax credit of $5,000 from employers to individuals may be a way to “break out” of the health care system we have. When asked what caused the current conditions on Wall Street and across the nation, Durston said the patient was comatose, and pointed to deregulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2004 that allowed lenders to loan a larger percentage of their assets, increasing housing prices and lenders setting interest rates too low for today’s hard financial times. He added that lenders should have known some of their borrowers were not going to be able to repay adjustable low-interest home loans, then said, “We can’t keep wasting massive resources on war and preparing for war without crippling the economy.” Lungren said blaming goes nowhere, and that there was a failure of the system from top to bottom. He said a shift in the economy from a value- to transaction-based system hurt lenders, noting that instead of looking at property values as loans were being sold between banks and mortgage lenders, fees collected on transactions became the driving force in the market. “(We) no longer look at the value of the property or the ability of the borrower to make payments,” he said. As to how to fix the collapsing system, Durston said he was against the bailout, saying the money should have gone to “Main Street” rather than Wall Street. He said work needed to be done to tighten regulations, and that the $700 million could have been distributed to people having trouble making mortgage payments. He said that could have been accomplished by taxing the rich so the national debt was not increased. Lungren said he supported the bailout bill, but wasn’t happy about all of what it ultimately contained. “In many respects it violated many of my principles. However, when you’re in Congress, you don’t always get to vote for the perfect answer. Your choice is between the best that’s there.” On the war, Durston said, “We should not have invaded Iraq,” and that there should be a “... prompt, orderly, complete withdrawal.” He added that if necessary, Congress could “... revoke the order for use of force.” Lungren said, “Congress has the power of the purse,” and added that it needs to “follow through with tough oversight.” At least twice the subject of working with others in government came up and the candidates traded barbs during a rather heated exchange toward the end of the debate. “Congress has abdicated its role in checks and balances, particularly with regard to the war,” Durston said, adding that he promised himself and his supporters he “...wouldn’t compromise principles to win votes.” At the close-when each candidate was allowed to ask a question of the other-Durston called into question Lungren’s voting record during his first term in Congress, noting he voted the same as Vice President Dick Cheney most of the time. Lungren bristled and said, “I will stand on my record any time. ...Platitudes do not make policy.” When Lungren asked how Durston would work with 434 others in Congress and 100 senators who would disagree with him at one point or another, Durston reminded the audience of a mailer sent out by the Lungren campaign that he says misquoted comments he made about the war in Iraq. “If my opponent can point out one thing that I’ve said about him that is not true, I’ll change it,” he said. He added that he was displeased with the Sacramento Bee for misunderstanding statements he made, adding that Lungren’s “ ...flyer is not true.” “There you go again, Bill,” Lungren said. “Given an opportunity to show how you could work with people, you slam the Sacramento Bee. Every time someone disagrees with you, it is because something is wrong with them.” The crowd remained restrained throughout the debate, but as Lungren-who was on crutches because of a torn Achilles tendon-left the theater, at least two Durston supporters began shouting questions at the Congressman. One man stepped toward Lungren, causing those helping him to a waiting car to step between them. There is a three part series on the debate. We are in the process of uploading the videos. Contact Mike Taylor at mtaylor@calaverasenterprise.com. Comment (No comments posted.) Comments are posted after review by the Web master. They represent the opinion of the commenting party. While we encourage them as a way to further community discussion of important public topics, we reserve the right to reject or edit them. How do I find my comments later? Articles change daily on our Web site. Please make a note of the title of the article you have commented on. 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