By ELON GLUCKLICH 

H&N Staff Reporter

October 23, 2010

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden	Jim Huffman, Republican challenger

     Seasoned political veterans may have been surprised to hear Oregon’s Democratic senator railing against big government, and his Republican challenger touting his environmental credentials.

   But that was the case Thursday during a debate between Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and his challenger Jim Huffman.

   “The tax code today is a job killer,” Wyden said. “The federal bailout is a symbol of big government. It sends a bad message.”

   Huffman, meanwhile, declared himself “a big supporter of the environment,” and vowed to legislate with environmental concerns in mind.  

   But the two candidates also took on a variety of local issues, including the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, the need to restore forest jobs and the high cost of health care.  

   Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement

   Steve Miller, editor of the Herald and News, asked the candidates how they viewed the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and hydroelectric dam settlement.

   Huffman said he initially opposed the KBRA, but said he had since developed “an open mind” about it. While he said he would be willing to listen to stakeholders on both sides of the issue, funding for the agreement — estimated to be about $1.5 billion — would be hard to find in a down economy.

   “The prospects for (funding) an agreement are not bright,” Huffman said.

   But Wyden said he felt an something could be done.

   “I can work with the stakeholders to get a proposal through the Senate,” Wyden said. “I know we can bring people together on this.”  

   Restoring forest jobs

   Wyden took multiple opportunities to distance himself from various policies of President Barack Obama, whose job approval rating has slipped in recent months. Nowhere did Wyden distance himself further than on the issue of forest jobs and biomass production.

   The Obama administration earlier this year declared biomass facilities should report their carbon emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency in the same manner as coal producers and other energy producers that emit carbon.  

   The decision has brought into question several biomass projects slated for development in the Klamath Basin. Wyden said he would lead the fight against that ruling, calling biomass “a crucial part” of Oregon’s economy moving forward.

   “Obama is equating biomass with fossil fuels,” Wyden said. “I’m leading the fight to oppose that.”       

   Huffman agreed, saying there is a way to balance environmental concerns with the need for rural areas to create jobs.

   Job growth

   Julie Akins, news director for KOBI , asked the candidates what they would do to encourage job growth in Oregon.

   Huffman said he would consider instituting a payroll tax holiday while workers try to ride out the recession. Payroll taxes are taxes employers withhold from employee paychecks. He also criticized Wyden for his apparent support of allowing tax cuts instituted by the George W. Bush administration to expire.  

   “I think the last thing people need right now is an increase in the tax rate,” Huffman said.

   In responding to the question, Wyden again made his pitch to restore forest jobs. He said permanent economic recovery would not be seen unless the area’s resources were fully utilized. That means getting people back to work thinning forests, Wyden said.  

   The role of government

   Several times in the debate, Huffman took Wyden to task for his endorsement of federal programs that increased the size and scope of government.

   In particular, Huffman criticized Wyden’s support for Obama’s health care reform law and the federal stimulus bill.

   “These things are bad for the country,” Huffman said, “and my opponent voted for them.”

   Wyden countered by saying he is always legislating with the best interest of his constituents in mind. He said he has worked with Republican senators on a variety of programs, including tax breaks for small businesses, which encourage economic growth.  

   Total maximum daily loads

   Miller asked the candidates how they felt about a ruling from the state Department of Environmental Quality saying Klamath Falls ratepayers should pay to clean water in the Klamath River.

   Miller told the candidates because of total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs, city ratepayers would be forced to pay millions of dollars for a treatment plant that would not make the water any cleaner.

   TMDLs calculate the maximum amount of pollutants a body of water can receive and still meet mandated quality requirements.

   Huffman said he “would work hard” to bring about a common sense solution to the problem. While he said environmental regulations are important, he said some of those regulations showed “a total lack of common sense.”

   Wyden said he would bring a focus group to Klamath Falls to examine the issue and come up with a solution that eases the potential burden of upgrades on local ratepayers.  

   Kingsley Field

   Miller also asked the candidates for their take on the current state of Kingsley Field. Kingsley Field is one of the last airbases training F-15 fighter jet pilots in the United States.

   Wyden said the Klamath Basin is lucky to enjoy the benefits Kingsley Field brought to the region. But, he added, “We’re going to have to make some tough calls” about the base’s future. He added some of the planes at Kingsley were “outmoded.”

   Huffman also said it would be hard to upgrade the fleet at Kingsley Field due to likely cuts in defense spending that would take place in the future. He said any examination of the field’s current fleet capacity “has to be part of a larger examination of military funding.”

   Medicare reimbursements

   The candidates addressed the issue of inadequate reimbursement in emergency cases in volving Medicare patients.

   Studies from the Office of Management an d Budget show, nationwide, ambulance runs reimbursed by Medicare are underfunded by 18 percent. That problem extends to the emergency room, where Medicare payments are often less than the cost of care.

   “I definitely support changes to the (Medicare) system that reimburse based on quality of care,” Wyden said.  

   Huffman said he had spoken with doctors who said the cost of treating Medicare patients was pushing them to the brink of closing their practices.

   “I spoke to one doctor who said that 95 percent of his patients were on Medicare,” Huffman said. “He was making only one-fourth of what he usually makes” treating patients. Huffman agreed changes to the Medicare system were needed to give doctors an incentive to practice in the state.