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Wednesday, October 15, 2008 11:54 AM

Boyda, Jenkins spar over fiscal issues

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOPEKA — Republican congressional candidate Lynn Jenkins outlined a plan Tuesday night she said would significantly cut the federal budget, and she attacked Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda for supporting a fund that included a mule museum in California.

Boyda, seeking a second term from eastern Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District, scoffed at Jenkins’ proposal, saying it lacked specifics. And Boyda suggested that Jenkins, a two-term state treasurer, had mishandled the distribution of gasoline and diesel fuel tax revenues to counties, something Jenkins disputed.

The two candidates had their third televised debate from the studios of KSNT, the NBC affiliate in Topeka.

They sparred on a wide range of issues, but their sharpest exchanges came on tax and spending policy.

Jenkins again portrayed Boyda as a liberal who’s voted repeatedly in favor of higher taxes and wasteful spending.

Boyda argued that she’s a centrist who is working both to balance the federal budget and to provide tax relief to the middle class.

At one point, Boyda told Jenkins that her accusations were ‘‘beyond, really, the pale.’’

‘‘Lynn, you have been constantly trying to distort my record,’’ Boyda said as the debate ended. ‘‘You can say whatever you like. I work hard for Kansas.’’

Jenkins has signed a national anti-tax group’s pledge not to raise income taxes, and has said she won’t support tax shifts that require some individuals and businesses to pay more so others can pay less. Boyda has suggested that Jenkins’ stance would prevent her from working to shrink the federal budget deficit.

But Jenkins told Boyda that she has had a chance to attack the deficit and, ‘‘You’ve done nothing but make the problem worse.’’

Jenkins then said she is working on a plan to cut $310 billion a year from the federal budget, including $12 billion a year in funding earmarks. But the plan also says the federal government can save 10 times as much money by closing programs that have ‘‘failed to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.’’

‘‘I think we’re on it,’’ said Jenkins, who has made much of being a certified public accountant. ‘‘This is what I do, and I’m anxious to get to Washington.’’

Jenkins said her proposals are based on figures from federal auditors and the Congressional Budget Office, but she acknowledged that her plan — outlined in a half-page for reporters — isn’t fleshed out in detail.

After the debate, Boyda dismissed the proposal.

‘‘Not one shred of detail,’’ Boyda said. ‘‘We hear that over and over again.’’

Jenkins repeatedly mentioned the National Mule and Packers Museum planned for Bishop, Calif. The House earmarked $50,000 for it last year, and Boyda voted July 27 against an amendment to strip the earmark from the budget.

‘‘That is not why I pay federal income tax,’’ Jenkins said. ‘‘Those kinds of things are things that can be best accomplished by local governments and state governments.’’

Boyda noted that the other three members of Kansas’ House delegation — one Democrat and two Republicans — voted against the same amendment, which failed overwhelmingly.

Also, Boyda said, her earmarks included projects such as a wastewater treatment plant in Iola. She accused Jenkins of taking on a ‘‘cloak of righteousness.’’

‘‘The budget will be the same, Lynn,’’ Boyda said. ‘‘If you have your way, Kansas absolutely will be the loser in this whole thing.’’

Boyda sought again to raise questions about Jenkins’ performance as state treasurer. Last week, she noted that Jenkins had missed meetings as a state pension fund trustee in July, August and September, when the national financial turmoil was causing the fund’s assets to shed more than $1 billion worth of value.

On Tuesday night, Boyda raised the handling of motor fuels tax revenues by the treasurer’s office as an issue. The office distributes $2.5 million in such revenues each year to counties through a formula, and Jenkins acknowledged in April that the formula had been flawed since 1999, before she became treasurer.

Jenkins made that disclosure in April in a letter to Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Annual outside audits of the treasurer’s office from 2003 through 2007 failed to note the problem, as Jenkins pointed out in her letter.

Boyda said the misdistribution of money shorted some counties, making the issue worth noting. The Kansas Democratic Party also issued a news release about it after the debate.

But Jenkins said she was glad to talk about the issue, because her staff found an error that auditors had missed and corrected it.

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Boyda, Jenkins spar over fiscal issues

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.