News

November 1, 2012

Southern Tier (WENY) - It was a packed house tonight at the Clemens Center, as Voters were ready to hear what the candidates had to say about the issues facing the Southern Tier, and our Country. Congressman Tom Reed and Nate Shinagawa have debated a few times in the past few weeks, but tonight was their last opportunity to sway the vote in their favor. Supporters on both sides would clap and cheer even though they were told not to at the start of the debate. As for the candidates, there was no clear cut winner, but there were some very tense moments.

      “What Congressman Reed is talking about today is a lot of talk,” said Shinagawa. “It's a lot of committees that he's on and letters that he's written. In terms of actual work that needs to be done we haven't seen that from him or his congress.”

     “When my opponent talks about doing something about health care let us not forget what my opponent stand for. He does not believe Obamacare went far enough he's a strong advocate for a single payer system,” says Reed.

     This back and fourth, calling each other out went on all night. Questions submitted by community members and neighbors touched on a lot of major issues, such as why congress seemingly can't pass a budget on time, Should there be cuts to FEMA, and education. An issue that stood out was about how each candidate plans to create jobs in the Southern Tier.

     “We need to actually fight to make sure that's a budget that actually find ways to bring job growth especially on the lines of manufacturing and supporting our small businesses, but I also believe we need to deal with our debt and deficit,” says Shinagawa.

     “We have to tackle this national debt and bring certainty and confidence back to the american people so that they know and global markets know we are getting our debts under control . We have to do compressive tax reform. Our tax code is antiquated and it needs to be simplified,” says Reed.

     It became clear throughout the debate that Shinagawa was in attack mode, bringing up the Reed's record during every response. Reed countered, and though there were a lot of fireworks, both candidates were able to present their agenda to voters. That's it for these two, there's been a lot of back and forth not just in the debates, but also in the media.