(WHAS11)-3rd Congressional District incumbent John Yarmuth and his challenger Anne Northup face off, discussing more national than local issues in a debate Monday night. The topics included the economy, energy, the war, social security and Medicare. They did however talk about one issue specific to Louisville. For most of the debate the two agreed to just disagree. Things got a little testy when discussing the war in Iraq, a light rail system in Louisville and a 2007 Christmas resolution.
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Regarding the Iraq war:
Anne Northup called the mission in Iraq a success and says she opposes a timeline to withdraw our troops.
Yarmuth called the mission in Iraq a folly and says our troops would better serve us in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Northup still opposed the $700B Wall Street rescue bill and Yarmuth still favors it. Regarding the idea of a second stimulus package - Northup says she's okay with it so long as it doesn't include a bailout plan. Yarmuth says because it extends unemployment benefits and encourages job development.
In an hour long debate there was only one question specific to the 3 rd district - is Louisville ready for a light rail system.
"Many communities that built a light rail system are staggering today-it would be a mistake here," said Northup.
"I don't think anyone would advocate making a decision now. But we have a time frame to develop this so it's time we start looking at it," said Yarmuth.
Then they discussed Christmas - in 2007 Yarmuth voted against a federal resolution to honor Christmas. Anne Northup says it's a hard vote to understand.
"He voted for other holidays and when the same resolution came up for Christmas he didn't vote for it," said Northup.
"The fact she's bringing up a vote that happened a year ago makes it clear that Anne has nothing else to talk about," said Yarmuth.
In the closing arguments, Northup called herself a problem-solver for Louisville and Yarmuth says he has a perfect score with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
