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Halter, Holt clash on immigration, schools, wages Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The two major party candidates for lieutenant governor clashed over deportation of illegal immigrants, prekindergarten classes in public schools and the state's minimum wage Monday night in a head-to-head debate. Democrat Bill Halter and Republican Jim Holt did agree on ethics reform. They also agreed that marriage is between a man and a woman and that foster children are best kept in a traditional two-parent household. Holt, who contends he's the candidate opposed to gay foster parenting, repeated the question after Halter answered in favor of the traditional household. "It seems, Jim, you're having a hard time accepting 'yes' for an answer," Halter said. Holt responded, "We've never got that one before." The debate was held before an audience of 100 university students, staff from the two campaigns and press at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, with Don Elkins of Fayetteville moderating. Most of the evening was spent in what Holt described during the debate as a "chicken or the egg" discussion on higher-paying jobs and education. Halter argued that prekindergarten classes and better education overall had a direct effect on wages, that wages are tied directly to the skill of the people earning them. Holt said the businesses capable of hiring the higher-skilled workers will not come to the state because Arkansas' high taxes give it one of the worst business climates in the nation. Another $40 million program for more prekindergarten classes adds another burden, Holt said. Holt, who is a state senator from Springdale, was the only senator to vote against an increase in the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.25 an hour in a recent special session, Halter said. Holt said he did vote against the minimum wage "and would do so again. I am in the Senate and was in a statewide race. If this was just a political move, I would have voted for it for this election. It was bad for the people of Arkansas." The state needs to be looking for jobs that pay a livable wage, not raising an inadequate wage to a still-inadequate level. Halter replied, "If you want to say you're standing on your principles, your principles are wrong." Asked if illegal immigrants who have jobs should be allowed to stay in the United States, Holt said no: "Either we are a nation of laws or we are not." "What about the other employees of this state, who can't get a high-paying job because illegal immigrants drive down wages?" Holt said. Halter replied that the people to "crack down on" are employers of illegal immigrants, that "basic Christian principles" required some consideration of workers. Halter said he'd also address the issue without "the inflamed rhetoric, race-baiting and demagoguery, which are terms used by our Republican governor about my opponent's statements on this issue." Holt was a major legislative opponent of a scholarship program for undocumented immigrants in Arkansas that Gov. Mike Huckabee favored. Holt said he became involved in the immigration issue on behalf of legal immigrants, "who can't find a job because employers are afraid they're illegals." |
