Arizona Illustrated (PBS) U.S. Senate candidate debate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

KUAT's Arizona Illustrated (PBS) hosted the second of three debates between Dr. Richard Carmona and Rep. Jeff Flake for the U.S. Senate race on Monday night.

Video replay below the fold.

Transcript (video link): U.S. Senate Candidates' Forum - Arizona Public Media.

UPDATE: Arizona Daily Star report, Carmona, Flake in sharp clash over policy, character issues.

 The Dr. Richard Carmona for U.S. Senate campaign issued a series of "fact checks" after the debate.

Cristina Beato’s Accusations Are False

REP. WAXMAN, WHO LED INVESTIGATION INTO HHS SAID ‘SERIOUS QUESTIONS WERE RAISED ABOUT [BEATO’S] CREDIBILITY”

BEATO ALSO LIED IN HER AD ABOUT BEING UNDER OATH

These allegations are 100% false and 100% uncorroborated. These allegations were never made or reported to anyone until after Rich blew the whistle on the Bush Administration’s attempts to politicize science when he was Surgeon General. In fact, throughout his Rich’s term, members of Congressman Flake’s party tried to recruit Rich to run for office as a Republican.

1. What Congressman Flake does not tell you is that throughout Rich’s term as Surgeon General, local and national Republican Party leaders – including Governor Brewer and Sen. Jon Kyl – tried to recruit Rich to run for Congress and for Governor, offering only praise and professing no concern over any so-called temperament issues.

2. What Congressman Flake does not tell you is that these allegations were never made or reported until after Dr. Carmona testified to Congress about the politicization of science by Bush Administration officials in the office of the Surgeon General – which was over a year after he left Washington.

3. What Congressman Flake does not tell you is the House Oversight and Investigations committee questioned Dr. Beato’s credibility. While accusing Rich of “not being a team player” while he was Surgeon General, she contradicted herself multiple times in testimony given to congressional investigators and provided absolutely no evidence to back up her claims.

4. What Congressman Flake does not tell you is that Beato lied in her ad.  She claimed to be under oath, but in fact, was not, according to her own interview transcript.

THE FACTS [Sourced]:

Rep. Waxman: “We interviewed other individuals who knew both of them and reviewed additional information and serious questions were raised about her credibility.”  Rep. Henry Waxman, who oversaw the congressional investigation into HHS, said his committee was aware of Beato’s allegations but could not confirm them. “We interviewed other individuals who knew both of them and reviewed additional information and serious questions were raised about her credibility,” Waxman said in a statement. [Politico, 5/21/12]

NRSC Ad Claims That Beato Testified “Under Oath”; But Cristina Beato Was Not Under Oath During Her Interview.  In the NRSC’s ad featuring Cristain Beato, she says: “There was an angry pounding on the door, in the middle of the night. I’m a single mom. I feared for my kids and for myself. It was Richard Carmona and I was his boss. Carmona is not who he seems. He has issues with anger, with ethics and with women. I have testified to this under oath to Congress. Richard Carmona should never, ever be in the U.S. Senate.” During her interview, Naomi K. Seiler, Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform told Ms. Beato: “Because this is not a deposition, you will not be placed under oath, but you are required to answer questions from Congress truthfully.”  Asked if she had any questions about the “ground rules” Beato responded “no.” [House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 11/2/07; Huffington Post, 10/11/12]

Republicans Praised, Recruited Carmona to Run for Office. Then-Secretary of State Jan Brewer was among a "small contingent of Republican leaders" who urged Carmona “consider stepping down early and run as a Republican for Congress." Sen. Jon Kyl also confirmed supporting Carmona, urging him to run for Governor, until Carmona “criticized” and later blew the whistle on the Bush Administration. [AP, 9/10/12]

HHS Officials: “Beato Was Widely Seen Within The Department As Trying To Advance Conservative Agendas.” In the aftermath of Carmona’s testimony to House Oversight, the New York Times interviewed “more than a half-dozen former top health officials.” The Times reported that, “Dr. Beato was widely seen within the department as trying to advance conservative agendas,” according to the statements of officials they interviewed. [NY Times, 7/12/07]

Beato Colleague: Beato Has An “Authoritarian” Decision-Making Style That Caused Friction. The Albuquerque Journal reported that some hospital officials criticized Dr. Beato: “I think she’s very polarizing,” Dr. David Bennahum an emeritus UNM physician who chaired UNM’s ethics committee from 1989 to 1996. “She holds strong conservative views in health care, and that can be divisive in a university.” [Albuquerque Journal, 8/21/12]

No Complaint Ever Filed, No Corroborating Evidence Ever Produced. According to Politico sources, at the time of the investigation, Beato “did not file a police report or formal complaint against [Carmona], and there was no independent way to corroborate” anything she claimed. [Politico, 5/21/12]

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Jeff Flake Missed 2/3 Of His Committee Hearings
FLAKE SKIPPED OUT ON HEARINGS INVOLVING EVERYTHING FROM BORDER VIOLENCE TO WILDFIRES, INSTEAD TOOK SPECIAL-INTEREST-FUNDED TRIPS TO PALM BEACH, CUBA, AND VALENCIA SPAIN

Congressman Flake skipped nearly two-thirds of committee and subcommittee hearings and markups during the course of his 12-year career in the House.

Congressman Flake missed several of these hearing because he was on vacation.  He missed six hearings during trips to Palm Beach, all funded by the Club for Growth.  Additionally he missed hearings because of travel to Cuba, Chicago, and Spain.

Among the committee and subcommittee hearings that Congressman Flake didn’t think were important to attend were hearings about border violence, the ATF, home foreclosures, federal finances, wildfires and forest use, the stimulus, immigration, and veterans’ affairs. 

FLAKE MISSED 2/3 OF HIS COMMITTEE AND SUBCOMMITTEE HEARINGS

During His Career, Flake Has Missed Nearly 2/3 Of His Committee Hearings.  According to Congressional records, Jeff Flake has missed 63 percent of the hearings and markups held by committees and subcommittees of which he is a member.  Of the 1,225 recorded committee and subcommittee hearings during Jeff Flake’s 12-year Congressional career, Flake has missed 773 and only attended 452 (there are a further 158 hearings for which Rep. Flake’s attendance could not be determined).  [Analysis of Government Printing Office, House Committee, and Congressional Quarterly Records]

INSTEAD OF DOING HIS JOB, FLAKE TOOK TRIPS TO SPAIN, CUBA, AND THREE TRIPS TO PALM BEACH

Flake Missed Hearings On Defense And Land Use Issues And Instead Traveled To Palm Beach With His Wife On A Club for Growth-Funded Trip.  In March 2011, Flake went on a trip funded by the Club for Growth to Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife.  During the four days of his stay (March 8th through 11th), Flake missed hearings on the National Park Service, two on the Forest Service and the Navy and Marine Corps FY2012 budget. [U.S. House of Representatives, Financial Disclosures, 2011; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, 3/10/11; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, 3/9/11; Mil-Con Appropriations Subcommittee, 3/10/11; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, 3/11/11]

Flake Missed Hearing On Cancer Treatment And Screening For Club For Growth-Funded Trip To Palm Beach. In 2010, Flake missed a hearing on prostate cancer treatment and screening, as well as a hearing on the Recovery Act, to join the Club for Growth in Palm Beach. [U.S. House of Representatives, Financial Disclosures, 2010; Oversight and Gov’t Reform, 3/4/10; Oversight and Gov’t Reform, 3/5/10] 

Flake Missed Hearing On Human Rights To Travel To Palm Beach On Club For Growth-Funded Trip.  Flake missed a 2007 hearing on human rights to travel to Palm Beach on a trip paid for by the Club for Growth. [U.S. House of Representatives, Financial Disclosures, 2007; Foreign Affairs Committee, 3/29/07]

Flake Skipped Copyright Hearing, Went to Valencia Spain With Family Member. Flake missed a hearing on copyrights and intellectual property to travel on an Aspen Institute-funded trip to Valencia, Spain with unspecified family member.  [Foreign Affairs Committee, 4/6/09; U.S. House of Representatives, Financial Disclosures, 2009]

Flake Skipped A Hearing On The Congo To Travel On A Lexington Institute-Funded Trip To Cuba.  Flake skipped a hearing on the Congo basin in 2003 to travel to Cuba with the Lexington Institute. [Int’l Relations Subcommittee on Africa, 3/11/03; U.S. House of Representatives, Financial Disclosures, 2004] 

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Flake Opposed Sanctions On Iran
Now he's flip-flopped to run for Senate

During his debate, Flake claimed to support sanctions on Iran.  But Arizonans deserve to know that Jeff Flake opposed sanctions on Iran throughout his career before he flip-flopped to run for Senate.

FLAKE’S QUOTE TONIGHT SUPPORTING SANCTIONS ON IRAN

Rep. Flake: "With regard to Iran, I have very little to add to that other than that we ought to continue to pursue, particularly the capital market sanctions that we’re doing on the Central Bank, because that’s where we have the opportunity, I think, to make an impact, because Russia and China find it more difficult to help Iran circumvent those sanctions." [Arizona Public Media Debate, 10/15/12]

Flake One Of Only 21 Members To Oppose Sanctions against Iran (2006). In 2006, Rep. Flake voted against a bill to impose sanctions against foreign companies that invest more than $20 million in Iran's energy sector. Under the bill, countries that assist Iran's weapons industry also could lose U.S. foreign aid. Sanctions would be in effect until the president certified to Congress that Iran had dismantled its weapons of mass destruction. The bill passed 397-21.  [HR 282, Vote 105, 4/26/06]

Flake Was One Of Only 6 House Members To Oppose Crack Down on Investors in Iran (2007). In 2007, Flake voted against the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, a bill to authorize state and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, entities with investments of $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector. The bill also allowed state and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies that sell arms to the government of Iran, and financial institutions that extend $20 million or more in credit to the Iran government for 45 days or more. The bill passed 408-6.  [HR 2347, Vote #765, 7/31/07]

Flake Was One Of Only 11 House Members To Vote Against Expanding Sanctions Against Iran (2007). In 2007, Flake voted against legislation to expand sanctions on Iran. The bill expanded the definition of those subject to sanctions for making investments that increase Iran's ability to develop its petroleum resources. Under the bill, the new definition would add financial institutions, insurers, underwriters, guarantors and any other business organizations, including any foreign subsidiaries, to the list of entities already barred from investing in Iran. The bill passed 415-11.  [HR 957, Vote #772, 7/31/07]

In September, 2007, Flake Claimed That Unilateral Sanctions Were Inappropriate. In a press release on his “vote against sanctions on Iran,” Flake said: “Additional unilateral sanctions may undermine the Administration’s ability to act in concert with our allies with regard to Iran,” said Flake. “I have confidence that the Administration fully appreciates the threat that Iran’s government poses, and they are right to be concerned about moving too far ahead of our allies in response to that threat.” [Flake Press Release, 9/26/07]

Flake Was One Of 8 Members To Vote Against Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, And Divestment Act (2010). Flake was one of only 8 Congressmen to vote against the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, And Divestment Act (H.R. 2194) what John McCain called the “most powerful sanctions ever imposed by the Congress on the government of Iran.”  Targeted at the country’s imports of refined energy products, and the powerful Revolutionary Guard, the sanctions sent “a message to the Tehran government that notions of becoming a nuclear power could be accompanied by a steep economic price.” [AP/Huffington Post, 6/24/10; HR. 2194, Vote 975]

FLAKE’S POSITION HAS CHANGED, NOW THAT HE’S RUNNING FOR SENATE…

Flake Voted For 2011 Iran Sanctions Bill. In 2011, despite objecting to previous Iran sanctions bills, Flake voted for bill to “impose tough new sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which not only is the major instrument of regime repression in Iran, but also controls Iran’s nuclear program and much of the economy. The legislation would, for the first time, also enshrine in law that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, escalate the level of sanctions against the regime’s human rights violators, and sharply tighten the enforcement of existing sanctions law.” [AIPAC, Dec. 2011; THOMAS, HR 1905]

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Comments

[Thane "Goldie" Eichenauer]

First off I will state that I have as much skepticism of a politician who changes his position. Second I believe that every person should be allowed to change their position once in their life (flip). Changing your position a second time counts as flip-flopping.

I am disappointed to read that Mr. Flake has changed his position but if he is changing his position to one that matches those of Mr. Carmona why not applaud his change rather than critique it?

I personally support a position that rather than attempting to punish the government and people of Iran via sanctions that the US government should stop attempting to control other countries.

http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/end-dangerous-sanctions-now-peace-through-free-trade