Oct 2, 2008 8:22 am US/Central
Bachmann, Tinklenberg Split On Bailout Bill
STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) ―
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Michele Bachmann and Elwyn Tinklenberg met in their first debate in Stillwater.
CBS
Republican Michele Bachmann and her Democratic rival, Elwyn Tinklenberg, took opposite positions on the $700 billion bailout for the financial services industry in their first debate on Wednesday.
Bachmann, Minnesota's most conservative member of Congress, said she will "likely" vote against the bill that passed the Senate and is now headed for a House vote. She helped defeat an earlier version that failed in the House on Monday.
She faced Tinklenberg, a former state transportation commissioner, and Independence Party primary winner Bob Anderson at Stillwater City Hall in a debate that focused mainly on the bailout and related economic issues.
"This bailout is essentially the same bailout that the House rejected on Monday -- it just has different wrapping paper on it," Bachmann said.
She added: "This bill won't address the real crisis, which is the credit crisis. All it does is buy out investors who made bad bets."
Tinklenberg criticized the House vote against the earlier version of the bill, which sent financial markets into a tailspin.
"The markets needed a sense of confidence," he said. "Instead what they got was uncertainty and chaos."
Asked after the debate, Tinklenberg said he would have voted yes on the Senate bill. He said he would not have voted for the original bill proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Anderson said he preferred to wait and see private investors address the toxic mortgage debt that is the focus of the bailout.
"We don't need to fix it overnight," said Anderson, a dental technician and first-time candidate. "Let's see what happens."
More than 100 people attended the debate, the first time Bachmann has faced her challengers. The candidates refrained from directly attacking each other as they outlined their positions on foreclosures, the national debt, the savings rate and other economic issues affecting the 6th District.
The district wraps from Stillwater around the northern half of the Twin Cities and reaches west past St. Cloud.
Bachmann and Tinklenberg are expected to debate at least two more times before Election Day.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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