© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Exclusive Coverage: New Mexico U.S. Senate Debate Between Sen. Tom Udall And Allen Weh

http://youtu.be/-svNFXK2W5Q

 

   KRWG TV  will rebroadcast the U.S. Senate debate Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 11am.  The debate was taped Wednesday in Albuquerque.  Democratic Senator Tom Udall is facing a challenge from Republican Allen Weh.  

In response to a question about job creation, Udall criticized cuts to the federal budget and a GOP-led government shutdown.  Udall added that he supported tax reform for small businesses and the middle class.  Weh said there’s an urgent need for corporate tax reform and a balanced budget amendment.  Udall argued such an amendment would force cuts to Social Security and Medicare. 

A question about the minimum wage from moderator Sam Donaldson related to an ad by Senator Udall’s campaign. The ad includes comments Weh made last month at the Albuquerque Economic Forum.  At the forum, Weh proposed eliminating the minimum wage for people under 26 and is taped saying, “So what if they make four dollars an hour. So what.”  But Weh said the comments should not have been used in the ad, because the commercial does not mention that Weh’s idea is targeted at addressing high youth unemployment.  Udall disagreed, and stated that it was a “brutal” idea to remove minimum wage protections from people under 26 years old, noting that such a move would affect mothers raising children already in poverty.

The debate also covered the controversy involving the Albuquerque Police Department.  Udall said he pushed for the Justice Department’s effort to investigate the department following repeated police shootings, including the death of a homeless man that sparked protests and national news coverage.  Weh said the matter was a “municipal issue.”