The Daily Star - Outside of Bailout, Differences Many for Gillibrand, Treadwell

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By Tom Grace

Neither Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, nor her challenger, Sandy Treadwell, R-Lake Placid, likes the government's $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, but on other issues, the candidates disagree.

Gillibrand, 41, who defeated incumbent Republican John Sweeney two years ago, is seeking a second term representing the 20th Congressional District, which includes parts of Otsego County and most of Delaware County.

The incumbent is an attorney who worked in the Clinton administration as special counsel to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo. Currently, she is a member of the House Armed Services and Agriculture committees.

Treadwell, 62, former New York secretary of state and state Republican chairman, is seeking to oust her in a district that is home to about 193,328 Republicans, 115,563 Democrats and 112,889 independents.

The two candidates visited the editorial board of The Daily Star this month and answered questions about the energy, health care, public financing of elections, the economy and the war and occupation of Iraq. They've also sent many statements to the newspaper outlining their proposals.

War in Iraq

Treadwell believes it was mishandled in the first years, ``but now that it is being conducted by the commanders in the field, we're seeing success. The surge is working,'' he said.

Like GOP presidential candidate John McCain, Treadwell does not want to set dates for bringing home American troops, and criticizes Gillibrand for ``voting four times for arbitrary withdrawal dates.''

Gillibrand said she believes that if the administration does not seek permanent military bases nor a claim on Iraqi oil revenue, American soldiers can begin to return home in a ``staged redeployment.''

The winding down of the war should come only as commanders believe this can be done safely, and national leaders should make sure services are ready to care for returning soldiers, she said.

``I voted against a pay raise for Congress, but for a pay raise for our troops,'' she noted.

Health care

Gillibrand believes a ``public-private system, something like Medicare,'' should be set up so that people can purchase health insurance by contributing about 5 percent of their income. This would not replace private health insurance, but would be an option for those who have no insurance or find HMOs and private insurers too expensive, she said.

Treadwell opposes the plan.

``I don't think the government should be operating the health care system,'' he said, adding that he does support Medicare, however.

``What we need are more choices,'' he said.

Competition between private insurance plans will lower premiums and make health care more affordable, Treadwell said.

Campaign financing

The contest in New York's 20th Congressional District is among the nation's most expensive House races, according the Center for Responsive Politics.

The CRP found that as of Aug. 20, Gillibrand has raised $3,950,059 this election cycle, including $250 of her own money, and she had $2,377,009 on hand to spend this fall.

Raising the money has been time-consuming but necessary to defend herself, she said.

Asked if public financing of campaigns would be an improvement, she said, ``Absolutely. It would be the fairest way.''

As of the same date, Treadwell has raised $3,498,176, including $2,436,356 of his own money, according to the CRP. That left him with $1,061,819 to wage his fall campaign, although he did not rule out spending more of his money.

``It's enormously expensive to run for office, and I think there certainly should be a cap on how much can be raised,'' he said.

Going into this race, however, he said he knew it would be expensive and is determined not to lose for lack of resources.

Energy

Treadwell favors more domestic drilling for oil and gas, and construction of nuclear plants to provide electricity. ``We have to cut our dependence on foreign oil,'' he said.

Asked about safely storing nuclear waste, Treadwell said, ``The waste is not an issue now. It's quite close to minimal.''

In addition to drilling more and building nuclear plants, he favors development of alternative energy sources, including electric cars, he said.

Gillibrand said she believes the nation must move toward energy independence by developing clean-burning renewable sources, such as solar energy, and ``creating homegrown energy solutions from biofuels.''

Such initiatives would not only lessen dependence on foreign oil and address climate change problems, but would stimulate the upstate New York farm economy, she said.

Presidential candidates

Treadwell said he is a McCain supporter and believes the Arizona senator's campaign will help his own.

Gillibrand supports Democratic Sen. Barack Obama but said she will work with whomever is elected.

Even in the Republican-leaning 20th District, she said, Obama has a chance to win ``if people vote on the issues.'

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