(The Center Square) – Following their contentious debate Friday night in Madison, Democrat U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and challenger Republican Eric Hovde spoke separately on the economy and fiscal policy during interviews with WisconsinEye.
Among other topics, the candidates were asked for their analysis of the U.S. economy and specific policy solutions they would pursue.
Hovde, who believes the most important issue facing the country is the $36 trillion national debt crisis, argued the massive increase in discretionary government spending that has persisted after during COVID-19 has led to stubbornly high prices and a rising risk of economic collapse.
“Great societies fail first because they lose their moral compass, and then secondly they bankrupt themselves,” Hovde said. “Individual businesses can go through a bankruptcy, they can wipe away their debts. Small governments can do that. The problem with the U.S. is, the U.S. can’t do that, because with that amount of debt the U.S. treasury debt is the number one held instrument by all financial entities and pension funds in the world. So if we ever ended up going through a bankruptcy or debt restructuring, it would crater the whole global financial system.”
Hovde said the only way to instigate true economic recovery is to reduce spending to pre-pandemic levels and appropriate federal money properly instead of massive “wish list” spending packages like the Inflation Reduction Act.
Baldwin, on the other hand, blamed post-pandemic corporate price gouging, not spending, as the reason for high prices.
“It’s very clear to me that Wisconsinites deserve someone who’s working for them, not just the wealthy and powerful, big corporations,” Baldwin said. “I would support price caps.”
On handling the deficit and reducing spending, Baldwin argued the federal government should cease all subsidies to oil companies. But she also said that the federal government should stay the course on increased Social Security and Medicare funding and should increase child tax credits.
When her interviewer asked whether that would contribute to the federal deficit rather than reduce it, Baldwin said that better access to childcare would allow more parents to enter the workforce, which would generate tax dollars. She also said she would support raising taxes for the wealthy to make up the difference.
The U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin is one of the closest in the nation, and has been rated a tossup by Cook Political Report.
