Home-loan crisis a point of contention in 5th District debate

LOVINGSTON — Rep. Tom Perriello and independent challenger Jeffrey Clark clashed Thursday night over who was responsible for the home-loans crisis that caused the recession.

They agreed, however, that Republican candidate Robert Hurt should have been present for their debate in the 5th District congressional race.

A crowd of more than 60 people at the Nelson County Chamber of Commerce debate listened quietly as Clark and Perriello fielded questions about jobs, the strength of Social Security and Medicare, and a requirement in the health care bill that businesses report all transactions over $600 on their tax forms.

Perriello said he thought the Social Security system is stronger than most people believe. Its biggest challenge is that people are living longer, he said.

Clark said government should have foreseen the recession because economic crises come in 20-year cycles. He said Social Security is a Band-Aid for a flawed system, because Congress has used its reserves to pay for other entitlement programs.

Clark, who operates a water-testing business in Danville, said the requirement for businesses to list transactions above $600 “does have an economic effect” in time businesses spend on it, and in penalties they might have to pay.

Perriello replied that the tax reporting was intended to keep businesses from cheating on taxes, but Democrats in Congress proposed legislation to repeal the measure.

Republicans blocked the legislation in an attempt to score political points, Perriello said.

Clark, in his closing statement, said the Democratic Party should accept responsibility for allowing bad home mortgages to be turned into financial paper that was unsustainable.

“These toxic assets were forced on Wall Street. You can’t go back and blame it on Wall Street and not hold your party accountable,” Clark said.

Perriello replied that the fault does indeed lie mostly with Wall Street bankers.

“I strongly disagree” with your statement, Perriello told Clark.

“You think poor people have a lot of power. I think rich people have a lot of power. And if you look at the Wall Street influence on this, they were part of writing these bills to begin with.

“This was not just some compassionate way to help the poor. This was people at the top believing this was a whole new market they could break into and make trillions of dollars,” Perriello said.

Clark said Hurt’s refusal to participate in debates where Clark is present is an attempt to stifle free speech.

The Martinsville Chamber of Commerce plans to hold a debate where Clark won’t be invited, he told the Nelson County crowd.

“Martinsville has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and for 30 years they have just been handing power over the Republicans and Democrats, back and forth, and they are not going to allow an additional voice to be heard?” Clark asked.

Perriello criticized Hurt for being in Texas on Thursday at a fundraiser sponsored by Reps. Pete Sessions and Jeb Hensarling of Dallas. Sessions wrote letters supporting lobbying clients of Jack Abramoff, who was sentenced to prison for fraud.

“If you are already associating with those people before you get to Washington, imagine how unlikely it is that someone is going to really fight against those corporate interest groups and stand up for everyday folks,” Perriello said.