Madam Jenny's

Debate was held: Sunday, September 23, 2018

Summary by: Jenny Lea

September 25, 2018

Republican Corey Stewart:

Question 01: Concerning the issue with Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. Stewart has said this is a “bunch of crap” and Democrat are just trying to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination for political gain. What is your message to women voters, in this MeTo era?

Stewart: The issues leading up to the claims are highly suspicious. Including the timing after over 30 years, and why Senator Feinstein kept the information to herself for months. They are typical Democratic tactics and dirty tricks. Especially when so many women and the Dean of Yale University are willing to defend Kavanaugh.

Question 02: Would Stewart like to see Roe vs. Wade overturned?

Stewart: Yes, he would. He believes it was wrongly decided. He said originally Senator Kain believed abortions should not occur during the 3rd trimester, but when he ran for Vice President he changed his mind and started to support abortions all the way up to the ninth month of pregnancy.

Jenny’s 2 cents: Stewart wants to overturn Roe vs Wade; however, he only brought up ending late term abortions. He did not bring up trying to totally outlaw abortions. If anything, he wants to bring it to a state level, rather than a federal issue. However, no matter how much Stewart wants to overturn Roe vs Wade it is not that easy. There are numerous abortion cases that have gone through the courts since Roe vs Wade. Cases that would have to be overturned first to overturn Roe vs Wade and cases that have clarified the issues in Roe vs Wade.

Question 03: Russian collusion issue. With the number of people being arrested for fraud, why end the Russian investigation?

Stewart: If people really want to find and end voter fraud, they need to investigate the precincts that had more votes than voters. Virginia requires an ID card to vote, but it does not regulate who is applying for a voter ID. Illegal immigrants and people under the age of 18 have been able to acquire voter IDs. It needs to stop.

Jenny’s Rant: When it comes to people who have been CONVICTED of voting more than once, the dead managing to vote and other issues, the Democrats seem to be totally oblivious of its existence.

Question 04: Concerning students who have gone through college and are unable to find jobs within their degree field.

Stewart: Colleges and their curriculum is controlled by the Federal government. It needs to be stopped and the power needs to return to the state level. States are more equipped to know what careers are needed in their own state and what degrees should be available to Virginia students.

Question 05: Stewart believes all illegal immigrants need to be deported and he opposes any form of amnesty. If he, Stewart, sponsored an immigration bill, what would it look like?

Stewart: If you wish to come to the US, we welcome you. But, you cannot have a criminal background. You must be able to support yourself and your family. You need to be able to become a full fledged proud American. We currently have ways to determine if illegal immigrants have a terroristic past, but not checking criminal records.

Jenny’s Toss In: There are ways to check everyone’s, including illegal immigrants, criminal records, records created within the US. However, not all countries maintain criminal records as well as the US does. So, the issue is, if they had records in other countries. If their crimes are violent enough or considered an international issue their records can be found in international databases. However, the police officer from PoDunk, USA would most likely not have access to the database.

Question 06: Stewart has been critical of gun free zones. He believes schools should have armed guards, including trained and armed teachers to protect students. The federal government should help with the increase in cost for the school districts. What do you say to those voters who think it is a bad idea to arm teachers?

Stewart: We protect our money with guns. We protect our kids with signs. (Gun Free Zones) A gun free zone sign is an invitation to killers; because, it tells people it is a soft target. Not all communities can afford to train teachers or hire armed guards. Some communities will need to be able to ask the federal government for assistance, to protect their children.

University Student’s Questions:

Student 01: How do you plan to bring in hesitant Republicans on voting day?

Stewart: He can work together across voting lines. We don’t all agree on everything, but there are common issues that we can get done and accomplish together.

Jenny’s Toss In: Unlike Beto from Texas, Stewart at least separates the “common issues”. He may be too far right for some when it comes to guns, abortion and immigration but there are more issues in society and some of those issues can have some common ground.

Student 02: Would Stewart vote for a bill that would increase the National debt in the Senate?

Stewart: The unemployment rate is currently decreasing, bringing the Federal Government more tax money. Blue collar salaries are rising. There may be a short-term increase to the National debt. He agrees with Trump on needing to approve a tax reduction bill. The problem is not the taxes being high enough, but the government spending too much money. Republicans and Democrats need to work together to address issues with transportation, infra-structure. Reform the Medicaid system and bring down the costs.

Student 03: How do we balance religious liberty and LGBT rights?

Stewart: Stewart reminded everyone the Constitution prevents everyone from discriminating against citizens. He reminded everyone in the Bill of Rights is the 1st Amendment and it includes freedom of Religion. People may not like being treated differently, due to their sexual orientation, but we cannot infringe on the Freedom of Religion.

Jenny’s Tid Bit: The student who asked the question did not seem very happy. She had a bewildered look on her face as he moved on to the next question. I don’t believe his answer made the LGBT community very happy.

Student 04: How does Stewart plan to support minorities and protect the rights of minorities?

Stewart: We need to start by talking to each other. We are currently yelling at each other and we need to get together to talk about different issues.

Stewart’s Closing Statement: He believes he can get things done. Right now, Congress is not getting things done. Democrats are not willing to work together.

Jenny’s Closing Statement: Stewart did a pretty good job. However, he probably didn’t make the LGBT community very happy. He may not make the Pro-Choice groups happy either; however, he did not bring up trying to ban abortion, but to make some limits. Mainly how far into a pregnancy a woman can request an abortion. As for his view on ‘Gun Free Zones’ the media and Democrat politicians make is sound as if his ideas are a far-Right idea. However, more and more Democrat voters are looking at ways to protect children and the idea of armed guards and teachers are within their possible options.

Democrat Tim Kaine:

Question 01: Kaine has reviewed Kavanaugh’s record and has decided not to vote for him. Concerning the issue with Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. What more needs to occur in Kavanaugh’s Judiciary Hearings before voting?

Kaine: Believes we should get to the bottom of Kavanaugh’s sexual assault “charges”, before voting for Kavanaugh. He doesn’t believe Stewart should be taking the “charges” for granted.

Note: Currently, they are accusations against Kavanagh, not legal charges. There is a difference. Charges would indicate the police are investigating a crime. The current accusations are being processed in a Judicial Committee, but not in a court of law.

Question 02: His views concerning Roe vs. Wade being overturned?

Kaine: Believes Stewart and Judge Kavanaugh would push to overturn Roe vs. Wade. He goes on to say that by overturning Roe vs Wade the US would go back to the times when abortion was illegal, blah, blah, blah.

Jenny’s 2 cents: It will take more than overturning Roe vs Wade to make abortions illegal. There have been numerous court proceedings since Roe vs Wade, that have strengthened the laws that allow women to request an abortion. Now it may allow states to put some limitations on abortion, such as requiring abortion clinics to maintain a higher level of safety than they currently maintain. Limiting how far into a pregnancy one can acquire an abortion. But it will not make abortions illegal. As “powerful” as the Supreme Court is, they are NOT ALL powerful. They don’t get to randomly pick a closed case and overturn the results. Cases are brought to the court; the court doesn’t bring cases to the people. The main reason why Roe vs Wade is always the case in question, is because most people don’t know what the hell the rest of the abortion cases were called when it comes to so and so versus so and so. But everyone recognizes Roe vs Wade.

Question 03: Concerning the Russian collusion, Kaine wants to protect Robert Mueller. Why does he need protecting?

Kaine: He believes it is important to protect the integrity of elections. Protecting Mueller is part of protecting the investigation about the Russian collusion. He wants to find ways to prevent foreign countries from influencing future elections. He doesn’t understand why the US sent out troops to protect other countries from a Russian invasion but are not willing to take it seriously when Russia tampers with an election.

Jenny’s Rant: Kaine is doing the typical DNC tactic, only care about it, if there is a chance a Republican is at fault or it may have benefitted the Republican party, other than that ignore it. But Kaine wants to find ways to prevent foreign interference. The thing is, to prevent foreign interference the US would have to majorly increase online censoring. The issue with Russia, is not that they hacked voting booths, it is because they put political ads on websites that pushed for one candidate or another to be elected. With that level of “collusion” one could choose to prosecute people from Canada and the UK, who kept telling their American Facebook friends who to vote for in the 2016 Election and any future elections. The issue that would make anything with Russia illegal, would be if a politician from the US paid a foreign country to set up those ads. But, why? If you are going to spend the money anyway, might as well put the ads up yourself or pay an American company to do it. At the end of the day, if Russia or Russians chose to set up US political ads, it is of their choosing, just like the people at social sites ragging on their Facebook, Twitter and Google+ friends about who to vote for in a US election. If the US or Kaine and his DNC partners choose to increase online censoring, more and more people will toss out their broadband internet for satellite internet. Like many people across the globe already do, to get away from the censoring in their own country.

Question 04: Kaine voted against the Republican tax plans and told everyone the plan will bring down America. However, the economy is now booming. Was Kaine wrong about the tax plan?

Kaine: He believes the current boost in the economy is not due to anything Trump has achieved, but due to the Obama administration, and Trump is just taking credit for it. He voted against the tax bill; because, he felt it gave too much to the corporations and not enough to the people.

Jenny’s Two Cents: Most Democrat Senators, including Kaine, are voting NO to Trump’s bills before they even hit the table. So, Kaine is tossing in a plausible excuse for the benefit of sounding good in a campaign debate. If he wants to be believable, then at least wait to say NO to a new bill after about 24 hours, so it can seem as if he may have read the bill first. Plus, the increase in new jobs, DID start during Obama’s administration; however, they were mainly part time positions, or they were temporary due to a number of closures. Due to Obamacare, many companies increased their number of employees, but majorly reduced the number of full-timers. Hoping to reduce or eliminate the Obamacare burden. With the tax breaks and the forced regulations in Obamacare eliminated, companies can increase their full timers and add new full-time positions.

Question 05: Kaine voted against the repeal and replace Act for Obamacare. Trump calls Kaine an obstructionist, is he one? Kaine is pushing for a Medicare Act, how is it going to work?

Kaine: He was very proud to vote against the Obamacare repeal. It would have prevented increasing Medicaid. According to Kaine, Medicaid recipients “flooded” his office to thank him. Concerning his Medicare Act, he wants Medicare in the Marketplace, so everyone will be eligible for Medicare. Whether they have put money into it or not, or they are age eligible. He believes people need more choices for health insurance companies.

Jenny’s Rant: Kaine didn’t mention the private sector when it comes to insurance companies. One reason there are not a whole lot of health insurance companies to choose from is because it is very difficult to start a health insurance company, let alone be approved by Obamacare. In New York, one needs to have $10 million IN RESERVE to start a health insurance company. There is NO starting small. You can’t start a health insurance company and go, hhmm let me start a company that will limit me to only 5 clients and when we get a bit bigger, do what it takes to bring in 10 clients and so on. Nope, so since the odds of Tom, Dick or Henrietta starting their own health insurance company is very slim, let us just start raiding Medicare.

Question 06: What does Kaine say about schools that want to arm their teachers?

Kaine: He doesn’t tell schools how to secure their kids. The shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007 was the worst day of his, Kaine’s, life. Due to “weaknesses” in the background system, the shooter was able to purchase a firearm. He wants a federally controlled universal background check and a federal record of every gun in the US along with who owns the firearm.

Jenny’s Ten Cents: Back in February of 2018 Kaine attended a “roundtable” with parents in Richmond, VA. Kaine said he believes arming teachers is a bad idea. It doesn’t mean he would try to stop schools in Virginia from arming their teachers. The people of Virginia would have to determine if Kaine is known for over stepping his bounds when it comes to his opinions.

University Student’s Questions:

Student 01: Concerning immigration. Kaine views have flipped since 2013. He now votes to protect sanctuary cities, he voted against the wall, against border protection. Why the change?

Kaine: Immigration is a part of the Declaration of Independence. He is working to protect the Dreamers and bring up funds for border security. He believes in a “comprehensive immigration reform” that includes border security, Dreamers, earned citizenship. It has stalled in the House and he hopes after November it will start up again.

Student 02: Crime and Gang Violence. How will Kaine help to prevent gang violence, including gang members who are illegal immigrants?

Kaine: Kaine says he has dealt with crime, and while on the Richmond city council he brought crime down by 50%. When he was governor, he brought Virginia down to one of the ten safest states. He didn’t focus on immigration status, but directly on the “bad guys.” He thinks if they focus on immigration status, it will make the city less safe. So, they need to focus on the specific crimes.

Jenny’s Rant: Determining immigration status, is not something that normally occurs before a crime is committed. Plus, immigration is not the responsibility of local law enforcement anyway. However, after someone has been arrested for a crime, and it is determined the person is an illegal immigrant, law enforcement should be able to call up Immigration and say, “Hey, we got one for you. Come pick him up from the City Jail.” Rather than allow the illegal immigrant to go back out on the streets and commit another crime.

Student 03: Many historical markers are being destroyed. What do you plan to do, to protect our American History for future generations?

Kaine: As mayor he preserved some statues and put up some new statues. When new bridges were put up to replace old bridges that were named after Civil War heroes, they named them after Civil Rights heroes instead. You need to listen to communities. In one case they put up statues of people who did great things outside the 1861-1865 timeline.

Jenny’s Toss In: Is Virginia running out of land to build on? There is no reason to take down one statue or monument and replace it with another. Just put up another statue or monument. He says people should know both sides of history. Well taking down one for another is not both sides. Leaving them up and adding to them is both sides.

Student 04: Why should someone who is Pro-Life vote for Kaine?

Kaine: He is Catholic, and his church says it is wrong. He lives by his faith, but others should live by theirs. He believes women can make their own moral decisions. Stewart said Kaine is willing to allow abortions up until birth. Kaine said no, he merely voted against a bill that limited abortions to occurring before the 20th week of pregnancy.

Student 04: Concerning opioids. What will Kaine do to address the opioid epidemic?

Kaine: He helped to set up and voted for a Bill currently in Congress to reduce opioid use, restrictions, interventions, etc. Hopefully, it will go to the President’s desk and signed into law.

Kaine’s Closing Statement: He is about a Virginia that Works for All. We need people who will stand up for ALL. That is what he has done and what he plans to do if re-elected.

Jenny’s Closing Statement: Kaine seemed to get a bigger applause than Stewart, after his closing statement. However, after rewinding and listening to both ending applause. Stewart obviously had more people clapping, a couple whistles and a good number of YEAHs. Kaine had a few people clapping and someone screaming as if they were trying out for a horror flick. Giving the impression that Kaine received more applause. I have noticed at some big events people screaming at the top of their lungs rather than yelling yeah or clapping. It is an irritating sound. Either way. Hope this summary helps the voters in Virginia.