Columbus Dispatch - "Pryce, Kilroy Trade Jabs on Iraq, Bush, Tax Cuts"

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Columbus Dispatch - "Pryce, Kilroy Trade Jabs on Iraq, Bush, Tax Cuts"

U.S. Rep. Deborah L. Pryce yesterday defended the Bush administration?s handling of the Iraq war? while admitting that the invasion was based on faulty intelligence?as challenger Mary Jo Kilroy accused Pryce and other congressional Republicans of abrogating their oversight role.

Kilroy frequently linked Pryce to unpopular Bush administration initiatives, from the Iraq war to the proposed partial privatization of Social Security, while portraying herself as a pragmatic agent of change. Pryce performed a more delicate verbal pirouette, defending Bush on national security and taxation while distancing herself from the president on Social Security reform and the national deficit, which she called an embarrassment.

Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, and Pryce, a member of Congress since 1993, fielded questions from The Dispatch editorial board during their first head-to-head confrontation of the hard-fought campaign. Their only other scheduled match-up is a debate Oct. 12.

Much of yesterday?s go-round centered on Iraq and protecting the country against terrorism. Pryce called Iraq a key front in the war on terror; Kilroy said Iraq had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Pryce was among the 296 members of Congress who voted in 2002 to authorize President Bush to go to war in Iraq. Although she did not express regret about the vote, she said subsequent events ?especially the lack of weapons of mass destruction ? have cast a cloud over the decision.

"Hindsight is 20-20," Pryce said. "If we knew what we now know, there probably never would have been a vote to go to war."

Kilroy, who said she opposed the war from the start, said Republicans were too willing to roll over for Bush.

"Congress needs to exercise its oversight responsibilities," she said. "This Congress has failed to do that."

Kilroy said Pryce and other Republicans have continued to defer too much to the Bush administration on Iraq. She said the United States and other nations need to devise a political solution that allows the country to withdraw its troops and focus on repairing roads and other infrastructure.

"Saying ?stay the course? is not a plan. We need to have a plan," Kilroy said. "We?re on the verge of a civil war in Iraq. There is an urgent need to act quickly."

Pryce insisted that the Bush administration?s course is working, albeit with setbacks. She said American troops are vaccinating Iraqi children and coaching soccer, while others are extinguishing the most dangerous pockets of the Iraqi insurgency.

"A political solution based on an impatient population and fueled by partisan politics is not the best solution," Pryce said. "We do have a plan. Our plan is to stand up the Iraqi people, to stand up the Iraqi security forces and to stand up the Iraqi government.

"Democracy has taken hold there. It doesn?t happen overnight."

Kilroy hit Pryce over two of Bush?s domestic initiatives: the since-abandoned plan to divert Social Security money into private accounts, and his tax cuts during a time of swelling deficits. Liberal groups have been airing television ads blasting Pryce on Social Security.

The congresswoman said yesterday that while she supported Bush?s plan and still agrees with the concept, she dropped the issue in the face of sweeping opposition. She called her strong backing of Bush?s reforms last year "ancient history."

Kilroy said Social Security may need reforms to ensure its long-term solvency, but she offered no suggestions other than stimulating economic growth so more is paid into the system and forming a commission to look at proposals.

Kilroy said the nearly $300 billion federal deficit is a more pressing problem and another example of Congress? failure to restrain the excesses of the Bush administration. Kilroy said she would vote to repeal Bush?s estate-tax cuts and would revisit income-tax reductions, which she said have failed to jumpstart the economy. She also advocated reducing spending on certain weapons systems, congressional earmarks and subsidies to energy companies.

Pryce said she was embarrassed by the size of the deficit but doesn?t believe it?s dragging down the economy. "I hope we grow our way out of it."

In contrast, she said, Kilroy?s record suggests that she would raise taxes in a way that would stifle economic growth.

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