Republicans get testy as they debate immigration, health care, taxes

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LAS VEGAS — Republican rivals smacked Mitt Romney’s
health plan, Herman Cain’s tax proposal and Rick Perry’s immigration
record Tuesday, sometimes yelling over each other in a testy
presidential debate.

Perry accused Romney of
hiring illegal immigrants as personal gardeners. Romney blamed a
lawn-care company he had hired, saying: “I don’t think that I’ve ever
hired an illegal in my life.”

And when Perry began
talking over Romney’s explanation, even saying that Romney’s discussing
the immigration problem was the “height of hypocrisy,” Romney recoiled,
accusing Perry of drawing illegal immigrants to the U.S. by signing the
Texas law that allows them to pay the same tuition rates as state
residents.

And he noted that Perry had had a “tough couple of debates.”

“You
have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking,” the former
Massachusetts governor told Perry. “And I suggest that if you want to
become president of the United States, you got to let both people
speak.”

Throughout nearly two hours of sparring,
the seven candidates issued blunt challenges to each other’s
credibility, and Perry was often in the fray. He turned in an aggressive
performance, after five previous debates in which his responses were at
times rambling and he had trouble explaining his record and positions.

Romney generally stood his ground, and when Cain was challenged, he usually answered with good humor.

But
the back-and-forth prompted Newt Gingrich to lament that the debates
have been designed to be contentious. “Maximizing bickering is not the
road to the White House,” he said.

Cain’s sudden
rise to the top of the GOP polls made his “9-9-9” tax overhaul plan the
immediate focus, with the other candidates questioning the wisdom of
creating a federal sales tax on top of what states already charge.

“Any
time you give the Congress a brand-new tax, it doesn’t go away,”
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said. “If we give Congress a 9 percent
sales tax, how long will it take a liberal president and a liberal
Congress to run that up to maybe 90 percent?”

Cain defended the plan, saying that its effect couldn’t be compared to current taxes because it’s a complete replacement.

“The
reason that our plan is being attacked so much is because lobbyists,
accountants, politicians, they don’t want to throw out the current tax
code and put in something that’s simple and fair,” the former pizza
chain executive said. “They want to continue to be able to manipulate
the American people with a 10-million-word mess.”

On
the subject of faith, Perry again declined to repudiate the remarks of
Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church of Dallas, who called
Romney’s Mormon religion a “cult” after he introduced Perry at a forum
recently.

“I have said I don’t agree with that person’s statement,” Perry said.

Romney
replied that he is most aggrieved by Jeffress’ idea that voters should
judge candidates by the religion they practice. “That’s what I hoped you
would say is wrong,” he told Perry, calling it a departure from
constitutional principles of religious freedom.

Romney and Perry also sparred over their job-creating experience and ability to beat President Barack Obama.

“What we need is someone who will draw bright contrast with the incumbent,” Perry said, adding that he would be that candidate.

Romney countered: “Someone who’s spent their lives in politics is not going to post up well against Obama.”

All
of the candidates said they would work to completely repeal Obama’s
health care law, even popular aspects that allow children to stay on
their parent’s insurance policy until 26 or coverage of pre-existing
conditions.

Rick Santorum referred back to
Romney’s Massachusetts plan, which Obama advisers have said was a model
for the Democratic law, including the component compelling individuals
to buy health insurance.

“You just don’t have credibility, Mitt, when it comes to repealing Obamacare,” the former Pennsylvania senator said.

Romney finally defended his state plan saying it wasn’t meant to be a national proposal.

“People of Massachusetts like it, by a measure of 3-to-1,” Romney said.

Immigration was again a contentious topic. Most candidates said they favored a border-spanning fence.

Perry
said it would take up to 15 years and billions to complete such a fence
and instead countered that monitoring the border with drones and
dispatching personnel where there was activity made more sense.

Even
moderator Anderson Cooper got pulled into the one-on-one battles when
he asked Perry whether he would try and repeal the birthright
citizenship that allows children born to illegal immigrants in the U.S.
to automatically be citizens. Perry eventually said he would not, but
first, he quickly pivoted to talking about his energy plan, prompting
Cooper to complain.

“All right, I understand that. You get to ask the questions, and I get to answer like I want to,” Perry responded.

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©2011 The Dallas Morning News

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