Mar 4, 2018 6 min read

”Is there any point in public debate in a society where hardly anyone has been taught how to think, while millions have been taught what to think?” – Peter Hitchens

Republican State Rep. Rick Saccone and Democrat Conor Lamb faced off in the first of two scheduled debates of the closely watched race for the 18th Congressional District.

While numerous topics were covered, I would like to focus on three for several reasons: They are vitally important; they are clear indicators of the relative qualifications of the candidates, and they were not covered sufficiently.

The three subject areas are abortion rights, minimum wage and the president’s tax cut.

Saccone’s position on abortion is crystal clear. He is opposed to it. He has introduced bills in the Legislature to limit abortion rights.

Lamb, on the other hand, is apparently trying to play both sides against the middle. In his media ads, he clearly states that he is a Roman Catholic and poses in his Pittsburgh Central Catholic attire in an attempt to garner the Catholic vote. The fact is he supports the Democrat pro-abortion position. He wants the Catholic vote but rejects core Catholic teaching that abortion is evil, that it is murder of an innocent child. Either he is not a Catholic or he is not a Democrat. He can’t have it both ways.

During the debate, Lamb was asked about this and said he believed that life begins at conception (Catholic position). He then said, “I also believe in separation of church and state. What we’re running for here is Congress, not cardinal. I don’t believe that my personal religious beliefs should dictate the legal rights of women all over this country.”

This is an illogical cop-out demonstrating no commitment to values, no understanding of the law and a distortion of the establishment clause (separation of church and state).

If Lamb really is a Catholic and really does believe life begins at conception, then killing a fetus is murder. If one kills a pregnant woman and the unborn baby also dies, one is charged with killing the mother and the baby under Pennsylvania law. He claims to have been a prosecutor. He should know this. Section 3203 of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Criminal Code defines an unborn child as: “unborn child” and “fetus.” Each term shall mean an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization to birth.

Murder isn’t a religious issue. It is a legal one. Lamb can’t duck that.

Likewise, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” has nothing to do with abortion. Abortion is a legal issue.

In trying to appeal to Catholics and pro-abortion Democrats, Lamb demonstrates only that he holds no conviction for Catholic teaching and is a puppet of the Democrat left like Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Mike Doyle, Bill Peduto and the rest.

The discussion of minimum wage was equally telling.

Saccone is opposed to raising the minimum wage. He favors allowing the free market to determine wage levels.

Lamb again tried to find a convenient place to hide. “Yes, it should be raised”, he stated. The suggested $15 was maybe too much. Maybe $10 was better; no logic was given. Then he went off into some hallucination about “indexing” minimum wage to specific areas. Maybe the minimum wage should be different in one part of Pittsburgh than another or in Philadelphia than some other area of the state, he opined. In what world could that possibly work? Lamb obviously has no experience designing, implementing or running anything. Talk about creating an administrative nightmare.

The larger issue, however, is that minimum wage is an artificial distortion of the free market supply and demand relationship. If wages are artificially increased, the market will demand less labor; that is, employment will be reduced. Employers will not be able to afford the same number of more expensive workers, so they will cut employees, reduce hours or replace employees with less expensive technology.

A good example of this is super-liberal Seattle, where the city raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour. A recent study by the University of Washington clearly indicates low-wage employees have been hurt, not helped. Employers have reduced their payrolls, delayed or canceled new hires, laid off workers and reduced hours. The average low-end worker in the city has lost $128 a month because of the wage increase. This is what Lamb is proposing. He is just not smart enough to know it.

The third area of discussion is the president’s tax reduction. Here, perhaps, the distinction between the quality and experience of Saccone and the inexperience and Democrat sycophancy of Lamb are most apparent.

Lamb parroted the Pelosi line about the tax cut being only for the super rich and not helping the middle class. “Crumbs,” she and Conor called it. He stated the tax cut was “mostly for corporate donors.” He said the plan would “cost $1.5 trillion,” and his plan, one he never defined, wouldn’t cost a dime. He forgot to mention that the $1.5 trillion figure is a guess spread over 10 years. He seemed also to be unconcerned about the very real $10 trillion in debt the Democrats added to the debt during Obama’s tax and spend regime.

Saccone suggested Lamb look around at the thousands of jobs created in the 18th Congressional District by President Trump. Look at the lowest unemployment in history. Look at the value of employee’s 401k plans. Look at the bonuses and pay raises they have received because of the president’s tax cut. Lamb simply doesn’t get it. The people of the 18th District do not want to return to the Obama years. They like their “crumbs.”

There’s no comparison. Saccone has demonstrated how to think. Lamb has been told what to think.

The second debate was scheduled for last night.

Dave Ball is vice chairman of the Washington County Republican Party and a Peters Township councilman.