Be there in person. Sarah gideons Campaign Said she would not appear in person if Susan Collins cannot. Our candidates are Susan Collins, the democratic speaker of the house sara gideon, max lisa savage. Each candidate will have an opportunity to ask a question of another candidate and each candidate will have one minute for a closing statement. Has blockedell consideration of extensive pandemic relief bills and rushed confirmation of the Supreme Court nominee. Counseled the white house not to strike a deal on a becauseeal with pelosi it might interfere with the planned confirmation of judge barrett next week. Susan collins, why do you still support Mitch Mcconnell and does it make it harder to find Bipartisan Solutions . Sen. Collins first of all, thank you for sponsoring the debate. I support another covered relief package and we have had two votes this week, one of my bills to extend the paycheck protection program, which has already saved 250,000 250,000 jobs and another 500 million package that was broader. I think it is unfortunate that although my bill got 57 votes, it did not get the 60 needed despite the fact there was near unanimous support for the program. Mitch mcconnell brought the bills to the floor. I disagree with his position on having negotiations continue and a bill brought to the floor before the election. I am not going to agree with any leader all of the time but i do not hesitate to make my disagreements known. Host speaker gideon, your backers we have heard from viewers. Will you do the same thing if joe biden is president and Chuck Schumer ms. Gideon good evening. Thank you. In order to answer this question, people can look back on my record. I became a leader in the statehouse in my second term because i knew there were directions we needed to go in and ways we needed to listen to people in maine and take action. That is what we did. Care,imate crisis, health lowering the cost of Prescription Drugs. In the senate, that is what people can expect from me as someone representing maine. You askedestion senator collins, you asked why she would support Mitch Mcconnell when he continues to do these things. This gets to the crux of what is happening. Will continuel being majority leader. Care, what happens with the judiciary, these things will be at risk. Party would you caucus with in the senate, and why . Mr. Linn i have been asked that question before. Thank you for being here tonight. , the reason i am in this race is to represent the people of maine and i would argue that speaker gideon will represent main. She cannot because she is with a wig system. I will caucus with whoever does the most for maine. Independent. E mainers are sick and tired of politics as usual in d. C. And i offer the alternative from the career politicians to citizen legislators, from institutional magnitude of washing then and politic washington and politics as usual for something different. I would be able to caucus with either party, whoever does the most for maine. Host lisa savage, same question. Ms. Savage thank you for holding the debate. Its an interesting question in my case because i was a Green Party Member but i an enrolled in order to gain Ballot Access because restrictions are so severe to get on the ballot. But if i win the election i plan to reenroll in the green party as the first green senator. The rules would not require me to caucus with either party because i would go in as a party member. I am focused on getting medicare for all for americans and i will work with anyone who was interested in working on that project, whether it is bernie of the, people republican party, that is my top priority and why i am asking , if you wantsider universal health care, you would want me first to show. Host a viewer question goes to ms. Gideon. Will you contest the outcome of the election in court if you win the plurality but lose in the final ranked choice result . Ms. Gideon thanks for the question. The choiceport voting. I endorsed it in 2016 and was forced or protected as a legislator when there were repeated attempts to repeal the law. I have faith in the electoral go. Em and how voting will unless there is an outstanding reason that show something has gone wrong, i would not plan to contest results. Host max . Can you repeat the question . You contest the outcome of the election in court if you win a plurality but lose in the final ranked choice vote . Absolutely not. I support ranked Choice Voting because it gives the little guy a chance. Inface the same challenges maine as in america, the establishment career politicians. Weve heard this for the last 10 or 12 years that americans are sick and tired of politics as usual and careers in politics. This is an excellent opportunity to vote for change first, which is me. It has never been more clear that choice for change and a politician who is not a career politician but a citizen legislator versus a career has raised upwards of 180 million. Host lisa . Ms. Savage this is an opportunity for voters to vote their values rather than their fears. There has been a lot of fear mongering in the selection. People deserve to vote for the values they care about. But i am the system not in favor of frivolous lawsuits if it appears the election was held in a fair and reputable manner. Bruce poliquin contested the election even though he had lost and the courts basically told him he did not have a case. If there is malfeasance, i would challenge it, but if ranked Choice Voting does its job and expresses the majority of voters, i would respect the outcome. Host senator collins . Not. Collins i would ranked Choice Voting has been upheld twice by the courts in maine. Those are the rules for us to play by. I think a fair system would be a true runoff where everyone got to vote twice, but thats not what we have in maine. Max, yout question, advocate eliminating outstanding student loan debt. Should college be free for all americans and linked to military or Public Service . Absolutely. We have an economic crisis on our hands. Are going to be very detrimental to the middle class. The republicans and democrats want bailouts. Conservative party of small government and fiscal responsibility. I am we are creating debt, asking for student loan relief, which is a direct people bailout for 45 million americans and for meiners im saying we ers i amusands main saying we need thousands. Ppe different than susans program loaded with corruption. Host ms. Savage . Forgiving i support student loan debt. Students are coming out of Community College tens of thousands of dollars in debt. I think Public Education should be tuition free. Wealthy countries invest in the education of their young because they need doctors, teachers, engineers. I would like to see banks forgive outstanding student loans. Whichever legislators wrote the declare student has to bankruptcy should be ashamed of themselves. If someone wants to go to a private institution, i think they can figure out how to pay for that but Public Higher Education should be tuition free and i favor fully funding education prek through medical school. Many countries do this. Sen. Collins i have work very hard to expand grants that go to our students. I am the chief proponent along with jack reed of little jack reed of road island of programs rhode island of programs. I support Debt Forgiveness for certain professions like Public Service or medical professions. I think would be worth pursuing is allowing students to refinance their debt. Given that Interest Rates are so low now, it would save them a great deal of money. It makes sense to allow a very wealthy families sending their child to the university of maine or a Public School to go for free. That would burden the taxpayers when the family can afford to pay. Money should not be a barrier to education and debt should not be a barrier to young people being able to own their first home and get on their feet and afford health insurance. But today in america, it is. We need to make changes. I support needbased grants. We have seen great examples of this. In the Community College and university systems. Makingsupport refinancing easier and basing it on income level and the kind of work you are doing. I think we need to make incentives in order for universities and Community Colleges to lower the cost of education. I am proud of what we have done in maine. We have cracked on predatory forprofit colleges and thought about how to get tax credit to students who decide to live and work in maine. Host ms. Savage, whoever wins the presidency will most likely propose a major transportation investment will. With the company trillions deeper in debt with covid, can we afford a costly new infrastructure package . Think we can dont afford not to. Biggestcrisis is the threat to our security and the future of our grandchildren being able to live on the planet. Public transportation is a major way to cut down on Greenhouse Gas emissions while still allowing people to get to work and school. I think investing in these kinds long overdue and decades behind the rest of the world and in investing in public transport. When we have a war, no one asks how we are going to pay for that. But with transportation and medicare for all, suddenly people are asking. We have plenty of money we just need better budget priorities. I chair the transportation appropriations subcommittee and the senate and 740rought back to maine million in transportation benefits for seaports, airports, roads, and bridges. Main ranked number one on a per capita basis in the amount of money it is getting from a very important transportation program. That is not a coincidence. When we think of venture structure when we think of infrastructure, we need to broaden our thinking. We need a package but it has to include world broadband. We have seen into many parts of there are people working and learning from home but there are gaps in the Rural Broadband which is why i have joined with the senator of West Virginia in a Rural Broadband bill to help fill the gaps. Host speaker gideon . Sentideon it is nice when when susan and i agree on something. When we think about how we stage an economic recovery in this country, it will take an investment from the federal government in infrastructure. That means investing in our roads and bridges, something on which we are behind in the whole country. It also means an investment in broadband. Making sure we are putting into place infrastructure that should already be here. And that we are welcoming people to live, work, and study in maine. We can invest in infrastructure that helps us combat climate change. It can be what the roads look like. It matters who is in charge. We have seen an absolute inability and zero desire to tackle the issues from the senate controlled by Mitch Mcconnell. Host max . Mr. Linn this is where i feel i am strongest. As we have heard about the biggest threat to the country is state, the biggest threat sending the same career politician back to washington again and again, hoping for change. Why havent collins and gideon done anything yet . They will have no say in washington. They are the faceplates of the republican and democratic party. That is my platform. A need for change. You need someone from the outside. Legislatorre a that will have the influence and power to bring maine what it needs. Susan and sara will not have any say on bringing money home to maine. I will. Have senator collins, you been telling people you are next in line. Shares funneling more money to their estate . Is it about bringing home the bacon . Sen. Collins it is. Maine is not wealthy. We have a lot of needs. I have alreadyk done on the Appropriations Committee shows why it is so important i am now a Senior Member of the committee and in line to be the next chair. Since 1932, a main senator eight has been since 1930 two it has main senator been since 1932 that a senator from maine was the chair. At my work on the subcommittee. That thecured funding navy needed that were not included in the president s budget. Million fored 320 improvements that support naval shipyards. Speaker gideon, it seems to be a case where seniority matters. Ms. Gideon i think its important. Senator collins does like to talk about 24 years in washington and we are virtual tonight because she is in washington. But lets ask ourselves what that means. If she becomes the appropriations chair, it means Mitch Mcconnell is still majority leader. Lets look back at what Mitch Mcconnell said last time we had a democratic president. He said lets make it our mission to make sure this is a one term president. Not making it our mission to make progress on issues. Ofn we think about the lack progress on lowering the cost of relief,d on more covid these are things Susan Collins is not able to get done. Her experience does not seem to have an impact in her caucus. So how does it help maine . Sen. Collins i think i deserve a rebuttal. I am in washington because we are in session. We are working. That is in sharp contrast to what sara did at the state the statee she resent legislature and has done absolutely nothing sent to since then tohing respond to the covid crisis. Passed 3gton we have trillion dollars worth of relief, including a 1. 2 5 billion set aside for maine. Senator collins continues to deflect. It has been six months since the Senate Passed covid relief and whether we are thinking about families or individuals in maine , the towns and cities of the ,tate and services on the verge its a dangerous proposition. I am proud of the work we have done in maine and the fact we have the lowest covid rate, Second Lowest in the nation and our economy is recovering faster than any other state. Max, the senate seems to run on seniority. Is that important . Mr. Linn it is. I can list a dozen races in america where republicans or democrats have been in trouble, they always bring in that this person is in line. Susan collins is not going to be in charge of the appropriations even if she was, i could bring more money than she could. In thereand susan were together, i would bring more i wouldy could because balance of and the influence rests with maine. Maine would remain all influential. A vote for susan or sara is a wasted vote. I would like to challenge the premise that it makes a great deal of difference whether we have republican or democratic leadership in these key committees. Both parties take big money from corporate interests. You can see for yourself. We have lots of bailouts for the corporation. People are still waiting for a meaningful bailout. We are still waiting for relief to communities and for people to get help with their rent and mortgages. I do not think either of the Corporate Party candidates will change things in washington. Independentelect an. On my website you can see where i stand on the issues. The people of maine should rank me first. Host were going to take a break. We will be back after this. Trump do i let my people run it well, or badly . Badly they will blame him but they will blame me but i want to help people. Cost 10s already Million People their health care. Weeks froms than two the election, watch the debate between trump and joe biden tonight from Belmont University in tennessee beginning at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan. Org debate for streaming of the coverage. The competition is on. The part of the video competition. Be the start of a National Conversation. Exploring the issues you Want Congress to address. Be bold with your documentary. Show supporting and opposing points of view. 100,000 in total cash prizes. The deadline is january 20. Be informed. You can find rules and tips and information on the website. Sunday night on q a, the university of chicagos kathleen to lou and Jillian Melcher talk about the proud boys and antifa. The proud boys are a group in a larger landscape of white power and Militia Movement activism. It is fringe right activism interested in resisting federal government power, advocating for gun ownership rights and sometimes involves people who are outright white supremacists. Identifiesyone who as antifa engages in violence but universally they view violence as a legitimate response to fascism. That is sunday night at 8 00 eastern on q a. You are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government, created by americas Cable Television company as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Host this round begins with speaker gideon. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent by your campaign ads backers to tear each other down. The winner is going to be tainted when we go to work. Is this dangerous to our democracy . Ms. Gideon i want to start with something we agree with, there is too much money in politics and we need to make a change. Thats why one of the first things i did on the campaign was introduce ideas for reform that we overturnng sure to citizens united. We areing sure transparent about who is contributing money and what their goals are. Making sure people can understand where the dark money is coming from. And making sure members of congress can never become lobbyists and have an inside track on the system. In this campaign i chose to not take Corporate Tax money from a corporate pack. Thats important because people need to know who we stand for. Host you have talked about your feelings of this money coming into maine. What do you do about it . Mr. Linn you have to vote for citizen legislators. Send has an opportunity to a strong message to washington that they are tired of the rant speaker gideon just said. Ads million doing worthless attacking each other. ,ens of thousands of flyers think about what that money could have done for meiners. For maines i am sure speaker gideon is nice but she is part of the broken system. People in maine are losing homes in medical care. Time to sendtical a message to washington to say they are tired of the same old same old. We are going to reject your. Oney we are to send an independent candidate to washington to shake up host the system. Host lisa savage, how do you deal with this . I. Savage i practice what preach. I do not accept super pac money. I am a schoolteacher and just retired. My husband is a selfemployed woodworker. I am the only nonmillionaire in this race. Im not saying its bad to mill its bad to be a millionaire but i do not think they can understand what People Struggle with and what their needs are. They are in a bubble of affluence. The negative advertising is bad for children to see. They now think that is what political debate means. This right now is real political debate. Taking tens of millions of dollars, but the market was advertising is not in the best interest of democracy in my opinion. Collins, we have not ever seen a Campaign Like this. How do you fix it . Sen. Collins that is for sure. I would point out there have been 16 independent fact checks of sarahs that have been deemed to mostly false. I think its disgraceful. This is the First Campaign i have ever been involved in where my opponent has attacked my integrity and distorted and outright lied about my records and i think it is totally unacceptable. Disclosure ofl dark money groups. There are all sorts of dark and igroups in maine would point out sara has received more contributions from portland, oregon then she has from portland, maine. I do not think what she has proposed is the answer, amending the First Amendment. The First Amendment has not been was adopted int 1791 but we can have full disclosure. Question from of you were who wants a yes or no response. Max, do you believe in health as a human right, yes or no . Mr. Linn yes. Health care is very important. On my platform i do a hybrid system. Peopleo condition should lose their homes or savings over health care. Reform. About political i find it almost hysterical to sit here and watch susan and sara talk about reform when they are the heart of the problem. Maine has a chance to send a it with ad we can do vote for an independent candidate. Host back to health care. Do you believe it is a human right . Ms. Savage absolutely. I do not think health care and forprofit lung in the same sentence. Health care should not have been forprofit a belong in the same sentence. Health care should not have been turned into a commodity. I want to move in the direction of medicare for all and improve medicare for all that covers mental health, dental, vision, hearing, and people can count on and they do not have to worry about going bankrupt. Most bankruptcies are called are caused by medical bills. Host senator collins . Sen. Collins yes, it is a human right and there is so much we could do to expand Health Care Coverage and lowering the cost is key. There are several actions we could take. One is to have more transparency in the system. It is so important. So people can compare prices. There is nothing more opaque than the cost of health care. We could lower the cost of Prescription Drugs. I have already written two laws helping to do that. But there is more to be done. Tap ontting a outofpocket costs. Accessibilityk on. If you live in a part of the state where there are not a lot of health care providers, we need access to more telemedicine. And we need to preserve the rural hospitals. That is where sarahs plan worries me. I believe based on a study i have seen that 15 of our 36 hospitals would go under in her plan. Ms. Gideon health care is a human right. Ast week i spoke with 59yearold woman from litchfield who had just lost her job in health care. She was crying and scared. Right now republicans are trying to take away our health care. Even during a pandemic. It is something Mitch Mcconnell has been determined to do for the last four years and Susan Collins has helped them do it with her vote on the tax bill. In maine we made sure we protected the same people put at risk with preexisting conditions and in the senate you could be shared i would lead you could be sure i would lead on this issue. Medicare should be able to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of drugs. There is no plan from the Senate Republicans who have been determined to overturn the Affordable Care act, there is no plan to replace it. Reelectt afford to Susan Collins or Mitch Mcconnell. Sen. Collins i was the first republican to speak out against repealing the Affordable Care and i cast the deciding vote to save it. Inaccuratea said is and i do not know anyone in the senate who is not for protecting people with preexisting conditions. That is an issue i worked on even movedfore sara to maine. I feel talking about things like transparency and the cost of health care or adding a public auction avoids the issue. We are talking about the fact that people cannot afford health care. Care,had universal health this would be a great boon to the business community. Economy ifhelp our we could get our health care on the same plane as the rest of the world. Host each of you will have a chance to ask a question of one opponent. Lisa savage, we will start with you. Ms. Savage my question is for ms. Gideon. Polls have you leading the race and show one of the top issues is health care. We know republicans do not have a serious plan to improve it. I support medicare for all. Studies show it is the best way to provide worldclass universal health care to everyone while spending less than we do now. Your plan of expanding it would not cover everyone and will not cost less than we pay now. Shouldnt mainers who want medicare for all rank the first and you second . Ms. Gideon thank you for your question. I want to start by saying thank you for bringing the issue to the forefront every time we debate on the trail. Health care without question is the most important issue to people, no matter where i was in the state. I think we have the same goal, making sure everyone has access to health care they can afford. But we have different approaches to getting there. Allows a public auction people to buy into a system and improve a Health Care System at the same time. It also allows those who have and want to keep their own private insurance to do so, a right i think is important. In addition to the public auction option, i think we need to make changes to the medicare system. I mention to the one regarding the cost of Prescription Drugs. Host your time is up. Senator collins . Sen. Collins my question is for sara. You say you do not take corporate pac money but as tookers as speaker you money from 16 Different Insurance Companies and you held a fundraiser at your home where there were lobbyists and executives. You take money directly from corporations, you were caught inappropriately reimbursing. Ourself from your own pac you raised more than 1 million from corporate executives. Andhypocrisy bothers me bothers maine. How can you say one thing and do another . Ms. Gideon lets talk about what Corporate Tax money is. I want to go back to my record in the statehouse. Took on Health Care Companies and drug and Insurance Companies and oil and gas companies, making sure we anded up our sleeve crackdown on pharmaceutical companies and demanded transparent the and created importation of Prescription Drug programs. We took on the health care copay. , tapping the that is not what we had seen from you where you have taken 6 million from corporate pac and done that fitting of the industries. For theecided to run senate, i decided to make a promise that i would reject all corporate pac money. That is what you can count on host we need to move on. Its your turn to ask question. Ms. Gideon susan, in the past three years have been either the deciding vote on important issues like the vote justice thenaugh or the vote for 2017 trump tax bill that gave a tax cut to corporations or the vote that allowed the Affordable Care act lawsuit to proceed. My question is, which of these votes do you regret the most . Sen. Collins [laughter] i do not regret any of that because you misrepresented them. I was deciding vote to keep the Affordable Care act in 2017, as you well know. The democrats now are using my lawsents to defend the before the Supreme Court. So i am proud of my record. I have been named the most bipartisan member of the senate in the past seven years. That is not a claim you could make because you always follow the party line. I think we need more bipartisanship and that is what i am known for in washington. It is what i have always done, to try to bring people together. I am thinking about the ads you are running saying i supported 181 are right judges. The judges were conformed of bipartisan support and more than 100 of them had the support of angus king. Angus king. Host senator collins. Thank you. Mr. Linn its amazing to see this fight between susan and sara. Maine deserves better. Oppose website right you trumps wall on the southern border. Wall is stopping Human Trafficking and the drug trade. Why do you oppose it . Ms. Gideon lets talk about this is onebecause of the things about this president. To die wertas tried to die wert money intended for the military to build his than 500hat more children separated from their children children separated from their parents, the parents can no longer be found. We need to do better. We need a fair immigration policy in the country that itognizes we need to do in a way that keeps americans safe and secure. Not see thatdo happening at something i want to work on in the senate. Have two minutes left before closing statements. With what is something you admire about your opponent . About myins i admire opponents that they are willing to serve the public. It is something we need more of in this country and the fact that each of them is willing to step forward and do the hard votes of theng the people of maine is commendable. Lisa has dedicated her life to children and teaching and i want to thank her for that. I also want to thank her for staying so focused on the issues that matter most to her. Climate, health care, those are the worries people in the country have. Host max . Savagen i admire lisa because she and i hold the same betterhat maine deserves in washington, they deserve an independent voice. With susan and sara, i respect them as candidates but i do not. Espect the system they are in respect the party and ongoing doublespeak they give and mainers need someone who cares in washington. Host lisa savage . Ms. Savage i admire that everyone is willing to come and participate in debate repeatedly. It is great role modeling for the children watching to see adults care enough about the do noto risk being we know what questions we will be asked. Someone might criticize us. I think it is brave to do this and i love that students of all ages are watching and saying, that could be me. Closing statements. Each candidate has one minute. Ms. Savage i would like to tell a 22yearold former refugee and activist with black lives matter maine. I am inviting her to come and share about the fight against racism. Please welcome her. Before i begin my speech i would like to remind everyone we live on sacred land that belongs to indigenous people. We live in a country where black people are being hunted down president refuses to [inaudible] black people are being murdered by police daily. The same people who condemn writing should condemn the pain inflicted on black people on a daily basis. Host thank you. We have to get to all the statements. Sen. Collins i fight hard for maine every day, even in the midst of a pandemic. Seniority to get an extra destroyer or a bridge so because it is what made need. A communist what maine needs. A columnist once criticized me for working too hard. Pastorare a 77yearold who fell prey to a scam and ended up in a spanish prison or if your sister has a rare form of cancer and cannot find a job there or you are a mother who cannot hear her child without cochlear implants, the problems do not seem small to you what all. I have been a leader on some of the biggest issues facing our nation. It is helping mainers like this that keep me going and make me fight for maine each day. Thank you. For the voters at home watching, we all have a choice before us. That willchoice dictate how we move forward as a nation. Families and maine have a choice of candidate who serve as the custodials with continued andout of wall street ignoring the needs of the rural areas. Versus me, someone who understands the economy. First, families can invest in a candidate that cannot be paid off on wall street or listen to the globalists. May god continue to bless our state and nation. Mainers, thank you for welcoming me for the past 16 months to your homes and businesses to sit on your porch and talk and listen. What i remember from the shannon. Ions is i remember being on your lobster boat with your sons who are ready to become the next generation of lobster men. I remember mckenna and the story you told me about the importance of having planned parenthood available to help you when it was the only health care you had. I remember mary. As i was checking out with my 13yearold daughter with overflowing groceries and you asked me what we are going to do about social security. This race is about you. Its about making sure you are represented. I will fight for you and stand by you for all of you. Thank you. Host that wraps up the voice of the voter debate. My thanks to all of the candidates. We thank the Maine State Chamber of commerce and we thank you for watching here tonight. I am pat callahan. Night. The competition is on. Be part of the video competition. Can be the students start of a National Conversation by making a documentary, exploring the issues you want the president to address in 2021. Shows supporting and opposing points of view and include video. There is 100,000 dollars in total cash prizes, including the grand prize of 5,000. Submit by january 2021. You can find tips and info on how to get started on our website. Bulk tv on cspan 2 has nonfiction books and authors every weekend. H. R. Mcmaster on his book, battlegrounds, the fight to defend the free world which at 11 00 p. M. , in leading sean spicer discusses how President Trump is fighting back against the left. Sunday at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on afterwards, al sharpton, founder and president of the National Action network, with his book, rise up confronting a country at the crossroads. He is interviewed by columnist, jonathan k part. Park. Watch book tv this weekend on cspan2. Announcer sunday night on q a, the university of chicagos kathleen v. Talks about the proud boys and antifa. The proud boys are a group in a larger landscape of white power and militia and movement activism. That is broadly activism that is interested in resisting federal government power, advocating for Second Amendment rights and gun ownership rights, and also sometimes involves people who are outright white supremacists. That everybody who identifies in antifa as antifa engages in violence, but they view violence as an essential part of a movement or legitimate response to fascism. Announcer sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans q a. Announcer you are watching cspan your unfiltered unfiltered view of government. Created by americas Cable Television company as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Announcer our campaign 2010 a coverage continues 2020 coverage continues with a second president ial debate. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. The final debate is this season from nashville, tennessee. Donald trump and joe biden will spend 90 minutes debating a variety of topics on foreign and domestic policy at 9 00 p. M. Eastern time from Beaumont University in nashville, tennessee. Arrived innt nashville at about 4 20 th