FAYETTEVILLE — Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor spoke Wednesday on the front lawn of Old Main about his opponent’s votes in Congress.
Pryor said Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton wants to give tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of Arkansas senior citizens, students, women and working families.
“He wants to give enormous tax breaks to billionaires,” Pryor told reporters and a group of about 25 University of Arkansas students. “That’s why the stakes are so high.”
A Pryor campaign spokesman cited Cotton’s votes for Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s fiscal 2014 and 2015 budget proposals, as well as an alternative budget proposal from the Republican Study Committee.
David Ray, a spokesman for the Cotton campaign, took issue with Pryor’s comments.
“Only a lifelong politician like Mark Pryor would attack a vote to balance our federal budget and rein in Washington’s out-of-control spending,” Ray said. “In fact, Sen. Pryor is the only candidate in this race who voted for the Wall Street bailout, leaving hardworking Arkansas taxpayers holding the bag.”
Cotton is challenging Pryor for the Senate seat he has held since 2003. Pryor, a Camden native, is the son of former U.S. Sen. David Pryor. Cotton, a Dardanelle native, has been serving in the U.S. House since 2013.
At a news conference in Little Rock on Tuesday, Pryor released a series of reports estimating how much money Arkansas would have lost if a majority of Congress had voted like Cotton. The study is titled “What’s at Stake, A Study on Tom Cotton’s Votes Against Arkansas.” The study was conducted by and paid for by the Mark Pryor for U.S. Senate Campaign.
Pryor is touring the state with copies of region-specific versions of the report. The report distributed at the event at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville was for the “Ozarks region,” which included 14 counties. Pryor spoke later Wednesday afternoon at an event in Rogers.
“There’s no debate about whether or not Congressman Cotton voted to gut crucial services for families here in Arkansas. He did,” according to the introduction of the study. “And there’s no denying that Tom Cotton cut those programs to pay for tax breaks for billionaires like the ones funding his campaign.”
Pryor’s campaign said the study released Tuesday used county-level data for senior citizens, women, children, college students and veterans as well as other community matters to determine the financial impact of some policies, bills or budget plans that Cotton voted for. It also examined the effect Cotton’s votes would have had on tax revenue.
For example, the study estimates what money Arkansas would have lost if the Violence Against Women Act had failed. Cotton voted against the measure.
The study looked at the federal-grant funding provided to Arkansas domestic-violence shelters and law enforcement agencies. The study contends that statewide, $513,433 in shelter funding would have been cut.
Ray answered by attacking Pryor’s record on women’s issues.
“Arkansas women know that the Obama agenda is not working for them,” he said. “It’s resulted in fewer economic opportunities, higher unemployment, higher prices for everything from health insurance to gasoline to groceries. And Arkansas women know they can do better than Sen. Pryor.”
Most of the scenarios in the study, according to the methodology, look at the worst case. For example, if the Violence Against Women Act funding were completely eliminated and funding not increased in other bills to supplement those shelters, then the $513,433 would have been lost.
Pryor said Cotton doesn’t listen to Arkansans. Pryor said Cotton listens to people at the conservative Club for Growth organization who are funding his campaign.
Cotton has raised more than $7 million during his campaign, compared with more than $9 million for Pryor, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Club for Growth Action, a super political action committee, has spent $719,343 to oppose Pryor, according to the center.
“Pryor has received millions upon millions from super PACs,” Ray said.
Pryor said he listens to the people of Arkansas but Cotton listens to his billionaire backers.
Pryor said Cotton voted for “deep cuts” in the Pell Grant program, which helps fund college for many Arkansas students. He said Cotton also voted to increase the interest rates on student loans. Both of those things shift the financial burden more heavily onto students and make it more difficult for them to go to college, said Pryor.
“We need to make it more affordable, make college more accessible,” said Pryor. “That’s the right thing to do for the state of Arkansas.”
Pryor said Cotton has said he wants to eliminate the Stafford Loan Program, which helped fund Cotton’s education at Harvard University.
“He wants to eliminate the program now that he’s done with it, now that he’s taken all the Stafford loans and gotten himself educated, he wants to cut everybody off,” said Pryor. “Now, I have a big problem with that because it’s bad for Arkansas.”
Ray said Cotton supports federal student loans.
“What he doesn’t support are Washington politicians being able to dictate the rates of those loans down to the decimal point,” said Ray. “Sen. Pryor hasn’t lifted a finger to decrease the cost of a college education. Since he went to Washington over a decade ago, tuition for students at the University of Arkansas has increased by 75 percent. It’s time to give someone else a chance.”
Information for this article was contributed by Claudia Lauer of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Northwest Arkansas on 09/25/2014