Marshall, Goddard argue over bailout

Republican congressional challenger Rick Goddard of Warner Robins sought to tap into anti-incumbent anger during a debate Thursday with Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, continuing his assault on Marshall’s support for the $700 billion financial bailout.

Marshall defended his position, saying Congress didn’t have the luxury to delay action on the rescue and explore other options for loosening up frozen credit markets that could have sunk the economy.

“It was the right vote,” Marshall said. “I stand by it. I hope it has its intended effect.”

The candidates debated at the Georgia National Fair in Perry. It was aired on Macon television station 13WMAZ’s Web site and will be broadcast on television Saturday.

Georgia’s competitive 8th District is centered around Macon, a Republican-leaning district that Marshall won by only about 1 percent two years ago.

Goddard denied allegations that the reason he delayed announcing his position on the bailout for almost two days was that he was waiting for poll results to show where voters stood. He said members of Congress should have done a better job of seeing the financial crisis coming and taken more time on a remedy instead of rushing through a reckless plan.

“The government has proved itself time and time again incapable of managing most things the marketplace is where the solution is,” he said.

In a testy exchange, Goddard repeatedly declined to answer a question from Marshall about whether he supports partially privatizing Social Security.

“You can’t put words in my mouth, Jim. I don’t accept that. You’re not the moderator,” he said.

The closest Goddard came to answering was saying, “The Social Security system in this country is heading down a path to bankruptcy. There have got to be some solutions.”

Goddard also declined to say specifically where he would cut spending, saying only that he could find billions of dollars in savings in a matter of days.

But he asked the audience: “Has Congress been doing for you what you want it to do? I think in most cases your answer would be no.”

Marshall said his positions over his six years in Congress reflect the values of the district.

“I think people see that,” he said.