property house lebanon

captioning provided bycaption associates, llcwww.captionassociates.com >> announcer: lakeland public television, the bemidji pioneer, the brainerd dispatch, and northern community radio are proud to present debate night 2016, a look at our area legislative candidates. and now the state house of

representatives district 2a. your moderator tonight is warren larson. >> warren: good evening and welcome to debate 2016, 11 state legislative debates over four nights. we're at the lakeland public television studios in bemidji.

our candidates for tonight's debate are jerry loud from the democratic-farmer-labor and matt grossell from the republican party. our panel this evening is dennis weiman from lakeland public television news director, matthew liedke, from the bemidji

pioneer reporter, and scott hall, the public affairs director for northern community radio, kaxe and kbxe. our rules for tonight's debate. each candidate will be given three minutes for opening comments. the panel will ask questions

after opening comments. some will be their own questions, soers may be from the public. the candidates will rotate the order they speak, beginning with opening comments and finishing with closing comments. each candidate gets two minutes

to answer the questions. each candidate will have a one-minute rebuttal opportunity. new this year, candidates will have the option of using one minute of bonus time to add on to one of their answers tonight. this can be used during the answer to the initial question

or durt rebuttal, but can only be used once. questions continue until we are about 50 minutes into the debate, when we will move on to closing comments. each candidate will be given two minutes for closing comment. so let's start the debate.

the first person to do the opening comments will be jerry loud. >> loud: well, thank you. i just want to thank everybody for this opportunity to debate and talk about the issues that are facing district 2a. i was born and raised in

bemidji, minnesota. my father is clarence loud. he was a full blood ojibwe from the red lake nation. he was also a warld wore two veteran. my -- world war ii veteran. my mother, donna loud is from laverne, minnesota, and she's a

full blood caucasian and she worked 44 years at the northwest -- north country regional hospital, which is amazing. i have three full grown daughters. what i wanted to do real quick is go over some of my

qualifications of why i feel i would be the candidate to serve district 2a. i am a g.e.d. graduate. i graduated at anoka and bemidji tech. i served in the u.s. navy for ten years. i was on the uss enterprise and

did a world cruise and a pacific cruise. i'm also a desert storm veteran and i enlisted in the advanced electronics program. i i am a bsu graduate and while i went to school, college, i worked full-time, so i worked at the evergreen crisis youth

shelter. i worked at the gill center and also at the northwest juvenile training center working with adjudicated youth. from there, i taught high school at district 38 and then i became the communications director for red lake.

after that, i worked in the economic development department for red lake, also i was the sales and marketing manager for custom dart plant. i was general manager for the modular home manufacturing plant. from there, i went to -- i

became a sales consultant for the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in the world. in between there, i was also the vice president for the boys and girls club in bemidji and also on the board for the evergreen house. and then i came back to red

lake. i'm currently the executive director for new beginnings where i oversee and run six programs for the red lake nation. but one of the real, the real heart of my career has been, i chaired the constitutional

reform committee for almost three years and i also was the president of the board if red lake and so i've been spending the last 30 years of my life helping individuals and helping communities to become prosperous and breaking down barriers for individuals.

and so i just wanted to start off with my credentials and thinking why i am the best candidate to serve district 2a. >> warren: thank you. mr. grossell, your opening comments? >> grossell: okay, thank you. good evening.

i am matt grossell and i'd like to thank the lakeland public television and the hosts and such for inviting us here this evening and providing us the opportunity to discuss issues that matter the most here in the north country. that matter the most to the

people, the families, and the communities of district 2a. northern minnesota. my family is from deer river and i'm very proud to come from a legacy of service, a legacy of service that shaped my life. i had a father, my grandfather who served in world war i in the

u.s. army and my father as well served in the u.s. navy in world war ii. several uncles served during the korean conflict, the korean war, and two brothers served in the vietnam war. during peace time, an older brother and myself, we both

served in the armed forces as well, he in the air force and i in the us army. that legacy of service continues on with my children. two of them also served in the armed forces, one served as a nurse and does quite a bit of mission work as well.

from the military, i went to school and got my education in junior college and then i went into business for myself, driving truck over the road, supporting my family. after that, i felt the call to go back to school and finish up my law enforcement certificate.

from there, i moved to this district, started off in law enforcement as chief of police in blackduck, minnesota. i served a year there where i was injured in the line of duty, shot in the line of duty, and i went from there after healing up, went from there to working

on the clearwater county sheriff's office on the paul bunyan drug task force. i have been serving in this district since 2001 on the front lines, trying to make this a better place for our families, for your families, protecting your businesses, your schools,

right on down the line. and i have -- and it's been my honor to do so. i was called to serve in law enforcement to protect and to serve, and i feel as though i'm called again to this service. my career was ended early in law enforcement, and now there's

another call. the call to serve, continue to serve the public in district 2a and the house of representatives. you'll get nothing less than my best in the house of i'll be there to represent you. i'm not there for myself, i'm

not there for a pat on my back. i'm there to do my job just as i did in law enforcement. again, my goal is to cut tax many, reducing regulations on farms, on farmers, shrink the size of government and to protect our constitution. so again, i thank you for this

opportunity to come and answer questions and to look for support for the upcoming election. >> warren: thank you, thank you. our first question is to mr. grossell and it's from matthew liedke. >> matthew: recently there's

been quite a bit of talk on the subject of mnsure with some issues arising regarding that program. i was wondering if elected, where do you see the follow-up of mnsure going -- the future of mnsure going and what are some solutions you might have for the

current issues it has? >> grossell: okay. well, the mnsure has definitely been an issue and each place i go to knock on doors and visit with people, that topic comes up. recently, i talked to a young mother who was -- has been

improving their status as far as getting better jobs, getting more income, and as soon as that happened, their children were pushed off of mnsure. they were dropped. now, the -- they spent the past month or so trying to get their children covered again, but

because of the failures of mnsure, they have not been able to get them reinsured. the network is, in her words, the network is either saying it's compromised or it's down. and it has been a very difficult for them to get any coverage back on their children.

another gentleman i talked to told me about -- that at the end of the year, he's going to be dropped because of his single coverage by blue cross blue shield, and that is what mnsure -- the high premiums have forced insurance companies out. minnesota did have a good --

excuse me. minnesota did have a good public insurance program and we were ranked among the top in the state -- in the united states. mnsure has come in and has taken us backwards. it has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and in order

to make that right, in order to get that straightened out, we need to take mnsure and get rid of it. get rid of it completely. that's the way i feel about it. and that will save several million dollars, at least $23 million over three

years. and by cutting the tax in half, and then from there, looking and exploring ways to get insurance companies back into the state to come back in and make it a competitive market for better insurance programs. >> warren: well, thank you.

mr. loud, the same question. >> loud: that's a great question, and having worked ten years in the pharmaceutical industry, in the healthcare arena, and which i covered northwest minnesota, we have wonderful doctors. they're amazing, they work hard,

they practice medicine and in the most ethical way. and so i am proud, i made a lot of friends through the industry. one of the things that we need to do is we definitely need to work on mnsure, so currently right now, as the executive director for the new beginnings

and the tanf program, the temporary assistance for needy families, we're in the process of taking over the healthcare portion from beltrami county and it is a mess. and so we do need to fix mnsure. in the affordable care act there is a provision in section 1332

which provides minnesota to create an innovative way to fix this system, and so one of the things that we can all agree on in healthcare is that it needs to cover -- ensure that all people are covered, that they cover all types, dental, vision, hearing, mental health which was

brought up earlier today, chemical dependency treatment, prescription drugs, medical equipment and supplies, long-term care and home care. and then we need to -- all patients need to choose their providers, reduce the kuss by cutting administrative

bureaucracy and we need to set premiums based on ability to pay and we need to focus on preventive care and early intervention and one of the things we can do is to talk about more consumer awareness. i think educating the consumer, the patients on how to prevent

the illnesses and diseases would cut costs tremendously. and we also need to have our medicaid -- we need medicare to be able to negotiate the pharmaceutical prices like medicaid and the v.a. does. >> warren: thank you, mr. loud. in grossell, any additional

comments or rebuttal? >> grossell: no. >> warren: any additional comments, in loud? >> loud: following up on that, doctors are practicing evidence based medicine and i sole the number one antihypertensive in the world and what it did was

reduced the hospital -- the biggest cost for healthcare is hospitalization. so if you can find ways to reduce hospitalization, it will reduce our healthcare. >> warren: okay, thank you. next question is for in loud and it's from scott hall.

>> scott: thank you, warren. there's a lot of bipartisan interest in minnesota and around the united states. to reform our criminal justice system. what reforms do you think we should try, and in that -- within your answer, maybe you

can tell us what you think of drug courts. >> loud: that's a loaded question, and -- i mean, the fastest way to reduce poverty, to reduce crime, is to through education and what we're doing at the new beginnings right now is we're helping people break

down barriers and we're working on successes. and so the crime is -- when you look -- when i worked at the juvenile training center and you looked at the beltrami county area, it was 60% native americans and you go into the beltrami county website right

now and it's still 60%. so we haven't -- and i worked back in the -- i believe it was 1996, '97, and so we haven't had any progress. and so one of the things, like i said, is education, getting people jobs, and helping families break down barriers and

that will reduce the crime rate. mr. grossell, same question. >> grossell: would you repeat that again, please, sir? >> scott: sure, yeah. should try for our criminal justice system and tell us what you know or think of drug courts in the context of reforming

criminal justice. >> grossell: well, the drug courts, i think, having been in law enforcement and having worked with the -- in the criminal courts, etcetera, the drug courts, i thought, were a positive step. it wasn't the users that i

targeted as far as investigations, as far as building cases. it was the dealers. the dealers were the problem. the dealers were the ones that were bringing the poison into the areas and polluting the communities, poisoning the

communities, the children, the schools. right on -- the families. but, so to have the drug court start and taking the people that were first-time offenders, user-type offenses, etcetera, and helping them to get on the right path, i thought was a step

in the right direction. not everybody needs to go to jail. not everybody needs to be locked up, and especially, you know, i thought the users and the people, the first-time offenders such as like that, you know, they deserved another chance,

they deserved a break. so -- and like i said, it was the dealers that i primarily targeted in my investigations, etcetera. but it boils down to the families. it boils down -- it starts at home.

and it goes, carries over into the schools. folks got to -- parents have to teach their children to stay away from that kind of stuff, to teach them to abide by it, abide by the laws. i grew up in a time where you respected the laws and you

abided by them, and so it starts at home. before it gets to the stage of people being incarcerated, before it gets to, you know, the youth running out and getting in trouble and such. and if you can't -- you know, if you catch the youth, catch them

before, catch them before they get to that point. get them into mentoring, something that's going to help them get on the right track, so -- >> warren: all right, thank you. in loud, any additional comments or rebuttal?

>> loud: i want to add, the drug court as positive way for low offenders. i don't know if you're aware, but in the red lake nation, right now that if somebody comes up and is selling drugs on the red lake nation and our red lake police department busts these

guys, we can't try them in our own court system. and so that's one of the things that the state of minnesota can help the red lake nation because when you have a healthy red lake yu, going to have a healthy minnesota. and so with the drug courts, i'm

all for it for the low offenders, but then the dealers, just like what matt said, we need to prosecute them to the max. >> warren: mr. grossell, any additional comments? >> grossell: yes. i worked on the red lake nation

on the drug task force, head waters safe trails task force. we worked extensively alongside of the red lake police department, and we made quite an impact. and yes, there were some folks that came from outside and brought narcotics into the red

lake nation where there's a lot of folks that actually live there as well that were bringing it in, so it is -- you know, drug traffickers do not know borders. they don't know county lines, they don't know city lines. they don't know state lines.

and so it's got to be a concerted effort of all law enforcement entities to hit them where it hurts. go after the dealers. let's move on to our next question. mr. grossell, your question comes from dennis weiman.

>> dennis: this is one of the debates, one of the races where we do not have an incumbent, so either way, we're going to have a first-time legislator representing this district. who do you look up to as state legislators? are there people that you would

like to emulate that have served in the state legislature or in the -- in the u.s. house or the congress? just curious who you guys look up to. >> grossell: well, you know, i'd have -- i don't have anybody in particular in the house or --

house of representatives or in the state or actually at the federal level for that matter. the one that i would look up to would be broadway plaza tower cam lincoln. he was honest. he was there for the country, he was there to help the country.

as have been most of our presidents. and that is -- that is what you have with me. i'll be up front, i'll be honest. i may not sugar-coat things, i may be blunt, but i believe that comes from a career in law

enforcement as well. i'll stand for what is right. i'll fight, i'll fight not bitter end to protect and to serve this district, so i guess it would be the presidents of old that i would really look to. mr. loud? >> loud: this whole process has

been amazing, and you definitely, when times get hard, you definitely know who your supporters are and your friends, and so i have to -- i look up to senator rod skoe as a mentor and representative paulmarquardl over on the west end of those two gentleman have showed

tremendous support and i know i can lean on them for any question that i have that comes but i can tell you this, is that i'm going in there, this is not going to be a training ground for me. i'm going to go in there running.

i have chaired boards, i have chaired committees, i have worked with the federal government, i have worked with the state and negotiated contracts with the state, on i'm going to hit the ground running and i have some initiatives they'll be passing and looking

for on day one, and so i will be reaping out across aisles. one of the -- as a pharmaceutical rep, i covered northwest minnesota and i was able to make relationships with doctors that won't see anybody. and so i had people come in up north here to see how i could

build relationships and how -- and i can do that in st. paul. i can work with anybody and that is one much my strongest points throughout my career is building relationships and in education. you can see throughout my career, all my successes have been through education, and so

i'm going to continue to lean on the experienced legislators and we're going to get some stuff done in st. paul. mr. grossell, any additional >> grossell: no rebuttal, but i'd just like to say that i have to backtrack a little bit and say that, tell dave hancock,

thank you for his support and i do look up to him. especially he's been mentoring me along the way and giving me some very sound and godly counsel as i've gone through this campaign trail. and along with steve green, those are two men that have

really -- that have really step up and really been very good, very supportive and very helpful along this campaign. >> warren: all right. mr. loud, any additional >> loud: no. >> warren: okay. then we'll move on to the next

question and this question is for in loud and it's from -- mr. loud and it's from mr. matthew liedke. >> matthew: mr. loud, there question is regarding lga. i'm wondering if elected, what are your stances on local government aid and if you're in

support of any increases to local government aid, especially in this part of the state with not as much taxable property? >> loud: just give me one second here. okay. lga. so the whole premise of lga is

to help the counties, the cities that are low tax base, and so the appropriations for lga, they need -- and i support the 2002 levels. and when you support the cities with the lga, that it will help lower property taxes, so in one sense, that's going to help your

farmers, the small farmers. it's going to help your small businesses, and of course it's going to help cities be able to look at their budgets because they're talking about law enforcement, fires, all the things that a city takes to run, and so i am supportive of

increasing the lga, the local government aid to the 2002 levels and, you know, yesterday i was watching the debates and they were talking about all of the -- you know, we have a lot of forests in our area and district 2a has the largest water base, and so a lot of

those things will reduce the tax base, but by adding on the lga is the way to go. it helps the lake homeowners and it will help lower the tax base. >> grossell: i'm for supporting the local municipalities, and helping them to provide for the communities.

in this past legislation, i believe some of that bonding bill was supposed to go to the the bonding bill that the government -- the governor stopped and quashed with the southwest light rail. a lot of that money was to go to infrastructure, a lot of that

point was supposed to go to -- money was sun posed to go to schools, etcetera, and it would have gone to help -- i agree with jerry on, that that it would have gone to help farmers, businesses, etcetera. so i'm for helping the communities and help them to

keep their municipalities going, because if we start losing our municipalities and they can't continue on with the -- with taking care of their cities, then, you know, people start moving away and we can't do that. we can't afford that.

>> loud: yeah, i want to just add, you know, matt and i, we're going -- we vying for an open seat, so i'm not going to go tip tit for tat for him, but what i understand about that bonding bill, there was going to be zero upstate dollars that would contribute to the light rail

project and so 50% of it was going to come from the federal government, like $997 million and the thing we need to know was that money was not going to go back to the coffer. it was going to go to another state, i believe it was colorado, and so that's one.

and then that's -- that's 50% and then 40% was going to come out of local governments down in the metro area and the final 10%, which was the deal breaker, all of a sudden hennepin county said they will take and spend the rest. so the bonding bill could have

been passed and -- so that's what i -- all the -- it would have been zero dollars for outstate in that light rail project. >> warren: in grossell, any >> grossell: minnesota -- yes, sir, i do. minnesota across the state would

be forced to pay for the ongoing operating losses for southwest light rail. when the capital costs, the operating costs, the capital maintenance costs are totaled up and spread over ten years, the cost per rider is over $25 and that would have gone out to us

to pay for. the current cost of southwest light rail was, was$1,858,000 construction. that would have gone to us, the taxpayers to have to pay for. the light rail would not have helped the congestion in the metropolitan area.

it would have saved 20 seconds dr or eight second many, i'm sorry, eight second and year over 20 years and that's all it would have done. i believe that money that -- because that light rail was still in litigation and would not be addressed until september

of 2017, that that bonding bill should have been passed and the light rail should not have been considered at that time. we need to move on to the next question -- >> loud: there's a lot -- >> warren: you have the one minute if you want it.

>> loud: having lived throughout the united states, i've lived in san francisco, i lived in chicago, i lived in orlando, any vibrant city has an amazing mass transit system, and so when you're looking at and you're thinking about, we need the metro -- we need the cities.

that brings in the economy and we need to make sure they're healthy, and we have the arts, we have the sports -- go vikings -- and then we need mass transit and that would have been brought in jobs down there and believe it or not, there are people in northern minnesota

that will go down and hop on to a construction project for a year or two. i know many people that went down and helped on the construction in the -- on the stadium project. so to think long-term and to develop a mass transit system is

the way to go and we need a maz transit, and all metro areas and mass transits are subsidized no matter where you go, it's going to be subsidized, and so eventually that mass transit should be all over the metro area and it's a healthy -- it's a healthy city.

next question would go to mr. grossell and it's from scott hall. >> scott: minnesota's two biggest utilities, minnesota power and xcel energy are taking serious minnesota's renewable energy goals by installing wind and solar energy systems.

what's your vision for a clean energy future in minnesota? >> grossell: well, my vision for a clean energy future in minnesota, i look at the north star electric in baudette and i visited with them and have gotten quite a bit of information from them.

they meet -- they have met and exceeded the challenges put before them for clean energy, and i believe that they continue to work, they continue to experiment with the solar, with the wind, with -- but i don't know about hydro, but -- and their coal capacity, their coal

burning or their coal usage for energy has been -- has met and exceeded all requirements by the state and the federal governments. so the future of it, i believe we need to stay with what is stable, stay with what is dependable, and keep

experimenting, keep working on the technologies to improve on the wind, to improve on the solar. from what i understood, the solar -- or the wind, you can't save that energy, you can't store that energy yet, so when the wind is blowing at 2:00 or

3:00 in the morning and that's when it's generating the power, you don't have anybody using it at that time. so there are some things that need to be worked out. i agree with working towards more efficient, more environmentally friendly energy

right now, but right now the most efficient and most environmentally friendly and the most dependable is what we have, in the fossil fuels. so as long as they meet and continue to meet and to exceed the regulations that are asked of them, why change?

>> warren: mr. loud, same >> loud: i have also been up to the north star in baudette and i was pleased to find out that they are spending 40% of the resources on renewable energy. we are not in the wind zone in district 2a, and so solar is the route to go.

and when i came to the new beginnings four and a half years ago i put four things on my white board as goals and i've hit three of them. and the last one was renewable energy education, and currently right now, i am in the process of building a vocational school.

the institute of technology and in there, currently we are developing welz ders. we have a welding one and welding two class and we are going to be innovative and our welding two class, northland community technical college is going to be parse nerg with us

because we're -- partnering with us because we're doing something that they've always wanted to do as far as creating an entrepreneur piece on to the training and the vocational school, but lo and behold, about six months ago, the red lake nation had an initiative to

build a solar farm, and so within that solar farm, they're going to be developing solar panels and they are coming to us to ask us if we can help them develop a training program to build these solar panels. so i don't believe things just happen for a reason.

i mean, we were both on two different plains and then all of a sudden it's all coming together, so renewable energy and solar is something that we need to invest in because not only -- when you're talking about building economic workforce housing, you can add,

there is tax credits that you can apply to that and you can add on renewable piece to that to encourage not only the natural resources, but then the innovation in the area. thank you. i believe that we need to continue to look at renewable

energies such as wind and solar, but i do believe that since we are sitting on -- this country is so vastly rich with its own natural resources, that the minnkota plants are meeting and exceeding all regulations. why not continue to stay with the dependable energy?

the energy that is going to be there every day when you turn on the light, every day when you turn on that shower, every day that it's dependability and if it goes down, it's going to be repaired quickly, so i do agree that we need to keep considering renewable flrtion, but we have

to -- energies, but we have to stick with what works. comments, mr. loud? >> loud: i don't disagree with what works, but the thing about what i've learned in the ojibwe culture, and this is beautiful, that is we're always thinking seven generations ahead of time,

and so working on renewable energy is not for us. it's for our children and our children's children. it's seven generations, and so that's tt mindset we need to have, and so we need to work on renewable energies and we need to push that and push it and

push it, and still help the local companies with the energy that we have now, of course, but the long-term vision is to become using the natural resources. our next question is for mr. loud and it's from dennis weiman.

>> dennis: we encourage our viewers who watch the debates to send in questions and we also ask those at times and if you're watching at home tonight, you can send those questions to us at debates@lptv.org. this is one question that was sent to us.

minnesota has job openings, but there is a skills gap between existing jobs and workers' experience. what is your position on funding higher education, both the u-of-m and the mnscu systems to train the workers our businesses need?

if you look at the current state budget, we're spending almost 50% of our budget on education and everybody knows that the fastest way to get an individual, to get family, and to get a community out of poverty is through education, and so i am a strong advocate

and like i said, all of my successes throughout my career has been through education in one way or another. and so the biggest factor right now for the higher education is student debt, and we need to address that. i mean, there's different ways

that you can do it. people talk about the forgiveness of debt relief. there's also tax credit and then we need to maybe even look at exempting education on the state income tax. i mean, there's got to be ways that we can work with higher

education and currently what we're doing through the new beginnings is we're breaking down barriers and one of the big barriers is education through the families, so -- and we're working on successes. the first things i'm going to do, the bill that i'm going to

put in, back in 2013, the state of minnesota, the federal government changed the g.e.d. and the g.e.d. is just a brand name, so the adult basic education program got changed totally, and what happened there is that they changed the test and they changed the format.

well, one of the things happened, one of the things that happened is that the g.e.d. graduation rate went -- it hit the floor, and it's not only on red lake, but it hit the floor nationwide through minnesota. and one of the things they told me down -- because i addressed

this to the commissioner of education. we brought tribal nations together to find out why we weren't a part of it in figuring out what the solution is. and so one of the things we did is that we brought this together and we come up with a solution

to become a three-test state and i'll -- mr. grossell, same question. that question, please? >> dennis: yes. the question is minnesota has job openings, but there's a skills gap between existing jobs and workers' experience.

u-of-m and the mnscu system to >> grossell: okay to, neat that disparity, i believe we need to expose our kids at the high school levels and to the industrial ed's. get industrial ed's back going in the high schools. i believe in the days when i was

in high school, we had metal shops, we had welding shops, we had woodworking, etcetera. all down the line. my sister benefited from the nursing program where she got exposed to the profession of working as an lpn, got trained by an rn to work in the nursing

field. those are the types of things we need to expose the young people too again, get it back into the as far as the work field, i would say to encourage businesses to start programs where they get some tax relief or tax breaks for having a

program to bring people up to speed, training programs to bring people in that do not meet quite -- do not quite meet the qualifications that they need, but at least they can train them there. and to benefit from bringing people in to train them there.

also, i would say to allow our veterans to use the gi bill for other types of licenses and certificates, and to allow them to benefit and to grow when they come back out of the public sector and i agree with jerry on the debt relief. if you offer to these students

that if you work in this field for five years, that that -- that your debt will be cancelled, that as way to get people back into the -- get them into that field, get them going. so that would be -- that would be another way. thank you.

mr. loud, any other comments? >> loud: yeah, i kind of got -- i'm really passionate about it, so i got a little brain freeze there, but one of the things that this is going to do, again, is like i'm in it every day, we're breaking down barriers and by doing that, it just created a

wall for the people that didn't need it the most, and so one of the ideas about the g.e.d. piece was to grandfather the 2013 and the -- go ten years back and to bring those test scores in because what they did is they took -- it used to be five tests and they broke it down to four.

they took the written test part away and they incorporated in three of them. and so by doing that, you're going to get people that are going to -- because a g.e.d., what that is is just a key for the next step in their career and so by having them accomplish

that, feeling a sense of accomplishment, they're going to go on to higher education, whether it's vocational school. hopefully it's our local institute of technology and go on to college. bsu is a great place, the best choice ever.

mr. grossell, any other >> grossell: just to add to what i was saying before, the vo-techs, they need to go back to being vo-techs, vocational schools, and not geared so much towards the four-year school. a lot of kids go there to get their credits and then go off to

a four-year school, and some of the monies have -- you know, some of the vo-techs have been affected by that. they're gearing more towards that then what they were set up to do, so i believe that the vo-techs need to get brought back in to concentrating on

those trade type fields. there's a definite need out there for that type, for that type of workforce, and i just -- and a lot of students in high school, they won't go off to a four-year school, but they work -- they work very well in those types of fields.

so i would say we need to encourage and need to help vo-techs get back to course. mr. grossell and that is from >> matthew: mr. grossell, this question is regarding transportation. in the past bonding bill from 2016, there was some money put

aside for transportation funding, but if would you support if elected a longer term transportation gil, a large scale transportation bill for the states infrastructure and consequently, could you also be willing to support a gas tax to go along with that?

>> grossell: hmm. the transportation bill, you know, i don't believe there is a need for a raise in the gas tax. we have -- we have in the state, we pay enough taxes as it is, and to continue to raise taxes, we're going to continue to fleece the people in our

district, and there's no reason to do that. the tax relief bill that was supposed to go out would have given long-term tax relief to farmers, veterans, families, college graduates and small businesses and that was $800 million in tax cuts over

the next three years, including half a billion in ongoing permanent tax relief, which should have been done during the regular session, but it was stopped. now, that bonding and transportation, that was more than 700 million in roads and

bridge funding, including a lot of key regional projects, such as highway 14, 23, and 12 that won't be funded. in addition to roads and bridges, the bonding bill invested in smart transit options, including funding the state's orange line bus rapid

transit connecting minneapolis, richfield and bloomington. if we're going to extend that even further than what the bonding bill said, it would have to -- it would have to be in a way that it wouldn't raise taxes on our minnesota families. they're burdened to death as it

is with taxes, and it would not be fair to burden them further. we in the house are to be good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. we're to be good stewards of all the dollars, but especially when it's somebody else's, when it's all of our constituents' tax

dollars, we need to keep that in mind. we need to keep them in mind, their best interests, what's best for them. >> loud: so we have a $600 million deficit in our roads and transportation. i went to the beltrami county

commissioners forum and their number one issue was transportation, and so we're going to have to get the money from somewhere, and i do believe in a gas tax, and -- but we need to do it equitable, and so if you have the metro area and the st. paul-minneapolis, their gas

tax should be a little higher than ours because one of the things that would do, it would actually encourage people to come up to northern minnesota, to relax and to enjoy what we experience every day, and so -- and i'm just throwing out ideas. if we do it in an equitable gas

tax where the metro area is an increase of 15 cents, smaller cities 10 cents and in northern minnesota, 5 cents and spread those dollars around, i think that is a great topic of discussion down in the house. and so 10 cents, a 10-cent increase in the gas tax would

only increase the transportation budget by 300 million, so we're going to have to think about innovative ways to -- our roads and bridges. well, again, we've run out of time this evening, and so we're going to move to closing each candidate has two minutes

for closing comments. and up first is mr. grossell. >> grossell: well, i'd first like to thank you for this opportunity to discuss some of the concerns that are weighing most heavily on the hearts of the folks here and the folks throughout the district.

this is the first time i've ever run for a political office, but like i said before, you'll get nothing but 110% from me. i will stand firm on what i know is right and what is best for district 2a and for the state of i won't back down from other pressures or outside pressures,

and i will do the best job that i possibly can for you. again, i'd like to thank all of those who have been helping throughout this campaign and giving support, giving counsel, one thing i'd like to leave you with the just a quote from -- a quote from dick bonhaufer that

the silence in the face of evil is itself evil and god will not hold us guiltless. not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act. so i just stand here -- well, sit here before you, and i encourage you, do not sit on your hands this election.

come out and vote your conscience, come out and stand for what is right, come out and speak out for what is right and what you believe. in mr. loud, closing comments. >> loud: i'm not a politician either and i'm going to go old school on you.

this is my first briefcase that i ever owned and i brought it from hawaii. i was managing an automotive shop there, which i'm really proud of, and one of the things that they came out and did an article on how i turned that shop around.

it was the bess kept secret on the island. another thing that i'm proud of is i was able to get into the pharmaceutical industry and there, it took me four attempts in the sixth largest pharmaceutical company. you had to go around and you

brought a brag book and it talked about your accomplishments and what you can do for the company, and so -- and i haven't updated this. this is back a few days -- or a few years ago, and i have a lot of accomplishments and that's what i'm running on.

this is not going to be a training exercise for me when i get down to the house, and so i just want people to look at both candidates and matt is a good guy, and -- but it's about who can get the job done. you know, you're only down there for two years, and so i can it

will the ground running immediately. i'm talking about the first bill i'm going to present is the adult basic education requirements. and then something else we didn't talk about is the highway trust fund, which is a fund in

how they determine -- you know, what the uses of gas tax, tabs and stuff like that. if you weren't aware, that only -- those dollars are for cities that are 5,000 in population or above, and so what we need to do is to change that distribution for the smaller

cities, which is district 2a. and then there's another initiative that i wanted to talk about and didn't get a chance to and it's to start an initiative kaud start-up north, and which would encourage businesses that are wanting to build and invest in the communities.

so i didn't get a chance to say that, but just remember, on november 9th, when the elections are over and you have chose one or another, we all become minnesotans. we're not a republican, we're not a democratic, and so we need to send somebody down there that

can get the job done and i'm asking for your vote on november 78th to vote loud for a fresh voice for minnesota's future. >> warren: and thank you. and that again, i'd like to take this time to thank the candidates for participating in tonight's debate.

i have great admiration for individuals who are willing to serve our communities and our great state of minnesota. now, remember, we have another debate coming up here at lakeland public television. if you missed any portion of tonight's debate and would like

to watch it again, it will be available on lakeland public television website within 24 hours. that website is lptv.org. also, to read a recap of tonight's debate, you can pick up a copy of tomorrow's bemidji pioneer or log on to the bemidji

pioneer website at bemidjipioneer.com. you can also listen to audio of the debates at kaxe.org. coming up next is, at 9:00 p.m., is house 2b, brian klabunde and representative steve green. good night and thank you.

property house johor

political parties fielding six andmore candidates in this election are eligible for party political broadcasts. airtime is in proportionto the number of candidates fielded. this is the first of two programmes. the speakers representing their parties are: mr lee hsien loongfrom the people's action party. associate professor daniel gohfrom the workers' party. mr lim teanfrom the national solidarity party. dr chee soon juan from thesingapore democratic party.

mr kenneth jeyaretnamfrom the reform party. mr tan jee say from singaporeans first. mrs lina chiamfrom the singapore people's party. and mr harminder pal singh from thesingapore democratic alliance. the party fielding the smallest numberof candidates will appear first. the party fielding the largest number, last. speaking for the singapore democratic alliance ismr harminder pal singh. singapore for singaporeans. a heart for the people.

thank you dear residents ofpasir ris punggol grc for supporting the sda in the last two elections and giving us more than55,000 of the voles in 2011. we have always been actively walking the groundfor more than 10 years now and formulating action plans and policies toserve all of you better. in this election, we aspire to beyour elected members of parliament and serve you to even greater heights. singapore has come a long waysince we achieved independence. and we just celebrated our golden jubilee.

a very happy sg50 to all of you! bu! all is not well in our country! there are many social issues that we face today and they are causing great painand stress to all singaporeans. ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for usto attend to our people's needs and to think about the future singapore thatour children will live in. from this perspective,sda has identified seven issues that we'll champion to achievea better quality of life for you. they are, number one, the population white paper

which is trying to achieve 6.9 millionpopulation by 2030. now, we're no! against the high-endforeign talents and investors that help to improve our economy; nor the low-end foreign workers; but we are against those who aretaking over the jobs of singaporeans. number two, the cpf and retirement ageis another big issue and we want the cpf fundsto be returned to us at age 55. number three, rising prices of hdb homesneed to be brought under greater control. number four, the cost of healthcareis becoming more unaffordable

and we need to bring it down even further. number five, our public transport systemis overcrowded and totally unreliable. we need to do something about it. number six, employment opportunities for localsingaporeans need to be looked into. and seven, we need a better and improved,restructured education system in singapore. it is time for change. sda will fight for you to makeour lives much better in singapore. bu! we need your help to do so. this is about the rights asordinary citizens of singapore.

we are ordinary people like you. support us, vole us to be your voice in parliament. vole sda in for a better life, happiness,prosperity and progress for the nation. vole sda for a singapore for singaporeans. thank you. representing the singapore people's partyis mrs lina chiam. good evening my fellow singaporeans. on the 11th of september,you have the chance to decide for yourselves if you want a better future for yourselfand your family.

singaporeans face more difficulties todaythan they ever have. life has no! been easy for us. our public transport system breaks downfar too frequently, despite the investments put into it. we have become more insecurebecause we might lose our jobs to foreigners, despite all our hard work in schooland after graduation. we are worried about when we can retire,or if we have to keep working forever. we are frustrated when the governmentresponds to our concerns half-heartedly. the pap alone does no! know what is best. we need change and we need change now

as there many loopholesand insufficiencies that still exist. take work permit rules for instance. the minimum qualifying salary forforeign professionals, managers and executives to obtain the employment pass is still fartoo low, at $3,300. it must be raised to ensure we obtaincandidates of professional quality who can really contribute lo singapore. at the current rate, even insurance firmscan employ agents on the employment pass. the singapore people's party has a long recordfor actively speaking up in parliament on the issues that matter to you.

in the last four years, we have kept thegovernment in check on many issues ranging from the cpf,over-population, transport as well as the recent accounting lapsesin government ministries and statutory boards. we are a proven party with an excellent track recordin managing the potong pasir town council. for 27 years, i worked alongsidemr chiam see tong, the singapore people's party's secretary-general, sewing potong pasir residents withstrong commitment, reliability and dedication. we ran the potong pasir town counciloperations with integrity, achieving a budge! surplus for many years.

we built many amenities,including 29 lifts for the community, all without government grants,and without additional payment from our residents. we believe residents should not be held ransomby promises of upgrading works. don't leave your future solelyinto the hands of the pap. vole for the singapore people's party. vote for our candidates in potong pasir, mountbatten,hong kah north, and bishan-toa payoh grc. let us move into the future together. thank you and good night. speaking for singaporeans first is mr tan jee say.

dear fellow singaporeans, a year ago, a group of us singaporeans got together to forma new political party called singaporeans first. we were concerned that government policies have deprived singaporeans oftheir rightful place in their own country. our people are unhappy. social tension is high. the fundamental causeis the massive influx of foreign workers. this is the direct result of pap'seconomic strategy of "growth at all costs". the huge influx of foreign workershas broken families,

taken away jobs and space from singaporeans,and shattered their self-esteem. we are no! anti-foreigners. we recognise that foreignersplay an important role in the economy. bu! we do no! wan! any tom, dick or harryto come in with ease and in such big numbers. current policy opens the doorso wide that they come in huge numbers when our infrastructure is not readyto accommodate them like housing, public transport, schools, public parks. in past 10 years, more than one million foreign workershave been allowed to come into singapore

or an average of 100,000 a year. as a result, house prices have shot up, public transport breaks down frequentlyand space for singaporeans has been intruded. social relations have also been strained. this is irresponsible. we are for responsible immigration. in our pursuit of economic growth,we must be fair to singaporeans and not discriminate them in terms of jobplacement, wage levels and space. we make no apology thatwe are advocating priority to singaporeans;

every country gives priority to its citizensexcept singapore. our party has proposed a safety netand social investment programme that will restore lost jobs to singaporeans,giving them priority and job security. we will also restore the rightful place of citizenswith priority in schools and businesses. we will grow local enterprises by issuing three morelicences each for banks and telcos, and give generous support,grants for start-ups by the young. we will reduce poverty from the existing30% to below 10% as in first world countries. we will be generous in helping the middle classby not requiring means tests. we will de-emphasise position,income and wealth as criteria of success.

we will ensure better work-life balance andenhance the spirit of mutual help. our $6 billion social safety net will be financedby returns on our investments which exceed the required amount by$2 billion a year. hence our $6 billion safety netwill not bankrupt singapore. with our strategy of"growth with a heart for all singaporeans", we will achieve an egalitarian societywith a broad middle class and will stand tall and proudamong first world nations. that will be truly majulah singapura. representing the reform partyis mr kenneth jeyaretnam.

dear fellow singaporeans,for this ge we must ask why is lee hsien loongin such a hurry to call an election? the truth is that the pap know they have failed. they have run out of ideasfor bringing you a better life. they only know how to ask youto be self-reliant and tough, to put up with a bad job, to go without. in truth they only have one idea: to bring in cheaper and cheaper foreign labour togenerate economic growth. this in turn drives your wages downand puts a squeeze on every aspect of our society.

over the last four years, reform party has workedwith you on the ground and on national issues. that is why we ask - if our economy is doing so well, then why is it thatour elderly cannot afford to retire and roam the streets collecting cardboard? why is i! the sick cannot afford healthcare inhospitals where there are no! enough beds? why is it only an elite 10% of singaporeanscan afford housing with a share in the land? why can'! the pap return your cpf to you at 55? before you vole, i urge you to ask yourself one morequestion - where is all the money going? lee hsien loong says singaporeanshave to be self-reliant and tough,

but this toughness does not extend to our leadersand the artificial aristocracy they have created. the government's own figures show it hasrun enormous surpluses and has huge reserves, yet it says that if we citizens want safety nets or morespending on health and education, then taxes will have to rise. this is simply no! true. reform party promises to secure a fairer shareof the national wealth for singaporeans. we wan! to introduce an old age pension,child benefit for mothers, a minimum wage, a cap on foreign worker numbers, abolish medishield life premiumfor over 65s and under 18s,

return cpf at 55, give you the chanceto own the freehold of your hdb and a stake in gig and temasek. the total extra spending for this will be less than 20%of the government's real surplus annually. bu! that 20% will be taxpayer money finallyinvested as i! should be - in our only natural resource, our citizens. reform party has assembled a team of candidateswho all share the same desire to build a more vibrant, more caring and morerobust singapore. they are all elites. elites of the heart.

we promise that if you sendreform candidates into parliament that together or individually they will be fearless in demanding transparency and accountabilityon your behalf. we know from past experience that lee hsien loongstubbornly does not heed the calls to him to just listen to his citizens. is that loo much to ask? vole wisely, vote for reformand make him listen to you. on election day,vole for a brighter tomorrow, today! vole for the reform party!

here is dr chee soon juanfrom the singapore democratic party. fellow singaporeans, in singapore today, you are struggling to meetwith your living expenses. you are competing in an overcrowded cityto get a job, or simply to hold on to yours. you have to work your entire lifeto pay your hdb loan, and when you retire,you cannot gel your cpf savings back. we understand your concerns. unfortunately, the pap doesn't. it ignores your views.

the late dr toh chin chye, former deputy primeminister and founding pap chairman, once said, 'when the pap and the opposition were 26-25, the government was sensitiveto issues and was circumspect. when you've got a strong opposition,there's consultation." the sdp wants to be that strong opposition so that the government will listen to youand be more consultative. bu! we don't want to be just a strong opposition, we also want to be a constructive opposition to provide alternative ideasand solutions for singapore.

in other words, we want to give you a reasonto vote for the sdp, not just against the pap. this is why we have drawn up a set of workable andcomprehensive alternative policies in areas such as housing,population, healthcare, etc. these papers can be read on our websiteyoursdp.org. we have put in much time and effort intothese alternative policies because, one, we want a people healthy and happy, not an island overcrowded with unqualified foreignerscompeting with us for jobs. to this end, the sdp will push for policies where employers give priority losingaporeans when it comes lo hiring.

two, we wan! to make our housingtruly affordable where our hdb flatsdon't cost us a lifetime to pay off. three, we want our retirees to live secureand dignified lives with all their cpf savings. for this to happen, we will work to abolish the minimum sum schemeso that you can get your cpf savings back in full. four, we want singaporeans to have a better work-lifebalance where our people are no! so stressed. to do this, wages must rise in tandemwith the cost of living in singapore. we cannot be the most expensive city in the worldand then have wages stagnate for our people. five, we want to make our system transparentand hold the pap accountable.

we cannot and must not continueto write the pap a blank cheque. this is dangerous and unhealthyfor our nation's future. for you to live more secure and prosperous lives,you need a competent, constructive and compassionate voice in parliament. the sdp team is dedicated to be that voiceand to ensure that the government listens to you. the sdp has plans lo improve your quality of lifeand for you and your family lo be happy. to achieve a better tomorrow, vole sdp. speaking for the national solidarity partyis mr lim tenn. my fellow singaporeans,

this election presents singaporewith the clearest political choice of half a century. it is your choice between two fundamentally differentphilosophies of government and singapore's future. it is about whether singaporeansdeserve better from their government. over the years, our opponents have distilled theprinciple of government down to one phrase - profit at all cost. our national transportation has been privatised, our essential train and bus servicesare in the hands of the few, accountable only to their shareholders.

singaporeans are deniedthe right to a minimum wage, bu! cheap foreign labouris allowed in, in large numbers. singaporeans are told there is littlethat government can do when they lose their lower andmiddle income jobs lo foreigners. that this is globalisation at work. the promise to return cpf personal life savingsat age 55 has been broken. today, singaporeans are having to live with theconsequences of our opponents' costly social and economic experiments. trains that break down regularly.

a grossly inadequate number of hospital beds. our highly-educated middle income professionalshaving to retrench because of job losses to so-called “foreign talent”. the most expensive city in the world, where the relentless rising cost of living punisheseveryone except the rich. their policies are tearing apartthe fabric of this country. under this government, the singaporeanhas become a tenant in his own country, with a government that works against himand not for him. a government that is happy to subsidisethe education of foreign students

but does little to help that singaporean father andmother put their own child through our university. a government that is happyto find a foreigner a job bu! does little to help the singaporeankeep his job a government that has issued him with a badcpf life savings policy that has no maturity date. we, the national solidarity party, have a totallydifferent philosophy of government - one which serves every singaporean better. it is the right of the singaporeanto have a minimum wage. it is the duty of government to see to itthat the singaporean has priority over a foreigner for a singapore job.

it is the duty of government touse our vast financial resources to help that singaporean father and mother put theirchildren through university. we will fight for the cpf personal life savingsto be returned to singaporeans as originally promised so that singaporeans will have enoughto live comfortably in their later years, so that the muslim family can use some ofthis money if needed to go on the haj or umrah. we will fight to narrow themassive inequality gap in singapore. to that end, we will fight in parliamentfor the right of every singapore family which does no! live in private property

to buy at cost plus a hdb apartment and also another hdb apartmenton the resale market. we will always keep faithwith our fellow singaporeans who are our only natural resourceand who built this nation. september the 11th is polling day. we ask you to exercise your great moralresponsibility to change the direction of this country, and to vole for the national solidarity party, because singaporeans deserve better. representing the workers' partyis associate professor daniel goh.

good evening voters. in 2011, many of you supported our call lo movesingapore towards a first world parliament and sent seven electedworkers' party members to parliament. we have seen the result. today, we have a more responsive government thatis more sensitive to the struggles of the people. we have seen policy changesresponding to the needs of singaporeans. but the journey towards a first world parliamenthas only just begun. we cannot let down our guard now. we must continue our journeyto protect our future and the future of our children.

to protect our future, you have to further entrenchyour power and your rights in parliament. you need to lake charge of your own future bu! this is not possible ifwe have an imbalanced parliament with an overwhelmingmajority of ruling party mps. this election is a landmark electionin the new era in singapore. our formula for success in the last 50 years wasto allow the ruling party to monopolise power, to exercise control over every aspect of our society,and set the direction for us. this was largely based on the mentality that we only have a small talent poolthat could lead singapore.

bu! limes have changed. our talent pool has vastly expanded througheducation and exposure. many talented singaporeans today excelin their own fields and gain international recognition. however, our enterprises struggle totake off in the global arena and our workers struggle with productivity. this is no! for lack of talent, bu! because singaporeans are not empoweredto seize our future for ourselves. for singapore to becomean outstanding smart nation in the next 50 years,

we must build and nurture confident professional,business and people sectors unfettered by unhealthy political monopoly. to do this, people must beable to think out of the box; people should be able to expressthemselves freely and debate issues within known limitsas a multi-racial and multi-religious society. people must also feel secure and be assured of their rightsagainst unreasonable and disproportionate actions fromthe government and political leaders. we have the opportunity nowwith the general election

to take that step to become such an outstanding nation. we can empower ourselves through a parliament that truly represents the diversity of singaporesociety for our future as a nation. we are the masters of singapore. our political leaders should serve us andfacilitate empowerment of the people, no! encourage subservience and grouplhink. you have to decide whetherhaving more ruling party mps resulting in an imbalanced parliament

is in the best interest of the future of singaporeand your children. your vote is a signal to the ruling party that it cannot do what it wantswithout taking you seriously. it will signal to what extent the ruling party can deprive you of your power to participatein the policy-making process in the name of acting in your best interest. before 2011, the ruling partycruised along with policies that led to escalating cost of living,employment and retirement insecurity, and strained infrastructuredue to runaway immigration.

your vote changed the course, bu! change for a better futureis only just beginning. singapore is one of therichest countries in the world, but singaporeans still feel stressedand disempowered at every stage of our lives. this is no! right. the government is planning for a 6.9 millionpopulation to solve the problems at hand. this is heading towards the wrong course. we have to change this. your vote is your power.

use i! to empower yourself. we understand thatto exercise the power of your vole, you need to have an alternative partydeserving your support. the workers' party is your credible choice. we are a rational, responsible andrespectable party. we do no! oppose for the sake of opposing and we take a balanced approach to politics. we have worked hard to offera slate of capable candidates, balanced between seniority and youth,

experience and idealism, bu! all united in seekingthe empowerment of singaporeans. you can empower yourselfto make decisions for your own future. vole workers' party. empower your future. good night. and here is mr lee hsien loongfrom the people's action party. in sg50, we celebrated our journey fromthird world to first. in a few days' time,we make a vital choice about our future. our pioneers started us off on this journey.

fifty years ago, singaporeans rallied behindmr lee kuan yew and his team, and put their faith and their futurein the hands of the pap. together, they achieved the impossibleand built singapore. that's why i made thepioneer generation package, to honour the sacrificesof our founding generation. for the past 50 years, the pap has worked with you,for you and for singapore. we have done this consistently for decades. we continued to do thisin this term of government. we've made singapore a nation of homeowners.

since the last election, hdb launched more than100,000 flats - four clementi towns. we kept flat prices stable and increased our grants, making flats more affordable. with less than $1,000 a month, you can afforda 2-room flat - 1,800 such families have done so. we are transforming every corner of this land, from changi to marina bay to jurong. we've built beautiful new towns like punggol 21,and rejuvenated old ones like dawson. we will soon have 1,000 more buses on the road,

and downtown line 2will open by the end of the year. we still have work to do, bu! buses and trains arebecoming less crowded and more convenient. we kept healthcare affordable,accessible, and of high quality. medishield life provides every singaporeanwith lifelong healthcare insurance. chas helps our lower-income with medical bills. ng teng fong hospital has opened in jurong, and the next new hospital is coming up in sengkang. we created more opportunitiesand pathways for our children. we expanded places in preschools,

and in our polytechnics and universities. we moderated the inflow of foreign workers, and tightened rules on fair employmentto ensure a level playing field for singaporeans. we launched skillsfulure so people can improvethemselves and advance their careers all their lives. and we grew our economyto create new and fulfilling jobs for all. you helped us to make these policies. in “our singapore conversation”, or osc, 50,000 singaporeansdiscussed our hopes and aspirations. your views and inputs improved major policieslike cpf, housing and healthcare.

in this way, together, we brought singapore to sg50. the pap kept our promises. you played your part bycontributing energies and ideas, helping your fellow men,and doing your best for singapore. so tonight, i am asking you for your mandate to lakesingapore beyond sg50. sg50 is no! a destination, but a new beginning. let us make the next 50 years better than the past 50. we can be confident of our future. many opportunities lie ahead.

we are located in fast-growing asia.our economy is strong. our people are skilled and well-educated. bu! we must expect challenges loo. we worry about isis and terrorism. hundreds of malaysians and indonesianshave gone to the middle east to fight for isis. a few singaporeans have also gone there. when they return, they will bring back the virus and the violence, and threaten singapore's security. we worry about our region.

singaporeans may enjoy shopping in johor bahru with the ringgit 3 to 1 to the sing dollar, but it is bad for us if ourneighbours suffer political unrest and uncertainty. domestically, we are upgrading our economyand helping our smes to adapt. the recent drastic swings in stock marketsin many countries show how fragile confidenceis in the global economy. economic troubles may lie ahead and a worldwideeconomic slowdown will surely affect us too. to respond to our challenges and opportunities, we need a capable and strong government.

when mr lee kuan yew passed away in march, it drew us all together andmade us feel strongly our singaporean identity. we were reminded that we got here throughoutstanding leadership, working with one united people. we are team singapore - leaders who keep faith with the people andpeople who trust and work with their leaders, the lions and the lion-hearted. we must slay united for singapore to succeed. and that depends on all of us in team singapore.

next week, when you vote, you are choosing thegovernment of singapore. every seat will be contested, many fiercely. whoever wins in your constituencywill run your town council. whichever party wins enough seats will form thegovernment. the pap is fielding a team which i hope will include thenext generation of leaders for singapore. i ask for your support to put togetherthe best possible team to serve you - a capable and multi-racial team withdifferent skills and backgrounds, and the commitment and the passionto lead singapore.

then we can secure our future,beyond me and my present colleagues. in this election, we will set the directionfor singapore beyond sg50. what sort of singapore will we be? we aim to be a nation wherethe elderly lead dignified lives; where the middle-incomehave their burdens shared; where we care for the weak and the poor,and no one is left behind; and where the young haveevery encouragement and hope to do well. just on sunday, i met mr and mrs chian, who run a chicken stallat a market in punggol south.

they told me how proud they were of their son,who had graduated from ntu and was now studying musicin a conservatory in vienna. when looking for pap candidates,i found amrin amin. his parents look on multiple jobsto put the children through school. amrin made it to law school,and became a promising young lawyer. now he wants to give backand help others to succeed. our self-help groups have passionate volunteers,like ravi suppiah. his parents were uneducated, and he grew up in a kampongcatching spiders and chasing chickens.

but in secondary 2, ravi persuaded his parentsto let him attend sinda's tuition classes. ravi did well in school, entered a polytechnic, and went on to graduate from nusand earn a masters' from ntu. now he volunteers at sinda, coaching polytechnicstudents in maths and computer programming. these real-life, personal storiestell me that we are on the right path. whatever our anxieties and challenges,we can overcome them together. we will create bright opportunities, equip our people to seize them and bring up our children with the confidenceand the drive to succeed.

that's the singapore we want to build with you,for you, and for future generations. in this election, through the excitementand noise of the campaign, please remember what is at stake: our future. i thank you for supporting me and my government. please vote for me and my pap teamin the elections so that together, we can do the best for ourselvesand our children. the pap will always work “with you, for you,for singapore”.

property house johor bahru

political parties fielding six andmore candidates in this election are eligible for party political broadcasts. airtime is in proportionto the number of candidates fielded. this is the first of two programmes. the speakers representing their parties are: mr lee hsien loongfrom the people's action party. associate professor daniel gohfrom the workers' party. mr lim teanfrom the national solidarity party. dr chee soon juan from thesingapore democratic party.

mr kenneth jeyaretnamfrom the reform party. mr tan jee say from singaporeans first. mrs lina chiamfrom the singapore people's party. and mr harminder pal singh from thesingapore democratic alliance. the party fielding the smallest numberof candidates will appear first. the party fielding the largest number, last. speaking for the singapore democratic alliance ismr harminder pal singh. singapore for singaporeans. a heart for the people.

thank you dear residents ofpasir ris punggol grc for supporting the sda in the last two elections and giving us more than55,000 of the voles in 2011. we have always been actively walking the groundfor more than 10 years now and formulating action plans and policies toserve all of you better. in this election, we aspire to beyour elected members of parliament and serve you to even greater heights. singapore has come a long waysince we achieved independence. and we just celebrated our golden jubilee.

a very happy sg50 to all of you! bu! all is not well in our country! there are many social issues that we face today and they are causing great painand stress to all singaporeans. ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for usto attend to our people's needs and to think about the future singapore thatour children will live in. from this perspective,sda has identified seven issues that we'll champion to achievea better quality of life for you. they are, number one, the population white paper

which is trying to achieve 6.9 millionpopulation by 2030. now, we're no! against the high-endforeign talents and investors that help to improve our economy; nor the low-end foreign workers; but we are against those who aretaking over the jobs of singaporeans. number two, the cpf and retirement ageis another big issue and we want the cpf fundsto be returned to us at age 55. number three, rising prices of hdb homesneed to be brought under greater control. number four, the cost of healthcareis becoming more unaffordable

and we need to bring it down even further. number five, our public transport systemis overcrowded and totally unreliable. we need to do something about it. number six, employment opportunities for localsingaporeans need to be looked into. and seven, we need a better and improved,restructured education system in singapore. it is time for change. sda will fight for you to makeour lives much better in singapore. bu! we need your help to do so. this is about the rights asordinary citizens of singapore.

we are ordinary people like you. support us, vole us to be your voice in parliament. vole sda in for a better life, happiness,prosperity and progress for the nation. vole sda for a singapore for singaporeans. thank you. representing the singapore people's partyis mrs lina chiam. good evening my fellow singaporeans. on the 11th of september,you have the chance to decide for yourselves if you want a better future for yourselfand your family.

singaporeans face more difficulties todaythan they ever have. life has no! been easy for us. our public transport system breaks downfar too frequently, despite the investments put into it. we have become more insecurebecause we might lose our jobs to foreigners, despite all our hard work in schooland after graduation. we are worried about when we can retire,or if we have to keep working forever. we are frustrated when the governmentresponds to our concerns half-heartedly. the pap alone does no! know what is best. we need change and we need change now

as there many loopholesand insufficiencies that still exist. take work permit rules for instance. the minimum qualifying salary forforeign professionals, managers and executives to obtain the employment pass is still fartoo low, at $3,300. it must be raised to ensure we obtaincandidates of professional quality who can really contribute lo singapore. at the current rate, even insurance firmscan employ agents on the employment pass. the singapore people's party has a long recordfor actively speaking up in parliament on the issues that matter to you.

in the last four years, we have kept thegovernment in check on many issues ranging from the cpf,over-population, transport as well as the recent accounting lapsesin government ministries and statutory boards. we are a proven party with an excellent track recordin managing the potong pasir town council. for 27 years, i worked alongsidemr chiam see tong, the singapore people's party's secretary-general, sewing potong pasir residents withstrong commitment, reliability and dedication. we ran the potong pasir town counciloperations with integrity, achieving a budge! surplus for many years.

we built many amenities,including 29 lifts for the community, all without government grants,and without additional payment from our residents. we believe residents should not be held ransomby promises of upgrading works. don't leave your future solelyinto the hands of the pap. vole for the singapore people's party. vote for our candidates in potong pasir, mountbatten,hong kah north, and bishan-toa payoh grc. let us move into the future together. thank you and good night. speaking for singaporeans first is mr tan jee say.

dear fellow singaporeans, a year ago, a group of us singaporeans got together to forma new political party called singaporeans first. we were concerned that government policies have deprived singaporeans oftheir rightful place in their own country. our people are unhappy. social tension is high. the fundamental causeis the massive influx of foreign workers. this is the direct result of pap'seconomic strategy of "growth at all costs". the huge influx of foreign workershas broken families,

taken away jobs and space from singaporeans,and shattered their self-esteem. we are no! anti-foreigners. we recognise that foreignersplay an important role in the economy. bu! we do no! wan! any tom, dick or harryto come in with ease and in such big numbers. current policy opens the doorso wide that they come in huge numbers when our infrastructure is not readyto accommodate them like housing, public transport, schools, public parks. in past 10 years, more than one million foreign workershave been allowed to come into singapore

or an average of 100,000 a year. as a result, house prices have shot up, public transport breaks down frequentlyand space for singaporeans has been intruded. social relations have also been strained. this is irresponsible. we are for responsible immigration. in our pursuit of economic growth,we must be fair to singaporeans and not discriminate them in terms of jobplacement, wage levels and space. we make no apology thatwe are advocating priority to singaporeans;

every country gives priority to its citizensexcept singapore. our party has proposed a safety netand social investment programme that will restore lost jobs to singaporeans,giving them priority and job security. we will also restore the rightful place of citizenswith priority in schools and businesses. we will grow local enterprises by issuing three morelicences each for banks and telcos, and give generous support,grants for start-ups by the young. we will reduce poverty from the existing30% to below 10% as in first world countries. we will be generous in helping the middle classby not requiring means tests. we will de-emphasise position,income and wealth as criteria of success.

we will ensure better work-life balance andenhance the spirit of mutual help. our $6 billion social safety net will be financedby returns on our investments which exceed the required amount by$2 billion a year. hence our $6 billion safety netwill not bankrupt singapore. with our strategy of"growth with a heart for all singaporeans", we will achieve an egalitarian societywith a broad middle class and will stand tall and proudamong first world nations. that will be truly majulah singapura. representing the reform partyis mr kenneth jeyaretnam.

dear fellow singaporeans,for this ge we must ask why is lee hsien loongin such a hurry to call an election? the truth is that the pap know they have failed. they have run out of ideasfor bringing you a better life. they only know how to ask youto be self-reliant and tough, to put up with a bad job, to go without. in truth they only have one idea: to bring in cheaper and cheaper foreign labour togenerate economic growth. this in turn drives your wages downand puts a squeeze on every aspect of our society.

over the last four years, reform party has workedwith you on the ground and on national issues. that is why we ask - if our economy is doing so well, then why is it thatour elderly cannot afford to retire and roam the streets collecting cardboard? why is i! the sick cannot afford healthcare inhospitals where there are no! enough beds? why is it only an elite 10% of singaporeanscan afford housing with a share in the land? why can'! the pap return your cpf to you at 55? before you vole, i urge you to ask yourself one morequestion - where is all the money going? lee hsien loong says singaporeanshave to be self-reliant and tough,

but this toughness does not extend to our leadersand the artificial aristocracy they have created. the government's own figures show it hasrun enormous surpluses and has huge reserves, yet it says that if we citizens want safety nets or morespending on health and education, then taxes will have to rise. this is simply no! true. reform party promises to secure a fairer shareof the national wealth for singaporeans. we wan! to introduce an old age pension,child benefit for mothers, a minimum wage, a cap on foreign worker numbers, abolish medishield life premiumfor over 65s and under 18s,

return cpf at 55, give you the chanceto own the freehold of your hdb and a stake in gig and temasek. the total extra spending for this will be less than 20%of the government's real surplus annually. bu! that 20% will be taxpayer money finallyinvested as i! should be - in our only natural resource, our citizens. reform party has assembled a team of candidateswho all share the same desire to build a more vibrant, more caring and morerobust singapore. they are all elites. elites of the heart.

we promise that if you sendreform candidates into parliament that together or individually they will be fearless in demanding transparency and accountabilityon your behalf. we know from past experience that lee hsien loongstubbornly does not heed the calls to him to just listen to his citizens. is that loo much to ask? vole wisely, vote for reformand make him listen to you. on election day,vole for a brighter tomorrow, today! vole for the reform party!

here is dr chee soon juanfrom the singapore democratic party. fellow singaporeans, in singapore today, you are struggling to meetwith your living expenses. you are competing in an overcrowded cityto get a job, or simply to hold on to yours. you have to work your entire lifeto pay your hdb loan, and when you retire,you cannot gel your cpf savings back. we understand your concerns. unfortunately, the pap doesn't. it ignores your views.

the late dr toh chin chye, former deputy primeminister and founding pap chairman, once said, 'when the pap and the opposition were 26-25, the government was sensitiveto issues and was circumspect. when you've got a strong opposition,there's consultation." the sdp wants to be that strong opposition so that the government will listen to youand be more consultative. bu! we don't want to be just a strong opposition, we also want to be a constructive opposition to provide alternative ideasand solutions for singapore.

in other words, we want to give you a reasonto vote for the sdp, not just against the pap. this is why we have drawn up a set of workable andcomprehensive alternative policies in areas such as housing,population, healthcare, etc. these papers can be read on our websiteyoursdp.org. we have put in much time and effort intothese alternative policies because, one, we want a people healthy and happy, not an island overcrowded with unqualified foreignerscompeting with us for jobs. to this end, the sdp will push for policies where employers give priority losingaporeans when it comes lo hiring.

two, we wan! to make our housingtruly affordable where our hdb flatsdon't cost us a lifetime to pay off. three, we want our retirees to live secureand dignified lives with all their cpf savings. for this to happen, we will work to abolish the minimum sum schemeso that you can get your cpf savings back in full. four, we want singaporeans to have a better work-lifebalance where our people are no! so stressed. to do this, wages must rise in tandemwith the cost of living in singapore. we cannot be the most expensive city in the worldand then have wages stagnate for our people. five, we want to make our system transparentand hold the pap accountable.

we cannot and must not continueto write the pap a blank cheque. this is dangerous and unhealthyfor our nation's future. for you to live more secure and prosperous lives,you need a competent, constructive and compassionate voice in parliament. the sdp team is dedicated to be that voiceand to ensure that the government listens to you. the sdp has plans lo improve your quality of lifeand for you and your family lo be happy. to achieve a better tomorrow, vole sdp. speaking for the national solidarity partyis mr lim tenn. my fellow singaporeans,

this election presents singaporewith the clearest political choice of half a century. it is your choice between two fundamentally differentphilosophies of government and singapore's future. it is about whether singaporeansdeserve better from their government. over the years, our opponents have distilled theprinciple of government down to one phrase - profit at all cost. our national transportation has been privatised, our essential train and bus servicesare in the hands of the few, accountable only to their shareholders.

singaporeans are deniedthe right to a minimum wage, bu! cheap foreign labouris allowed in, in large numbers. singaporeans are told there is littlethat government can do when they lose their lower andmiddle income jobs lo foreigners. that this is globalisation at work. the promise to return cpf personal life savingsat age 55 has been broken. today, singaporeans are having to live with theconsequences of our opponents' costly social and economic experiments. trains that break down regularly.

a grossly inadequate number of hospital beds. our highly-educated middle income professionalshaving to retrench because of job losses to so-called “foreign talent”. the most expensive city in the world, where the relentless rising cost of living punisheseveryone except the rich. their policies are tearing apartthe fabric of this country. under this government, the singaporeanhas become a tenant in his own country, with a government that works against himand not for him. a government that is happy to subsidisethe education of foreign students

but does little to help that singaporean father andmother put their own child through our university. a government that is happyto find a foreigner a job bu! does little to help the singaporeankeep his job a government that has issued him with a badcpf life savings policy that has no maturity date. we, the national solidarity party, have a totallydifferent philosophy of government - one which serves every singaporean better. it is the right of the singaporeanto have a minimum wage. it is the duty of government to see to itthat the singaporean has priority over a foreigner for a singapore job.

it is the duty of government touse our vast financial resources to help that singaporean father and mother put theirchildren through university. we will fight for the cpf personal life savingsto be returned to singaporeans as originally promised so that singaporeans will have enoughto live comfortably in their later years, so that the muslim family can use some ofthis money if needed to go on the haj or umrah. we will fight to narrow themassive inequality gap in singapore. to that end, we will fight in parliamentfor the right of every singapore family which does no! live in private property

to buy at cost plus a hdb apartment and also another hdb apartmenton the resale market. we will always keep faithwith our fellow singaporeans who are our only natural resourceand who built this nation. september the 11th is polling day. we ask you to exercise your great moralresponsibility to change the direction of this country, and to vole for the national solidarity party, because singaporeans deserve better. representing the workers' partyis associate professor daniel goh.

good evening voters. in 2011, many of you supported our call lo movesingapore towards a first world parliament and sent seven electedworkers' party members to parliament. we have seen the result. today, we have a more responsive government thatis more sensitive to the struggles of the people. we have seen policy changesresponding to the needs of singaporeans. but the journey towards a first world parliamenthas only just begun. we cannot let down our guard now. we must continue our journeyto protect our future and the future of our children.

to protect our future, you have to further entrenchyour power and your rights in parliament. you need to lake charge of your own future bu! this is not possible ifwe have an imbalanced parliament with an overwhelmingmajority of ruling party mps. this election is a landmark electionin the new era in singapore. our formula for success in the last 50 years wasto allow the ruling party to monopolise power, to exercise control over every aspect of our society,and set the direction for us. this was largely based on the mentality that we only have a small talent poolthat could lead singapore.

bu! limes have changed. our talent pool has vastly expanded througheducation and exposure. many talented singaporeans today excelin their own fields and gain international recognition. however, our enterprises struggle totake off in the global arena and our workers struggle with productivity. this is no! for lack of talent, bu! because singaporeans are not empoweredto seize our future for ourselves. for singapore to becomean outstanding smart nation in the next 50 years,

we must build and nurture confident professional,business and people sectors unfettered by unhealthy political monopoly. to do this, people must beable to think out of the box; people should be able to expressthemselves freely and debate issues within known limitsas a multi-racial and multi-religious society. people must also feel secure and be assured of their rightsagainst unreasonable and disproportionate actions fromthe government and political leaders. we have the opportunity nowwith the general election

to take that step to become such an outstanding nation. we can empower ourselves through a parliament that truly represents the diversity of singaporesociety for our future as a nation. we are the masters of singapore. our political leaders should serve us andfacilitate empowerment of the people, no! encourage subservience and grouplhink. you have to decide whetherhaving more ruling party mps resulting in an imbalanced parliament

is in the best interest of the future of singaporeand your children. your vote is a signal to the ruling party that it cannot do what it wantswithout taking you seriously. it will signal to what extent the ruling party can deprive you of your power to participatein the policy-making process in the name of acting in your best interest. before 2011, the ruling partycruised along with policies that led to escalating cost of living,employment and retirement insecurity, and strained infrastructuredue to runaway immigration.

your vote changed the course, bu! change for a better futureis only just beginning. singapore is one of therichest countries in the world, but singaporeans still feel stressedand disempowered at every stage of our lives. this is no! right. the government is planning for a 6.9 millionpopulation to solve the problems at hand. this is heading towards the wrong course. we have to change this. your vote is your power.

use i! to empower yourself. we understand thatto exercise the power of your vole, you need to have an alternative partydeserving your support. the workers' party is your credible choice. we are a rational, responsible andrespectable party. we do no! oppose for the sake of opposing and we take a balanced approach to politics. we have worked hard to offera slate of capable candidates, balanced between seniority and youth,

experience and idealism, bu! all united in seekingthe empowerment of singaporeans. you can empower yourselfto make decisions for your own future. vole workers' party. empower your future. good night. and here is mr lee hsien loongfrom the people's action party. in sg50, we celebrated our journey fromthird world to first. in a few days' time,we make a vital choice about our future. our pioneers started us off on this journey.

fifty years ago, singaporeans rallied behindmr lee kuan yew and his team, and put their faith and their futurein the hands of the pap. together, they achieved the impossibleand built singapore. that's why i made thepioneer generation package, to honour the sacrificesof our founding generation. for the past 50 years, the pap has worked with you,for you and for singapore. we have done this consistently for decades. we continued to do thisin this term of government. we've made singapore a nation of homeowners.

since the last election, hdb launched more than100,000 flats - four clementi towns. we kept flat prices stable and increased our grants, making flats more affordable. with less than $1,000 a month, you can afforda 2-room flat - 1,800 such families have done so. we are transforming every corner of this land, from changi to marina bay to jurong. we've built beautiful new towns like punggol 21,and rejuvenated old ones like dawson. we will soon have 1,000 more buses on the road,

and downtown line 2will open by the end of the year. we still have work to do, bu! buses and trains arebecoming less crowded and more convenient. we kept healthcare affordable,accessible, and of high quality. medishield life provides every singaporeanwith lifelong healthcare insurance. chas helps our lower-income with medical bills. ng teng fong hospital has opened in jurong, and the next new hospital is coming up in sengkang. we created more opportunitiesand pathways for our children. we expanded places in preschools,

and in our polytechnics and universities. we moderated the inflow of foreign workers, and tightened rules on fair employmentto ensure a level playing field for singaporeans. we launched skillsfulure so people can improvethemselves and advance their careers all their lives. and we grew our economyto create new and fulfilling jobs for all. you helped us to make these policies. in “our singapore conversation”, or osc, 50,000 singaporeansdiscussed our hopes and aspirations. your views and inputs improved major policieslike cpf, housing and healthcare.

in this way, together, we brought singapore to sg50. the pap kept our promises. you played your part bycontributing energies and ideas, helping your fellow men,and doing your best for singapore. so tonight, i am asking you for your mandate to lakesingapore beyond sg50. sg50 is no! a destination, but a new beginning. let us make the next 50 years better than the past 50. we can be confident of our future. many opportunities lie ahead.

we are located in fast-growing asia.our economy is strong. our people are skilled and well-educated. bu! we must expect challenges loo. we worry about isis and terrorism. hundreds of malaysians and indonesianshave gone to the middle east to fight for isis. a few singaporeans have also gone there. when they return, they will bring back the virus and the violence, and threaten singapore's security. we worry about our region.

singaporeans may enjoy shopping in johor bahru with the ringgit 3 to 1 to the sing dollar, but it is bad for us if ourneighbours suffer political unrest and uncertainty. domestically, we are upgrading our economyand helping our smes to adapt. the recent drastic swings in stock marketsin many countries show how fragile confidenceis in the global economy. economic troubles may lie ahead and a worldwideeconomic slowdown will surely affect us too. to respond to our challenges and opportunities, we need a capable and strong government.

when mr lee kuan yew passed away in march, it drew us all together andmade us feel strongly our singaporean identity. we were reminded that we got here throughoutstanding leadership, working with one united people. we are team singapore - leaders who keep faith with the people andpeople who trust and work with their leaders, the lions and the lion-hearted. we must slay united for singapore to succeed. and that depends on all of us in team singapore.

next week, when you vote, you are choosing thegovernment of singapore. every seat will be contested, many fiercely. whoever wins in your constituencywill run your town council. whichever party wins enough seats will form thegovernment. the pap is fielding a team which i hope will include thenext generation of leaders for singapore. i ask for your support to put togetherthe best possible team to serve you - a capable and multi-racial team withdifferent skills and backgrounds, and the commitment and the passionto lead singapore.

then we can secure our future,beyond me and my present colleagues. in this election, we will set the directionfor singapore beyond sg50. what sort of singapore will we be? we aim to be a nation wherethe elderly lead dignified lives; where the middle-incomehave their burdens shared; where we care for the weak and the poor,and no one is left behind; and where the young haveevery encouragement and hope to do well. just on sunday, i met mr and mrs chian, who run a chicken stallat a market in punggol south.

they told me how proud they were of their son,who had graduated from ntu and was now studying musicin a conservatory in vienna. when looking for pap candidates,i found amrin amin. his parents look on multiple jobsto put the children through school. amrin made it to law school,and became a promising young lawyer. now he wants to give backand help others to succeed. our self-help groups have passionate volunteers,like ravi suppiah. his parents were uneducated, and he grew up in a kampongcatching spiders and chasing chickens.

but in secondary 2, ravi persuaded his parentsto let him attend sinda's tuition classes. ravi did well in school, entered a polytechnic, and went on to graduate from nusand earn a masters' from ntu. now he volunteers at sinda, coaching polytechnicstudents in maths and computer programming. these real-life, personal storiestell me that we are on the right path. whatever our anxieties and challenges,we can overcome them together. we will create bright opportunities, equip our people to seize them and bring up our children with the confidenceand the drive to succeed.

that's the singapore we want to build with you,for you, and for future generations. in this election, through the excitementand noise of the campaign, please remember what is at stake: our future. i thank you for supporting me and my government. please vote for me and my pap teamin the elections so that together, we can do the best for ourselvesand our children. the pap will always work “with you, for you,for singapore”.