Dean Heller in 2012 Nevada Senate Debates


On Corporations: Against bank bailout; against Dodd-Frank bank regulation

Both Heller and Berkley said it was a mistake to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, which made it easier for banks to expand. But they differed on the banking reforms recently passed. Heller mentioned he was the only member of the Nevada delegation to vote against the bank bailout. He called the Dodd-Frank bank regulation bill "cover for those who voted for the bank bailout." Berkley called her opponent "Mr. Deregulation."
Source: Las Vegas Sun on 2012 Nevada Senate debates Oct 11, 2012

On Immigration: Pathway to citizenship for illegals in army or college

On immigration, Heller said he's willing to work with Democrats for comprehensive reform.He said he supported a pathway to citizenship for those who came here illegally and served in the military or are getting an education.

He said he also supports efforts to push English-only legislation and making it easier to immigrate to the country legally. "So the principles that I'm trying to support is trying to make these people succeed," he said. "I want them to succeed here in this country."

Democrats pounced on his reference to "these people," setting up a conference call with Latino leaders for the next morning; Latino leaders said they were insulted.

Source: Las Vegas Sun on 2012 Nevada Senate debates Oct 11, 2012

On Jobs: Get bipartisan bill passed for online poker

Heller said he would work with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to get an online poker bill passed by the end of this year.

Some of Berkley's sharpest attacks on Heller came on online poker, on which Reid has blamed Heller for failing to get votes in the Senate. "My opponent is failing the people of the state of Nevada," she said, saying online poker legislation could mean up to 1,200 jobs in Nevada. "My opponent is not doing his job. Either he does not have an understanding of how important this is to the state of Nevada, or he's not caring."

Heller waived away the attacks as political. He said he believes he has two opponents in the race--Berkley and Reid. Reid saw online poker "as his last best chance to get involved in the U.S. Senate race," Heller continued. "26 days from now, Sen. Reid and myself will put aside our differences and get something passed."

Source: Las Vegas Sun on 2012 Nevada Senate debates Oct 11, 2012

On Jobs: Denied 2010 reports that unemployed were "hobos"

Heller had to fend off his musings from a 2010 speech in Elko that unemployment benefits were creating "hobos."

Heller denied it outright, though press reports from the time confirm that he did indeed draw the correlation between unemployment benefits and "hobos."

"Look, the fact of the matter is my opponent actually did call unemployed people hobos and that puts him very much in line with what Mitt Romney said about the 47 percent," Berkley said.

Source: Las Vegas Sun on 2012 Nevada Senate debates Oct 11, 2012

On Immigration: Overhaul 14th Amendment against immigrant citizenship

Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Joe Heck met with Hispanics in a sort of tough love session. The two Nevada Republicans affirmed to the group, called Hispanics in Politics, that the GOP needed Latino support in November. But they remained steadfast in their hard-line stance on immigration.

Not only did they tell the Hispanic group that they remained opposed to the DREAM Act, a federal proposal that would provide a pathway to citizenship for certain undocumented college students and soldiers, they said the 14th Amendment to U.S. Constitution--which provides citizenship to anyone born in the United States--needed overhauling to prevent the children of undocumented immigrants from gaining citizenship.

Source: Carlos Sanchez, VOXXI, on 2012 Nevada Senate debate Apr 10, 2012

The above quotations are from 2012 Nevada Senate Debate.
Click here for other excerpts from 2012 Nevada Senate Debate.
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Dean Heller on other issues:
Abortion
Budget/Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Jobs
Principles
Social Security
Tax Reform
Technology
War/Peace
Welfare
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Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018