(The Center Square) — Libertarian Chase Oliver pulled few punches during an Atlanta Press Club debate, bashing the two-party system and urging Georgians to consider a third option in November’s midterm election.
Oliver appeared alongside U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, during a Sunday evening debate of candidates running for U.S. Senate. Republican Herschel Walker did not participate in the debate.
Warnock, who spent much of his time referencing or referring to Walker as he answered questions, tried to paint himself as a Democrat willing to work across the aisle, while Oliver derided both parties for not leading, taking aim at Warnock’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act. Recent polling has shown the race to be a “dead heat” between Warnock and Walker though it could head to a runoff if neither candidate garners more than 50% of the vote.
“The truth is we can’t really trust the Democrats or the Republicans who are currently in leadership right now,” Oliver said during the debate aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting. “My entire adult life, they’ve been deficit spending like it’s going out of style. The last time we had a balanced budget was the 1990s. That was also the last time we had a real explosion of the middle class and broad prosperity growth in this country.
“Those two things are not unrelated,” Oliver said. “The fact is the only thing the Democrats and Republicans can agree on is how to spend your money out of thin air and devalue our dollar. [Warnock] has said several times that ‘I passed the Inflation Reduction Act.’ It doesn’t reduce inflation. That’s not what the bill does. …Every Georgia household has to balance their budget. Why can’t we insist upon a government that balances its budget? Why is that the radical idea and not the rational idea?”
In response, Warnock touted his efforts to hold “big pharmaceutical companies” and ocean carriers accountable.
“Half of being a … senator is showing up,” Warnock said early in the debate, which touched on topics ranging from voting rights to reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs to immigration reform but was light on solutions that might reduce the country’s $31 trillion debt.
“At the end of the day, this race is not about who’s been redeemed; this race is about who’s ready to represent the people of Georgia in the United States Senate,” Warnock said, offering a dig at Walker.
Warnock and Walker participated in a NewsNation debate in Savannah on Friday. Oliver was not invited to participate in the debate.
Still, Oliver seized the opportunity Sunday to lambast both parties for their approach to legislating.
“The bill itself doesn’t reduce inflation, so I wouldn’t run on ‘I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act’ if you’re talking about how you’ve reduced inflation in the United States,'” Oliver said. “…The fact is people aren’t reading the bills in Washington, D.C. They’re getting the bills handed to them by leadership; there’s not real debate, there’s not real amendments, it’s not real legislating.
“What we have is we have leadership handing the bills at the end of the day and you’re voting on the next day a 1,000-page bill,” Oliver said. “You’re not reading the bills, and if I’m elected to the United States Senate, we will have somebody who is reading the bills.”
By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
