AUBURN - Accusations flew left and right Tuesday afternoon when the 24th District Congressional candidates met at the Cayuga Community College Television studio.

With less than one week until the election, incumbent Rep. Michael Arcuri, Democrat and Working Families and Richard Hanna, Republican, Conservative and Independence party challenger, didn't leave many unspoken words between them.

The topics ranged from taxes and federal earmarks all the way to healthcare.

Hanna accused Arcuri of not being transparent about federal earmarks because he voted against a study that would examine the problems with earmarks.

He also said that Arcuri voted in favor of Fannie Mae because he received contributions from them.

“At one point I did receive a contribution from Fannie Mae. I voted on it but I would have voted for that, it's just the way most of the Democrats wouldn't go against it anyways,” Arcuri said.

“It was a bill that we had to pass in much the same way that we had to do the rescue bill. It was something that was necessary for the economy. So, yes, I voted for it and I did get a contribution from them but it really had nothing whatsoever (to do with the vote).”

Hanna believes that the only way to grow the economy is to grow small businesses.

“I believe that the best way to benefit more people, the middle class or anybody who needs a job who is out there struggling to make a living, is to grow the economy,” Hanna said.

“If you want to have the tax dollars to pay bills, to grow programs, you need to grow small business.”

Arcuri, on the other hand, supports withdrawing from Iraq as quickly as possible as a way to decrease taxes.

“One of the things that I think we can do with respect to taxes is we can get out of Iraq,” Arcuri, D-Utica, said.

The country is spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. This money is being used to rebuild roads there when it needs to be spent here, he said.

“This is the first time that the government has ever done anything like this, in terms of just borrowing money to finance a war, and what that does is that just spreads the burden on our children and our grandchildren and that's unacceptable,” Arcuri said.

The country also needs to learn to spend within its means, Arcuri said, and he is proposing a tax increase on the top 1 percent of the country but said he would not increase taxes on the middle class.

Both candidates agreed that federal earmarks are necessary and that transparency is important.

“In the last year alone, there were $18 billion in earmarks ... I think that we have to be more thoughtful how to spend that money, it's limited. That it's not based on merit, it's based largely on party and seniority and that there's a tendency for it to corrupt, as well as it buys access and buys votes,” Hanna said.

There should be a system based on merit and thoughtful procedures that allows for the best programs to get the funding, Hanna said.

The federal earmarks discussion focused on a recently secured state grant of $400,000 for a cheese company to come to Aurelius.

Hanna said he supports the factory because New York state has a bigger need for these types of businesses.

“I'm a little confused with Mr. Hanna's answer because on the one hand, he says we shouldn't do it and on the other hand he says yes we should do it because we are disadvantaged here,” Arcuri said.

Arcuri said he is proud of the cheese factory project, which will bring jobs to the area.

“Tell that to the people who are looking for jobs here in the Auburn area that we shouldn't be trying to attract business here and doing whatever we can to attract business,” Arcuri said.

If the country can spend $10 billion a month on the war in Iraq, then the state can afford to spend $1.7 million to attract Saratoga Cheese Corporation to the Auburn area, he said.

Staff Writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net