Frazier, Perlmutter still trading punches over stimulus jobs

Speaking on the KHOW’s Caplis and Silverman Show Wednesday, Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional District Ryan Frazier told host Craig Silverman that while a charter school he helped to co-found received stimulus funds, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) failed as a job-creation package. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s campaign said school jobs matter.

“The reality is that this was sold as an economic stimulus package. If this was meant to be a school stimulus package, then it should have been called that. But this is about job creation, and on that front I think that folks in Colorado are still waiting to see the jobs,” Frazier said.

Frazier, who has pointed to the stimulus bill as a failed policy throughout his campaign, has been forced to defend his position after it was reported that High Point Academy received over $100,000 in stimulus funding. Frazier who is vice-president of the schools board told Silverman that some good has come from the stimulus package in the form of roads.

Speaking with the Colorado Independent, Leslie Oliver, communications director for the Perlmutter campaign, questioned Frazier’s assertion that the stimulus package failed. Noting the job losses that could have occurred in schools across the state without stimulus funding, she asked what jobs counted in Frazier’s formula.

Frazier went on to criticize Perlmutter for failing to agree to a debate on the Caplis and Silverman show, a criticism he similarly leveled on KOA’s Mike Rosen show earlier this month.

“Well, we’ve asked Ed to agree to as many debates as we can in order to allow voters to see our differences and hear our ideas and, unfortunately, Ed has just not agreed to do that many,” Frazier said in response to Silverman asking if Perlmutter was avoiding him.

Oliver disagreed with Frazier’s characterization of the debate schedule and went on to say that while Perlmutter was working to bring jobs to Colorado, Frazier has worked to outsource jobs.

“We started working on our debate schedule even before the primary, and we finalized a schedule for seven debates about a month ago,” Oliver said. “Frazier knows we have had almost a debate or forum every week. Frazier already backed out of two of the seven – one ,the Jewish Community Candidate Forum, to fundraise in D.C. and the non-partisan League of Women Voters next week because it’s not on TV.

“Frazier’s campaign is in freefall and clearly he’s willing to do and say anything to distort the truth … The hard-working people in the 7th know Ed is the guy who will help bring good jobs to Colorado and not outsource them overseas like Frazier.”

Frazier has denied the claims that as a senior partner of Takara Systems his company outsourced jobs, while a 9News fact check noted the company’s website has a page dedicated to “outsourcing.”

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