Fact check: A look into statements made by congressional candidates Bacon and Vargas during debate

Oct. 11, 2024, midnight ·

Congressional District 2 debate
Tony Vargas, left, and Don Bacon, right, debate in the Ron Hull Studio at Nebraska Public Media in Lincoln on Tuesday, Oct. 8. (Scott Koperski/Nebraska Public Media News)

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In their Nebraska Public Media debate this week, Republican Second District Representative Don Bacon and his Democratic challenger, state Senator Tony Vargas directly contradicted each other on subjects including abortion and taxes.

Nebraska Public Media took a look behind some of the candidates’ claims on a few notable topics.

Candidate debates often seem like an endless “he said/she said” argument. And last week’s debate at Nebraska Public Media was no exception.

“There’s so much hogwash in this, you don't even know where to start. There’s so much deception and lies,” Bacon said early on.

“Congressman Bacon, I'm going to try to remind you again, especially as a teacher: For somebody that breathes civility… you are not demonstrating that right now,” Vargas said later.

But beyond the personal swipes, there were substantive differences as well. Abortion was the first subject reporters asked about, with Vargas calling Bacon “extreme.”

“He was an original co-sponsor of a full abortion ban in the Constitution that had no exceptions for the life of the mother or for rape or incest, and it was abundantly clear when he signed on to this, three separate times, how extreme he is on abortion access,” Vargas said.

Vargas was referring to Bacon’s support of so-called “Life at Conception” bills, which would have declared the right to life guaranteed in the Constitution to “each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization.”

Bacon now says he supports Nebraska’s current restrictions on abortions after 12 weeks, an issue that’s on the state ballot this November. And he called his sponsorship of life at conception legislation a statement of principal.

“The law that he's talking about never even mentions the word abortion," he said. "It doesn't say anything about the states can't regulate abortion. It doesn't say whether it's they could have this exception or that exception. It's just a principle that the unborn child is human life."

Bacon challenged Vargas’s position on abortion.

“I surely don't support abortion on demand until birth, like Tony Vargas," Bacon declared. "He has been asked multiple times what restrictions would he take, and he can never name a single restriction."

Vargas responded, saying “Ultimately, I believe that we need to restore Roe v. Wade.”

Roe v. Wade, overturned in 2022, generally guaranteed a national right to abortion up to fetal viability, around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Nebraska law set that limit at about 22 weeks. A proposal to return to Roe standard of viability is also on Nebraska’s November ballot.

On taxes, Vargas criticized Bacon’s record in Congress.

“When he shows up, he votes to increase taxes on working class families,” Vargas said.

Bacon begged to differ.

“I have never voted to increase taxes on the middle class. That is just pure baloney. In fact, the 2017 tax law cut taxes for those earning $50,000 by 20%, and those earning $100,000, it cut their taxes by 16%,” he said.

Bacon was referring to tax cuts Congress approved in former President Donald Trump’s first year in office. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation put those reductions closer to 10%. Bacon cites the Internal Revenue Service, as described in this Washington Examiner editorial, as the source for his percentages.

By 2027, because of changes to the way tax brackets are indexed for inflation, most taxpayers will be paying more than before the Trump tax cuts went into effect, according to a study co-authored by UC Berkeley economist Joseph Rosenberg.

Bacon wants to extend the tax cuts, which Vargas says benefit mostly billionaires and multi-millionaires.

Vargas also criticized Bacon’s lack of support for extending child tax credits as another example of raising taxes. Those credits were raised from $2,000 per child up to $3,600 during the pandemic, but have now returned to $2,000. Vargas argues that amounts to a tax increase.

How voters respond to these arguments, and others, will be reflected in the results of what’s expected to be a close race in the Second Congressional District.