If you want to hear U.S. Rep. Tom Latham and challenger Becky Greenwald debate, tune to WHO Radio 1040 in and around Des Moines now.  You can also listen here.

Update: The debate has concluded.

A liveblog of the event follows.  Find a more concise wrap-up here.

8:25 Closing statements

Greenwald: There are differences between her and her candidate.  Tom Latham’s record speaks for itself, and he has voted 95% of the time with George W. Bush.  “That is a partisan record, and I will go to Washington and listen to the people of the 4th district … and never forget who sent me there.”

“I really, truly understand” the troubles of the middle class.  “We need to make sure college is accessible.”

Latham: Loves WHO-Radio.  Points out that he has a lower partisan voting record than any of the Iowa’s Democrats.  “We’ve gotta get over this partisanship.”

“That’s why I’ve been successful with all of the initiatives I’ve put forth.”

Says he can go to almost any town in his district and see something he has earmarked for them.

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8:20 Question from caller: Won’t tax increases on the rich be passed down to middle and lower income families?

Greenwald: If middle income families can receive tax benefits, that would free them up to spend more money on Main Street.  “The tax breaks for the wealthiest of us are not trickling down.”

“We need to rebuild our middle income families.”

Latham: Goes back to McCain’s health care plan: He supports parts of the plan, but he won’t commit.

Greenwald: Goes back to Obama’s tax plan, which she supports, and which she says would benefit everyone who makes under $250,000 per year.  And that’s most people in the 4th district.

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8:17 Questions about oil and energy from phone caller.

Latham: “I have supported wind energy for years and years.  The folks in that business understand where I am.”

Greenwald: Says she supports more investment in renewable energy.

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8:15 For each candidate: Would you vote for your party nominee’s health care plan?

Latham: Hasn’t looked at the details of McCain’s health care plan, so doesn’t want to say.  But he likes McCain’s plan to deduct health care costs.

Greenwald: Yes, she supports Obama’s health care plan.

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8:12 Question from caller about affordable health care. Why should someone have to pay for other people’s health care?

Greenwald: Costs are skyrocketing, so “we are already being squeezed.”

Latham: It is not fair for people to have to pay for the health care of others.

Greenwald: It is a problem.  Half of all bankruptcies are caused at least in part by health care costs.

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8:11 Question for Latham about military being deployed within the United States

Latham: “It is very illegal” to deploy troops within the United States.

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8:09 Several questions from one call: Livelihood? Do you take money from Barney Frank, Charles Rangel, or Chris Dodd?

Greenwald: I worked for Pioneer Hybrid.  Background in agriculture.  To her knowledge, she has not received money from those three men.  90% of her contributions come from Iowans.

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8:07 Phone caller for Greenwald about abortion.

Greenwald: Wants abortions to be “safe, legal, and rare.”

Latham: “I’m 100% pro-life.”

That was quick.  Nobody wants to talk about abortion.

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8:03 Phone caller says Americans are hostages of the IRS.  Says we should have “one straight tax.”  Or flat tax.

Greenwald: Supports simpler tax code, but right now we just have to “keep our heads above water.”

Latham: Also supports simpler tax code, but not sure about flat tax (right now).  Calls for a better national debate about it.

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8:00 Break ends.  Caller says Greenwald is sounding “stiff.”  Accuses her of being a party hack, essentially.

Greenwald says she is running because she wants to listen to voters, not regurgitate partisan talking points.  Lots of anti-Greenwald callers.

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7:53 Question from caller about health care: Does Greenwald support a single-payer health care system?

Greenwald: No, but she supports access for everyone.  “I very much support what Sen. Obama has been supporting” that “takes the best of both worlds.”  Emphasizes preventative care.

Latham: We need to work in a bipartisan way.  Supports pooling health care costs among businesses, making health insurance deductible.  Mentions shortage of nurses in Iowa, which he has put forth legislation to solve.  Also mentions inequity of medicare reimbursements in Iowa.

Greenwald: We’ve had a nursing story for a long time, and Latham waited too long to introduce a bill about it.

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7:50 Question from phone caller for Latham: “Do you support keeping our troops in harm’s way in Iraq?”

Latham: “I am the first one to say let’s do it as quickly as possible,” but only after stability, etc.

“There has never been a system in place in Iraq” for buying things on the level of local government.

“I want to get our troops out of there with a successful” result.

Greenwald: Then why did Latham vote for funding as recently as June?

Latham: Has never voted ‘against the troops.’

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7:47 Question from phone caller about partisanship, “didn’t quite get the answer out of Ms. Greenwald that I was hoping for.”  Greenwald’s web site has “often negative attacks.”

Greenwald: Disputes characterization of her communications.

Latham: Brings it back to Greenwald’s support of the bailout…

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7:42 Question from phone caller about Becky Greenwald wanting to raise taxes.  (These are starting to sound like pretty obvious plants from Latham or his supporters…)

Greenwald: Tax cuts should go to “middle income families.”  Talks more about renewable energy and job creation.

Latham: Anyone who doesn’t want to extend the Bush tax credits doesn’t get it.  Taxing people more is “wrong.”  To raise taxes on small businesses “is simply the wrong thing to do.”

“To punish them for investing in their businesses — to punish them for hiring more people — is simply wrong.”

“And also you’d reinstate the death tax on everyone.”

Greenwald: Warren Buffet has said that the current tax system is unfair.

Latham: Warren Buffet will always find loopholes anyway.

7:38 Question from phone caller about price of gasoline and drilling:

Greenwald: Calls for “comprehensive” renewable energy policy.  Says driving a Flex-Fuel vehicle is nice, too.  Does not say yes or no to offshore drilling.

Latham: Says Greenwald didn’t answer the question, but he says his energy policy is an “all of the above” approach.

Emphasizes need for domestic oil supply.

Greenwald: Does agree with “all the options on the table” after all, she says.  But “only if we are committed to a comprehensive” renewable energy strategy.

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7:33 Question from a phone caller:

“Would you have voted for this year’s Democratic budget” which purportedly raised taxes higher than ever?

Greenwald: Doesn’t want to say before she has seen the details.

Another question from a caller for Latham: Would you still support privatization for social security?

Latham: “Well I never have.”

Has never supported privatization of Social Security “in any way shape or form.”

Instead, supports a “Blue Ribbon Commission” for Social Security.

Greenwald: How can we talk about taking away entitlements “when people are needing it the most?”

Talks about universal health care, but doesn’t support socialized medicine.

Latham: Says he would never support cutting social security.

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7:30 Greenwald asks Latham a question on immigration:

“We’ve had two raids in our district… Why didn’t he do something to lead us toward comprehensive immigration reform?” Greenwald asks, criticizing Latham for his inaction.

Latham: “This is rather interesting.  Even the immigration folks didn’t know that Postville was in the 4th District.” Says ICE didn’t even notify Latham “when they were gonna go in there.”

“There are some folks who want to give amnesty…” and Greenwald is one of them, Latham says.

“What happened in Marshalltown and Postville is a direct result of lack of enforcement of the laws for the last 20 years.”

Greenwald: Says she’s not for amnesty, but is for a clear path to legalization.

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7:27 And the candidates get to ask questions of each other.

Latham “not really prepared” to ask a question, he says.  But he’s “somewhat surprised” with what he has seen on the internet and elsewhere.  Wants to know why Greenwald is going negative.

Greenwald: “What people are tired of is the hypocrisy of saying one thing in Iowa” and doing something different in Washington.

7:20 Third set of questions on foreign policy — Iraq and Afghanistan.

For Greenwald: How would you do things differently with regard for Iraq and Afghanistan?

Greenwald: First job out of college was working at a medical center for veterans.  “I understand what it takes” to take care of veterans.

“We need to be bringing our troops home from Iraq,” Greenwald says.

Afghanistan needs more troops.

“It is clear to me that by sending Tom Latham back to Congress that we will not begin the immediate and safe withdrawal of troops” from Iraq.

Latham: “Stay the course is not an option” because troops have done a good job.  “The ’surge’ has worked.”

“The Iraqi people are with us now.”

“We want to have our troops come out as soon as possible because we do have a real threat in Afghanistan.” But “The central front in the war on terror is — has been — in Iraq” but we’ve “driven them out” of Iraq now.

But Greenwald would vote for the bailout, which actually costs more than the Iraq war.  “I would never vote to take away funding for men and women in harms way.”

Greenwald chimes in: Why did you vote for a pay raise for yourself but not for soldiers?

Latham responds: “VFW just endorsed me.”

“No one has been a larger advocate” for people in uniform, Latham says.

Latham says there were no pay raise votes.  There were procedural votes that are construed to be pay raise votes.

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7:16 Second set of questions on partisanship.

Greenwald first: Pledges to “make relationships from the beginning” with members of both parties, and accuses Latham of partisanship.

Latham: “This last congress has been by far the most partisan” he’s ever been a part of, he says.

Leadership writes bills “in a back room,” he says.

“All you have to do is look at my record … to see that the way you get things done is to do that on a bipartisan basis.”  Says Appropriations Committee does a good job at being bipartisan.

Says he hopes Congress will “wipe the slate clean” come January.  “I don’t think anyone’s ever heard me speak a partisan word out there.”

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7:10 First question is on the economy.

For Latham: Why did you vote against bailout?

Latham: Proposal had “no basis” for choosing $700 billion figure.  “There’s some oversight but with no teeth on that oversight.”

“It’s simply the wrong way to do it.”

For Greenwald: You said you would have voted for it.  Why?

Greenwald: “No one wants to vote and bail out CEOs who led a runaway train basically off a cliff.”

But Greenwald says she spoke to a voter on Main St. who said she would be affected by the economic problems, too.

“Make sure that we were doing what we could” rather than doing nothing.

Says Latham isn’t telling the truth about bipartisan record.  “He has voted 94% of the time with President Bush and the Republican party.”

Latham’s response: Thinks it’s strange that Greenwald’s first statement of policy was to give President Bush a blank check.  Says Congressmen Braley, Loebsack, and Boswell have more partisan voting records than he does, and that President Bush doesn’t actually vote, so Latham’s voting record couldn’t be compared to Bush’s.

“I understand we have to do something” to rescue the economy, but not this.

Greenwald’s response: There is accountability built into the bill including searchable online database.  Accuses Latham of “hypocrisy” for voting against the bailout even with flood relief attached.  Accuses Latham of turning his back on flood victims.

Latham: “There is no accountability.”  It will be out in the open, but no one can stop them from doing what they do.

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7:07 Tom Latham’s opening statement:

Says Iowans “are fed up” with what’s going on in Washington, D.C.

Cites record for veterans, along with other earmarks.  “I am fortunate that I serve on the appropriations committee — that I am a ranking member on that committee.”

Emphasizes bipartisanship again.

7:06 Becky Greenwald gives her opening statement first.  Shout-out to her web site, BeckyGreenwald.com, right up front.

Emphasizes renewable fuels and rural economic issues.

7:05 And after the news, the debate begins.