Labrador Reacts to Minnick's Claim of Budget Progress

Press Release

State Representative Raul Labrador, the Republican Party's nominee for Congress in the 1st District, responded to press stories that Walt Minnick is claiming progress in securing a line-item veto bill.

"I recognize the public relations value of Mr. Minnick's claims," Labrador said in a prepared statement. "particularly this close to a tough election. But the simple fact is, the only thing that is going to stop this horrendous flow of red ink is a change in political leadership. The most effective thing we can do to arrest the irresponsible spending of this Congress is to take the gavel away from Nancy Pelosi. And Mr. Minnick is unwilling to do that."

Labrador pointed to national news reports today showing that the national debt has now topped $13 trillion.

That same article (Washington Times; 06.03.10) reported that the national debt has been growing at $5 billion each day since Barack Obama became president, three times the rate America saw under President Bush.

House Republican Leader John Boehner said today, "A $13 trillion debt is an alarm bell … but Democrats are not even trying to pass a budget. Instead of paying lip service to this issue, President Obama should call on congressional Democrats to pass a budget that provides the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and grow our economy."

Rather than working on press releases touting new legislation, Labrador called on Mr. Minnick to get his fellow Democrats to work on producing a budget which begins turning off the spigot.

"The flow of federal red ink is as out of control as the oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico," Labrador concluded. "And the reaction of Walt Minnick and fellow Democrats to this budget crisis is equally ineffective."

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