The current governor of Virginia and two of his predecessors weighed in on the growing national debate regarding the debt ceiling Tuesday. On Tuesday, Gov. Bob McDonnell slammed President Obama's plans for deficit reduction. Politico.com says McDonnell told WTOP-FM radio that "The inability of this administration to pay its bills ...” jeopardized the country's AAA bond rating.The report says McDonnell also criticized Obama's demands that any debt ceiling deal comes with additional revenues.
Former Gov. Tim Kaine, who is running for Senate, said on Tuesday Washington needed to come to a compromise. Kaine also expressed concern about the nation's AAA bond rating. Here's what Kaine said in a news release:
“The 11th hour negotiating tactics in Washington have brought this country to the brink of another economic crisis. Failure to raise the debt ceiling and enact substantial spending reductions would result in unacceptable, completely avoidable economic calamity. Those who have attempted to use the debt ceiling negotiations as a bargaining chip have put us at extreme risk and their political games have likely rendered a short-term fix unacceptable to credit rating agencies."
Kaine's likely opponent for the Senate seat, George Allen, put out a release criticizing an op-ed Kaine penned in the Daily Press advocating additional tax revenues. Allen is a former governor and U.S. senator, who is now running for his old seat.
He was defeated in 2006 by now retiring Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat. While Kaine's release played up his experience as a Virginia governor, Bill Riggs, a spokesman for Allen made sure to note Kaine's affiliation with Obama as former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Here's the statement from Riggs:
“As top advocate for the Washington’s explosive spending policies that made trillion dollar deficits the norm, it’s not surprising that Chairman Kaine is the one of last Democrats still standing with President Obama on massive tax hikes. Job-killing tax increases and more government spending won’t solve our debt crisis, it will only jeopardize jobs and hurt an already anemic economy. It’s clear that Chairman Kaine will be a Senator for President Obama and his Washington allies, while George Allen will be a Senator for Virginia.”
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