In the midst of the major budget battle in Washington that threatens to shut down the federal government, Democratic congressional candidate Kathleen C. Hochul has offered her own plan while challenging her competitors to do the same.
"I support a compromise that reduces spending by $30 billion to $40 billion," Hochul said. "The House and Senate are in the middle of a dangerous standoff, and the only way to avoid a massive government shutdown that could disrupt essential services, like veterans’ benefits, new Social Security claims, student loans, and critical job training services, is by coming to a compromise on the budget.”
For the past several days, she has called on Republican Jane L. Corwin and Tea Party candidate Jack Davis to follow her lead and declare their own positions -- to no avail.
Until today.
That's when Davis chimed in with his views -- sort of. Here is his statement:
"Washington politicians are bickering like children. It’s another example of how both parties have failed us. They are doing nothing to put Americans back to work, which is essential to balancing the budget and securing Social Security for seniors.
"Right now, about 56 percent of Americans over the age of 16 are gainfully employed. If that percentage rises to 64 percent, then the budget deficit disappears entirely. If the Washington politicians took the budget deficit seriously, they’d be focusing on increasing the number of jobs for Americans instead of shipping our jobs overseas.
"Both parties continue to push trade deals like NAFTA that have destroyed our economy and our children's future. Both parties continue to spend valuable tax dollars around the globe instead of putting Americans first.
"We need to bring our troops home from places like Germany and Italy that have not seen hostilities in more than a half a century. We need to end our endless wars in the Middle East. We need to stop giving money to every country on earth. We need to create American jobs and put tariffs on China’s unfair imports.
"The money saved from doing these things would solve the problems that Washington politicians use to threaten a shut down."
--Robert J. McCarthy
