Herseth Sandlin: Fiscally responsible or irresponsible?
Mitchell Daily Republic Blog - by Seth Tupper:
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., touted the passage of pay-go rules yesterday but also supported allowing the government to go $1.9 trillion deeper in debt. The pay-go rules, as I understand them, basically require that Congress find savings or new revenue to offset any new spending.
Herseth Sandlin called pay-go's passage an "enormous victory for anyone who cares about our country's fiscal future." On the debt issue, she said "It's up to the party in power, I guess, to make sure the United States doesn't default on its debt and that we pay our bills. … It's the responsible thing to do, even though it’s not a popular vote."
Predictably, Republicans pounced. The National Republican Congressional Committee and Republican U.S. House candidates Blake Curd and Chris Nelson fired off statements criticizing Herseth Sandlin's votes as contradictory.
"Rep. Herseth Sandlin claims to be concerned with fiscal responsibility, but the reality is she has supported every major spending bill Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat majority have put forward," Curd said.
"Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin turned her back on South Dakota families again today when she approved a measure to increase the country’s debt ceiling by nearly $2 trillion, allowing her party to continue passing off the tab for their runaway spending," saidthe NRCC.
"The incumbent Representative has painted herself as a 'fiscal conservative blue dog Democrat,'" said Chris Nelson. "A review of today’s vote and the Congressional Record shows otherwise."
Who do you side with on this issue -- Herseth Sandlin, or the people who are trying to unseat her?
