It's The Spending, Stupid
By Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)
The race in New York is not an arm-wrestling contest at all. It is, quite simply, a referendum on this government’s spending addiction. The uproar and dissent of the people of New York’s northernmost congressional district send a clear message to Washington: it’s the spending, stupid. I am fearful that through all the spin, whether intended to claim victory or soften the blow of defeat, we in Washington will fail to hear, or to correctly interpret, the message. We must stop the reckless spending, and we must stop it now.
I know that spending is not a sexy topic, nor does it easily lend itself to endless hours of dissection by political analysts. It is apparently too simple, too straightforward and too obvious to be recognizable to many on the left and even to some on the right.
Scozzafava was unfavorable as a candidate not because she was a social moderate but because she did not have a track record of practicing fiscal discipline. The takeaway for Republicans should be that limited government and strict fiscal discipline — core principles of our party — are essential now more than ever.
I am hopeful that moderate Republican voices will not be discouraged by the spin they see regarding the “meaning of NY-23.” Pundits and papers that describe Scozzafava’s departure as “emboldening the right” are missing the point. The voters are the ones emboldened. They are emboldened by the Obama administration’s insatiable appetite for spending. That same urge has poised Democrats to take over the health care industry, among other trillion-dollar debacles, creating yet more unsustainable expenditures.
Doug Hoffman’s ascendance is a referendum on the reckless spending of the Obama administration and the Pelosi-Reid Congress. It is a statement of the need for Congress to exhibit fiscal restraint. I hear the message loud and clear, and I hope my colleagues hear it too.
Read the rest at Politico
Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) serves on Agriculture, Budget and Natural Resources committees.
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Nov 3, 2009 at 11:45 PM