Is Radtke Ready For Primetime?

Its clear she will run on the Tea Party dogma, but is she ready?  Riley blows her quote in the WSJ apart, where she references Republicans cutting taxes that added to the debt.  Riley rightly points out that these were not tax cuts, but simply sustaining the current tax rate and keeping them from going up.  The reason for adding to the national debt falls squarely on the Democratic leadership for not taking a vote on this issue before issuing a budget.  The CBO scores the budget based on law, and the law said that taxes would go up so Congressional Democrats wrote those tax increases into the budget, instead of voting up or down on the Bush tax cuts before writing the budget.  The reason it hut the national debt isn't because taxes were cut, but rather because Democrats assumed taxes would be raised in the new year; not taking into account how the election would turn out.  From what I know of Ms. Radtke, she has experience in Congress as a staffer to Jesse Helms, so one might think she would get that little fact straight.  What Congress did was not raise taxes, but maintain levels.  The debt went up because Democrats wrote those increses into the budget.

Its of course very early, but one has to wonder given this strange comment on taxes, is Ms. Radtke ready? 

Comments

[Unspooled Right Winger]

You know, if we want to actually get control of the deficit and debt then this silly partisan "nanny nanny boo boo it's really all the Democrats fault" nonsense is not going to get us there.

You can call it a "tax increase" if that suits the cause of blind partisanship and makes you happy. But like most political spin it is bullshit.

What was passed was a temporary extension of what was already a temporary tax cut. And why did the Republican Congress and Republican president who originally passed these tax cuts make the cuts temporary rather than permanent? Because, with their slim majority in the Senate, they couldn't muster the votes to overcome a filibuster and make them permanent. The only way they could pass them was by using budget reconciliation. But to pass them that way they couldn't be permanent if they added to the deficit. And objective scoring showed that what have become known as the Bush Tax Cuts added to the deficit. So they had to sunset them.

So, free of partisan spin, it is undeniable that these tax cuts have been adding to our national debt since their inception and now they will continue to do so for another two years. Radtke is right about that.

Republicans talk talk talk about deficits and debt. But talk is cheap. Too many Republican office holders have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate by their actions that they are nothing but talk. They never actually do anything about the problem.

If Radtke is serious about cutting the deficit by both cutting spending AND foregoing budget busting tax cuts that require us to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars more then maybe she is very ready for prime time. And stands head and shoulders above the Republican phonies who persist in saying one thing while doing the opposite.

I understand these Republicans want to buy votes by running up the debt. But haven't we at last reached the point where we understand that can't go on forever?

Maybe we need more Radtkes. And less partisan spin by politicians determined to bankrupt us if that helps them win the next election..

[Freddie]

Jamie Radtke has responded to VV's post. Her statement was cropped. She did not want the tax increase.

[Willie Deutsch]

My problem with the quote was that she wasn't shooting straight about why she decided to run. It was common knowledge in a lot of VA political circles she was running long before that deal was negotiated. Her and her supporters were actively seeking endorsements before that point.

She may be a great senate candidate who knows. :)

[Riley]

She has provided us with her full statement (which we have now posted) and are satisfied that the WSJ quote gave the wrong impression.

[HenricoConservative]

I disagree with Bob Marshall. Jamie Radtke is not a "blank slate". She is well known in Virginia politics as a long time politico and opportunist who co-opted the Tea Party movement to advance her own ambitions.