Recently, Jon Runyan held his first press conference. According to the Press of Atlantic City, he outlined his approach, which is not much different than the 1994 Republican Contract on America. Runyan’s eight-point plan is to enact eight specific tax cuts. Even though it has been proven time and again that tax cuts simply increase the deficit and don’t create jobs, Runyan’s platform is a Bush-like gift to corporations and the wealthiest Americans.
To balance the budget, Runyan calls for cutbacks in discretionary spending, but he names not a single program that he would cut. And he calls for cutting back government employment to what he calls the “pre-Obama” levels, despite the fact that historically government has grown under Republican administrations. (According to the US Office of Personnel Management, there are 16% fewer government employees now than there were at the end of the Reagan administration, even though the US population has grown 25% since then.)
Runyan exempts defense spending from his cuts, despite the fact that our Middle East oil wars have cost us over a trillion dollars since 2001 and we have troops deployed all over the world.
So unless the former dirtiest player in the NFL provides more specifics about his platform, we can only conclude that he is simply parroting Tea Bag talking points and there’s no substance to his approach. I’m sure that if he is elected, he won’t be the craziest person in Congress. After all, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, and Louis Gohmert have had a head start. This year, the voters in New Jersey’s Third Congressional District will choose between a 300 pound Sarah Palin clone and a moderate Republican disguised as a Democrat. We deserve better.
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