Running for U.S. Senate in a state like Virginia that prides itself on its fiscal restraint, Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine are trying to avoid being drawn into the political mudslinging on Capitol Hill over how to get federal spending under control. Allen is embracing parts of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to trim the federal deficit by about $6 trillion over the next 10 years, including tax cuts, dramatic reductions in federal spending and Ryan’s proposal to convert Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income residents, into a block program run by the state.
But Allen has remained mum on Ryan’s proposed reforms to Medicare, which would convert the popular program to a voucher system — a proposal Democrats are widely crediting with helping them win a special House election in New York this week that heavily favored Republicans until their nominee embraced Ryan’s plan.
Between Ryan’s plan and President Obama’s more modest proposal, Kaine would support the Obama plan, spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said. Obama proposed cutting the deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years through tax increases and spending cuts, including reductions in defense spending.
“That being said, he’s extremely interested in seeing what the bipartisan coalition lead by Senator [Mark] Warner puts forward and continues to believe that a bipartisan approach is the only way to arrive at a proposal both parties can support,” Hoffine said.
Efforts by the so-called “Gang of Six,” led by Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., to craft a bipartisan budget proposal stalled after Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., took a sabbatical from the group following a dispute over Medicare cuts.
Jamie Radtke, one of several Republicans challenging Allen for the party’s Senate nomination, is embracing Ryan’s plan and calling on Allen to do likewise.
Still, it’s understandable that Kaine and Allen are largely hunkering down in their respective corners so early in the race, said Stephen Farnsworth of George Mason University.
“The people who support the Ryan plan are being attacked for planning to cut Medicare; the people who support the Obama plan are being attacked for not taking the issue seriously enough,” he said. “What we are talking about here politically is as difficult as threading a needle.”
