Republican presidential primary front-runner Mitt Romney rejected the debt ceiling deal reached over the weekend, saying it will lead to tax increases and cuts in military spending.
“As president, my plan would have produced a budget that was cut, capped and balanced — not one that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table,” Romney said in a statement.
“President Obama’s leadership failure has pushed the economy to the brink at the eleventh hour and 59th minute. While I appreciate the extraordinarily difficult situation President Obama’s lack of leadership has placed Republican Members of Congress in, I personally cannot support this deal,” Romney said.
Romney’s statement came after critics — including fellow Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman — assailed the former Massachusetts governor for not weighing in sooner on the debt negotiations. Romney advisers said they were taking a cautious approach to avoid commenting before the contours of a deal became clear.
The assertion that the deal will raise taxes flies in the face of predictions from conservative pundits that it will be nearly impossible for Democrats to wring any tax increases out of the new committee charged with coming up with the second of round deficit reduction measures.
Huntsman, the former U.S. ambassador to China and Utah governor, supported the deal in a statement on Sunday night, saying that it “forces a vote on a much-needed federal balanced budget amendment and provides the only avenue to avoid default.”
But Romney’s rejection of the deal put him on the same page, in this case at least, with Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who blasted the agreement soon after details emerged Sunday evening. Bachmann mocked President Obama, who said in announcing the deal that “the American people’s voice” had helped hasten the agreement.
{Huffington Post/Matzav.com Newscenter}
