FLOYD: VOTE PROVES DC DEMOCRATS OUT OF TOUCH WITH STATE

Columbia, S.C. – Nov. 10, 2009 – State Republican Party Chairman Karen Floyd today issued the following statement on U.S. Representatives John Spratt and Jim Clyburn’s votes on the government takeover of healthcare passed this weekend:

“This bill is a tragedy for our nation, because of costs it will pass on to future generations; because of the healthcare decisions it will take from doctors and patients, and put into the hands of bureaucrats; and because of its crippling impact on small businesses,” Floyd said. “Last Tuesday, voters in New Jersey and Virginia rejected Obama’s radical liberal agenda. Just today, one of our state universities released a poll of southerners showing that more than half of those surveyed disapprove of Obama’s handling of healthcare. But for whatever reason, Washington’s Democratic insiders like Spratt and Clyburn are not getting the message, and are instead carrying the water on the president’s far-left agenda.

“The state Republican Party is incredibly pleased that we are going to be able to offer voters in the 5th District a clear choice next November, with Mick Mulvaney. His candidacy represents a stark contrast to the big government agenda Representative Spratt has embraced, and we are looking forward to instead putting a real conservative like Mick who represents South Carolina values in Congress.”

Attached is Senator Mulvaney’s statement on the Spratt vote.

Mulvaney Condemns Spratt Vote

In the wake of the dramatic midnight vote on HR 3962, the so-called “Affordable Health Care for America Act,” South Carolina State Senator Mick Mulvaney slammed John Spratt’s vote in favor of the controversial bill.

“This bill represents the biggest expansion of government in history. It represents the biggest spending increase in history. It represents the biggest intrusion of government into our lives in history,” Mulvaney said. “There may have been a time when John Spratt would not have allowed this to happen without a fight. Those days are apparently gone. South Carolina, and our nation, are worse for it.

“The more I read about the bill, the more troubling it becomes,” Mulvaney noted. “For example, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, failure to purchase health insurance, or pay the fine for doing so, could result in 5 years in jail. Is that really what this country is coming to?”

The National Republican Congressional Committee wondered what was motivating Spratt. “In the last year, his reckless leadership of the House Budget Committee has helped push the national deficit to record heights. He’s backed Wall Street bailouts, a massive new energy tax and now, Obama’s healthcare takeover. On the heels of Mick Mulvaney’s entry into the race, you have to ask: did Spratt vote for this monstrosity because he’s turned into a wild-eyed liberal, or is he just too tired to stand up for South Carolinians on his way out the door?” Andy Seré, NRCC spokesman, said in a written statement.

“The battle lines are getting very clear for the next election,” Mulvaney noted. “Folks will have a simple choice: more government, more spending, more taxes, more bureaucracy, more debt…in short, more of the same…or fiscal responsibility, a check on the Obama administration, and some common-sense.”

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