By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The majority of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives opposed the fiscal cliff deal that their Speaker (John Boehner from Ohio) negotiated with Senate Republicans, Democrats, and President Obama. Only 87 House Republicans voted with the Republican Speaker and none of them were from Alabama. Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead praised the decision by the Republican members of the Alabama Delegation in the House to vote in opposition to the package which raised taxes on 77% of American households.
Chairman Armistead said, “I applaud the Republican Members of the Alabama Delegation in the House for their vote last night for more fiscal restraint. I view their vote against the measure as being in line with the conservative principles we hold dear as Alabama Republicans.”
The outspoken ALGOP Chairman said, “The last minute deal that was cut between the Obama Administration and the Senate Leadership is a symptom of a broken Washington D.C. where they simply ‘kick the can down the road’. Considering this deal was negotiated at gunpoint over the Holiday Season, drafted, introduced and voted on all within a 48-hour window, it is clear to me why so many people hold a deep mistrust of the Federal Government.” Chairman Armistead also criticized Senator Harry Reid (D) from Nevada for opposing the passage of any budget at all for over three years time.
Congresswoman Martha Roby said of her decision to oppose the package: “I ran for Congress campaigning on the need to get government spending under control. A last-minute deal that raises taxes without cutting spending goes against my core beliefs and against the conservative values of Alabama’s Second Congressional District. Alabamians didn’t send me to Washington to raise their taxes so the President can spend more of their hard-earned dollars. You sent me to get control of spending so we can ensure America’s promise for the next generation.”
Chairman Armistead concluded, “It is my sincere hope that Congress wakes up and realizes that pushing a problem off for two months does not mean waiting two months to begin debate. Congress needs to begin addressing the debt ceiling, sequestration and the continuation of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts right now instead of waiting two months and again negotiate with a gun to the head of the American economy.”
Rep. Roby said, “Washington doesn’t have a taxing problem; it has a spending problem. We have $16 trillion in debt. We spend more than a trillion dollars more than we take in every year. It’s past time we get serious about this country’s spending problem and restore fiscal sanity to the budget.”
The only members of Alabama’s congressional delegation who voted for the fiscal cliff deal were Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D) from Selma and Senator Jeff Sessions (R).
