Cotton Would Have Opposed Final Debt Deal

Tom Cotton, who is currently the only announced candidate for the Fourth Congressional District open seat for either party, appeared on KARN’s Dave Elswick show yesterday afternoon where he answered questions from listeners for over an hour.

Responding to one question, he said he would not have voted for the final legislation voted on last week regarding the compromise to extend the debt ceiling while making around $2.3 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years.  All four Arkansas Representatives and both Senators voted for the final bill.

Cotton explained that he would have supported the Cut, Cap, and Balance proposal passed by House Republicans before being defeated in the Senate, but that he had serious concerns over the details of the final debt compromise and could not have vote for it.  He pointed to the many closed-door, back-room meetings that went into the bill and said he would want to see a more transparent process.  In addition, he said the structure of the spending cut triggers have the potential to cause too many cuts to defense spending that could weaken our military.

Cotton said if he is elected, he would want to see not only spending cuts, but structural changes to the way the federal budgets are implemented.

During the hour, he discussed a number of issues, including the federal health care bill, saying that he would be "leading the charge to repeal ObamaCare," which in his view will be a burden on job creators and stand in the way of economic growth.

In addition to talk radio, Cotton is in the process of making the rounds with members of the media and local political insiders.  I am not sure I fit in that list but he was kind enough to invite me anyway to a meeting Wednesday evening to talk with some other politicos and discuss his campaign.  I can tell you that he comes across well in person and seems to have a very realistic idea about what it takes to run for Congress.  Right now, he appears to be focused on traveling the Fourth Congressional District to meet with voters while putting together his campaign team and, of course, raising the money needed to fund his campaign.  I would not be surprised to see his name on the NRCC Young Guns "On the Radar" list soon.