Pennsylvania Senate candidate, Republican Pat Toomey, highlighted his economic plans for the country during a breakfast hosted by the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce Friday.
“If we continue down this road, with the amount of debt we’re going to impose upon our kids, is a future in which it’s very hard to imagine how they could hope to even achieve the level of prosperity that we've come to enjoy,” Mr. Toomey said. “There's never been a generation of Americans that have handed over to their kids a diminished country. And we can't let it happen now.”
Mr. Toomey reiterated his position against the current economic policies put in place by President Obama, touted his credibility as a businessman and called out his opponent, Congressman Joe Sestak (D – Penn.), for supporting President Barack Obama’s policies.
“The contrast between myself and Joe Sestak is the starkest as it can be. I think this whole agenda has been a huge mistake. I think its taking us in the direction of the European welfare states and predictably, if pursued, will, very predictably, lead to the economic sclerosis that they've experienced for years,” Mr. Toomey said. “Joe Sestak's attitude is that he's in favor of all of it and his only criticism is that it doesn't go far enough.”
Criticism ranged from Mr. Obama growing the government significantly and Mr. Sestak’s support for those measures, among them bailouts, stimulus and cap and trade. Mr. Sestak voted to bailout the auto industry, to provide stimulus funds and to Mr. Obama’s health care reforms.
"I believe that Washington is completely lacking in any sense of humility these days and it's a big, big problem,” Mr. Toomey said. “Serial bailouts, nationalizing whole industries, spending on a scale we've never seen before, unprecedented deficits and debt that are completely unsustainable, cap and trade, card check, government run health care, politicizing the allocation of credit. This is an agenda that is having the chilling effect on job growth.”
Monday Mr. Sestak rolled out a pro-business stance himself, urging Democrats to understand “‘business’ is a good word, particularly when ‘small’ is in front of it” while calling for small business tax credits, pay-as-you-go budgeting for the federal government, closing corporate tax loopholes and reforming entitlement spending.
A Rasmussen Reports poll Friday found Mr. Toomey holds a six percent lead over Mr. Sestak, largely unchanged from a similar poll conducted two weeks ago. The poll also found 20 percent of Pennsylvanians hold a “Very Favorable” opinion of Toomey, with 12 percent see him as Very Unfavorable. Sestak has similar numbers – 19 percent view him Very Favorably, while 18 percent view him Very Unfavorably.
Matt Coyne is an intern at the PA Independent. He can be reached at intern@paindependent.com
