Broun’s stance against GOP budget drives Senate race
Posted: 8:49 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, 2013
By Daniel Malloy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution…
Georgia
(Mar 21, 2013) — Posted: 8:49 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Publication
Link To Article
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/brouns-stance-against-gop-budget-drives-senate-rac/nWyJm/By Daniel Malloy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Paul Broun has declared the House Republican budget proposal
insufficiently conservative, positioning himself once again to the right of his potential
Republican competitors for the U.S. Senate.
The vote scheduled Thursday provides the latest measuring stick of how much other
Senate-eyeing House members hew their voting records to that of the arch-conservative
Broun, which will shape the race over the next year and a half.
Put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the plan balances the budget within 10 years,
repeals the Affordable Care Act and imposes major revisions on the Medicare and Medicaid
health insurance programs.
It’s not enough for Broun, of Athens, who said allowing an increase in federal spending
in future years is too much to bear. And he’s saying it to anyone who will listen,
from interviews to an op-ed article in The New York Times.
Broun voted for the Ryan budget in 2011, even though it spent far more than this year’s
version. Broun said he did so as a show of support for the new House’s first big attempt
at a Medicare overhaul. He missed the vote last year because a meeting ran long but
said he would have been a “no.” …
Running to the right is typical for GOP primaries, but Kennesaw State University political
science professor Kerwin Swint said Broun’s positioning is the kind of thing that
gives some Republicans chills.
“The fear is twofold: First the fear is that Paul Broun is going to get nominated,
and second of all that whoever does get nominated, like (last year’s Republican presidential
nominee) Mitt Romney, is going to be pulled so far to the right that it makes them
vulnerable,” Swint said. “That may be truer in other places than in Georgia, but conceivably
that could still happen in Georgia. It’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its nearly 43,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.