Better Late Than Never...Republican House Candidate Comes Out Against The "Stimulus" Bill

It's amazing but Jim Tedisco, Republican candidate for the House in NY's 20th Congressional District, has finally said he would have voted against Obama's so-called "stimulus" bill after weeks of playing coy about his position.

No, no, no, 1,000 times no. That’s pretty much the answer that Assembly Republican Minority Leader and Congressional candidate Jim Tedisco finally gave, after weeks of being beaten up for his refusal to answer, as to how he’d vote on the $780 billion federal stimulus bill.

“No. That’s the answer,” said Tedisco, who is running for the 20th Congressional district seat formerly held by Kirsten Gillibrand.

“I’m going on the record now to say I would have voted no.”

...Tedisco added that he’s taking his “no” stance after hearing from constituents in the district. We’re not sure of this yet, but there could be some poll numbers to indicate that people are having doubts about the stimulus, given the ongoing slump in the stock market and what seems to be ever-rising unemployment.

Gee, a heavily Republican district against the 'stimulus'? Who would have thought? And yet this guy had to wait to be told it was a bad idea. No wonder his lead is down to 4 points from 12 two weeks earlier.

Tedisco also said he supports the efforts of NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to get information about the AIG bonuses. If you've been reading the comments on the earlier AIG thread, you'll see I think this is mostly cheap political theater but given the status of Republicans these days, it's probably best to be on the right side of the audience (and at least be willing to look into what, if anything can be done about the bonuses)*.

*I added the last part in the parenthesis to be clear I'm not saying Republicans should support doing "something" but there's nothing wrong with seeing if there are any legal means currently available.

posted by DrewM. at 02:19 PM

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