Amodei, Marshall don’t support Boehner debt proposal

Both Republican Mark Amodei and Democrat Kate Marshall said Thursday they would vote against U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling if they were in Congress.

The two rivals in a Sept. 13 special election for the 2nd Congressional District had very different reasons, however, according to written answers provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Amodei, a former state senator, said he opposed increasing the debt beyond the current $14.3 trillion limit because government should reduce spending instead of borrowing more money to pay its bills. His position aligns with the most fiscally conservative Republicans in Congress.

Marshall, who is state treasurer, said it's not sound economic policy to lift the U.S. debt ceiling in several steps. That's what Boehner is proposing instead of increasing it enough to last through the end of 2012 as the country moves to meet an Aug. 2 deadline to avoid defaulting on its debt.

Her position aligns with that of President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who want the longer extension.

Here are the candidates' direct answers to the question: How would you vote on House Speaker John Boehner's debt bill if you were in Congress? And why?

MARSHALL: Both conservatives and liberals agree that merely delaying a real solution for six months is the wrong thing for our economy, and frankly it's a cop-out.

Congress needs to deal with this crisis now, and not continue to put our economy, jobs and middle class at risk from this turmoil and uncertainty.

AMODEI: As I have said before, I do not support a proposal that raises the debt ceiling, as President Obama and Sen. Harry Reid, among others, have advocated for. Doing so would give President Obama and Senator Reid another credit extension to run up trillions more in debt that will be owed to countries like China.

The president and other Democrats need to understand that any solution must balance the federal budget and include a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. It cannot raise taxes, it must reduce spending to acceptable levels as recommended by Moody's and other investor agencies. And it must enact safeguards to require government to live within its means by enacting spending caps indexed to population.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.