Berkley, Heller go on offensive

The race for U.S. Senate in Nevada flared Wednesday when both candidates took turns going on the offensive, highlighting issues popular to their supporters while taking unsubtle digs at each other.

In short order:

Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley urged Congress to continue federal unemployment payments into the upcoming year -- while calling attention to a 2010 speech in which opponent Sen. Dean Heller wondered whether continuing to extend jobless benefits might create a new generation of "hobos."

"No one wants to be out of work," Berkley said in a House speech. "And no one wants to be called a hobo."

Heller, the Republican incumbent, called reporters around the state to pressure Berkley to vote for a constitutional amendment to balance the budget that GOP leaders have put before the House this week.

During the call, he said the Las Vegas lawmaker voted in recent years for high-cost initiatives proposed by President Barack Obama, including health care reform, the economic stimulus bill, the "cash for clunkers" auto buyback and a "bailout" bill for state governments.

"I think that needs to stop, and that is why I am making the argument that Congresswoman Berkley needs to vote for this balanced budget amendment," Heller said.  "We will not be able to create jobs if we do not get our spending habits in order."

Both lawmakers were acting on the issues of the day. A group of Democrats including Berkley introduced a bill this month to extend jobless benefits that expire at the end of the year, and they are promoting it before Thanksgiving. Heller was talking up the pending balanced budget vote.

But it also provided a pre-holiday opportunity for the candidates to attempt contrasts on issues attractive to their bases. Berkley is positioning as the candidate more attuned to the thousands of jobless and other struggling Nevadans. Heller is campaigning as a fiscal conservative on issues, such as the balanced budget amendment, that polls say are popular among voters.

Not surprisingly, both candidates rejected the criticism from their opponent.

Responding to Heller's challenge, Berkley said she will not vote for the balanced budget amendment. She pointed to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities this week that it could force cuts in federal programs by an average 17.3 percent by 2018. Unless they are exempted, reductions would fall on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and children's federal health insurance, the analysis said.

"We must cut spending, but not by pulling the rug out from under Nevada's seniors," Berkley said. 

Berkley later said through her Senate campaign manager that she would vote for a balanced budget amendment that included "iron-clad protections" for Social Security, Medicare and veterans programs. But this one did not meet that standard, she said.

For his part,  Heller said that like Berkley, he has voted in favor of extending unemployment benefits, "so what's her issue?"

Heller also maintained that his comment about "hobos," made to an audience in Elko, was not his personal view, but rather from a study by Lawrence Lindsey, an economist for President George W. Bush. His office provided a letter from Lindsey to Heller on the topic.

"They weren't my words," Heller said.