When Democrats in the House of Representatives stumbled attempting to reauthorize unemployment insurance in May, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) observed that the unforeseen wave of Democratic deficit hysteria had organic roots: It came from members who represented districts with low unemployment rates.
New Hampshire Democrat Paul Hodes, a musician who campaigned in 2004 on a "Rock and Roll Back the Deficit Tour" and who represents a state with unemployment well below the national average, did not join in the calls for deficit reduction. Hodes, who is running for Senate, would prefer to differentiate himself from the Republicans who ultimately filibustered jobless aid for nearly two months.
"We are dealing with extremist, obstructionist, lying hypocrites who think you don't have to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest but are holding up help for the neediest," Hodes told HuffPost during an interview at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas. "Believe me, I understand the long-term deficit crisis. We gotta get to address it. To get there, we have to focus on the short-term jobs crisis we've got and support the fragile economic recovery we're in."
That's a view shared by many economists -- including Mark Zandi, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) -- and by most registered voters, too. <snip>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/24/paul-hodes-gop-deficit-hypocrites_n_658194.html
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