George Allen in The New York Times 2010s

On Tax Reform: No tax increases; no defense cuts; no bargaining

Allen, who has made those defense cuts the centerpiece of his campaign of late, offered only vague solutions. He said repealing President Obama's health care law would help; and he proposed a flat tax that households could voluntarily choose over the existing tax code.

What he said repeatedly was that he would not entertain any tax increases to solve nation's budget morass or keep the government from heading off a "fiscal cliff" in January, when all Bush-era tax cuts expire and across-the-board spending cuts go into force. He accused Democrats of using the pending defense cuts to force Republicans to bargain over taxes. "The men and women in our armed forces should never be used as bargaining chips to raise taxes on job-creating small businesses," he said.