Scott Kleeb on Budget & Economy

Democratic Challenger

Bush & Johanns created current failed policies

Kleeb frequently tried to link Johanns to failed policies in Washington and Lincoln. Kleeb said the only way to change the status quo was to elect new candidates like him. "The greatest risk we have is that nothing will change," said Kleeb, who blamed the nation's budget deficit, energy troubles and economic woes on the Bush administration, which once included Johanns. Source: 2008 Nebraska Senate debate reported in Omaha World-Herald Sep 16, 2008

Return to pay-as-you-go spending

The state of the nation's economy was an issue. "We need to return to pay-as-you-go spending. Which means what we do in our family budgets everyday and that means not spend more money than we have," Kleeb said.

"Grow the economy, pull back on spending and good things are going to happen," Johanns said. "And if you sustain that over a period of time you will not only balance the budget but just as I did as mayor you can actually start to rebuild that."

Source: 2008 Nebraska Senate debate reported in Lincoln News Aug 24, 2008

End pork-barrel spending

Because of unbridled spending, every child born in America today is already saddled with $30,000 of debt. We cannot continue to mortgage our nation's future and pass off trillions of dollars in debt to our children & grandchildren. Scott Kleeb, a fiscal conservative, believes it is a moral imperative for Washington to stop unchecked deficit spending.

A principled, pay-as-you-go approach to spending. For the last two years, Congress has made a great effort to retur to the pay-as-you-go approach to spending. This means spending only the money you have, not the money you wish you had. Most Nebraskans already use this approach to balancing their checkbook each month.
Ending pork-barrel spending. Washington has allowed special interest groups to line their pockets with our tax dollars through earmarks. Scott Kleeb believes the time has come to increase transparency in earmark spending so the American taxpayers know where their money is going and why.

Source: Campaign booklet, Nebraska's Brand of Change, p. 4 Aug 19, 2008

Return to pay-as-you-go budgeting rules

It is the responsibility of every policymaker to live within a responsible budget as that remains critical to securing our economic future. The cost of our federal debt is one of the fastest growing costs to American taxpayers and increasingly threatens many investments in our nation's future growth. To ensure our government respects fiscal responsibility, we must re-instate PAYGO Rules whereby any new commitments or tax changes are offset with cuts to other programs or new revenues. Source: Campaign website, www.ScottKleeb.com May 14, 2008

Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy. Click here for a profile of Scott Kleeb. Click here for SenateMatch answers by Scott Kleeb. Agree? Disagree? Voice your opinions on Budget & Economy in The Forum. Click here for a summary of Scott Kleeb's positions on all issues. Click here for issue positions of other NE politicians.
*Other candidates on Budget & Economy:*		*Scott Kleeb on other issues:*
*NE Gubernatorial:* Dave Heineman *NE Senatorial:* Ben Nelson Chuck Hagel Steven Larrick Tony Raimondo *2008 Senate retirements:* Wayne Allard(R,CO) Larry Craig(R,ID) Pete Domenici(R,NM) Chuck Hagel(R,NE) Trent Lott(R,MS) Craig Thomas(R,WY) John Warner(R,VA) *Incoming Obama Administration:* Pres.Barack Obama V.P.Joe Biden State:Hillary Clinton HHS:Tom Daschle Staff:Rahm Emanuel DHS:Janet Napolitano DOC:Bill Richardson DoD:Robert Gates A.G.:Eric Holder Treas.:Tim Geithner	*Winners of 2008 Senate Races:* ( * if new to the Senate) AK:Begich over Stevens AL:Sessions AR:Pryor CO:Udall DE:Biden and Kaufman GA:Chambliss v.Martin (Dec. 2 runoff) IA:Harkin ID:Risch IL:Durbin KS:Roberts KY:McConnell LA:Landrieu MA:Kerry ME:Collins MI:Levin MN:Coleman v.Franken (recounting as of Dec.1) MS4:Wicker MS6:Cochran MT:Baucus NC:Hagan over Dole NE:Johanns NH:Shaheen over Sununu NJ:Lautenberg NM:Udall OK:Inhofe OR:Merkley over Smith RI:Reed SC:Graham SD:Johnson TN:Alexander TX:Cornyn VA:*Warner WV:Rockefeller WY4:Barrasso WY6:Enzi	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Jobs Principles Social Security Tax Reform Technology War/Peace Welfare Other Senators House of Representatives SenateMatch (matching quiz) Senate Votes (analysis) House Votes Bill Sponsorships Affiliations Policy Reports Group Ratings

Page last updated: Dec 03, 2008