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U.S. Republican presidential candidates take mixed positions on debt deal

02 August 2011 00:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. Republican presidential candidates, who have been mostly silent on the high-stakes debt talks, began on Monday to show where they stand on the last-minute deal reached between President Barack Obama and the country’s Congressional leaders on Sunday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, currently the front- runner in the Republican field, expressed his opposition to the deal announced two days before the projected default deadline.

"As president, my plan would have produced a budget that was cut, capped, and balanced -- not one that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table," Romney said in a statement.

Romney’s move was viewed as trying to differentiate himself from Obama and woo conservative voters, as his moderate stances on a host of issues have aroused concern among conservatives.

"While I appreciate the extraordinarily difficult situation President Obama’s lack of leadership has placed Republican members of Congress in, I personally cannot support this deal," he said.

House Representative Michele Bachmann, who has been an adamant opponent of raising the debt limit, said she was canceling a campaign event in Iowa on Monday to vote against the deal.

"The ’deal’ he announced spends too much and doesn’t cut enough, " the Tea Party favorite said in a statement. "Someone has to say no. I will."

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty called the deal "nothing to celebrate," but short of directly saying whether he support or oppose it.

"Only in Washington would the political class think it’s a victory when the government narrowly avoids default, agrees to go further into debt, and does little to reform a spending system that cannot be sustained by our children and grandchildren," his spokesman Alex Conant said in a statement.

The only major Republican candidate who has stood up in favor of the deal is former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, the Obama administration’s former ambassador to China.

"While this framework is not my preferred outcome, it is a positive step toward cutting our nation’s crippling debt ... I encourage members of Congress to vote for this legislation," he said.