$3 Trillion More in Debt---and Still Nothing to Show for It

DENVER - The Treasury Department reported this morning that the U.S. government has accumulated an additional $3 trillion dollars in debt since Michael Bennet was appointed Senator.  On January 22, 2009---the day Bennet was sworn in as Senator---the national debt was $10.618 trillion.  Treasury reported that at the end of business on October 15, 2010, the debt soared to $13.665 trillion.

"Congratulations, Michael Bennet. As President Obama’s rubberstamp in Washington, you are responsible for putting Americans another $3 trillion in debt in your short 20 months in office,” said John Swartout, campaign manager of Buck for Colorado. “Yet as Senator Bennet himself admitted just weeks ago, we are ‘trillions in debt and nothing to show for it.’”

On the stump, Bennet has recently bemoaned the fact that the U.S. is "trillions in debt, and nothing to show for it."  When shocked audiences have asked Bennet how he can complain about the debt when he has approved back-to-back budgets increasing the national debt by $1.4 trillion, Bennet has read from the "Blame it on Bush" playbook and claimed the fiscal mess isn't his fault.  In sharp contrast to Bennet, Ken Buck has blamed Washington---both profligate spending Republicans and Democrats---for the ruinous debt and out-of-control spending.

“This election is about creating jobs and turning around the economy, something Senator Bennet would rather avoid. In the first general election debate, Bennet said he had worn out his shoes on the campaign trail.  I now understand why: Bennet has been running as fast as he can from his own record of budget-busting spending," continued Swartout. “Bennet has been a quick study of Washington-style hypocrisy, blaming everyone but himself for our debt. Bennet may try to avoid being held accountable, but Coloradans don't respect slippery politicians who won't take responsibility for their votes. Bennet may not understand that about Colorado, but he'll be made to understand that on November 2.”

Ken Buck has been the only candidate in the Colorado Senate race to put forward serious solutions to rein in Washington's spending, including rolling back non-defense discretionary spending, slowing the growth of entitlements, cutting federal workers' bloated salaries, and passing a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment.  Meanwhile, Michael Bennet voted for the $862 billion stimulus, the auto bailouts, federal worker pay hikes, and was the deciding vote on the government's health care takeover.

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