McAuliffe Sends Letter Urging VA Delegation to Avoid Government Shutdown

From the McAuliffe campaign. Meanwhile, as we speak, Ken Cuccinelli’s pal Ted Cruz – and the rest of his Tea Party buddies – are trying as hard as they can to shut down the government due to their crazed, bizarre obsession with “Obamacare” (a law, I’d note, which is extremely similar to “Romneycare” and to the 1993 Republican alternative to “Hillarycare”). It speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is sending a letter to members of the Virginia congressional delegation today urging them to work in a bipartisan way to avoid a government shutdown. The letter is below and attached.

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September 24, 2013

To the Virginia Congressional Delegation:

As we near the end of this fiscal year, I urge all members of Virginia’s congressional delegation to stop using the threat of a government shutdown as a bargaining chip in other negotiations, including over the health care law. We cannot let ideological battles get in the way of what is best for our economy and our communities, particularly when those battles endanger our economic recovery and our military’s ability to keep us safe.

Virginia has weathered the recession better than most states, and our economy remains stable. As the number one recipient of federal dollars, however, and the home of one of the East Coast’s largest military bases, Virginia cannot afford a federal government shutdown.

Last week, Reuters reported that across the board spending cuts to the military “would jeopardize the Army’s new weapons programs and would further erode training for our soldiers.” Pentagon officials stated that if the government shuts down, servicemen and women would not receive paychecks until the government opens once again. This would not only put our national security at risk, it would also undermine the ability of the thousands of Virginians employed by the U.S. military to support themselves and their families. We need to put bipartisan compromise ahead of party ideology and focus on growing our economy, not put greater burdens on Virginia’s middle class families.

I am very disappointed that my opponent has refused to stand up to extreme members of the Tea Party faction who would rather put our entire economy in danger than focus on the job we sent them to Washington to do. Governor McDonnell today was right when he condemned those who want to force a shutdown to wage an ideological battle over the healthcare law, stating, “we can’t hold federal workers and our federal government hostage with that.”

I urge my opponent and all of you to follow in Governor McDonnell’s lead and the lead of mainstream Republicans and Democrats across the nation who understand that a government shutdown will be detrimental to Virginia’s families and our economy. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle must find bipartisan compromise to avert a government shutdown.

Virginia and our nation want leaders who will find commonsense solutions to the real challenges our communities face. For too long we have seen extreme factions of political parties threaten our economy and our national security when they don’t get everything they want.

Today Governor McDonnell said that “we need to keep fighting through the process,” to avoid a shutdown. We sent you to Washington because we knew you would fight for what is best for Virginia, and we are calling on you now to do everything you can to ensure Virginia’s economy can continue to move forward.  

Regards,

Terry McAuliffe