Ed Gillespie Now Says He Supports Tea Party Obstruction

From the DPVA…this Gillespie guy is truly a piece of work.

Says He Would Have Voted With Ted Cruz to Block Debt Limit Increase

Demonstrates Appalling Hypocrisy on His Role in Bush Deficits & Debt

RICHMOND – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ed Gillespie says he would have stood with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the Tea Party on Feb. 12 and voted ‘no’ on the debt limit increase. Gillespie told The Hill newspaper on Friday that he would have voted ‘no’ even though bipartisan votes in the U.S. House and Senate to approve a “clean” extension of the government’s borrowing authority — one without strings attached — prevented another fiscal standoff and potential government shutdown.

“I would have voted 'no' on the clean debt limit increase and as part of a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, I will help set priorities that will bring down our national debt,” Gillespie told The Hill on Friday in response to specific questions about his position on the Feb. 12 debt ceiling vote. Gillespie, a leading D.C. lobbyist and former Bush Administration political strategist, faces Tea Party challenger Shak Hill in his efforts to win the Virginia GOP nomination in June.

“It could have been a simple 50-vote requirement, with Democrats delivering the votes to lift the debt limit, but Cruz insisted [on a 60-vote threshold],” the Associated Press reported.  Cruz and the Tea Party “showed no mercy,” the AP reported, “exposing Republican leaders to widespread criticism over the procedural vote on the debt limit… Pressed after the vote about what he made his leaders do, Cruz was unapologetic … It wasn’t the first time Cruz, a tea party favorite, had created massive headaches for Republicans. Last fall, he and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, precipitated the 16-day government shutdown,” according to the AP.

That Tea Party’s 16-day shutdown last October jeopardized the family finances of hundreds of thousands of federal workers who live and work in Virginia, and negatively impacted important federal agency services that millions of Virginians rely upon each day.