Chambliss: It's about the economy
By John Joyce
Published in News on August 5, 2012 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/TROY HERRING
Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss talks to a group of local members of the Republican Party during a speech at party headquarters in downtown Goldsboro Saturday.
Hope and change promised, but not delivered.
That was the message Saturday as the Wayne County Republican Party welcomed Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.
Chambliss, a North Carolina native, stopped at the downtown headquarters as part of his tour of the region in support of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
It is time for change, he told those gathered.
"It's going to take leadership at the top, real leadership, to turn things around," he said.
Chambliss said America is approaching "a fiscal cliff."
"Unemployment is up. Gas is up. College tuitions are up. What's gone down is middle class income," he said.
The senator cited the ongoing war in Afghanistan, health care and the economy as imperatives for replacing President Barack Obama, and he made it clear that he believes Romney is the man to do it.
"Romney is a very successful business man, by far one of his best assets. He was governor of a very large state," Chambliss said. "He's got real leadership experience, which is something the president didn't have prior to the moment he was sworn into office."
After applauding the efforts of campaign volunteers and sharing his reasons for supporting the Romney presidential bid, Chambliss answered questions from the audience.
Chief among the topics were former vice presidential nominee and Alaska governor Sarah Palin, executive privilege and agriculture legislation.
Of chief interest, however, were the senator's comments on budget cuts to defense spending.
Chambliss, who, along with five other senators, serves on a bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee members, said the $490 billion in cuts to the defense budget were necessary.
"Quite frankly there is a lot of fraud, waste and abuse that goes on there, and it can be cut out," he said.
What the country can't afford in the senator's opinion are the additional cuts that would be forced upon the defense budget next year.
On Jan. 1, 2013, $1.2 trillion is scheduled to be cut from the budget under Obama, the senator said, and 50 percent of that is directly from defense spending.
"An additional $600 billion in cuts would be devastating," Chambliss said.