It has to be hard to stick to the facts as a Republican in 2009. When you tell the truth, the picture is bleak, especially since the financial crisis was primarily caused by their deregulation agenda and "greed is good" mentality. As Tedisco and Murphy face off for Gillibrand's Congressional seat, the Republican has some serious hoops to jump through in order to look good, but it is nearly impossible to use a GOP talking point and not get yourself into trouble.
From The Albany Project:
Tedisco is in a rather uncomfortable position. He's trying to keep at least some distance from the trainwreck that is the House GOP by continuing to refuse to say whether he would have been the only member of the House Republican caucus to vote for the recently passed stimulus package, something he is still refusing to do.
Murphy asked Tedisco directly to declare his stance on the federal stimulus plan, as he has been pushing him to do on the campaign trail for more than 2 weeks. Tedisco didn't respond, but turned to an example of one of his accomplishments as an assemblyman, the alternative fuel fund.But then he did something to make sure he didn't stray too far from GOP orthodoxy by repeating the now thoroughly debunked claim that the stimulus package contained $30 million for protecting a marsh mouse in San Francisco. You remember that bit of nonsense don't you[...]
Tedisco even invented a new price tag for this completely made up, nonexistent program claiming that it would cost "$32 million."
Philip asks whether Tedisco is lying or merely misinformed. Although I suspect that is a rhetorical question, I'll answer it anyway. The man is lying. Why would the residents of NY-20, in such crucial times for upstate New York and the nation, want a man that can't stake a position on the stimulus bill and on top of that, lies about what's in it. The country is collectively trying to get rid of Congressmembers that are denying the reality of our situation. Why on Earth would we want to add another to the mix?
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