Think Progress names Republicans in Congress, including 2nd District Rep. French Hill, who are talking about the need for a balanced budget as they vote for tax cuts that run up the national deficit. It writes:

As the nation watched the Senate Judiciary Committee meet to consider whether to rush through the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, the House Republican majority was quietly passing the Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 — a bill to make the Trump tax cuts for the rich permanent. According to the GOP-controlled Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would add another $545 billion to the federal budget deficit over the next decade. This would be on top of the trillions already added to the debt by the original tax bill and the omnibus budget signed by Trump earlier this year.

The votes are a stark contrast to those, such as French Hill, who spoke during his debate appearance with Democrat Clarke Tucker of the need for a constitutional amendment to force a balanced budget. Think Progress cites a long list of Republicans in Congress who say one thing and do another. For example:

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Hill says he has “co-sponsored two versions of balanced budget amendments to the U.S. Constitution to bring our spending in line,” and that, “Our children and grandchildren depend on us to solve our debt problem and give them a brighter future.” He voted for both tax cut bills and the omnibus spending bill.

The truly bad news, notes American Bridge, a Democratic political group, is how French HIll would balance the budget if given a chance. It notes his debate remarks:

Hill, a former banking executive who is running for a third term, told the audience that Congress and President Donald Trump should “follow up on how to reform our spending, particularly for mandatory spending programs,” referring to Medicare,Medicaid and  Social Security.

Tucker, who has made protecting Medicare and Social Security a cornerstone of his platform, fired back, saying it would be wrong to balance the budget “on the backs of our seniors who have paid into Social Security and Medicare for their entire lives.”

It’s a race with clear issues, American Bridge notes, and they were highlighted by Tucker in the debate on AETN. Hill would cripple the Affordable Care Act and its required insurance coverage for pre-existing illnesses; Tucker would not. Hill favors tax cuts that overwhelmingly flow to the wealthy. Tucker does not. Hill opposes an increase in Arkansas’s minimum wage. Tucker supports it.

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UPDATE: Indivisible Central Arkansas has issued a scorecard on six issues in the race. Hill flunked all of them. Tucker aced it.

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