Republican challengers to Democratic congressmen lashed out at the proposed federal budget agreement to raise certain taxes in order to cut the federal budget deficit by $500 billion over five years, and voiced their unqualified opposition.
Homewood Mayor Manny Hoffman, running against U.S. Rep. George Sangmeister, said, ”The last thing we want to do with a fragile economy is to enact a tax increase . . . that will certainly plunge the country into a recession and the deficit will be even greater.” Sangmeister also opposes the package.
David Shestoukas, a Southwest Side businessman challenging U.S. Rep. William Lipinski, said $140 billion a year can be cut from the budget without adversely affecting services and said his opponent`s qualified support for the agreement ”shows the same tax-and-spend habits that have kept us on the verge of fiscal crisis.”
