Fla. GOP Senate Hopefuls Key on Debt Ceiling

The candidates seeking the GOP nod to take on Florida incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012 fired off a round of volleys this week against the debt ceiling, seeking to make it a central issue in the upcoming election. Marco Rubio, Nelson’s Republican counterpart, weighed in as well, Sunshine State News reported Thursday.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos of Merritt Island stressed his opposition to raising the debt ceiling. "Congress and the president have acted with incredible irresponsibility in driving up huge deficits that are killing our economy and our national security,” he said. “We cannot trust them with yet another blank check."

Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux touted his experience and criticized Nelson. “You and I know the current path in Washington is not sustainable, but Senator Nelson thinks that we need to increase the debt ceiling, even without securing significant spending cuts,” LeMieux said. “This is not the leadership Floridians need. We need bold, responsible leaders who will get to work to save America and stop this out-of-control spending.”

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner lobbed his own critique. “Decades of wasteful spending by both parties in Washington have brought us to this point,” he said. “Yet Washington seems ignorant to the fact that the out-of-control federal debt is part of the reason businesses aren't hiring, jobs aren't growing and Americans are terrified about their economic future.”

Rubio called for fiscal restraint with “our country heading toward a Greece-like day of reckoning. We are better than that.”