2012 Candidates Shun Debt Deal

A number of Republican Presidential candidates, including frontrunner Mitt Romney, have come out against the deal to raise the debt limit struck by Congressional leaders and the White House Sunday night.

“As president, my plan would have produced a budget that was cut, capped and balanced — not one that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table,” Romney said in a statement. “I personally cannot support this deal.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who flatly opposes raising the debt ceiling, said that the compromise “spends too much and doesn’t cut enough.”

“Someone has to say no. I will,” Bachmann said.

According to a report in the Daily Caller, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s camp is also highly critical of the deal.

“Only in Washington would the political class think it’s a victory when the government narrowly avoids default, agrees to go further into debt, and does little to reform a spending system that cannot be sustained by our children and grandchildren,” Pawlenty’s spokesperson Alex Conant said in a statement. “While no further evidence was needed, this entire debt ceiling fiasco demonstrates that President Obama must be replaced.”

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, widely viewed as the GOP field’s go-to centrist candidate, described the deal as “not my preferred outcome” but encouraged members of Congress to vote for it in order to avoid default.