Heller Default Vote Called Out-of-the Mainstream Extremism

Las Vegas, NV – This week, our nation successfully averted a potential economic meltdown when Congress voted not to default on its obligations.  However, unelected Senator Dean Heller chose his hard right-wing TEA Party ideology over doing what's right for the country -- voting for default that would have jeopardized seniors' Social Security checks, veterans' benefits and led to massive job losses.

Heller's unreasonableness is getting noticed:

• As noted by Jon Ralston on Face to Face last night, Heller was “one of a very small minority of Senators” to vote for default. 

• UNR political science chair Eric Herzik told the Reno Gazette-Journal that Heller “essentially took the tea party line.” 

• The Reno Gazette-Journal quoted UNLV political science professor David Damore as saying Heller’s reckless vote for default makes Heller look “extreme” and “outside the mainstream.” 

But this is just latest in a series of extreme votes that highlight Heller's TEA Party ideology.

• The RGJ went on to note that “Heller voted twice for the U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., budget bill,” that ends Medicare by putting seniors’ healthcare into the hands of profit-first private insurance companies, something Heller said he was proud of.  

• Heller voted for the so-called “Cut, Cap, and Balance” legislation which was even more extreme than the Ryan budget.  The legislation would have also killed Medicare, while gutting Social Security and destroying nearly a million American jobs.

 

"Considering Heller gets even more extreme with every vote he takes, it’s scary to think about what he’ll do or who he’ll throw under the bus next to protect tax giveaways to the Big Oil executives who bankroll his campaign," said Zach Hudson, Communications Director for the Nevada State Democratic Party.