Rigell is on the House Armed Services Committee and considers himself a staunch advocate for local defense-related jobs. Hirschbiel faults him for backing last year's debt-reduction bill, which set up a mechanism that threatens automatic defense cuts in January unless lawmakers derail them.
Rigell signed an anti-tax pledge from the conservative Americans for Tax Reform but renounced it, saying lawmakers need flexibility to raise revenue as part of debt-reduction efforts. He says he feels bound by pledges "to my wife and my faith, that's it."
"One needs to be careful about saying he's disavowing and actually doing something about that," said Hirschbiel.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Reader Comments (