Kaine Talks Sequestration with Defense Contractors

In a meeting with defense contractors Friday, former Gov. Tim Kaine (D) said members of Congress were "playing chicken" and holding the economy and workers "hostage" as the possibility of sequestration looms.

The U.S. Senate candidate sat with defense contractors in Merrifield on Friday to discuss economic issues, continuing the more than 70 roundtable discussions he has hosted this year.

Sequestration, agreed to as part of the deal Congress came to last summer to avoid defaulting on the nation's debt, is the name given to $1 trillion federal budget cuts that will happen in January if Congress does not reach a compromise. Half of that would affect the defense industry, which some estimates say could cost Virginia more than 207,000 jobs.

"This sequestration issue is a terrible indictment of Washington and of Congress," Kaine said. "Nobody is willing to compromise even when the prospect of a fiscal cliff and uncertainty is clearly affecting the economy. Instead, legistators are playing chicken with each other and holding the economy and our workers and businesses hostage."

Kaine told the contractors he would promote an approach to the deficit that both cuts the budget and closes loopholes, ends subsidies to big oil companies and allows the Bush tax cuts to expire to generate revenue, if elected.

At a campaign stop in Dale City, Kaine's opponent, former Gov. George Allen (R), also spoke against sequestration, saying "These defense cuts need to be stopped," according to ABC7 News. 

Which of the candidates do you believe is best suited to help revive the U.S. economy?