Republican George Allen is promising to stop the paychecks on Capitol Hill until Congress finally passes a budget. That promise came Monday from the candidate's wife - Susan Allen - during a campaign stop in Staunton.
Susan said Virginia's U.S. Senate race has come down to a battle between two former governors - Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen. But her husband will first have to get through the primary season, and earn the GOP's nomination on June 12.
Mrs. Allen spoke with supporters in Staunton at Wright's Dairy-Rite, a popular campaign stop for the past 60 years. She described her husband as a fiscal conservative who as governor, cut $600 million in taxes, and put away money into the state's rainy day fund.
Susan sharply criticized Congress for its failure to pass a budget in three years.
"That's one of the primary responsibilities that they are there for," she said. "George feels that if a member of the House or Senate is not going to vote on a budget, they should fall under the Paycheck in Penalty Act, which he would like to introduce, that says they will not get a paycheck if by October they haven't voted on a budget."
Susan says her husband is a strong advocate of a balanced-budget amendment, and co-sponsored one during his brief time in the U.S. Congress nearly 20 years ago.
George Allen is among four Republicans seeking the party's nomination, to be decided six weeks from now. All of them are critics of the federal health care law, and say they'll reduce burdensome regulations on businesses and families.
