Bills suggests cuts to federal workforce to reduce deficit
The newly endorsed Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate suggests that cutting the federal workforce is one of the ways he'd reduce the federal budget deficit.
In an interview with The Daily Circuit on MPR News, state Representative Kurt Bills, R-Rosemount, said this year's election will focus on specifics.
In particular, he wants to reduce the federal budget deficit by cutting programs. Bills didn't offer many specifics of his own but said he would look at the budget plan put forward by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc. He compared the success of North Dakota's economy to the federal government.
"One's booming of real economic growth that's natural resource-based, and the other one is booming because of borrowed money. So we have to get in and look at the federal workforce that has grown so much and pare that back so the private sector can grow," he said.
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Bills won the Republican endorsement on Friday over several other candidates after receiving strong backing from delegates who support Texas Congressman Ron Paul's campaign for president.
Bills said he still backs Paul for president but will eventually back the GOP nominee. He also said he shouldn't be considered someone who agrees with Ron Paul on every issue.
"I had somebody ask me are you a Ronald Reagan Republican or a Ron Paul Republican?" Bills said. "I said I'm a Kurt Bills Republican. I think whatever your name is within the party, you're that person."
Bills said he doesn't expect a significant primary challenge. He will face DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November.
Bills said he's going to spend the day focusing on how much money his campaign needs to compete with Klobuchar. He said his campaign is looking at a budget of roughly $5 million but acknowledged he'll be outspent by Klobuchar. The latest campaign finance reports shows her with more than $5 million in the bank, much more than Bills has raised so far.
You can listen to the full interview here: