 Vows to Balance budget and reduce $4.4 trillion debt; criticizes opponent for having "voted for 94 percent of all spending bills and voted to raise national debt ceiling nine times out of 10." |
 Votes for 95 percent of spending bills and votes to raise the national debt ceiling 9 times to $12.1 trillion. |
| Promises to freeze federal discretionary spending. |
Supports 99 percent of federal discretionary spending, which has nearly tripled since she became Senator. |
| Pledges to serve only two terms as Senator. |
Runs for third term in 2006; has been Senator for over 16 years. |
| Proposes 28-point plan to reform Congress and close revolving door of lobbyists. |
Never introduces plan; hires lobbyist as chief of staff; offers to be "character witness" for Jack Abramoff's lobbying partner. |
| Considers earmarks wasteful spending; "Our children and grandchildren must pay for it for years to come." |
Enshrined in "Porker of the Month Hall of Shame" by Citizens Against Government Waste; inserts 346 secret earmarks into last two years' spending bills costing taxpayers $2.6 billion. |
| Says federal mandates hurt Texas small businesses. |
Supports federally mandated unemployment insurance expansion and criticizes Governor Rick Perry for refusing it. |
| Makes history as first female Senator from Texas. |
Makes history as first Senator to be banned by Google. |
| Scornful of "Washington handlers and image-makers." |
Hires a host of non-Texas mercenaries with Washington ties to run her campaign for Governor. |
| Promises to avoid conflicts of interest with husband's lucrative legal practice. |
Sponsors billions of dollars in earmarks for entities that hire her husband to do project legal work; husband's law firm is her biggest Senate campaign contributor. |
| Fierce critic of deficit spending: "We cannot afford to continue to spend ourselves into debt." |
Votes for $700 billion Wall Street bailout - actual price tag of financial bailout programs now projected to cost $23 trillion. |
| Promotes Campaign contribution limits for Political Action Committees (PACs). |
Forms her own PAC to receive over $2 million in contributions. |
| Supports prohibiting federal candidates from accepting contributions from foreign lobbyists. |
Accepts thousands of dollars in contribution from foreign lobbyists. |
