Sununu Watch: A Periodic Look At John E. Sununu's Misplaced Priorities

Sununu Watch

A Periodic Look At John E. Sununu's Misplaced Priorities

Hey, Big Spender!

Since arriving in the Senate, John E. Sununu has voted six times to raise the federal debt limit. The debt, which was $5.9 trillion when Sununu took office, has increased by over 50 percent. Despite his prediction last year that "We will definitely be able to eliminate the deficit in the next five years, maybe even sooner," the deficit has grown. And Sununu voted to make it grow even more: in 2006, he supported a budget resolution that is projected to lead to a $12 trillion debt by 2011.

The Numbers: What He Gets, What We Get

A funny thing happens when John E. Sununu's contributions from the oil and gas industry go up: our gas prices go up too! While Sununu supports giveaways for companies like Exxon (which recently made the most profit of any company in the history of the planet) New Hampshire families are paying more at the pump and more to heat their homes. The numbers tell the story. Since Sununu took office, gas prices have skyrocketed out of control, while his contributions from Big Oil have risen accordingly.

Dirty tricks update

To date, John E. Sununu has refused to answer questions surrounding the phone jamming scandal that helped get him elected in 2008: When did Sununu find out about the phone jamming? Did he talk to anyone in the White House about the plot to jam the NH Democratic Party's phones? But Sununu's stonewalling may soon end. News reports indicate that a House committee is planning on holding hearings on the scandal in the next month. Will Sununu finally come clean and agree to testify before the committee?