Tim Kaine speaks to Kiwanians in Richmond

U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Richmond on Monday.

During the discussion at the Virginia Historical Society, Kaine shared his strategies to strengthen the economy, create jobs, and responsibly reduce the deficit. Kaine also outlined his vision to develop the world’s most talented workforce and bring Virginia lessons of fiscal responsibility and political balance to Washington.

Throughout the conversation, Kaine emphasized his commitment to public service, describing his time as a missionary in Honduras and his years of serving as a city councilman, mayor, lieutenant governor, and governor in Virginia. Kaine also spoke about his experience traveling across the state to discuss Virginia’s economic future at more than 65 roundtables.

“We’ve got a lot of big issues and big needs as a country, but we’ve also got big resources of compassion and community spirit to meet these challenges,” said Kaine. “But along the way we’ve let our politics get very small. Anyone running in 2012 needs to work to elevate this process because our nation deserves a politics that isn’t just small minded. Our people deserve a political system that is magnanimous, large in spirit, and dedicated to the service of our fellow Americans.”

Kaine also contrasted his balanced approach to the country’s fiscal challenges with that of his opponent, George Allen. As governor, Kaine worked alongside Republicans to strengthen Virginia’s economy while cutting more than $5 billion in state spending. Forbes magazine named Virginia the “Best State for Business” all four years of his term and Governing magazine named the Commonwealth the “Best Managed State.” In the Senate, Allen helped add more than $3 trillion to the national debt.

“We need to find the right path to fiscal balance,” said Kaine. “This is going to be an interesting issue in the race because George Allen and I have very different philosophies about how to achieve that goal. The question is, do you close our deficit only through cuts or with a balanced approach of cuts and revenues? I believe the all-cuts approach would be a disaster for the national economy, and Virginia in particular. The right way is through a mixture of significant cuts and some revenues.”

For more than a year, Kaine has traveled across the Commonwealth visiting with small business owners and meeting with community leaders to discuss the challenges facing our economy and share his approach to creating jobs.