Alleged Republican Congressman Don Bacon (Nebraska-02) has drawn a principled limited government constitutional conservative primary opponent in successful Omaha businessman Dan Frei.
Bacon, who is vocally and arrogantly anti-conservative and disdainful of the House Freedom Caucus and former President Trump, is one of the leaders of the Republican Mainstreet group who generally align with Democrats in the House.
Mr. Frei has announced that he will align with and seek to join the House Freedom Caucus. Frei said he is tired of Bacon telling different audiences what they want to hear, and that Bacon hasn’t voted or acted in alignment with the conservative voters of Nebraska’s Second Congressional District.
“The people of Nebraska’s Second Congressional District deserve a voice in Washington, DC that will speak for them. They need someone who reflects our conservative heartland values. Someone who will stand up to the out of touch elites and the DC Swamp,” Frei said in a statement upon announcing his bid.
“Never Trump, Don Bacon seems to have has lost his way. Instead of echoing our voice in the halls of Congress he embraces the marching orders of the Swamp, infecting Nebraska politics with the stench of DC,” he continued. “He has become a Washington insider with a Nebraska address, taking orders from Republican leadership while failing to represent the real concerns of those in his district.”
Frei told the Nebraska Examiner he likes members of the Freedom Caucus because they say where they stand and mean it. If elected, Frei said, he would say “No” more often, especially to congressional Democrats.
He criticized Bacon for voting to approve short-term spending bills, called continuing resolutions. “I will never vote for a continuing resolution,” Frei said. “We’re either going to do our job, or we are going to stay there until it’s done. Don’t count on me to ever vote to bail you out because, as a body, we didn’t do our job.”
Frei told the Examiner he wants to focus on fighting the national deficit and national debt to protect future generations. He wants Congress to use a budgeting process that constituents can follow. He also intends to prioritize border security and energy independence.
The major drivers of the federal budget are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and national defense. Pressed about which programs he would cut, Frei deflected. He said he would start by finding allies to help him cut waste fraud and abuse.
The rest, he said, requires reprioritizing the budget to match what Americans can afford. He said he liked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s “Six Penny Plan” to cut six cents out of every dollar the federal government spends to balance the budget.
Frei vowed to cut spending and also vowed to tackle border security and prioritize U.S. interests and said he wouldn’t offer “a blank check for military spending on policies” that “neglect” soldiers “but fund racism, DEI and climate extremism in the ranks and endless wars abroad.”
Mr. Frei criticized Bacon’s support for continued defense spending on aid for Ukraine, saying he would rather see that money spent on border security and immigration enforcement — or not spent at all. He said the $34 trillion national debt is more pressing.
Frei said both Republicans and Democrats own the decisions that have grown that debt, which increased by nearly $8 trillion under former President Donald Trump, according to ProPublica. It has grown by more than $6 trillion under President Joe Biden.
“Why don’t we take a look at the amount of revenue that the federal government takes in in taxes and then come to an agreement that says we’re not going to spend any more than that?” Frei asked. “You’ve got to stop the deficit spending.”
“While DC Sellout Don Bacon runs to represent K Street, I’m running to represent Main Street. I will restore Nebraska’s conservative voice in Washington and drain Bacon’s swamp,” Frei said in a statement to The Hill.
We like where Dan Frei is coming from on spending, endless wars, and border security – and that he aligns with the House Freedom Caucus. Rep. Don Bacon is the worst kind of DC Uniparty Republican. He is openly disdainful of the conservative-populist base of the GOP’s 21st century electorate and often sounds like Liz Cheney in criticizing Republican House Members who fight for the conservative agenda and values expressed in the Republican Party Platform.
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