Herman Cain is quickly walking back his comment that were he president he would sign no bills longer than three pages, saying that his initial statement was an exaggeration.
As Think Progress originally reported — and as TPM noted Wednesday — Cain told a crowd at an event in Iowa that he would only sign small bills under three pages long were he president to ensure that all Americans could have a chance to read those bills. But on Wednesday, Cain clarified that stance in interviews with both Glenn Beck and CBS.
“That’s an exaggeration. I was trying to drive home a point that I would only sign clean bills, bills with no earmarks, and bills that the American public can read and understand,” Cain said on Beck’s show.
“It was not an absolute promise,” he added.
Cain gave similar remarks to CBS:
“When they write a bill, I want them to address the particular topic that it is supposed to address. Because as you know, they have this habit in Washington DC of throwing everything including the kitchen sink in there in order to try to get it passed along with something that the other side might want.”
…
“Yes they are going to be longer than three pages,” he said. “But they are not going to be 2,700 pages that nobody read.”
