Simpson Responds To Criticism

An U.S. congressman said he is a conservative but also a compromiser in an interview with Local News 8 on Tuesday.

?There’s a saying I have in my office that might offend some by Henry Clay: ?Politics is not about ideological purity or moral self righteousness, it?s about governing and if you cannot compromise you cannot govern,?? said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. ?When you think of the differences of opinion that exist in this country today, you have to try to work with the other side.?

Simpson said he got a 96 percent approval rating from the American Conservative Union. He said the same complaints are raised against presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but he said Romney is a good fiscal conservative and proved that as governor of Massachusetts.

See the accompanying video for more of the interview with Simpson, in which he discusses gas prices, INL layoffs and the economy in general.