Shortly after Rep. Sanford Bishop “growled” about the U.S. budget deficit, Mike Keown — one of his Republican challengers — responded with a biting rebuke.

A Friday afternoon news release from Bishop’s Washington, D.C., office on was entitled, “Bishop, Blue Dogs growl at speaker’s meeting.” It discussed a letter that Bishop and 58 other Democratic Caucus members sent to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Wednesday asking them to address deficit spending.

“I have grown increasingly concerned with the growing deficit,” Bishop, an 18-year incumbent, said in the release. “My colleagues and I are taking action to reduce the deficit while still stimulating our economy. We can do both, but Washington must be more fiscally conservative.

“While I support initiatives such as the ($787 billion) Stimulus Bill, my constituents and I want federal funds to be spent responsibly, and I feel it is time to curb excess spending and pay for the programs we have already set in place.”

Keown quickly responded to Bishop’s release with one of his own. He said he was “stunned” by what he views as a sudden reversal by a legislator who has voted with Pelosi 97.7 percent of the time during the current session of Congress.

“Congressman Bishop has attempted to pull the wool over the eyes of the voters in the Second District,” Keown said. “On one hand he says he wants to control spending while on the other hand he voted to raise the ceiling on the nation debt by trillions (H.J. Res. 45).”

It was reported earlier this week that the deficit for this year has reached $1 trillion. The fiscal year still has three months remaining, meaning the nation’s $14 trillion debt is sure to balloon.

“The real reason for this letter and press release from Sanford is he wants to distance himself from Nancy Pelosi,” Keown said. “However, that is going to be difficult after his votes on ObamaCare, every stimulus and bailout program, and increasing the tax debt on every citizen in the Second District over $40,000.”

In their letter to the Pelosi, Bishop and the Blue Dogs promoted PAYGO — the practice of financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather borrowed ones. An excerpt from the letter says:

“We recognize and understand the need for the emergency designation as narrowly defined in the statutory PAYGO law recently passed by the House and signed into law by President Obama. However, we have made a commitment to pay for our priorities. It is critical that we uphold our efforts to restore fiscal discipline  to the federal government by not using this tool for anything other than it is intended — a true, unforeseen emergency.

“Extending critical, economic investments is not more important than paying for them. America is facing a debt crisis that is threatening to undermine our economic and national security. We can no longer afford to exacerbate the problem because of the decisions about how to pay for what we spend are getting harder.”

Keown, who finds the letter hypocritical in wake of the federal spending spree since Obama took office, said he is eager to take on Bishop this fall.

“People across this district are tired of being manipulated,” he said. “I look forward to retiring Sanford Bishop once and for all, and restoring real conservative fiscal policies in Washington.”

In order to face Bishop, Keown must defeat Rick Allen and Lee Ferrell in Tuesday’s GOP primary. Bishop has no Democratic opposition.