(Washington, DC) Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) voted against the Continuing Appropriations Act for 2014 yesterday. His office released a statement from Senator Grassley regarding his vote.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the negative impact of not raising the debt limit, but there’s too little focus on the negative consequences of ignoring the $17 trillion debt. Government spending has exploded since 2008, increasing the national debt by $6 trillion. Obamacare is a drag on the economy and hurting workers’ ability to find full-time jobs. Yet the President refuses to lead for fiscal responsibility, both short and long term, even with a government shutdown. This agreement raises the debt limit with no action on the debt. It’s a missed opportunity for forcing action to limit government and increase economic opportunities. America needs the President to roll up his sleeves and work with members of Congress to address the long-term fiscal problems of our country. Our grandkids depend on it.”
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC-By-SA 2.0)
Well, Senator Grassley, that ‘shut down the government’ thing didn’t really work all that well did it?
I agree that it was a lost opportunity… when the time could have been better spent moving to something concrete. Now, is Grassley willing to consider rolling back Medicare Part D, which *is* truly a deficit increasing program that he voted for or at least ensure that it’s adequately covered with revenues? How about support of the unfunded wars and early Bush tax cuts which ballooned the deficit? Is he going to support legislation to reduce the likelihood of fraud and shenanigans on Wall Street which helped blow out the economy and from which the world still hasn’t recovered? Is he willing to go against the GOP candidates of the last Presidential race who said they wouldn’t accept a package with a 10-1 ratio of savings/revenues? Is he willing to forgo the ludicrous farm bills he’s managed to bring back home and the tariffs against sugar imports which costs consumers billions?
I’d say there have been plenty of opportunities for Grassley to stop playing both sides of the fence and do something risky, like actually legislate responsibly. But he’s been the ‘great triangulator’ for much of his career. For the most part, he’s acted like Brave Sir Robin from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Turning tail when things look dicey.
I used to think Grassley could have been a reasonable legislator and I suppose he is, as long as it polls well at home. But when it comes to the pinch… not so much.
Grassley made certain that the DEA stayed open during the shutdown as an essential service. It was payback for the corn ethanol lobby in Iowa that pays Grassley to keep marijuana illegal which in turn keeps hemp ethanol illegal.