- All three of Iowa’s congressmen opposed the budget bill
- Cruz, Paul, Rubio, voted against it
- Huckabee “appalled” by it
- Santorum would have “reluctantly” voted for it *
- Bush implies it was necessary
- Graham voted for it
- Trump, Fiorina, Carson, Jindal, Christie, Kasich — we are looking for definitive statements
We received a response from Senator Ernst regarding our communication to her opposing the recently passed 144-page, eleventh hour backroom deal that suspends all debt limit until March 2017 and raises spending caps. She opposed it for what we would consider good and bad reasons, but so it goes (see excerpts from her letter below). She and Senator Grassley were among the 35 Republican Senators, nearly two-thirds of the delegation, who opposed the deal. Eighteen Republicans joined with Democrats to give Obama an unrestricted political gift. The eighteen are the usual suspects. See Senate vote tally prepared by Daily Signal below.
In spite of all the doomsday talk of what would happen if Congress did not pass the Boehner/Ryan/Pelosi/ Reid/ McConnell/Obama budget bill fully two thirds of Republicans in the House voted against the bill for some of the cogent reasons set forth in the Hinderacker article below. Iowa’s Republican delegation – King Blum and Young were among them.
With two-thirds of the entire national Republican delegation opposing the deal any Republican presidential contender supporting it, voicing support or expressing its necessity is outside of the mainstream of the party and their commitment to budget discipline is ever more questionable.
John Hinderacker writing at Powerline made some key points about the bill just prior to House passage:
“. . . this is a classic “Wimpy” deal: I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. Spending will increase now, and that increase is of course real. In exchange, spending is ostensibly cut years down the road, something that, as I have written countless times, will never happen. The “out years” never come. No one will remember this deal in ten years, when it is time for those alleged cuts to kick in.
Finally, the current deal, like all prior debt limit agreements, is based in part on the idea that if Congress doesn’t lift the debt limit, the United States will default on its bond obligations, with catastrophic consequences. This, as I have written many times, is simply a lie. It is not a debatable point or a difference of opinion, it is a lie. Default cannot and will not happen. Dan Mitchell makes the same point:
I can’t resist commenting on the deliberately dishonest scare tactics from our statist friends. They routinely claim that the United States government would have to default on its debt and cause a global crisis unless there is approval for more borrowing.
For instance, exuding an air of faux hysteria, one writer for the Washington Post asserted that, “Failure to raise the debt ceiling would unleash hell on the U.S. economy.” Another Washington Post columnist fanned the flames of fake despair, writing, “The chaos…is about to have some very serious effects on the entire country.” And a third Washington Post reporter falsely fretted that not raising the debt limit by November 3rd, “could plunge the United States into default, an outcome that…could lead to economic catastrophe.”
Oh, please, we’ve heard this song and dance before. But it’s utter nonsense.
Here’s some of what I said as part of my testimony to the Joint Economic Committee in 2013.
…there is zero chance of default. Why? Because…annual interest payments are about $230 billion and annual tax collections are approaching $3 trillion. …there’s no risk of default – unless the Obama Administration deliberately wants that to happen. But that’s simply not a realistic possibility.
To avoid default, the government just has to continue to make interest payments on its debt, which by law it is required to do. It can retire old debt and incur new borrowing; those transactions are a wash. The effect would be as though a balanced budget amendment had gone into effect. Any time you hear a commentator or a politician mention default, you know he or she is lying to you.
Constituent letter from Senator Ernst (excerpts):
Dear Mr. Mall,
Thank you for taking the time to contact me about federal spending and the debt limit. It is important for me to hear from folks in Iowa on policy matters such as this.
I believe governments – local, state, and federal – should follow sound fiscal policy which seeks to protect taxpayers. A major component of ensuring the public trust is by spending within our means. For far too long, the federal government has used the tax dollars of hard working Americans to support unnecessary and excessive spending. It is unacceptable for us to continue to leverage today’s spending practices on the backs of our children and grandchildren. . . .
However, when faced with an opportunity to address our reckless spending and implement true cost cutting measures, Washington did what Washington does best – turn to closed door meetings and backroom deals. I could not support the deal President Obama signed into law on November 2nd, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which effectively raises the debt limit to an untold sum allowed to accrue unchecked through March 15, 2017, and creates increased federal spending caps by $80 billion over two years.
Further, this legislation places an additional burden on hardworking farmers by making major cuts to the crop insurance program that will hit our rural communities the hardest. While we can find savings at all levels of our bloated government, crop insurance has already been trimmed down and these cuts would be incredibly harmful to our agricultural industry.
Like many Iowans, I’m tired of Washington’s dangerous and shortsighted habit of governing from one emergency to the next. . . .
How the Senate voted (Via Daily Signal):
*Santorum stated his “reluctant” support in order to achieve additional defense spending (as if their were no assertive alternatives). His statement was in response to a question from a VeritasPAC editor at Santorum’s most recent Davenport campaign stop.
R Mall
