A Michigan congressman who entered the presidential race in July is campaigning in Iowa today, explaining his “yes” vote on the debt deal that cleared congress earlier this week.
Congressman Thaddeus McCotter says he had concerns, but having the nation default on its debt would have been an “indelible scar” on the country, according to McCotter.
“In the final analysis, my belief is if we’re going to affirm American exceptionalism for the 21st century, the one thing we did not want to do — both in the short term and the long term — is to have the nation default on our obligations and tell the world that ‘America the Beautiful’ is now ‘America the Broke’ and unwilling to pay her bills,” McCotter said this morning during a telephone interview with Radio Iowa.
Two other Republican presidential candidates who also are serving in congress voted against the debt deal. Both Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul are running ads in Iowa, boasting of their “no” votes. McCotter said it shows there is a “clear difference of opinion” among the three on this specific piece of legislation.
“What’s more important is the fact that we share the same opinion that it is the disastrous fiscal policies of the Obama Administration that put us on the precipice in the first place,” McCotter said. “It is that type of governance which cannot be sustained in the 21st century and certainly cannot be sustained after 2012.”
With just nine days now before the Iowa GOP’s Straw Poll, McCotter and three other presidential candidates are in the state today trying to encourage supporters to make the trek to Ames to vote in that Straw Poll. Newt Gingrich will speak this evening in a backyard event at former Congressman Greg Ganske’s home in Des Moines. Herman Cain is making a midday appearance in Des Moines. Rick Santorum has been campaigning in northwest Iowa this morning. Both Santorum and Cain will speak this evening to the Professional Educators of Iowa, a non-union group formed to counter the Iowa State Education Association — the state teachers’ union.