When he was just a Randolph-Macon College professor running for Congress, Dave Brat liked to say he would be the only economist in the U.S. House of Representatives if elected.
Now, 15 months into his freshman term in Washington, Brat — who made history in 2014 by upsetting then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th — again is drawing attention, sounding the alarm as a conservative naysayer on the federal budget.
“We’re $19 trillion in debt, and that’s going to be paid by our kids,” Brat said in an interview. “We’re having the spending party, and our kids are going to pay off the debt and the interest on the debt.”
The most recent example came last week, when Brat cast one of only two Republican votes against the fiscal 2017 resolution in the House Budget Committee.
In the past, voting against a budget proposal endorsed by your own party’s committee leadership could get you removed from the prized assignment.
But to Brat the economist — whose upset election was credited in part to support from grass-roots conservatives and tea party groups who backed him against Cantor — the vote was a matter of delivering, in an election year, on what he perceives to be his constituents’ demand that he hold the line on spending.
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When it didn’t, Brat and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., pulled their support despite intense pressure from GOP leadership.
Both are members of the House Freedom Caucus, a coalition of roughly 40 conservative GOP lawmakers formed in 2015 to give voice to the limited-government, anti-Washington establishment sentiment embraced by the tea party movement.
Without the support of the Freedom Caucus, House Republicans do not have enough votes to pass the budget.
That has put newcomers including Brat in a position to resist party pressure and cast tough votes, and arguably wield more influence than their status as junior lawmakers typically would afford.
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The economics professor said his brief time in Congress has taught him that addressing the nation’s fiscal woes may have more to do with ethics than economics.
“Ethics trumps economics in every case,” he said. “Learning personal political philosophies and ethics — and understanding where people are and how to transform your thinking — matters more than just the numbers.
“The question is whether we have the will, the determination and the ethics to solve our problems and make the country work again.”
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More:
http://www.richmond.com/news/article...eaef6d081.html
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On The Record
Thread Starter: PAFRobert F. Kennedy Jr. On the Record RFK has never held office, therefore no voting record exists. The following are interviews, tweets and statements . About Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Rumble
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