Amid tense talks and ongoing negotiations, Congressman Michael Grimm is warning his fellow Republicans against a government shutdown.
“If we shut down, it hurts the American people,” Grimm said. “I am worried about our troops and the families of our troops. I haven’t changed my stance on anything. I have always said that we owe our entire freedom and liberty to those in uniform and the idea that they wouldn’t get paid and that their families and mothers back home won’t get paid is reprehensible.”
Grimm said he is unsure of what will happen in the coming days, but he sees image problems ahead if a shutdown occurs.
“I think the politics of [a shutdown] is bad for the Republican party because the media in general is liberal and is going to help the Democrats and use it to help the Obama administration. The headline will be ‘Republicans Shut the Government Down’ rather than the headline being ‘The President and the Government Have Failed to Put a Budget Together.'”
The Democrat’s lack of a counter budget only serves to show the impact of the Republicans’ work, Grimm said.
“Besides hurting our troops, a shutdown is going to be the perfect smokescreen for the Democrats to hide that they have failed,” he said. “Now that we’ve been here what just over three months, this new Congress has put out the best budget I have ever seen. This is the bold action that people were expecting from me and the Republican Party.”
Grimm thinks the focus on inter-party squabbles and continuing resolutions is taking attention away from the real issues.
“Its like the house is on fire but we’re cleaning up the spilled milk in the kitchen. We need the fire department to come and put out the fire and stop focusing on the spilled milk,” he said.
“The Democrats are successfully using the Continuing Resolutions as a distraction and we have to let them stop distracting us.”
The light at the end of the debate comes in the form of Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed “Promise to America,” his 2012 budget plan that will lead to $6 trillion in cuts over ten years. Grimm called Ryan’s proposal “real, tangible and it’s a way to get us on the right path.”
