Glass Houses: CNN Reports On GOP Debt Hawks Who Are Also In Personal Debt
The punches just keep rolling in with this debt ceiling crisis… A recent segment on CNN’s The Situation Room revealed that some of the Republican hardliners in the debt discussions have personal finance problems that rival those afflicting the country.
CNN’s Brian Todd revealed that Senator Mike Lee of Utah, Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois, Congressman Tim Griffin of Arkansas and Congressman Kevin Yoder of Kansas are all in financial situations that distinctly do not reflect their policies.
The source for this information was a recent report released by nonpartisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense, which stated that Senator Lee is $65,000 dollars in debt from a credit card and a line of credit. Lee recently said that the government has been “burying our children and grandchildren… under a mountain of debt”.
Congressman Walsh owes his ex-wife over $117,000 in child support. Walsh denies these allegations, states that he has always been open about his financial troubles and declares “I’m the most openly vetted candidate in the world.” Similarly, Congressmen Griffin and Yoder are $15,000 dollars in debt respectively.
All of these men are notoriously conservative and have spent time railing against liberal fiscal planning. However, as interesting as this information may be, many are questioning its significance. After all, private life and public policy are separate. Taxpayers for Common Sense’s Ryan Alexander said that it comes down to, “are you walking the walk while talking the talk about getting the debt down”. She also noted that “if you choose to incur personal debt… how can you tell the country that we can’t manage our own debt”.
Spokespeople for the Senator and Congressmen have generally denied both the existence and significance of these allegations. However, based on recent events (a certain unfortunately named former Congressman comes to mind) it appears to be impossible to separate the private from the public in politics.
Watch the segment below:
