House Republican Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) told federal workers who have been furloughed by the government shutdown that they should go into debt by taking out loans to pay their bills.
Here is what the millionaire tea party congressman advised furloughed federal workers to do to make ends meet during the government shutdown (Via Progress Now New Mexico):
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Pearce showed no sympathy for the millions of people being impacted by the government shutdown that he supports. He demonstrated his missing relationship with reality by suggested that, “Financial institutions often offer short-term loans.” It is easy for a rich person like Pearce to walk into a bank and get a loan, but there isn’t a bank in this country that would give a loan to a person who has no current source of income, and no idea when they are going to be paid. (Some banks are stepping up to a degree, but they are placing limits on how much help they are offering.)
Rep. Pearce is also advising people to go into debt during his government shutdown. Notice that the tea party congressman doesn’t offer to help the people that are being economically damaged by the shutdown that he voted for. Federal employees are the innocent victims of the House Republicans’ ideological war against the ACA.
Pearce is one of the House Republicans who refuses to vote for a government funding bill unlesss there are changes to Obamacare.
The reason why this government shutdown is killing the Republican Party is that it is exposing the Republicans for who they really are. Out of touch millionaires like Steve Pearce don’t understand why the government shutdown is hurting people. I suspect that Mr. Pearce is blaming the furloughed workers for their own plight. He assumes that they could get through the shutdown just fine if they would run over to the bank and get some more money. That’s easy, right?
It’s easy if you are a millionaire congressman, but difficult to impossible to survive this type of economic uncertainty if you are anyone else. During the government shutdown, many Americans are learning what people who follow politics understood long ago. House Republicans don’t care about working class people. They don’t care that their shutdown is hurting millions. They don’t care that people can’t eat, or pay their bills.
If House Republicans like Steve Pearce don’t care about you, then you should repay the favor by not voting for them in 2014.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
